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Quietus Tracks Of The Year 2014 (In Association With Norman Records)
Laurie Tuffrey , December 18th, 2014 13:59

tQ staff and writers scour this year's singles, EPs, 12"s, one-off releases, reissues and albums to pick their top tracks. Peruse and buy below, courtesy of our friends at Norman Records

Over perhaps one too many mugs of Yorkshire Tea, this year we decided to approach our tracks of the year chart a little differently. Rather than having all of our writers submit individual top tens, we went in for the tricky and harsh task of picking just top twos (with staff picking a few more), reasoning that these submissions would assemble themselves into a neat old top 100. Of course, the oversight on our part was the huge diversity in our writers' tastes: rather than a number of tracks cropping up again, there was very little overlap. What multiple votes were received, though, did - and we can only assume through the guiding hand of some cosmic alignment - go on to form a handy, and perhaps tQ-appropriate, baker's dozen of top tracks. The many, many picks that aren't in that we thought would be best to present as one unranked list in alphabetical order, so what follows is a mammoth collection of individual earworms that the Quietus staff and contributors have enjoyed over the past 12 months.

Within that top 13, there's Meridian Dan's rewind-and-play-it-from-the-start out-and-out banger 'German Whip', Future Islands' chest-thump synth-pop calling card 'Seasons' and 'The Vile Stuff', the wonderfully singular centrepiece to Newcastle musician Richard Dawson's recent album Nothing Important. There's a clutch of tracks that have become repeat plays in tQHQ's Friday afternoon doofy techno sessions: Paula Temple, Furfriend and Ancient Methods having his way with Powell's 'Club Music', capped off by Blacknecks' interstellar leisure anthem 'To The Cosmos, Let's Go!'. Long-term Quietus favourites Karen Gwyer, The Fat White Family and Katie Gately all feature, the latter developing tendonitis in the making of 'Pivot'; we'd be hesitant to say it was worth it, but the results are little short of magnificent - listen below. Pleasingly, the most voted-for track is Holly Herndon's 'Chorus', which we feel both nods to what's been an ace year for the San Francisco-based musician and her vocal manipulation, laptop-based output, as well as a recognition of how excited we are to see what she does in 2015. Her set at Incubate festival was one of the most forward-thinking and mind-blowing things we've seen recently, and, simply put, we can't wait to see what's next. We also doff our caps to the artists and bands who received multiple votes, but for different tracks: Black Bananas, The Charlatans, East India Youth, Grumbling Fur, Swans, Tweedy and Powell, who not only received votes for his tracks 'So We Went Electric' and 'Maniac', as well as the aforementioned 'Club Music', but whose Diagonal imprint put out the ace Bronze Teeth 12" that gets picked out here.

There's a video or embedded track for almost every choice, so we hope this will offer you some hours of merry listening over the festive period. All that's left for us to do is to thank all of our writers for contributing and picking such a wide and rewarding array of tracks, and, finally, to bid you all a very happy Christmas. See you in the new year. Laurie Tuffrey

13. Meridian Dan feat. Big H & JME - 'German Whip'
(PMR Records)

Grime's been bubbling away in fine shape for the last few years, so 2014's excellent vintage might not have constituted the 'genre revival' hyperbole that inevitably accompanies tracks as weighty as 'German Whip'. Nonetheless, the ubiquity of Meridian Dan's slick, chrome-plated cruiser of a single was a joy to behold: commanding BBC radio as much as Rinse FM, it spent months booming from earbuds and passing car windows, framed by lyric posters pasted onto telephone boxes and concrete walls across the capital. Grime's biggest hit in years, its popularity was a pleasant surprise yet still felt somehow inevitable - the mainstream-lapping crest of a wave that's been gradually gathering momentum for quite some time. It helps, of course, that the track itself was tremendous. 'German Whip' packs many of grime's most appealing characteristics into a lean, tough few minutes with barely a second wasted: it's brash yet playful, deceptively smart, eminently quotable and loaded with surreal, subtly self-deprecating humour. Indeed, crucially, nothing of that vibrancy that defines the genre at underground level was lost in translation. It's interesting to play compare-contrast with the year's other big MC-led track, Mumdance and Novelist's wiry, eerie 'Take Time' - massive cosmetic differences aside, both are underpinned by very similar impulses and character traits. But Meridian Dan owned 2014's more cavernous dancefloors, epitomised by the flurry of online excitement following Rinse's springtime rave at Fabric, when the rewinds on 'German Whip' reportedly almost hit double digits. Rory Gibb

12. Future Islands - 'Seasons (Waiting On You)', from Singles
(4AD)

There's nothing necessarily groundbreaking going on sonically - it sounds like it could have stepped out of a John Hughes film - and looks-wise, they resemble a middle-aged Killers, but the hook-laden synthy romp sounded somewhat fresh and anthemic in a thin year for the indie. Samuel T Herring's impassioned performances on various shows, wherein he would suddenly go "WUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHH!!!" while pacing around like a ketamined-up octopus who's just had funk explained to it, may have enhanced its appeal too. Ian Wade

  • Read our interview with Future Islands

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • 11. Nicki Minaj - 'Lookin Ass', from Young Money: Rise Of An Empire
    (Universal/Island)

    Best known for the cartoonish and the colourful, Nicki Minaj's most enduring image of 2014 was greyscale. Raising assault rifles to the sky on 'Lookin Ass', Nicki scored a flawless victory with her direct and deadly deconstruction of the male gaze. Kyle Ellison

    10. FKA twigs - 'Two Weeks', from LP1
    (Young Turks)

    Amid the bracing shards of FKA twigs' odd, wonderful LP1 can be glimpsed myriad aspects of the singer's personality; a heady union of vulnerability and defiance that glimmers fierce with invention. Nowhere on the record does she sound quite so commanding as she does on 'Two Weeks', however. A breathless proposition that asserts her sensuality in no uncertain terms, it remains as bold, addictive and frankly mesmerising as it did back when it emerged in June. James Skinner

  • Read our review of LP1

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • 9. Paula Temple - 'Deathvox', from Deathvox EP
    (R&S)

    Paula Temple's three-track EP for R&S has actually seen little play-time on the tQHQ sound system this year, predominantly for the fact that it renders everyone incapable of doing anything but leaping onto our desks and kicking our glowing monitors into oblivion. Its title track, with its relentless rumbling clattering thuds that vibrate up inside ribcages, screeches that rise and fall and submerged vocal growls, is a particular highlight, but mostly for after hours. Sophie Coletta

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • 8. Powell - 'Club Music' (Ancient Methods Korpersaure91 remix), from Club Music Remixes EP
    (Diagonal)

    "In general, when it comes to remixing I like to do it in a traditional way. That means I don't want to deliver just a new track of mine and call it remix although it has no contextual relation to the original. Therefore I have to get into the mood of the original, to comprehend it on a emotional level - not necessarily in a way that I can adapt or imitate the style but that I get into the spirit. And if I can't get into the spirit of the original I feel it becomes just another AM track, which is somewhat disappointing for me. This said I wanted to keep the mood - at least the mood that I captured from the tracks - and I believe it was very easy for me to get an emotional access to it." Michael Wollenhaupt, aka Ancient Methods

  • Read our interview with Powell and Ancient Methods
  • 7. Karen Gwyer - 'Lay Claim To My Grub', from New Roof EP
    (No Pain In Pop)

    There's very little to 'Lay Claim To My Grub' beyond its sinuous synth refrain, mesh of drums and washes of melodic texture, but its emotional impact is substantial. It feels simultaneously comforting and sinister, constricting and propulsive: a rich and disconcerting piece of musical alchemy. Ed Gillett

  • Read our interview with Karen Gwyer

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • 6. Furfriend - 'Endless September', from Endless September EP
    (Perc Trax)

    "Endless September' refers to Eternal September, which stands for September 1993, when Usenet was opened to the wide public and the internet started taking off. It's the first time we wanted to show a bit more what's behind a lot of our other tracks. There is this monster of information politics in the room and it scares the shit out of everyone. So the track is about us being totally dependent on our social networks, and how we all know it can be used against us, but we still keep on doing it, because there is really no alternative if you want to be part of society." Furfriend

  • Read our interview with Furfriend

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • 5. Katie Gately - 'Pivot', from split EP with Tlaotlon
    (FatCat Records)

    How to follow Pipes? Gately's palette is limitless, and she chooses to integrate the found sound detritus and semblances of sampled instrumentation from her eponymous pre-Pipes EP into the feature-length, wandering stream-of-consciousness structure of her opus. 'Pivot' endlessly lives up to its name, opening with a ghostly worn whispered choir of Gately's own layered voice before snaking through gnarled, crunchy campfire sounds and organ-like drones as the dozen or so Katies head out on a heavenward march. A gaping mountainscape then opens up below as percussive claps and stomps underpin Gately's catchiest tune to date in Pivot's second half, eventually disassembling itself into cacophony. Another singular enigma from Gately; as cataclysmic as it is beautiful. Tristan Bath

  • Read our interview with Katie Gately

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • 4. The Fat White Family - 'I Am Mark E Smith'
    (Without Consent)

    Junior highlife rock debasers Fat White Family are stranded in America; grotesque and after a Grammy. What really went on before they crossed the pond? All we have is this excerpt of twanging, acidic Residents evil and swollen gland, red right hand, magick band palaver. The junior gold medal holders and young pretenders drink the long draught down and give some appreciation to the governor. But what will his nibs think, given that he usually calls twattery not flattery when it comes to imitation? We at the Quietus, for one, would love to hear a collaboration. Come on lads, make it speedy - can you not just get it together and do some showing off? I Am John V. Doran

  • Read our Three Songs No Flash on The Fat White Family's Slide In For Palestine gig

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • 3. Richard Dawson - 'The Vile Stuff', from Nothing Important
    (Weird World)

    Precision-clutter fingerstyle, bristly tone, Arabesque sprawl. Dogged, ritual stomp of feet and fists, yielding to rhythmic tics when necessary. Voice of churning guts and peaty history, raucous cheer and quiet terror. Potent, mystical and mundane poetry of resonant minutiae, carved deep via subtitles. Eleven-plus minutes of dimly recalled teenage idiocy and tangential folk-horror. 2014’s most infectious, singular and compelling work of art. Matt Evans

  • Read our review of Nothing Important

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • 2. Blacknecks - 'To The Cosmos, Let's Go!', from 004 EP
    (Blacknecks)

    "TO THE COSMOS LET'S GO! MY HEAD IS BECOME LIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!" Luke Turner

  • Read our interview with Blacknecks

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • 1. Holly Herndon - 'Chorus', from Chorus 12"
    (RVNG Intl.)

    "Herndon's music feels like one of defamiliarisation - with the human nature of the voice, with dance music, with the dull matter we surround ourselves with, all transmuted, picked apart or reframed [...] Beneath these ideas, though, you'd think the music could be ruined by overthought. This couldn't be further from the truth: the staccato voices and metallic ping-pong rhythms of 'Chorus' hove into earshot. The track's a frenetic piece of glitchy rhythm and clipped vocal sample, coalescing in moments into luminescent pop, with a fondness for techno bangers lying somewhere in its composition." Laurie Tuffrey, reviewing Holly Herndon's set at Incubate

  • Read our interview with Holly Herndon

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • ...and the rest of our favourite tracks of the year, unranked but undimmed

    Ansome - 'Tin', from 'Tin/Cold Harbour' 12"
    (South London Analogue Material)

    Picked by Sophie Coletta

    Autonervous - 'Enfant Terrible' (M.W. Cut), from 'Rat Life 2' 12"
    (Uncanny Valley)

    Picked by Sophie Coletta

    Black Bananas - 'Physical Emotions', from Electric Brick Wall
    (Drag City)

    Picked by Kevin Mccaighy

  • Read Jennifer Herrema of Black Bananas' Baker's Dozen

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Black Bananas - 'Physical Emotions' (Liars remix)

    Picked by Nick Hutchings

    Black Josh feat. MC Jon - 'Student Parties', from #blahblahblackjosh LP
    (Blah Records)

    Picked by Ringo P Stacey

    Bledig - 'A Bad Day For Lupus', from Bad Day For Lupus

    Picked by Wyndham Wallace

    Mary J. Blige - 'Pick Me Up', from The London Sessions
    (Capitol Records)

    Picked by Ryan Alexander Diduck

    The Bozzini Quartet - 'The Indistinguishables', recorded live at Huddersfield Town Hall, November 25 2014

    Picked by Luke Turner

    Tim Bowness - 'Smiler At 50', from Abandoned Dancehall Dreams
    (Inside Out Music)

    Picked by Chris Roberts

    Stanley Brinks & The Wave Pictures - 'Orange Juice'

    Picked by Hazel Sheffield

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Bronze Teeth - 'Albion Pressure', from 'A Waif's Rent' 12"
    (Diagonal)

    Picked by Joe Clay

  • Read our interview with Bronze Teeth

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Ane Brun - 'Hunting High & Low'

    Picked by Wyndham Wallace

    The Bug vs Earth - 'Boa', from 'Boa/Cold' 12"
    (Ninja Tune)

    Picked by Tristan Bath

  • Read our interview with The Bug

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • BullyBones - 'I Feel Sorry For You'

    Picked by Ged Babey

    Tim Burgess - 'Oh Men' (Carter Tutti remix), from Oh Man Remixes EP
    (O Genesis)

    Picked by Laurie Tuffrey

    Call Super - 'Acephale II', from 'Depicta/Acephale II' 12"
    (Houndstooth)

    Picked by Rory Gibb

  • Read our interview with Call Super

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Camera - 'Salamantra', from Liverpool International Festival Of Psychedelia 12"
    (Liverpool Psych Fest)

    Picked by Julian Marszalek

    Caribou - 'Can't Do Without You', from 'Can't Do Without You' 12"
    (Jiaolong)

    Picked by Hazel Sheffield

  • Read Dan Snaith of Caribou's Baker's Dozen

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Carter Tutti - 'October Love Song' (remix), from Carter Tutti ‎Remix Chris & Cosey
    (Conspiracy International)

    Picked by Luke Turner

  • Read Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti telling us the story of 'October Love Song'

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Cavern Of Anti-Matter - 'Cluster of Rainbow', from Total Availability And The Private Future 7"
    (Peripheral Conserve)

    Picked by Colm McAuliffe

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Austin Ceasar - 'Slink', from There's A Crack In Everything
    (Proibito)

    Picked by Ed Gillett

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • The Charlatans - 'Talking In Tones'
    (The Quietus Phonographic Corporation)

    Picked by Lisa Jenkins

  • Read our review of 'Talking In Tones'
  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne - 'Rather Be', from New Eyes
    (Atlantic)

    Picked by Charlie Frame

    Cleaners From Venus - 'The Band Plays Delilah', from Return to Bohemia
    (Bandcamp)

    Picked by Aug Stone

  • Read our review of Return to Bohemia
  • Cut Hands - 'The Claw', from Festival Of The Dead
    (Blackest Ever Black)

    Picked by Harry Sword

  • Read our review of Festival Of The Dead

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Cyclobe - 'Son Of Sons Of Light', from The Visitors
    (Phantomcode)

    Picked by Russell Cuzner

  • Read our interview with Cyclobe

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Desperate Journalist - 'Control', from Desperate Journalist
    (Fierce Panda)

    Picked by John Doran

    DJ Taye - 'Teklife Run It', from What You Think EP

    Picked by Laura Snoad

    East India Youth - 'HEAVEN, HOW LONG', from TOTAL STRIFE FOREVER
    (Stolen Recordings)

    Picked by Lisa Jenkins

  • Read our review of TOTAL STRIFE FOREVER

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • East India Youth - 'HINTERLAND', from 'HINTERLAND' 12"
    (Stolen Recordings)

    Picked by Luke Turner

  • Read our interview with East India Youth
  • Electric Wizard - 'SadioWitch', from Time To Die
    (Spinefarm Records/Witchfinder Records)

  • Read our feature-length review of Time To Die and our interview with Electric Wizard's Liz Buckingham

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Faith No More - 'Motherfucker'
    (Reclamation! Recordings/Ipecac Recordings)

    Picked by Matt Evans

    Richard Fearless - 'Higher Electronic States', from 'Higher Electronic States' 12"
    (Drone)

    Picked by Joe Clay

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • FKA twigs - 'Pendulum', from LP1
    (Young Turks)

    Picked by Karl Smith

  • Read our review of LP1

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Forteresse - 'Wendigo', from Forteresse/Chasse-Galerie/Monarque/Csejthe's split 7" Légendes
    (Sepulchral Productions)

    Picked by Mat Colegate

    Fufanu - 'Circus Life'

    Picked by Zoë Howe

    Gallon Drunk - 'The Speed of Fear' (Live in Honfleur)

    Picked by Julian Marszalek

  • Read our interview with Gallon Drunk
  • Gantz feat. El Mahdy Jr. - 'Rising', from 'Spry Sinister' 12"
    (Deep Medi Musik)

  • Read Rory Gibb reviewing 'Spry Sinister' in his Hyperspecific column and our interview with El Mahdy Jr.

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Gazelle Twin - 'Anti Body', from Unflesh
    (Anti-Ghost Moon Ray Records)

    Picked by John Doran

  • Read our interview with Gazelle Twin, our Three Songs No Flash on her set at the M For Montreal festival and our review of Unflesh

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • The Ghost Of A Sabre Tooth Tiger - 'Too Deep', from Midnight Sun
    (Chimera Music)

    Picked by Ryan Alexander Diduck

  • Read our interview with Gazelle Twin
  • Grouper - Lighthouse', from Ruins
    (Kranky)

    Picked by Peter Bebergal

  • Read our the Strange World Of... Grouper's Liz Harris

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records

    Grumbling Fur - 'All The Rays', from Preternaturals
    (tQPC)

    Picked by John Doran

  • Read Daniel O'Sullivan of Grumbling Fur's Baker's Dozen and our review of Preternaturals

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Grumbling Fur - 'Lowlands In Astral Furmentation'

    Picked by Luke Turner

    Gwenno - 'Patriarcheth', from Y Dydd Olaf
    (Peski)

    Picked by Aug Stone

  • Read our interview with Gwenno

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Helena Hauff - 'Spirals Of Smoke Drifting From Soot Stained Chimneys', from Return To Disorder EP

    Picked by Sophie Coletta

    Helm - 'The Hollow Organ', from 'The Hollow Organ' 12"
    (PAN)

    Picked by Daniel Barrow

  • Read our review of The Hollow Organ

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Jon Hopkins - 'Open Eye Signal (Asleep Version)', from Asleep Versions EP
    (Domino)

    Picked by Kiran Acharya

  • Read our interview with Jon Hopkins about Asleep Versions

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Howlround - 'Torridon Gate', from Night/Dawn/Day/Dusk Edition CD-R
    (A Year In The Country)

    Picked by Colm McAuliffe

    Huoratron - 'The Pioneers Of Nothing', from Acid Reign EP
    (Last Gang Records)

    Picked by Jeremy Allen

  • Read our interview with Huoratron
  • Kira Isabella - 'Quarterback', from Caffeine & Big Dreams
    (Sony Music Canada)

    Picked by Alex Macpherson

    The Juan Maclean - 'Get Down (With My Love)', from 'Get Down (With My Love)' 12" (DFA)

    Picked by Jack Pudwell

  • Read our interview with The Juan Maclean and Nancy Whang's Baker's Dozen
  • Kassem Mosse - 'Untitled A2', from Workshop 19
    (Workshop)

    Picked by Laurie Tuffrey

  • Read our review of Workshop 19
  • Kelis - 'Rumble', from Food
    (Ninja Tune)

    Picked by Amy Pettifer

    Kiesza - 'Hideaway', from Sound Of A Woman
    (Lokal Legend/Island Records/4th & Broadway)

    Picked by Ian Wade

    Killing Sound - 'Six Harmonies', from 'Killing Sound' 12"
    (Blackest Ever Black)

    Picked by Sophie Coletta

  • Read our review of 'Killing Sound'

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Kendrick Lamar - 'i'
    (Top Dawg/Aftermath/Interscope)

    Picked by Paul Smith

    Tory Lanez - 'Henny In Hand', from Lost Cause mixtape

    Picked by Laura Snoad

    Cate Le Bon - 'I Can't Help You', single taken from Mug Museum
    (Turnstile)

  • Read Cate Le Bon's Baker's Dozen

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Jenny Lewis - 'Just One Of The Guys', from The Voyager LP
    (Warner Bros. Records)

    Picked by Amy Pettifer

  • Read our review of The Voyager

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Rob Mazurek and Black Cube SP - 'Return The Tides', from Return The Tides: Ascension Suite and Holy Ghost
    (Cuneiform Records)

    Picked by Paul Tucker

    Metro Boomin feat. Future & Young Thug - 'Chanel Vintage'
    (Propane Media/We Global)

    Picked by Gary Suarez

    Mila J - 'Smoke, Drink, Break Up', from M.I.L.A. EP
    (Motown Records)

    Picked by Alex Macpherson

  • Read Alex Macpherson's 2014 R&B round-up, featuring Mila J
  • Hudson Mohawke - 'Chimes', from Chimes EP
    (Warp Records)

    Picked by Ian Crichton

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Mumdance feat. Novelist - 'Take Time', from 'Take Time' 12"
    (Rinse)

    Picked by Rory Gibb

  • Read our interview with Mumdance
  • Nao feat. A.K. Paul - 'So Good', from So Good EP
    (Little Tokyo Recordings)

    Picked by Tom Hughes

    Nightingales - 'Dumb And Drummer', from For Fuck's Sake
    (self-released)

    Picked by Ged Babey

    Nurse With Wound - 'Perfectly Unmingled And Misplaced', from Bar Maldoror reissue
    (United Jnana)

    Picked by Russell Cuzner

  • Read Russell Cuzner reviewing Bar Maldoror in his Rum Music column

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • O.T. Genasis - 'CoCo'
    (Atlantic/The Conglomerate Entertainment)

    Picked by Gary Suarez

    Tara Jane O'Neil - 'This Morning Glory', from Where Shine New Lights
    (Kranky)

    Picked by Mat Colegate

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Conor Oberst - 'Common Knowledge', from Upside Down Mountain
    (Nonesuch)

    Picked by James Skinner

  • Read our review of Upside Down Mountain

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Objekt - 'Ganzfeld', from 'Hypnagogia' 12"
    (Leisure System)

    Picked by Sophie Coletta

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Okmalumkoolkat - 'Allblackblackkat', from Holy Oxygen I EP
    (Affine Records)

    Picked by Laurie Tuffrey

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Pianos Become The Teeth - 'Lesions', from Keep You
    (Epitaph)

    Picked by Karl Smith

    Popcaan - 'System', from Where We Come From
    (Mixpak Records)

    Picked by Charlie Frame

    Powell - 'So We Went Electric', from Club Music EP
    (Diagonal)

    Picked by Rory Gibb

  • Read our interview with Powell

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Powell feat. Russell Haswell - 'Maniac', from Club Music EP
    (Diagonal)

    Picked by David McKenna

    Prostitutes - 'Late To Take It Light', from Nouveauree EP
    (Night School)

    Picked by Sophie Coletta

  • Read our interview with Prostitutes

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • QT - 'Hey QT'
    (XL Recordings)

    Picked by Emily Bick

    The Radio Dept. - 'Death to Fascism'
    (Labrador Records)

    Picked by Ian Crichton

    Real Lies - 'Dab Housing', from 'North Circular/Dab Housing' 12"
    (Marathon Artists)

    Picked by Tom Hughes

  • Read our interview with Real Lies

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Lana Del Rey - 'Shades Of Cool', from Ultraviolence
    (Polydor/Interscope Records)

    Picked by Chris Roberts

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Rich Gang feat. Yung Thugga & Rich Homie Quan - 'Lifestyle'
    (Cash Money Records)

    Picked by Kyle Ellison

    Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars - 'Uptown Funk'
    (Sony Music Entertainment UK )

    Picked by Jack Pudwell

    Sandman & Riverside feat. Jeremy Ellis - 'Into Your Story (Kai Alce Distinctive Vocal Mix)', from 'Into Your Story (Kai Alce DISTINCTIVE Remix)' 12"
    (Fast Forward)

    Picked by Paul Smith

    Noura Mint Seymali - 'Tzenni', from Tzenni
    (Glitterbeat)

    Picked by Stewart Smith

  • Read our interview with Noura Mint Seymali

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Shabazz Palaces - '#Cake', from Lese Majesty
    (Sub Pop)

    Picked by Peter Bebergal

  • Read our interview with Shabazz Palaces' Ishmael Butler

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Skepta & JME - 'That's Not Me'
    (Boy Better Know)

    Picked by Ringo P Stacey

    Slum Of Legs - 'Begin To Dissolve'
    (Tuff Enuff)

    Picked by John Doran

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Smoke Fairies - 'Eclipse Them All', from Smoke Fairies
    (Full Time Hobby)

    Picked by Joe Banks

  • Read our review of Smoke Fairies

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • St Vincent - 'Digital Witness', from St Vincent
    (Loma Vista/Caroline International Ltd.)

    Picked by Jeremy Allen

  • Read our interview with St Vincent and our review of St Vincent

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Andy Stott - 'Science And Industry', from Faith In Strangers
    (Modern Love)

    Picked by Rich Hughes

  • Read our review of Faith In Strangers

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Swans - 'A Little God In My Hands', from To Be Kind
    (Mute/Young God Records)

    Picked by Chad Parkhill

  • Read our interview with Swans' Michael Gira and our review of To Be Kind

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Swans - 'Oxygen', from To Be Kind
    (Mute/Young God Records)

    Picked by Paul Tucker

    Taman Shud - 'The Ziggurat, A Mirage', from The Fat White Family split 10"
    (Trashmouth Records)

    Picked by Joe Banks

  • Read our interview with Taman Shud

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Thalia Zedek Band - 'Fell So Hard', from Six EP
    (Thrill Jockey)

    Picked by Nick Hutchings

  • Read our interview with Thalia Zedek

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Tirzah - 'Style', from No Romance EP
    (Greco-Roman)

    Picked by David McKenna

    tUnE-yArDs - 'Water Fountain', from Nikki Nack
    (4AD)

    Picked by Chad Parkhill

    Tweedy - 'Love Like A Wire' (Live at WFUV)

    Picked by Laurie Tuffrey

  • Read our interview with Jeff Tweedy
  • Tweedy - 'Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood', from Sukierae
    (dBpm Records/Anti-)

    Picked by Rich Hughes

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Vessel - 'Red Sex', from Punish, Honey
    (Tri Angle)

    Picked by Luke Turner

  • Read our review of Punish, Honey

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Scott Walker & Sunn O))) - 'Brando', from Soused
    (4AD)

    Picked by Harry Sword

  • Read our interview with Scott Walker

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Jane Weaver - 'Don’t Take My Soul', from The Silver Globe
    (Finders Keepers Records/Bird Records)

    Picked by John Doran

  • Read our interview with Jane Weaver

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records
  • Zammuto - 'IO', from Anchor
    (Temporary Residence Limited)

    Picked by Nick Reed

  • Read our review of Anchor

  • Buy on vinyl or CD from Norman Records