2016_Dokk's top 100 plays of the year according to iTunes

Some interesting stuff this year from Micachu, Sophie, Andy Stott, The Fall, Ed Blaney, and even Brian Eno had an engaging new solo album out. A special mention to Allie Goertz for her album "Sad Dance Songs", inspired by the cartoon series "Rick and Morty", which is simultaneously goofy and haunting - quite an achievement.

 

Also this year I finally caught up with the joys of Chris & Cosey, Little Scream, Black Randy and the Metrosquad, Judy Nylon, Nikki Colk's KaitO, and Alternative TV.  

But without a doubt my find of the year was Kill Alters, who technically had I discovered the year before with their Godmode cassette release, but it was only recently I really embraced this. Singularly oppressive and cathartic, I made sure I saw them perform live during their micro tour of NYC. Though video isn't necessarily their forte, here's a track from their 2016 EP "No Self Helps"...

Speaking of live music, I already have my tix for Sleaford Mods in Brooklyn, playing at Warsaw in March. Maybe I'll see you there : )

Anyway, here it is, my list of the top 100 tracks that made 2016 for me, in order of iTunes plays. Judge away, I don't care...

#/Title/Performer/Plays

1/Do You Really Want Some/Gramme/47

2/Spectacle (All Gone Pete Tong Edit)/Hiatus (Idris Elba)/45

3/I'm Sorry (Mr. Poopy Butthole)/AllieGoertz/38

4/Born in the Echoes/The Chemical Brothers/30

5/Any God of Yours/Archy Marshall/29

6/Day Job/Sego/28

7/Love as a Weapon/Little Scream/27

8/Fallen (Blanck Mass Remix)/John Carpenter/24

9/Go/KaitO/24

10/Just Like We Never Said Goodbye/SOPHIE/23

11/I'm Not Dancing/Tirzah/23

12/King's Lead Hat/Brian Eno/21

13/Can't Get Blue Monday Out Of My Head/Kylie Minogue/21

14/Absence/Infantjoy/20

15/Never Let It End (Hardway Bros Remix)/Museum Of Love/20

16/Breakfast Edge/Ty Segall/20

17/Lost Again/Yello/20

18/Untouchable (Remix) [feat. Björk]/Ghostigital/19

19/End of the Trail/Shit Robot/18

20/Lose Control (ft Nancy Whang)/Shit Robot/18

21/R.A.F (Ft. Brian Eno)/Snatch/18

22/Peonies/Arca/17

23/Sinister/Frankie Cosmos/17

24/Boots/Herbert/17

25/Lazy Sunday/The Small Faces/17

26/New Romantic/Andy Stott/16

27/Better Have a Drink to Think/Clarke Hartnoll/16

28/Unwell/dadahack/16

29/All Leave Cancelled (X)/The Fall/16

30/I'm So Humble (feat. Adam Levine)/The Lonely Island/16

31/Amateur Hour/Sparks/16

32/Ain't That A Kick In The Head/Dean Martin/15

33/Logan's Run/Unkle With South/15

34/Why Are People Grudgeful?/The Fall/14

35/(But) Can We Fry Our (Bloody) Eyes Here (feat. Soley)/Ghostigital/14

36/This is Helena/Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark/14

37/The Fringe/Sego/14

38/Listenin' To The Records On My Wall/Skream/14

39/Boum/Charles Trenet/13

40/Secrets (ft. Jenny Shuttleworth)/Ed Blaney/13

41/Golden Phone/Micachu/13

42/Supermoon/Simian Mobile Disco/13

43/Narcotourists/Slam Vs. Unkle/13

44/Compute/Soulwax/13

45/Better Days (ft Micachu)/Speech Debelle/13

46/Basic Space (Mathes Remix)/The xx/13

47/Sessomatto/Armando Trovaioli/12

48/Night Fever/Bee Gees/12

49/Third Uncle/Brian Eno/12

50/Welcome to the Pleasure Dome/Frankie Goes To Hollywood/12

51/Blue Murder/Image Of A Group/12

52/Separator (Anstam RMX)/Radiohead/12

53/Space Race/Shit Robot/12

54/I Travel/Simple Minds/12

55/Knas/Steve Angello/12

56/Anything/Suburban Lawns/12

57/I Exhale/Underworld/12

58/Bulletproof (Unkle Remix)/Breakbeat Era/11

59/Fuzzy Dunlop/dadahack/11

60/Cunning/Download/11

61/Rough Steez/Fuck Buttons/11

62/Ce N'est Pas Fini!/Image Of A Group/11

63/The Beat Within/Infantjoy/11

64/Thwipside/KaitO/11

65/I Dare You (Demdike Stare Edit)/MICACHU/11

66/Let's All Chant/Michael Zager Band/11

67/Capital G [Paul Epworth Phones 666 Revolutions Mix)/Nine Inch Nails/11

68/Undenied/Portishead/11

69/Echo Of Frozen Faces/Propaganda/11

70/Lovelight (Soulwax Ravelight Dub)/Robbie Williams/11

71/Mortimer's Blues/Adia Victoria/10

72/Bromance (Original Mix)/Avicii/10

73/I Slept In An Arcade/Black Randy and the Metrosquad/10

74/Come to Dust/Boards Of Canada/10

75/Mea Culpa/Brian Eno & David Byrne/10

76/Spinning Away/Brian Eno & John Cale/10

77/Wo Ha/The Chemical Brothers/10

78/My Forbidden Lover/Chic/10

79/Do-A Bong/Clarke Hartnoll/10

80/Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)/David Bowie/10

81/Moss Garden/David Bowie/10

82/Moth/Download/10

83/Daddy's Car/Eno & Hyde/10

84/Wise Ol' Man (Edit)/The Fall/10

85/Dedication (Remix)/The Fall/10

86/Discord/Fire Engines/10

87/One September Monday/Frankie Goes To Hollywood/10

88/Nekrophilologie [feat. Bob Logg Iii]/Ghostigital/10

89/Shoot Shoot/KaitO/10

90/Ego Swim/KILL ALTERS/10

91/Bootprints/King Creosote/10

92/Los Niños Del Parque/Liaisons Dangereuses/10

93/Chimes 7/MICACHU/10

94/Telegraph/Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark/10

95/NY Excuse/Soulwax/10

96/Sat'day Night In The City Of The Dead/Ultravox!/10

97/Radio/Wishmountain/10

98/In Yer Face/808 State/10

99/Knock On Wood/Amii Stewart/9

100/Soul Vine (70 Billion People)/Cabaret Voltaire/9

Reset for 2017...!

2015 - Dokk's Year in Music: Top 100 Plays According to iTunes

I was going to make an extensive critique of the music I liked in 2015 like I've done before, but then I got bored doing it and realized the music in 2015 really wasn't that exceptional enough to subject you to all that...

All you need to know is 2015 was the year I surrendered to Mica Levi completely, and inhaled her entire catalog, from Jewellery to 2015's Micachu and the Shapes album, the incredibly dense and personal Good Sad Happy Bad.

So, for what it's worth, here's my list of the music that made 2015, ordered by the number of plays in iTunes.

1/I'm Not Dancing/Tirzah/37

2/Golden Phone/Micachu/35

3/NEKROPHILOLOGIE with Bob Log III (poem by Dieter Roth)/Ghostigital/27

4/Bunker Buster/Viet Cong/27

5/Rogue Planet/Thee Oh Sees/25

6/Turned Out Light/Thee Oh Sees/23

7/Mind On Fire/Dan Deacon/21

8/Junger Cloth/The Fall/21

9/Mississippi Witch Hunt/Cristobal Tapia de Veer/20

10/So Desu Ne/FFS/20

11/Piss Off/FFS/20

12/Curly Teeth/Micachu/20

13/Puffer/Speedy Ortiz/20

14/Bros/Wolf Alice/19

15/Price Tag/Sleater Kinney/17

16/Call Girl/FFS/16

17/Separator (Anstam RMX)/Radiohead/16

18/PCP/Scuba/16

19/A Place Called Space/The Juan Maclean/15

20/Nothing/Micachu/15

21/Space Race/Shit Robot/15

22/Raising The Skate/Speedy Ortiz/15

23/Pointless Experience/Viet Cong/15

24/I'll See You There/The Chemical Brothers/14

25/Runway H/Death Grips/14

26/Calculator/Micachu/14

27/Kick Out The Chairs (Tom Boy Remix)/Munk Feat. James Murphy and Nancy Whang/14

28/Tarantula Deadly Cargo/Sleaford Mods/14

29/Chinese Burn (Lunatic Calm Remix)/Curve/13

30/Disco Infiltrator/LCD Soundsystem/13

31/Erotic City (Dance Mix)/Prince/13

32/Swords of Truth/These New Puritans/13

33/The Rhinohead/Von Südenfed/13

34/My Machines (Museum Of Love mix)/Battles/12

35/Rainbow Man/Busy P/12

36/Clean Cut/Juju & Jordash/12

37/Vulture/Micachu/12

38/Cool For Cats/Squeeze/12

39/Bromance (Original Mix)/Avicii/11

40/Inchworm/Battles/11

41/Mondo Anthem/CHROME/11

42/Feel The Pressure/Franz Ferdinand/11

43/Winflowers/Ghibli/11

44/Dreamland (MRC Riddims "Irrestible" Remix)/Ghostigital/11

45/SCREAM/Grimes/11

46/Sex/The Intelligence/11

47/August 2010 (Micachu's Dance Music Remix)/Matthew Herbert /11

48/Everything (Autolux Remix)/Nine Inch Nails/11

49/Till We Ghosts/Petite Noir/11

50/U-Mass/Pixies/11

51/Inside Out/Tirzah/11

52/Fluffy/Wolf Alice/11

53/In Yer Face/808 State/11

54/Sheathed Wings/Dan Deacon/10

55/Rakkit [Two Lone Swordsmen Remix Effective Machine]/Death In Vegas/10

56/Telephone Thing/The Fall/10

57/Dedication Not Medication/The Fall/10

58/Johnny Delusional/FFS/10

59/The Power Couple/FFS/10

60/Give Me Every Little Thing/The Juan Maclean/10

61/Return To Bass/Meat Beat Manifesto/10

62/Starships (Explicit)/Nicki Minaj/10

63/McFlurry/Sleaford Mods/10

64/NY Excuse/Soulwax/10

65/Something Good (2008 Radio Edit)/Utah Saints/10

66/Slyd/!!!/10

67/There's No Fucking Rules, Dude/!!!/10

68/diskhat1/Aphex Twin/9

69/The Meader/BEAK>/9

70/The New Pollution/Beck/9

71/Wake Up Boo!/The Boo Radleys/9

72/Dont Stop/Brazilian Girls/9

73/TV As Eyes/CHROME/9

74/Meme Generator/Dan Deacon/9

75/Bot/Deadmau5/9

76/Get Got/Death Grips/9

77/Police Encounters/FFS/9

78/The Man Without A Tan/FFS/9

79/Things I Won't Get/FFS/9

80/Inch (Longer)/Inch Feat. Mark E. Smith/9

81/Give Me Every Little Thing (Cajmere Remix/Xpress 2 Bonus Beats/Putsch 79 Remix)/The Juan Maclean/9

82/Lips/Micachu/9

83/Easy/Micachu/9

84/Secure the Galactic Perimeter/Michael Fassbender , The Soronprfbs  & Stephen Rennicks/9

85/Chthonian Dirge For Uruk The Other/of Montreal/9

86/Supermoon/Simian Mobile Disco/9

87/All I Ask of You (Feat. Penny)/Skrillex/9

88/Bambi/Suuns/9

89/Sex Sun (Amen)/The Vaselines/9

90/Lisbon/Wolf Alice/9

91/Breezeblocks (Rockdaworld Remix)/Alt-J (∆)/8

92/diskhat ALL prepared1mixed 13/Aphex Twin/8

93/Born in the Echoes/The Chemical Brothers/8

94/Wo Ha (Bonus Track)/The Chemical Brothers/8

95/Separation/Cloud Nothings/8

96/USA IV: Manifest/Dan Deacon/8

97/Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)/David Bowie/8

98/I Have Not Been To Oxford Town/David Bowie/8

99/Lack of a Better Name/Deadmau5/8

100/Runway D/Death Grips/8

Reset for 2016...

TURN OUT THE LIGHT. TURN UP THE VOLUME. PLAY IT LOUD.

NIGHTMARE MODE_ is an experimental film that explores the nature of an architectural space shared by millions of people, but that is a space that doesn't exist in time or space, like a movie you can walk around inside, or like a recurring a dream. The video game DOOM by id software has been played by millions, the first shareware release becoming an iconic shared space familiar to an entire games playing generation, as familiar as the spaces the players were living in at the time...

The film also explores the nature of nightmare, a hostile dream that is unreliable and threatening, a psychological experience where the subconscious tricks the dreamer's expectations by perverting the familiar.

Employing a narration spliced from actual written accounts of game players' experiences with dreams and with gaming, NIGHTMARE MODE_ is a montage of overlaid game playing footage that shreds the surface of a video game to reveal the unsettling landscape of the unconscious that is born out of the collusion between game player and nightmare.

Dokk's Top 100 Tunes of 2014 by iTunes Playcount

Here it is, my 2014 in music...

This wasn't the most exciting year for new music for me, but regardless, these albums are well worth a mention:

Ought's first album "More Than Any Other Day" - looking forward to more from these guys

The new disco album from The Juan Maclean, "In a Dream", which is their most accessible yet
Scotland's The Phantom Band won me over with their third album "Strange Friend"

Hospitality's "Trouble" kept me listening throughout the year

...and The Knife's final album, "Shaken-Up Versions" is an energetic revisiting of their career in a collection of re-recordings inspired by their last tour
But this year I got more out of older albums that I discovered for the first time in 2014....

Like the first album from These New Puritans, "Beat Pyramid," which is exactly the kind of music I like 
This year I finally embraced Soulwax's "Nite Versions" - why did I wait so long..?
Teenage Filmstars recorded "Buy Our Record Support Our Sickness" completely in reverse, and it's great:
And the prize find of the year must be Mica Levi's group, Micachu - their first album "Never" was love at first listen... (not so sure about their videos though)
I was also late to the party with Bongwater's first album, "Double Bummer", which is in equal parts brilliant and dumb; The Books' extraordinary album "The Way Out" is an implausible audio collage of self-help tapes; and the bizarre Fred Lane album "From The One That Cut You" which appears to be some kind of big-band jazz operetta about a low-rent Bobby Darin character who is slowly losing his mind. The album includes song titles like "Danger Is My Beer" and "I TalkTo My Haircut", so what's not to love? 

Honorable mention goes to Michael Fassbender et al for the soundtrack to the movie "Frank"
Assuming that list didn't put you off entirely, there's lots of other great stuff old and new on the top 100 list for 2014.

#/Track/Artist/Plays

1/Nothing/Micachu/35
2/Space Race/Shit Robot/34
3/I Love Techno/Soulwax/34
4/I Wanna Get Better (Vince Clarke Mix)/Bleachers/31
5/Feel Like Movin'/The Juan Maclean/31
6/Please Mr. Kennedy/Justin Timberlake, Oscar Isaac & Adam Driver/31
7/Like An Eagle (Black Loops & Maik Yells Remix)/Nancy Whang & Audiojack/30
8/Swords of Truth/These New Puritans/30
9/USA IV: Manifest/Dan Deacon/29
10/Compute/Soulwax/29
11/Numerology (AKA Numbers)/These New Puritans/29
12/Hunger of the Pine/Alt-J (∆)/28
13/Greens and Blues/Pixies/28
14/Don't Push Me (ft Sensational & Nick Zinner)/Ghostigital/27
15/Hit Me/Savages/27
16/Nightingale/Hospitality/26
17/Waste/Micachu/26
18/Easy/Micachu/25
19/Pleasant Heart/Ought/25
20/Barra Barra/Rachid Taha/25
21/Feeling Right/Warpaint/25
22/Dont Stop/Brazilian Girls/24
23/212 (ft Lazy Jay)/Azealia Banks/23
24/The One Who Has to Carry You Home/Hollow & Akimbo/23
25/Rockets and Jets/Hospitality/23
26/You Are My Destiny/The Juan Maclean/23
27/Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy)/David Bowie/22
28/Hot Cake/The Fall/22
29/Evil Eye/Franz Ferdinand/22
30/||: A Circle Inside A Circle Inside :||/Holden/22
31/Echo Sam/Holy Fuck/22
32/Give Me Every Little Thing/The Juan Maclean/22
33/Johnny Bagga' Donuts/Palma Violets/21
34/The Wind That Cried the World/The Phantom Band/21
35/Answering Machine (ft. Planningtorock)/Shit Robot/21
36/Comeback Kid/Sleigh Bells/21
37/Bulletproof Unkle Remix/Breakbeat Era/20
38/Heathen Child/Grinderman/20
39/Blue Eyed Hexe/Pixies/20
40/I Love You All [Radio Mix]/The Soronprfbs/20
41/White Chords/These New Puritans/20
42/My Machines (Museum Of Love mix)/Battles/19
43/Stay Useless/Cloud Nothings/19
44/Tuff Enuff/Shit Robot/19
45/We Got A Love (ft Reggie Watts) (SINGLE MIX)/Shit Robot/19
46/Dead Friend/Against Me!/18
47/Blackpool Late Eighties/Holden/18
48/A Place Called Space/The Juan Maclean/18
49/Losing My Edge/LCD Soundsystem/18
50/Belle Glade Missionaries/Of Montreal/18
51/NY Excuse/Soulwax/18
52/E Talking/Soulwax/18
53/Got 2 Let U (Shaken Up Version)/The Knife/17
54/Today More Than Any Other Day/Ought/17
55/We Got A Love (ft. Reggie Watts) (Paul Woolford Remix)/Shit Robot/17
56/The Rhinohead/Von Südenfed/17
57/Love is to Die/Warpaint/17
58/Moonlight On Vermont/Captain Beefheart/16
59/All You're Waiting For (Feat. Nancy Whang)/Classixx/16
60/Kicker Conspiracy (Live)/The Fall/16
61/Mountain Energei/The Fall/16
62/Hands Up Billy/The Fall/16
63/Electric Alice/Grinderman/16
64/(I Don't Need You To) Set Me Free/Grinderman/16
65/Going Out/Hospitality/16
66/A Simple Design/The Juan Maclean/16
67/Hello Teenage America/Meat Beat Manifesto/16
68/Migmy/Mouse On Mars/16
69/Everything (Autolux Remix)/Nine Inch Nails/16
70/Around Again/Ought/16
71/Snakes/Pixies/16
72/20 Years Tall/Sego/16
73/I Have Not Been To Oxford Town/David Bowie/15
74/Overture from 'I Am Curious, Orange'/The Fall/15
75/Mister Rode/The Fall/15
76/Deceptacon [DFA remix]/Le Tigre/15
77/Funkytown/Lipps Inc./15
78/Hanging On The Telephone/The Nerves/15
79/Loverman/Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds/15
80/Starships (Explicit)/Nicki Minaj/15
81/Indie Cindy/Pixies/15
82/I'm Free/Soup Dragons/15
83/Oh Joy/Todd Terje/15
84/You Taste Sweeter/Tomorrow's World/15
85/Lies/Absofacto/14
86/Left Hand Free/Alt-J (∆)/14
87/Your Drums Your Love (Friendly Fire Remix)/AlunaGeorge/14
88/You might think he loves you for your money but I know what he really loves you for it's your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat/Death Grips/14
89/Walk On The Wild Side (DJ Miguel Mateus Edit)/Duffo/14
90/Birthday Song/The Fall/14
91/Jam Song/The Fall/14
92/Disco Infiltrator/LCD Soundsystem/14
93/Secure the Galactic Perimeter/Michael Fassbender , The Soronprfbs  & Stephen Rennicks/14
94/Kick Out The Chairs (Tom Boy Remix)/Munk Feat. James Murphy and Nancy Whang/14
95/Dingbat (feat. Museum of Love)/Shit Robot/14
96/Supermoon/Simian Mobile Disco/14
97/No Relief/Tensnake Feat. Fiora/14
98/Secret Xtians/Unknown Mortal Orchestra/14
99/Unconditional Love/Against Me!/13
100/My Machines/Battles/13

That's it! Reset for 2015!