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Mikael
Kahrle
Albums
Ladytron: ”Gravity the Seducer”
This one grew on my a lot. Melody and harmony magic.
Necro Facility: ”Wintermute”
Industrial pop perfection.
Rome: ”Die Aesthetik der Herrschaftsfreiheit”
First a long break, then three albums in one shot. I'm one happy fan.
Haujobb: ”New World March”
German sound engineering at its best. Behind a great looking record cover image, a sonic adventure awaits.
Henric de la Cour: ”Henric de la Cour”
I loved early Yvonne and when de la Cour decides to make an electronic solo album on Progress Productions I'm listening again - and I really like what I hear.
Austra: ”Feel It Break”
Canadian newcomers that sound Scandinavian. Great vocals and unpolished electronic songs that send shivers down my spine.
Solar Fake: "Frontiers"
This kind of electronic darkwave can only be made in Germany. This is how it's done.
Mr Jones Machine: "Monokrom"
A little bit disappointing here and there, but nevertheless one of Sweden's finest synthpop acts returns in style.
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross: ”The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Soundtrack”
I haven't seen the movie - but the soundtrack is more than sufficient.
Mirrors: ”Lights and Offerings”
British pop masterpieces in a dark suit.
Songs
Austra: "The Beat and the Pulse"
They make it sound so simple. Cool and magnetic.
Ladytron: "Ace of Hz"
A solid song from a solid album.
Haujobb: ”Letting the Demons Sleep”
Atmospheric and sad, rhythmic and robotic at he same time. Not on the album (but on the single).
Necro Facility: “Fall Apart”
On an album full of good songs, I pick one that I never get tired of.
Vanbot: ”Make Me Break Me”
User friendly synthpop energy.
Live
artists
Hocico
An irresistable force live.
Newcomers
Austra
Like a breath of fresh air in the avantgarde synthpop genre.
Pakt
The debut EP delvers basic EBM pop and beats the latest And One efforts (that's quite easy though).
Artists
Nivek Ogre
Still going strong and delivered not one, but two quite good albums 2011 (Ohgr and Skinny Puppy).
Henric de la Cour
An old pro who has found the spark again.
Niklas
Forsberg
Albums
Mirrors: "Lights and Offerings"
Another British outfit in the borderland between O.M.D., early Depeche Mode and contemporary electro. Do we really need this? Without a doubt.
Mirko Hirsch: "Obsession"
New italo disco star, mixing today's dance with old school italo.
047: "Elva"
Finally a band that embraces my hopes. Introducing vocalists have broadened and deepened their sound.
Zynic: "Fire Walk with Me"
Just a few English lessons away from perfection.
VNV Nation: "Automatic"
A light, atmospheric return to form by Ronan and Mark. A few tracks are their best ever.
Henric de la Cour: "Henric de la Cour"
Lots of image and hype, but Henric delivers on all levels.
Mr Jones Machine: "Monokrom"
Jarmo's voice will always be irresistable, even if some of the acoustic elements didn't sit quite right with me.
Solar Fake: "Frontiers"
With limbs in goth, electropop and EBM, Solar Fake manages to not sound scattered. A sincerely potent cocktail.
Blancmange: "Blanc Burn"
A somewhat uneven return from the eternally under-rated British duo. Some real gems hidden on this, their first studio album since the mid-80:s.
Soft Metals: "Soft Metals"
Nice to see the Americans challenge all the talented electropop bands of Europe. Think Marsheaux with an edge.
Songs
Vision Talk: "Safe and Sound"
Catchy, cloud-fluffy synthpop as always. Let's see what their new vocalist can do for them this year.
Lui$: "D.J. Control"
80:s italo icon Lui$ crashed back into the scene with a superb, ultra melodic dance floor bomb.
Mr Jones Machine feat Sussie: "De månbleka tingen"
Cold and warmth mixed beautifully.
Ladytron: "Ace of Hz"
A reminder of their origins and gems like "Playgirl" and "Seventeen".
Parralox: "Ancient Times"
Australian electropop with force enough to conquer the world.
Live artists
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Newcomers
Austra
Edgy image and ultracool sound.
Zynic
Spectacular song writing. Synthpop magic.
Soft Metals
American, breezy pop duo with roots in house, italo disco ad synthpop.
Artists
Henric de la Cour
Continuing, and electronically developing, the desperate legacy of Yvonne.
VNV Nation
Back with victory and vengeance.
Johan
Carlsson
Albums
Mirrors: “Fear of Drowning”
Elegant and intriguing synthpop from the UK with quality songwriting and a unique sound.
Komor Kommando: “Oil, Steel & Rhythm”
In the “heavy industrial beats” genre there wasn’t much competition this year, at least for me. Mr Komor created hard electro with lots of atmosphere.
IAMX: “Volatile Times”
Chris Corner still knows how to pull my heartstrings. Another great album from the wicked master of cabaret-electro-pop-rock.
Blue Stahli: “Blue Stahli”
Celldwellers protege crashed onto the scene with a bang with his Klayton (Celldweller) produced debut album. Fantastic, catchy electronic rock.
047: “Elva”
047 almost ditched their bitpop origins completely on this album save for a few tracks, but their new synthpop direction resulted in electronic bliss.
M83: “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming”
A stupendously ambitious double album that manages to stay coherent and interesting throughout. Truly fascinating stuff, and quite possibly my album of the year.
Necro Facility: “Wintermute”
Oscar and Henrik decided to not only move forward, they decided to do a lightspeed jump, creating industrial pop in the process.
Haujobb: “New World March”
The aural architects from Germany are back again, with a phenomenally strong album. Dark, twisted, experimental synthpop.
Nero: “Welcome Reality”
Electro/dubstep with pop sensibilities that hit the charts in their native UK. Varied, catchy and very danceable.
Decree: “Fateless”
After a long wait we finally got a new album from Chris Peterson and his group of friends. And a marvellous one it is too! Made with tremendous skill, and manages to be both more melodic and heavier than its predecessor.
Songs
Claes Rosen: “Chimera”
Claes Rosen creates supremely danceable melodic instrumental house, often with pretty obvious italo disco influences. This furious ditty can compare bleeps with the best of them.
Necro Facility: “Fall Apart”
A pop song based on breakbeat and industrial sounds like a bit like a contradiction, but Necro Facility makes it work.
Celldweller: “Gift For You”
Having almost created his own genre, Klayton here presents a slower, darker and more pure electronic piece.
M83: “Wait”
Embracing the constrained power of a star going supernova, this track just grows and grows.
Skrillex: “First of the Year - Equinox”
The world is divided into two camps. Those who love Skrillex, and those who hate him. Me? I love this track for all its insane chaos.
Live artists
Jean-Michel Jarre
Lasers, a truckload of old analogue synths, big hair, keytars, theremins, synth solos, massive 10 minute long experimentations, and a wildly enthusiastic Jean-Michel. What more can you want?
Devin Townsend
This is probably one of my top five gigs ever. I just had such a great time in Devin’s company. Great audience interactions, and a performance with extremely funny banter, weird grimaces and supreme guitar wizardry.
IAMX
Once again, Chris brought his eclectic bunch of musicians to Stockholm, and once again he performed his ass off. He really brings it.
Newcomers
Skrillex
Even if it’s not really dubstep (more like electro), Skrillex should probably be attributed to putting the genre on the map, with a bunch of high profile remixes under his belt. He even collaborated with Korn on their latest album.
Blue Stahli
Perhaps not strictly a newcomer as he’s previously released an album of shorter tracks for commercials, tv and movies, but this year we saw the debut full length album. And it was great!
Zynic
Their debut album “Fire Walk With Me” features strong, melodic synthpop in the vein we seldom see these days.
Artists
M83
This year everyone loves M83, and it’s not hard to understand. They even managed to make a sax solo sound cool!
Celldweller
Even though his second album isn’t out completely until March 2012, Klayton still has managed to release some of it in portions. He has also released a metric tonne of remixes, some great remixes for others, remade songs for his DJ set and did a dubstep/metal mashup of Metallica and Black Sabbath. Oh, and he produced Blue Stahli.
Necro Facility
Stepping out of their comfort zone and challenging the entire genre. Some love it, some feel that they’ve sold out. I love it.
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Mike
Whyte
Albums
Battles: "Gloss Drop"
The sound of a band resharpening their edge following the loss of one of their rank - making them more cutting than ever.
Katy B: "On a Mission"
Edgy pop from an act likely to go from strength to strength - great voice with on the money production - a vital 2011 sound.
LCD Soundsystem: "The London Sessions"
Possibly the last release ever from LCD Soundsystem - if so - what a way to sign off, especially the massive "Drunk Girls".
James Blake: "James Blake"
"Limit to Your Love" aside - this album ticks all the right boxes and in turn sent Mr. Blake straight into the limelight.
The Horrors: "Skying"
Another surprise from the ever changing chameleons of indie - this album being their most chart friendly yet.
Bjork: "Biophilia"
Not so much an album of surprises - but what Bjork does well, very few people can touch.
Apparat: "The Devil's Walk"
An album I was very pleased to have heard - some of the most emotional and emotive electronic music you're ever likely to hear.
Various Artists: "Ahk-Toong Bay-Bi Covered"
Who would have thought a legendary album like "Achtung Baby" by U2 could be made, well, even more legendary? Covers that sometimes even surpass the original.
Little Dragon: "Ritual Union"
An album that got better on every listening - infectious as a rash - my album of the year.
Songs
Niki Minaj: "Super Bass"
Again - a song that crawled into my ear and made me love it despite myself - sorry!
LCD Tyler the Creator: "Yonkers"
Mad - quite simply brilliantly mad!
Battles: "Ice Cream"
Another mad track - from the ice cream jingle at the beginning to the break down that brings in the song proper - soon has you kerking around in joyful spasms!
Little Dragon: "Little Man"
Admittedly I played it until I couldn't listen to it anymore - but this track really brought Little Dragon to my attention in 2011, and I'm glad it did!
Live Artists
Underworld
Headlined Sonar 2011, and nearly blew the roof off the place - many people left deliriously happy - as did I.
Little Dragon
I know my list may seem biased towards this Swedish band - but seeing them live led me towards their music - simply a must see.
Flying Lotus
Just gets better and better - appearing in my best of two-years running - and worth the place more than ever before - took "Nightmare Before Xmas" apart!
Newcomers
Katy B
Great introduction from this Londoner - expecting even more in the coming years.
James Blake
Came from seemingly out of nowhere to produce an album seemingly everybody was playing in 2011.
Artists
Little Dragon
Sorry but if you read my previous comments on this band, how could they not be here. Expect them to get even bigger in the coming years.
The Horrors
A big year from them - and I believe they will not stop there - could well make it really big in 2012.
Flying Lotus
So talented it must make a lot of similar producers want to give up and get a day job - simply incredible.
Peter Marchione
Albums
Paul Kendall: "Angleterror"
Electronic music with integrity is always something worth paying attention to. Please have a listen to this album, you wont regret it.
Ladytron: "Gravity the Seducer"
Many of us thought we had cracked to code behind Ladytron. "Gravity the Seducer" showed us the opposite.
Jonathan Johansson: "Klagomuren"
I finally had to force myself to stop repeating this album.
Necro Facility: "Wintermute"
When their debut album hit the streets some years ago some people (including myself) called these boys "Skinny Puppy Teens". Now the boys have turned into men and I think that it might be about time for some Canadians to consider retiring.
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross: "The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo Soundtrack"
There are soundtracks that simply won't work outside the cinema and there are those who do. This one surely is one of the latter!
Austra: "Feel It Break"
This was a new acquaintance for me during 2011 and I am so happy that I'm now aware of Austra.
The Raveonettes: "Raven in the Grave"
Nothing can keep me from loving this album.
Various Artists: "Ahk-Toong Bay-Bi Covered"
"Achtung Baby" not only made me discover U2 but was also an important step for me to start listening to music that was not electronic. This cover album, released by Q Magazine, features many favourite artists of Release Magazine and their tributes are overall totally flawless.
Florence + The Machine: "Ceremonials"
Less will never be more and this band is living proof.
Songs
The Bookhouse Boys: "With You"
Listening to this song and watching the video too often may actually turn you into a David Lynch character.
047: "Let You Go" (featuring Tomas Halberstad)
There must have been commercial or political reasons behind the fact that this song wasn't a huge, global hit. But, who cares - we know it's great anyway, don't we?
Örnsberg: "Götgatan"
Was New Order reborn in the surroundings of Stockholm? I'm convinced!
The Raveonettes: "Ignite"
The smashing melody and the Neubauten styled percussion during the first bars was enough for me to know that this was one of last years' best songs already in the beginning of 2011.
Henric de la Cour: "Dracula"
Sweden's indie frontman reinvents himself as an electronic vampire so well that he gets away with it completely.
Live artists
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Newcomers
Austra
Their debut album presented well crafted pop music of a unique, obscure blend with different references that I love. What could go wrong? The'd better be recording new songs. I demand a new album already!
Artists
PJ Harvey
Nothing she releases is ever redundant. In times of one hit hypes she symbolises the real art within music.
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