It's the end of another year and this week's blog looks back at 2024, with a particular focus on the music I enjoyed from other artists and labels. I've done this kind of thing in one form or another since 2010 through simple charts and blog posts but always, I've made a mix show. On my Mixcloud account I call these 'Yearbooks'. I know from past feedback, I've helped connect more than one or two music fan with a record they never heard before and that's a big reason why I started doing these in the first place. But over time, they've become essential as a sort of time capsule for me personally. A hit of the play button on a show for any given year, I am transported right back to what I was doing back then, through the nostalgic power of music.

I also like to use the intro to these posts to give a bit of a summary for the year too, on what I've been up to, and 2024 has been quite a transformational year for Whitelabrecs. Entering the 9th year of running this label, I realised that whilst my passion for music is pretty clear for all to see, I've pretty much plodded along on the business side and whilst I never set out to start this as a business, it's become one by default and to keep it all going, I needed to make one or two changes. So I basically changed everything! I switched from my Wordpress website and Mailchimp for email, to a new solution provided by a company called The Label Machine. This was originally a way of helping bring everything together and cut some costs, but the resources and inspirational community have been incredibly motivating. I've been obsessed with learning whatever I possibly can to make things better - not for me and not for a pursuit of success. But hopefully, the people. I've realised above all that community and bringing music fans and artists together is what can make a difference and I'm excited to try and develop this further for both fans of Whitelabrecs, Driftworks and anyone in the scene that wants to be a part of it.

There are so many examples below of excellent record labels that are doing an incredible job, of creating and sustaining this vibrant musical culture, from the well established long-timers to the smaller indies. There's no one set way of doing it either, no magical blueprint that instantly works. Each label is unique and special and I love to support them and their artists where I can, when I am moved by the music enough to find somewhere on my shelves for a physical copy. This year I decided to take a photo of the physical copy I bought where applicable.

As has been the case for the last few years, a recording I made of my wife counting numbers 1-20 was used as a countdown in between each track in the mix. And then this year's cover artwork for the mix is a photo of a very rainy day in my village; it seems to have always been raining this year and so felt apt! I was visiting the fens a lot during the recording of my Glåsbird album 'Fenscapes' and even on rainy days, the landscape looked inviting.

20th

Michael Scott Dawson - The Tinnitus Chorus
[We Are Busy Bodies]

I discovered Canadian artist Michael Scott Dawson’s music in 2022 with ‘Music For Listening’ being my favourite album that year. I’d put that record right up there with my all-time Ambient favourites. Last year’s ’Find Yourself Lost’ was also right up there too and I had the honour of welcoming Michael to the Whitelabrecs catalog, with his collab alongside Jon Neher. Michael has managed to maintain consistency of his output, with another record on We Are Busy Bodies but this time in more challenging circumstances; he was suffering with tinnitus. The label suggested as a work-around, he could collaborate with other musicians and that’s just what he did; The Tinnitus Chorus is a collection of 12 tracks in which Michael is joined by a curated line-up of talented musicians. I love Michael Grig’s music and he features twice, as well as the likes of Suso Saiz, M. Sage, Lina Langendorf, K Freund and more. I also note that Michael got his Peace Flag Ensemble bandmates together for one of the tracks, and it adds to what is a nice jazz aesthetic that features in some of the pieces. There is of course, a muted, liquefied form of Country that has become the signature Ambient sound of Michael’s music. This one’s got so much detail and warmth to it.

19th

Sylvain Chauveau - Ultra Minimal
[Sonic Pieces]

I discovered Sylvain Chauveau’s music back in 2009 through the Kompakt label’s Pop Ambient compilation that year. That led me to his legendary Black Book of Capitalism, on which Dernière Étape Avant Le Silence has to be one of my favourite ever Modern Classical pieces. I have also tracked Monique Recknagel’s excellent Sonic Pieces label for many years since its inception. So this new record of live material, recorded at Cafe Oto in London, released alongside a repress of that same Chauveau classic was a must for me, before I even heard it. The title of the album is ‘Ultra Minimal’ as Sylvain alternated between a range of acoustic instruments; pensive John Cage esque piano performances are joined by harmonium, melodica and guitar. These instruments are not looped or layered; instead, the qualities of each element stand alone as their own live performance. Typically, the packaging and fantastic design draw this whole record together into something luxurious, with a bright orange fabric strip being part of the sleeve; the white vinyl the perfect colour to place upon your turntable, carrying these minimal compositions.

18th

Michael A. Muller - Mirror Music
[Deutsche Grammophon]

I really love the Deutsche Grammophon label and how they have a deep tradition of carrying on the torch of modern classical music from the origins of the label into the present day. Whilst I always appreciate the talents of the musicians and composers they work with, being a fan of melancholy, moody music, I don’t go for everything they put out. But I always keep an eye on what they release and very often, there are surprises that I wouldn’t necessarily expect to crop up and that’s both seeing artists I’ve followed for years getting a deal with them, or a style or sound that I don’t immediately associate with the label getting signed. This was the case for Mirror Music by Michael A. Muller, who I noticed chose many of my favourite artists to work with in the album; the likes of Danny Paul Grody, Hania Rani and Chuck Johnson. I love Modern Classical music and Deutsche Grammophon but this was not a record I was expecting to hear on this particular label. I instantly loved it and ordered the vinyl and the warm guitar sound of the first two pieces were perfect for the time of year too, being a spring release.

17th

Danny Clay - No More Darkness, No More Light
[Laaps]

I first came across Danny Clay’s music back in the early 2010s with his releases on labels like Heat Death and Hibernate, who I’d regularly chat to back in the day. Danny joined my netlabel Audio Gourmet for a short EP release with Quinn Walker and since then, I’ve bought a few of his records, with a lot of his work being through Mathias’ labels Eilean, Laaps and IIKKI. This is the case for No More Darkness, No More Light which I took no hesitation on ordering via the Laaps Bandcamp. The sound is a form of modern classical chamber music which feels like a slow moving symphony, being split into parts precluded by an opening. The closing part is much longer, clocking in at 21 minutes and whilst the whole album is unhurried, this piece is a slowly evolving ambient composition. The whole record is incredibly well produced, with the elements overlapping one another, using the full stereo field to great effect. The fact that the main theme to the music repeats across the whole record really builds a satisfying fondness for this achingly beautiful, timeless record.

16th

Shakali - Rihmastossa
[Not Not Fun]

I somehow stumbled across this album by Brno, Czechia based artist Simo Hakalisto who is from Finland, out on the Not Not Fun label. For me, this album really is so much fun - it’s absolutely mad, with so many strange sounds carefully, deliberately, and accidentally littered across it. Objects, field recordings, percussion and exotic instruments are joined by flutes, saxophone and synth, all woven into something incredible by Simo, with the help of just a couple of musicians. It’s an album you can put on, and be transported somewhere far, far away. Whilst this is far more intriguing in my opinion, it is sort of what I wanted to capture for my Glåsbird album ‘Pacifica’. It is a magical album that makes me smile. I didn’t buy it on a physical format when it was available, as it was only on tape. I’ve tried to track a copy down now that I own a tape player and they’re all gone; it seems at the time of writing, I can only get one of these via Japan at quite a price.

15th

Gabríel Ólafs - Orchestral Works
[Decca]

I wasn’t familiar with young composer Gabríel Ólafs but I’m delighted to have discovered his work simply through following Viktor Orri Árnason on Spotify. Looking at the numbers, he’s breaking through really well in such a short space of time and it’s plainly obvious why, with just a short moment spent with his album Orchestral Works. This is some of the richest, most perfectly performed and produced classical music you’re likely to find, and it’s down to the orchestra he founded, the Reykjavík Orkestra who have performed for Hans Zimmer. Yet more musical talent from Iceland is emerging, and Ólafs is now signed to Decca, after his earlier success on Björk’s One Little Independent label. My only gripe… there does not appear to be a CD or vinyl version available for this album. I've just seen that Juno have a 'forthcoming' copy and have got myself on the waiting list, but it doesn't seem to be available elsewhere.

14th

Scrimshire - Music For Autumn Lovers
[Albert's Favourites]

I’ve followed Scrimshire’s music for a few years, with the artist being championed by my DJ hero Gilles Peterson and working with many talented artists through his collaborations, remixes and mastering engineering. I also happen to love Autumn and so the cover artwork for Scrimshire’s album ‘Music For Autumn Lovers’ grabbed me immediately; how could it not? I took a glance through the release text on Bandcamp, with terms such as ‘acoustic based instrumentals’ and the fact that Adam also resonates strongly with Autumn. All I had to do was love the music and within a few seconds of the nostalgia-loaded opening track ‘Hawthorn’ this was the case. I hadn’t heard the four tracks from this record that had been previously released as an EP in 2022 so to me, it all felt new and fresh, despite the fact the aesthetic is steeped in the past in many ways. Whilst awaiting the vinyl, I started to follow Adam on Instagram and discovered that he runs the Albert’s Favourites record label, from which this album was released. I was familiar with the name and realised that this was the home for Huw Marc Bennett’s ‘Days Like Now’, one of the soundtracks to last year for me! Social media and branding are hard things to master; it’s so hard to get your voice heard these days, and sometimes branding aesthetics can lose personality of the creator in its pursuit of style. But when following Adam’s Instagram, I was able to easily able to discover the back stories behind this album via his videos, as well as learn how his record label is named after his grandfather Albert, who would make mixtapes for the family. It struck a chord with me and it’s amazing how sometimes, you can not only unearth a great record, but you can learn something along the way.

13th

Innesti - Diaphonous
[Past Inside The Present]

In October I was waiting to host a Whitelabrecs listening party one evening and had a little time to kill, so after noticing that Past Inside The Present also had one featured at that moment by Innesti, I jumped in to take a listen. I’ve followed Innesti for some time and had anticipated that the music would be superb. I joined a little late but could see a vibrant community enjoying this one via the chat. Streams of comments showing people overwhelmed at the quality of this album and within a few seconds I had to join them! I bought the CD and once it arrived, it’s had an awful lot of airplay here. The ability ‘Diaphonous’ has is to fill a room with a sense of an otherworldly sense of calm. There is a thread that runs through it, whilst also plenty of details for the moments when you try to concentrate on what is happening within this pool of environmental perfection, that is quietly going on around you. I guess this is true of the very definition of the purpose for Ambient music, as famously stated by Brian Eno - this album is one that becomes a part of your environment without being in any way imposing. Despite its length, I can easily find myself listening right the way through Diaphonous. When it goes on, it tends to stay on until the end.

12th

Ezra Feinberg - Soft Power
[Tonal Union]

Apologies in advance…Despite being a much-cherished, very well produced record, I’m going to shamefully start my introduction of Soft Power, by talking about marketing… this is because for me, this album proved a concept to me that I’d read countless times. They say that a new potential customer has to see something somewhere a minimum of seven times before they decide to take action and consider it, be it a click, a listen, a read etc. For music that meant a record might have to show up in your social media, Bandcamp and streaming feeds a few times. I guess I was a little skeptical at first with this, as I felt that generally you decided straight away based on seeing the artwork. How wrong I could have been! I saw the beautiful, thought provoking artwork for Soft Power a number of times and didn’t check it out. It was on Instagram, it was in the Bandcamp feed, I saw listeners sharing it and endorsing it, and I then saw the music press review it. I recall it was Stationary Travels and that is where I started to finally give this album the time of day. I read the premiere notes and saw familiar names such as Mary Lattimore and Jefre Cantu Ledesma were involved, adding further endorsement. This got me to listen to the preview and instantly I loved the music! Where had I been… there’s a real character to it, a sense of optimism, a sense of warmth and fun. Every track, just superb. I bought the vinyl of course and for me, this record is a symbol which proves that marketing concept might just be right! There will have been no particular desire from either Ezra or Tonal Union to educate people about marketing, that’s for sure! But personally, this album taught me a lot, that simply releasing an album, stepping back and hoping for the best, may not be enough. You’ve got to try a bit harder to reach people, and in different ways. But most importantly, aside from all this self-learning marketing nonsense, what a record this is! If you’ve never heard this one, don’t wait to see it seven or so times like I did… just give it a listen!

11th

Seaworthy & M. Rösner - Deep Valley
[12k]

In 2009 Seaworthy’s 1897 was for me the gateway into discovering electro-acoustic music and the wonderful 12k imprint. A year later Seaworthy collaborated with M. Rösner to release Two Lakes, which was a real highlight for me that year. They also released the excellent ‘Snowmelt’ in 2021 and now ‘Deep Valley’. As expected, right away I loved this sound of languid guitars and field recordings, packaged into the masterfully designed sleeve and booklet. I ordered without knowing a great deal about the back story of the album and this added an extra element to my experience. Matt and Cameron had spent a week’s residency at the Bundanon Art Museum in Australia, a place that had been gifted to the community in the 90s by Arthur Boyd, an artist. It is set by a river bank surrounded by cliffs and part of this residency was exploring the natural world around them. Like much of their work, Deep Valley is full of field recordings of nature, which bring to life a narrative story of the inspiring environment from which the album is made.

10th

Lambert - Actually Good
[Mercury KX]

I’d been aware of Lambert’s music for some time, with my early recollections of the mysterious artist’s work being released on the Dauw label. Not being one to get too involved in the live scene due to family commitments, I wasn’t aware until I started following Lambert on socials that it’s an anonymous project. The artist wears a mask to performances and it got me thinking a little about my anonymous days as Glåsbird and how I wondered if it might hinder some future collaborations with film makers and connecting with an audience. This has not been a blocker for Lambert, who is able to maintain the secret whilst performing live, stay active on social media and, write music for film! The latter is in fact helped Lambert arrive at the concept for this album, the curiously titled ‘Actually Good’. It’s supposedly the soundtrack to a failed crime drama film called ‘The Stranger’ that was too bad to finish. The film, abandoned, yet the music, complete. And as can be heard, the music was actually good! I’d personally say it in fact goes far and away beyond being good. It’s incredible! When I get spare time, I do watch quite a lot of crime dramas and whilst I’m not always good at following the story, the music and the cinematography tends to be what I get sucked into. So no doubt, thanks to Lambert, I’d have thought the film would have been actually good too.

9th

Brendon Moeller - Mirage
[Quiet Details]

When I was a DJ I used to play both deep house, tech house and minimal techno. With the latter, I preferred a techno sound where there were deep atmospheres and pads at the core of the track. I discovered Brendon Moeller’s music and fondly recall ‘Birth’, from an all-time classic 2 track EP on the Echocord label, which was a regular haunt for me when looking for vinyl for my set box. In truth, the gigs I’d play at were rarely the right setting for me to play Birth, but I dearly loved that track and still do. Fast forward almost 20 years, and I must say I was surprised and excited to see Brendon’s name crop up on a new Ambient music label I’d been following, called Quiet Details. I wasn’t sure quite what to expect, but with one listen to opening track ‘Daybreak’ I got that same feeling I got all those years ago, when coming across Brendon’s music. This time, the dub-infused atmospheres take centre stage and the beats are a textural accompaniment. Sometimes, beats are implied by percussive shards of found sounds or samples. Always, there is a deep bass as a foundation to these tracks and this makes for an incredible sonic experience that is particularly strong when listened to on headphones. I should also add a big nod to Quiet Details too, a label that has quickly built up a reputation for consistently solid output, and a growing sense of community through listening parties and additional album insights on Substack.

8th

Halvcirkel - Vida
[130701]

Fat Cat’s offshoot label 130701 is a reliable source for some of the finest modern classical and contemporary ambient music around. There are the genre heavyweights, placed alongside a roster of emerging talent and I was intrigued to listen to ‘Vida’ by Danish string ensemble Halvcirkel. I wasn’t aware of their work before and it’s a magical exploration of Nordic inspiration from three friends. It is in part chamber music, yet also influenced heavily by the minimalism of Terry Riley. A repetition of phrases at a steady pace definitely nod to the minimalist movement, but there are more flowing Ambient moments too. It’s a record of great variety, showcasing the ability of these musicians who deploy a range of techniques. I’d recommend checking this one out for anyone who loves modern classical music, and be sure to also read the stories in the Bandcamp write-up, which give some further insight into the artists’ background and ranges of inspiration.

7th

The Humble Bee & Offthesky - Here In, Absence
[IIKKI]

A massive record for me in the strange old year of 2020, was Craig Tattersall and Jason Corder’s ‘We Were The Hum of Dreams’. It was just the perfect combination of two master manipulators of sound. I’d also loved their ‘All Other Voices Gone, Only Yours Remains’ on Laaps’ sister label IIKKI. So another outing on the latter, with ‘Here In, Absence’ was a must hear back in Spring and I was sure to get my order in without much need to think about the decision. It’s done very well, with the label doing a repress of the fine art photography booklet of work by Mika Siirilä, which has sold out once again. Quite something when you think there were 500 copies! This genre many of us call Ambient music these days, always lends itself to visuals and in particular, fine art and lavish packaging. No one does it quite like the IIKKI label and they do a wonderful job of maintaining great consistency with the work. Here In, Absence has all the loveliness of a record involving Tattersall, with its time-eroded tape sound. And whilst it’s hard to tell with such a seasoned collaboration and these high quality producers, presumably Corder adds a wide range of sonic wizardry.

6th

Laura Misch - Sample The Earth
[One Little Independent]

There are so many ways to discover music and when you follow the right people and look in the right places, it is easy to find a gem or two. So often with these end of year lists, I check out the discoveries of others and realise how much I’d missed. At the end of summer, I happened to check out my friend Miguel Santos’ curated playlists on Spotify and he has a ‘world music’ one full of awesome music from across the globe. I transferred one or two to my own ‘world’ playlist and suddenly I was taken aback after I came across a track by Laura Misch who I hadn’t heard of before. I can’t remember what the name of the song was, but it didn’t matter, as I was off to check out more of her music. I noticed she had an album called ‘Sample The Earth’ and ended up listening to it repeatedly over the next few days, before I got an order in for the vinyl, via Björk’s One Little Independent label. This collection is a sister album to her debut ‘Sample The Sky’ which was out the previous year. This is also a great record but I’d grown really fond of this one, my first discovery of Laura’s music. I’ve not listened to much vocal music this year and whilst I tend to gravitate towards instrumental music, when I connect with a vocal record it tends to go right towards the top of my lists. On the instrumental side however, the album is full of different instruments with harp, cello, guitar and piano all featured, not to mention Laura’s signature saxophone sound too.

5th

Kiasmos - II
[Erased Tapes]

I expect this record will make many end-of-year lists and probably crossing over into many different scenes too. One of my Modern Classical heroes Ólafur Arnalds has once again collaborated with his old friend Janus Rasmussen as Kiasmos some 10 years since their debut, released on the mighty Erased Tapes label. To be honest, that record somehow escaped me and my first connection with their work was in this album. Anyone who's seen any of my previous end of year coverage will know, my background is in Deep House and Techno and so every year there are some beat-led records in amongst my favourites. This year has been all about quieter, more beatless styles - except this one! There's a clever, somehow perfect hybrid of minimal Techno, House and Modern Classical music here. It's very moving both literally, and emotionally. It doesn't half sound good when played loud on these Cambridge Audio speakers too... All of the tracks are superb, but the track I've chosen for my end of year show is 'Bound' - probably my favourite individual piece of music from 2025. I love how the beats, synth and strings all combine.

4th

Akira Kosemura & Lawrence English - Selene
[Temporary Residence]

I first happened across Akira Kosemura's work via his 'Polaroid Piano' album on Someone Good, back in 2009. I was struck by the raw and intimate sound of his piano, an early taster of felt piano and piano strings recorded with contact mics, long before I'd discovered Nils Frahm. He's been plugging away since then and I notice that he's doing amazingly well on the streaming platforms these days, and with a release on Decca that I'd missed somehow too (one I'll be checking out over the holidays!). Another artist I've been following for a similar length of time is Room40 founder Lawrence English and I hadn't realised until now, that Someone Good is in fact a sub-label of Room40! Not only does he run a prolific and beautifully curated/designed record label, he's also a superb artist. I've always loved his Peregrine album and his collaboration with Minamo - 'A Path Less Travelled'. Lawrence has collaborated with some of the biggest and best Experimental artists in the world; the likes of William Basinski, David Toop, Merzbow and Loscil to say but a few. And here with his latest collaboration, we have an album which already feels like an all-time Ambient classic in my book. It may not be the intention of these artists and I don't wish to devalue the uniqueness of their work here - but when I first heard Selene, I immediately thought Budd and Eno's work such as The Pearl or The Plateaux Mirror. The nostalgic feel to the piano and deep Ambient drones was something I connected to instantly, within just a couple of seconds. There are still rightly lots of nods back to Budd and Eno as reference points even to this day and whilst I myself have just cited these incredibly forefathers of the genre, I feel this record is an example that there are some incredible figures in the scene that are carrying this genre forward, built on a foundation of many years of passion and hard work, building the modern Ambient scene into what it is today. I find whenever I play this record, it stays on, sometimes for 2-3 full listens. Whilst Eno stated Ambient music is 'as ignorable as it is interesting' I find myself actively and consciously marveling, and reveling, in every note and tone these guys have created here. Masterpiece.

3rd

Jonas Munk - Mirror Phase
[Azure Vista]

2024 has firmly been an Ambient music dominated year for me. Sure, most of my end of year lists are full of quiet, beatless music. But this year more than most, was the year of the drone. This discovery was a new one for me as I hadn’t heard of the label Azure Vista before and hadn’t come across Jonas Munk either. Until of course I realised he is one half of Billow Observatory. ‘Mirror Phases’ whilst minimal in nature, has a special ability to feel familiar and having special properties that instantly make it feel like an all-time Ambient classic. Despite being released at the end of the year, these observations of mine as I listened repeatedly, had the album charge up my personal chart. This record already evokes a similar feeling to the fondness I have come to form for Stars of the Lid for example. This strong bond is heightened by the wonderful cover artwork and vinyl presentation; it’s the first time I’ve bought a 12” with an obi strip. I’ve also just made the connection that Munk also records as Manual, an artist I came across shortly after getting into Ambient music in 2007! So perhaps this might be the origins of that familiar feeling I keep getting from this album.

2nd

Max Richter - In A Landscape
[Decca]

As a big modern classical music fan, Max Richter is the sort of heavyweight in this field that you just sit up and take notice of when he has something new to release. The Decca label is synonymous with the genre too and between Max and the label, their slick marketing campaign was impossible not to get drawn to. Max built up the record with his previews and personal accounts of how it came to be. The artwork is simple, yet striking and I noted the title straight away too. Not only do I love landscapes, but the title ‘In A Landscape’ reminded me of one of my all-time favourite John Cage pieces of the same name from back in 1948. On the Cage reference, there are piano pieces in this record, rich strings compositions, placed alongside field recordings and light electronics. It’s all painted together, in one exquisite, perfect album. The press release whilst brief, is concise, clear and one which is relatable. I feel I can easily connect with the artist’s aims, to reflect the beauty of the natural world with humans and technology, interpreted through acoustic instruments and electronic sound techniques. Whilst no doubt it is just my interpretation being Richter’s compatriot, there feels a ‘Britishness’ to this album, which has me thinking of the countryside, of small and luxurious stone towns, of the finer things in life and by this, I mean the simplest of things - which Richter refers to as ‘the quiet pleasures of living’.

1st

SVLBRD - How To Disappear
[Faint]

All year and ever since I discovered this album it’s been tracking for my favourite record of 2024. In the early stages of the year I think I put it to the top but expected it to be replaced by something more ‘musical’. However, whilst some wonderful records fitting this description came out, I just kept going back to SVLBRD’s How To Disappear. This is a simple, minimal album of deep drones and field recordings from Agus Mena who is the founder of the Archives and Faint labels, and also records as Warmth. When I first checked out the album, as with all Agus’ label releases, I was drawn in by the photography. Then the title struck me. I don’t want to disappear but at the end of a long day, and with a mind racing with inspiration, things to do, things to process, I do generally just want to drift off and disappear into a blissful oblivion of sleep. And that is how I came to listen to this album most nights. Its simple, unclear stories, resonated so well with me as it became something I reached for time and time again. I’ve listened to it plenty of times during the day too, much more consciously, and at a louder volume it has a wealth of detail and a quality to it that is so impressive, and so immersive. It’s a classic already in my view and was an easy choice for me, to place as this year’s number one.

If you enjoyed reading this end of year blog post and in particular hearing the music, you can check out past 'yearbooks' mixes right back 'til 2010 HERE.