Albert Ayler Holy Ghost: Rare & Unreleased Recordings (1962-70) (Revenant)
Sonic Youth Sonic Nurse (Geffen)
Fennesz Venice (Touch)
Deathprod Deathprod Box (Rune Grammofon)
Animal Collective Sung Tongs (Fat Cat)
Devendra Banhart Rejoice In The Hands (XL)
Wolf Eyes Burned Mind (Sub Pop)
Wilco A Ghost Is Born (Nonesuch)
PG Six The Well Of Memory (Amish)
Einstürzende Neubauten Perpetuum Mobile (Mute)
Arthur Russell Calling Out Of Context (Audika)
Ellen Fullman & Konrad Sprenger Ort (Choose)
Brian Wilson Presents Smile (Nonesuch)
Akira Rabelais Spellewauernygesherde (Samadhi Sound)
Radian Juxtaposition (Thrill Jockey)
Bark Psychosis Codename: Dustsucker (Fire)
Dizzee Rascal Showtime (XL)
Keiji Haino Black Blues (Les Disques Du Soleil Et De L'Acier)
Björk Medúlla (One Little Indian)
Ghost Hypnotic Underworld (Drag City)
Zeena Parkins & Ikue Mori Phantom Orchard (Mego)
cLOUDDEAD Ten (Big Dada)
Sunburned Hand Of The Man Rare Wood (Spirit Of Orr)
Ramon Sender Worldfood (Locust)
Alvin Curran Lost Marbles (Tzadik)
Madvillain Madvillainy (Stones Throw)
Steve Harris & Zaum Above Our Heads The Sky Splits Open (Slam)
The Hafler Trio How To Slice A Loaf Of Bread (Phonometrography)
Electrelane The Power Out (Too Pure)
Deerhoof Milk Man (Kill Rock Stars)
Antena Camino Del Sol (Numero Group)
MV + EE Lunar Blues (Child Of Microtones)
Kazuo Imai Far & Wee (PSF)
The Streets A Grand Don't Come For Free (697 Recordings)
Kanye West The College Dropout (Roc-A-Fella)
Boredoms Seadrum/House Of Sun (Warners Japan)
Sunn0))) White 2 (Southern Lord)
Arcade Fire Funeral (Merge)
Anthony Braxton Quartet 23 Standards (Quartet) 2003 (Leo)
Rammellzee Bi-Conicals Of The Rammellzee (Gomma)
Jack Rose Raag Manifestos (Vhf/Eclipse)
Stereolab Margarine Eclipse (Duophonic UHF)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus (Mute)
Comets On Fire Blue Cathedral (Sub Pop)
Keiji Haino 'Next' Let's Try Changing The Shape (Swordfish)
Niobe Voodooluba (Sonig)
Soft Pink Truth Do You Want New Wave Or Do You Want The Soft Pink Truth? (Soundslike)
Thalia Zedek Trust Not Those In Whom Without Some Touch Of Madness (Thrill Jockey)
Tucker Martine Broken Hearted Dragonflies: Insect Electronica From Southeast Asia (Sublime Frequencies)
Black Dice Creature Comforts (DFA)

Comets On Fire Blue Cathedral (Sub Pop)
Corrupted Se Hace Por Los Sueños Asesinos (HG)
Cul De Sac & Damo Suzuki Abhayamudra (Strange Attractors Audio House)
Coco Rosie La Maison De Mon Rêve (Touch & Go)
Excepter Ka (Fusetron)
Josephine Foster & The Supposed All The Leaves Are Gone (Locust Music)
My Cat Is An Alien/Various From The Earth To The Spheres Split LP Series Vols 1-3 (Opax)
The Stars Will (Pedal)
Thee Silver Mountain Reveries Pretty Little Lightning Paw (Constellation)
Trapist Ballroom (Thrill Jockey)

Ada Blondie (Areal)
Steve Barnes Cosmic Sandwich (MBF Ltd)
Donnacha Costello Colour Series (Minimise)
Diplo & MIA Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol 1 (Hollertronix)
Le Dust Sucker Le Dust Sucker (Plong!)
Abe Duque & Blake Baxter What Happened (Abe Duque)
Recloose Cardiology (Isolee Remix) (Playhouse)
Ricardo Villalobos Thé Au Harem (D'Archimedes)
Tim Wright The Ride (Luciano mix) (NovaMute)
Robag Wruhme Wuzzlebud "KK" (Musik Krause)

Mikey Dread African Anthem Deluxe Edition (Auralux)
Dub Trio Exploring The Dangers Of (ROIR)
Hightone Bass Temperature (Jarring Effects)
Keith Hudson Flesh Of My Skin, Blood Of My Blood (Basic Replay)
Iration Steppers Dubs From The Higher Regionz (Dubhead)
Wayne Jarrett Showcase Vol 1 (Wackies)
Little Tempo Fireblender (Speedstar Records/M Records)
Lee Perry Dub-Triptych (Trojan)
Sip-A-Cup Family Hail Rastafari Dub (Sip-A-Cup)
Various Aquarius Rock: The Hip Reggae World Of Herman Chin-Loy (Pressure Sounds)

Bola Gnayse (Skam)
Coil Black Antlers (Threshold House)
Dielectric Minimalist All-Stars Dielectric Minimalist All-Stars (Dielectric)
Fennesz Venice (Touch)
Fourcolour Water Mirror (Apestaartje)
Icarus I Tweet The Birdy Electric (Leaf)
Niobe Voodooluba (Sonig)
Pan Sonic Kesto (Blast First)
Akira Rabelais Spellewauernygesherde (Samadhi Sound)
Martin Siewert No Need To Be Lonesome (Mosz)

Azzddine with Bill Laswell Massafat (Barbarity)
Tsehaytu Beraki - Selam (Terp)
Ostad Elahi The Celestial Music Of Ostad Elahi (Le Chant Du Monde)
Kayhan Kalhor & Ali Akbar Moradi In The Mirror Of The Sky (World Village)
Tucker Martine Broken Hearted Dragonflies: Insect Electronica From South East Asia (Sublime Frequencies)
Various Bats' I Son: The Music Of The Highlands Of Chiapas, Mexico (Latitude)
Various Cambodian Cassette Archives: Khmer Folk And Pop Music Vol 1
(Sublime Frequencies)
Various Leaf Music Drunks Distant Drums: Recordings From Laos, Cambodia, Thailand And Myanmar (Anomalous)
Various Radio India: The Eternal Dream Of Sound (Sublime Frequencies)
Various Suburban Bucharest (Trikont)

Connoisseurs UV/R&B (Dis-Joint)
Danger Mouse Grey Album (promo)
Diplo Florida (Big Dada)
Madvillain Madvillainy (Stones Throw)
The Federation Hyphy (Virgin)
Jadakiss Why? (Interscope)
Rob Sonic Telicatessan (Definitive Jux)
Sixtoo featuring Damo Suzuki Storm Clouds And Silver Linings (Ninja Tune)
Too Short Burn Rubber (Jive)
Kanye West College Dropout (Roc-A-Fella)

Alterations Voila! Enough (Unheard Music Series)
Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake Back Together Again (Thrill Jockey)
Gail Brand & Morgan Guberman Ballgames And Crazy (Emanem)
John Butcher & Toshimaru Nakamura Cavern With Nightlife (Weight Of Wax)
Steve Harris & Zaum Above Our Heads The Sky Splits Open (Slam)
Charlotte Hug & Chantale Laplante Brilliant Days (For 4 Ears)
Mattin & Radu Malfatti Whitenoise (WMO/R)
+minus A Rainy Koran Verse (trente oiseaux)
Alex Von Schlippenbach Broomriding (Psi)
John Tilbury & Eddie Prévost Discrete Moments (Matchless)

Harrison Birtwistle Theseus Game (Deutsche Grammophon)
Michael Von Biel Michael Von Biel (Edition RZ)
Henry Brant The Henry Brant Collection Vol 1 (Innova)
Cornelius Cardew Material (hat HUT)
James Dillon A Book Of Elements (NMC)
Morton Feldman Patterns In A Chromatic Field (Tzadik)
Morton Feldman Triadic Memories (Mode)
György Ligeti The Ligeti Project Vol 5 (Teldec)
James Tenney Postal Pieces (New World)
Christian Wolff (Re): Making Music (Mode)

Steve Beresford I Shall Become A Bat (Qbico)
Andrew Chalk Fall In The Wake Of A Flawless Landscape (Three Poplars)
Dead Machines Human Brain Wasting Syndrome (Ecstatic Peace)
John Duncan & Edvard Graham Lewis Presence (All Questions)
Ellen Fullman Staggered Stasis (Anomalous)
Double Leopards Urban Concussion (Qbico)
The Hafler Trio How To Slice A Loaf Of Bread (Phonometrography)
Mats Gustafsson/Sonic Youth with Friends Hidros 3 (Smalltown Supersound)
Norbert Moslang lat_nc_ (For 4 Ears)
Wolf Eyes & Smegma The Beast (De Stijl)

Afro Baby: The Evolution Of The Afro-Sound In Nigeria 1970-79 (Soundway)
Chicago Soul: Electric Blues, Funk & Soul (Soul Jazz)
Compilation #2 (DFA)
Crooklyn Dub Outernational Presents Certified Dope Vol 4: Babylon's Burning (Wordsound)
Difficult Easy Listening (Nonplace)
Dread Meets B-Boys Downtown: The HipHop Sound Of New York 81-82 (Heavenly)
England's Dreaming (Trikont)
Guitar Series Vols I & II (Table Of The Elements)
Haunted Weather: Music, Silence & Memory (Staubgold)
Insight (Xing-wu)
Kompakt 100 (Kompakt)
Pisa 1980 Improvisors Symposium (Psi)
Post Office 2 (Telegraph)
Rio Baile Funk: Favela Booty Beats (Essay)
Roll And Tumble Blues: A History Of Slide Guitar (Indigo)
Rough Trade Counter Culture (Mute)
Split Series 9-16 (Fat Cat)
Studio One Dub (Soul Jazz)
The Truman And Eisenhower Blues: African-American Blues And Gospel Songs 1945-60 (Agram Blues)
Undecided (PSF)

A Certain Ratio To Each... (Universal Sound)
Masaki Batoh Collected Works 95-96 (Drag City)
Blurt Let There Be Blurt Vol 1: The Fish Needs A Bike (Salamander)
Boredoms Chocolate Synthesizer (Very Friendly)
Burning Spear Sounds From The Burning Spear (Soul Jazz)
Can Monster Movie/Tago Mago/Ege Bamyasi/Soundtracks Remastered Editions (Spoon/Mute)
DNA DNA On DNA (No More)
Einstürzende Neubauten Kalte Sterne: Early Recordings (Mute)
The Fall Grotesque Deluxe Edition (Sanctuary)
Gamelan Son Of Lion The Complete Gamelan In The New World (Locust)
Orlando Julius & His Afro Sounders Orlando's Afro Ideas 1969-72 (Ekosound)
Mars The Complete Studio Recordings: NYC 1977-78 (G3G Records/Spooky Sound)
The New Blockaders Changez Les Blockeurs: 21st Anniversary Edition (Vinyl On Demand)
Organum Vacant Lights/Rara Avis (Die Stadt)
Harry Partch The Harry Partch Collection Vols 1 & 2 (New World)
The People Band 1968 (Emanem)
Popul Vuh Affenstunde (Spalax)
Dean Roberts And The Black Moths Play The Grand Cinema (Staubgold)
Jack Rose Two Originals Of... (Beautiful Happiness/Vhf)
Sun Ra Disco 3000 (Art Yard)
Cecil Taylor Conquistador! (Blue Note)
Die Tödliche Doris Strudelsölle: Die Tödliche Doris Tape Releases (Vinyl On Demand)
Tortoise Millions Now Living Will Never Die (Thrill Jockey)
Upsetters 14 Dub Blackboard Jungle (Auralux)
Virgin Prunes A New Form Of Beauty (Grey Area Of Mute)

The Electorate

This year's charts were compiled from the votes of the following contributors (each contributor's individual record of the year is shown in brackets): Steve Barker (Albert Ayler Holy Ghost), Clive Bell (The Magnetic Fields I), Marcus Boon (Various Radio Morocco), Ben Borthwick (Holkham - Komatta Saru), Philip Clark (Albert Ayler - Holy Ghost), Mia Clarke (A Hawk And A Hacksaw A Hawk And A Hacksaw), Julian Cowley (Beth Anderson Peachy Keen-O), Christoph Cox (Various Radio Java), Alan Cummings (The Stars Will), Geeta Dayal (Dizzee Rascal Showtime), Phil England (The Ex Turn), Susanna Glaser (Mice Parade Obrigado Saudade), Louise Gray (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy Sings Greatest Palace Music), Andy Hamilton (Michiel Scheen Quartet Dance, My Dear?), Jim Haynes (The Hafler Trio How To Slice A Loaf Of Bread Part I), Richard Henderson (Arto Lindsay Salt), Tony Herrington (Albert Ayler Holy Ghost), Hua Hsu (Dungen Ta Det Lungt), Rahma Khazam (Morton Feldman Triadic Memories), David Keenan (MV & EE Lunar Blues), Biba Kopf (Most Most Most), Art Lange (Various Music From The ONCE Festival 1961-66), Alan Licht (Bill Fay From The Bottom Of An Old Grandfather Clock), David Mandl (Albert Ayler Holy Ghost), Brian Marley (+Minus A Rainy Koran Verse), Marc Masters (Gang Gang Dance Gang Gang Dance), Keith Moliné (Arm Open Reminder), Brian Morton (Bruce Russell Los Desastres De Las Guerras), John Mulvey (Sufjan Stevens 7 Swans), Anne Hilde Neset (Sonic Youth Sonic Nurse), Edwin Pouncey (Albert Ayler Holy Ghost), Mosi Reeves (M83 Dead Cities, Red Seas, And Lost Ghosts), Simon Reynolds (Dizzee Rascal Showtime), Tom Ridge (Radian Juxtaposition), Chris Sharp (Jóhan Jóhannsson Virthulegu Forsetar), Nick Southgate (Pharaoh Overlord The Battle Of The Axehammer), David Stubbs (Fennesz Venice), Dave Tomkins (Rob Sonic Telicatessan), Dan Warburton (Akira Rabelais Spellwauerynsherde), Ben Watson (THF Drenching Fight-Bus 4 Life), Barry Witherden (Steve Harris & Zaum Above Our Head The Sky Splits Open), Rob Young (Bark Psychosis Codename: Dustsucker)