Editors' Picks 2023

Once again we arrive at a years end. Another December, another opportunity for closure. Its chilled grip dragging up memories, both good and bad. 2023 felt different, charged raw, almost with desperate energy. We danced hard, mourned a lot, and squeezed every drop out of each moment, knowing how precious, how fleeting it all is. Our platform grew, and we connected with many wonderful, like-minded people across the world. Music this year? It followed suit, a whirlwind of stories swirling from introspective ambient to fist-pumping techno and everything in between.

But unlike most year-end lists, forget the notion that is "Best of" and ignore the "Top 10." These picks are personal snapshots of what moved us – staff members, writers, and all – on an individual level. No rankings, no hierarchies, just pure, unfiltered love for the tracks, EPs, albums, remixes, and DJ mixes that resonated the  deepest.

So ditch the charts, grab your headphones, and dive into these sonic snapshots. They're not trophies on a shelf, but windows into our journeys, our struggles, and our triumphs. And who knows, maybe a bit of yourself will peek back into the reflection. It's not a competition, but a celebration. A reminder that even in the chaos, music binds us. On wards and upwards, with the speakers cranked and the stories playing.

FAVORITE TRACK OF 2023

Irina
Alex Albrecht - Floral Remnant [Analogue Attic]
This track strikes a delicate balance between nostalgia, melancholy, and positive vibes. Ever since it's been released, I say, “This is my track of the year,” every time I hear it.

Theresa
Nueen - IV [3XL]
Simply haunting. This track has had me in a grip since the first listen, and it will stick with me for a long time.

Gilles
Barker & Baumecker - Promises in the Dark [Freundinnen]
"Promises In The Dark" has burrowed its way into my soul, and I doubt it will ever leave. Drenched in melancholic beauty, this track takes you on a journey - dance floor shadows, coffee shop introspection, highway sunsets, late-night headphone reverie. Pure class, guaranteed tears.

Zach
Hoodie x James K - Scorpio [AD93]
I’m not sure how to describe succinctly how good I feel when I listen to this. I first heard it from Avsluta after she closed the August edition of her radio show, Introspective Electronics with the track. In terms of downtempo or chillout, it doesn't get better than this, and proves less is more if you have the right ingredients.

Griff
Eversines - Tussen Tijd [ yeyeh/ninih]
Such a beautiful track that never gets old for me. Perfect for a little sprinkle of peaktime emotion or a closing track at the end of an amazing night. Eversines is such a talented producer with so much amazing music & this track feels pretty timeless to me. The entire release, Dwang on Pieter Jansen’s yeyeh/ninih label, is a wonderful listen. 

Daniel
Billus - Air [Pollinate Records]
My picks for the year come from a few Naarm favorites: an artist who unleashed bravery for a career year, a spine-tingling sonic couple, and a master of the hypnotic rub. I’ll let you do the math.

Michael
Massa Terra - Fractures [Secret Voice]
I was pretty hesitant on picking this one.  Screamo fits well outside the horizon of Delayed.  Yet when this New Jersey 4-piece invoke Battle of Wolf 359 halfway through ‘Fractures’ with a crunchy, chaotic crescendo before falling back into an Off Minor-esque use of bass guitar as a central melodic weapon, I felt more settled.  Teenage memories trump most things, and this is screamo at some of its dissonant, insistent best.  When it feels like festival lineups in Australia are going through a wave of emo nostalgia, it was great to rediscover the contemporary vitality of music at the margins of that scene this year.

FAVORITE ALBUM OF 2023

Irina
Ghost Warrior - I’ve Been There [re:st]
An amazing fusion of experimental jazz and electronica that does wonders during long walks in the park.

Theresa
André 3000 - New Blue Sun [Sony]
What I like about this album is that it seems like it doesn’t want anything. It appears to me as absolutely unambitious, playful and natural. It speaks to my inner child and is a great album to waste time to and contemplate, to improvise to…also a great tripsitting album. If you do something not to sell or feed the industry,  but from a different, wholesome place it serves the whole somehow. And I dare say, to everyone who reduces this to a flute album should sit down and listen properly.
Plus: It is a testament that you don’t have to make multiple variations of the same thing as an artist and you don't have to buy in into the rap biz grandiosity. Wonder what would happen if Kanye and Andre spend some time together :-)

Gilles
Aspetuck - Early Color [Never Late]
I have to be subjective regarding my favorite album of the year because this beautiful release marks the first chapter in the Never Late saga, the record label I started with Griff and Zach. The warm and inviting album explores some of my favorite genres, from ambient to deep house and everything in between. It's the release that has ingredients for the dance floor, car ride, and moments of solitude.

Zach
Eusebeia - X [Samurai Music]
A watershed moment for myself this year, as this album unabashedly opened my eyes to Jungle and one of those moments where things finally click in your head. Such a statement piece, and just a fantastic body of work. Hats off.

Griff
 Lazzich - Autumn Day [Hanagasumi]
This album has been on very regular rotation in my vinyl collection throughout the entire year. Shine Grooves has created a fascinating musical ecosystem with his label Hanagasumi - it’s like a little snow globe, a unique world of music existing in a quiet corner of the scene, carefully curated with patience & such a clear love for music. Lazzich sadly passed away in 2014 but his incredible work lives on thanks to the curation of Andrey (Shine Grooves) who spent years piecing together sketches, archives, projects etc. The album consists of tracks selected from music made between 2004 & 2010. It’s a wonderfully whimsical & eclectic listen that gets better & better with time.

Michael
Dyl - Nothing As It Seems LP [re:st]

Daniel
Loscil & Lawrence English - Colours of Air [Kranky]

FAVORITE EP OF 2023

Irina
Dino Sabatini - Opera Quattro [Outis Music]
I'm fascinated by the sound design in this EP, which I had the opportunity to hear in action at this year's Mostra festival during Dino's hypnotic live set.

Theresa
Luigi Tozzi - Spiral EP [Non Series]
This year I had the chance to get to know Tozzi’s music better and with that learned so much more about music. This EP is for me what techno should be like: well paced, meditative, distinct, timeless.  There is something about this record that words fail to express.  There is a very special feeling when I listen or dance to these tracks. Like a soul cleanse in dark waters, with a full moon shining

Gilles
Aa Sudd - Pushedd [Midgar]
This is the EP that created hype even before it officially came out. Pselum is the track that various DJs have played a lot of and for all the good reasons. QPP, though... at Mostra, when Patrick Russell played it, what a moment.

Zach
Synkro - Information [R&S Records]
Textured, restrained, smooth melodies, and subdued grooves growing from nothing. Synkro has been close to my heart, and ears for a while, he doesn’t miss. Everything from pad driven ambient to dubbed out, frenetic beats, he can do it all.

Griff
Caldera - Casual Transcendence EP [Flippen Bits]
My friend Malte aka Caldera is constantly amazing me with his music. They’re trippy, dubby, so groovy & incredibly functional all at once which isn’t an easy thing to achieve. His Casual Transcendence EP on the Flippen Bits sublabel offshoot of Monty DJ’s Flippen Disks is a definite stand out for me this year. The music is like a carefree stroll through a misty cartoon jungle in a foreign land. Rhythmically everything always fits perfectly into place & all of the sounds are so precise & carefully selected but somehow he makes it sound so effortless. Fun for headphones but also so wonderful for a variety of different settings in the club.

Michael
Yin Yang Audio - Return to Baseline EP [Onset Audio]

Daniel
Polygonia - Otro Mundo [Bambe]

FAVORITE REMIX OF 2023

Irina
Gilles Wasserman - Zona (Map.ache remix) [Oslated]
This one hits close to home. My dear friend and one of my favorite producers, Map.ache, did this mind-bending remix of the track Zona, Gilles, and I made some time ago. Hearing this track at the packed Outro Lado stage at Waking Life this year will forever stay in my memory.

Theresa
DJ Balduin - Da Float (Martinou remix) [Kann]
For this one I had to rewrite this section, as I almost gave up hope for it to be released. And then, right in time for Xmas, it appeared. “ Da Float” is a remarkable track in itself, a serene and groovy dancefloor poem so to say. Martinou’s remix lets this track shine in its dreamier and melancholic facets. It hugs your heart as if you just arrived in a long lost home, a better, warmer, more romantic world. I love it when music is world-building, and this remix does that.

Gilles
Bas Dobbelaer and Vand - Gateway To Gaia (Gal Tsadok Hai remix) [SoHaSo]
This was the highlight track from a powerful remix package on beloved SoHaSo, including remixes by Donato Dozzy, Marco Shuttle, Ultrastation, and Shoal. Gal's remix of 'Gateway to Gaia,' a gem from 2019, injects new life with an infectious breakbeat and warm and gentle pads.

Zach
Mr. Ho - Bail-E (Jotel California Eclipse Remix) [Klasse Wrecks]
Used and abused for many an afters and sesh this year. I’ll leave it at that.

Griff
Bas Dobbelaer & Vand - Transit (Donato Dozzy Into Green Remix) [SoHaSo]
This remix is the epitome of light footed dancefloor energy to me - crisp, spacious, hypnotic & constantly moving with so much nice ear candy. Something about it just makes you bop / move your feet. I’ll be playing it for many years.

Michael
Kharm & Akuratyde - Artifacts (Stillhead Remix) [Modern Conveniences]
My pick comes from the superb Revised Futures LP, a compilation of remixes from across the Modern Conveniences discography.  The Jamie Myerson remix of Method One’s ‘Silhouettes’ is also extremely good, taking the somewhat meandering prog of the original and reworking it into epic speculative sonic fiction that evokes the weight of Dune in full cosmic warfare.
Stillhead’s remix takes the subdued beauty of its original and ups the grandeur.  Rhythmic weight is taken out of the track in favour of skittering percussion, opening up a luxurious sense of space.  Melodies flourish.
It's a really well balanced, elegant little tune.  I love it.

Daniel
Tauceti - Maracujá (Valentino Mora Underwater Rephrase) [Non Series]

FAVORITE MIX OF 2023

Irina
Lynne - Mysteries Of The Deep CL
Lynne has been a significant influence on me ever since I heard her playing at Mostra. Her dark and sophisticated style opened a pandora's box of creativity for me in the studio. I had the privilege of listening to this set live at the Mysteries Of The Deep event in Brooklyn, which was simply outstanding.

Theresa
Timnah - Komorebi
The spectrum and technique of this mix are nothing less than stunning. There is something elemental to it, an earthiness and un-earthiness at the same time that stirs up a variety of emotions and physical explorations. I do not want to say too much.

DJ So @ Draaimolen Festival
DJ So's mixing is so sheer and tender that his mixes always evoke a special sense of air, breeze, and lightness for me. Every time I listen to this journey, it fills me with immense joy and refreshes me. Many techno mixes nowadays are just so full, so packed that it is suffocating to me. This is the antidote.

Gilles
Sciama - HOCast #159 Mostra 2023
This was the most challenging pick for me since I've listened to some truly mind-bending DJ mixes this year, but the opening set from Sciama at this year's Mostra festival is everything I value in the DJ mix. Pacing, storytelling, track selection, and technical execution are of the highest level here. I give Michael the most immense respect for delivering this set.

Zach
Delayed with… Villella
What a journey. Expertly crafted through a variety of genres, and flows, oh so well. Just ticks every box for me and one of my most listened to mixes for the year.

Griff
Outsiders: Nous’Klaer w/ Mattias El Mansouri @ Kiosk Radio 02.02.2023
I’ve listened to so many mixes this year that they all start to blend together at a certain point. It’s rare that I listen to a mix more than once, let alone a couple of times throughout the course of a year. This mix has stood that test of time for me & is the one I remember the most. I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve had it playing in the kitchen while cooking dinner at the end of the day. Mattias’ track Tja Hej Salam on Aniara is definitely one of my favorite tracks of the year & this mix was the first time I heard it. The entire mix from start to finish is fantastic. Hoping to catch a set from Mattias in person someday! 

Daniel
Inveins Podcast 103 / Pjenné