Here are my personal best-of compilations year by year. I started with this rather nerdy special interest project in 2008, inspired by my friend Markus , who continuously sent me nicely designed CD boxes with his “Jahresgutachten” (“annual report”) compilations. Then, my friend Travis and I started exchanging something similar, but dismissing the physical media.
It seems that there are some recurrent themes in my compilations: There is always plenty of Scandinavian (mostly Danish) electronica, the odd batch of curious mainstream pop tunes, and the one standout classic song.
Now, I will post all the lists I have made so far, so you can see (and hear!) what I loved and listened to through the recent past. I still enjoy getting back to the lists of yesteryear and enjoy what I liked back then.
23 vs. Me
The first compilation in four years - the pandemic happened and now we're back!
Nosaj Thing - Continua (feat. Duval Timothy)
Little Dragon - Amöban
Arlo Parks - Weightless
Jessz Lanza - Limbo
Chromeo - Replacements (feat. La Roux)
Roosevelt - Rising
Hikari Mitsushima & Mondo Grosso - Shadow Dance
Kllo - Affection
Daughter - Be On Your Way
Blur - The Narcissist
Miss Grit - Nothing's Wrong
King Krule - That Is My Life, That Is Yours
Roísín Murphy - What Not To Do (Moodymann Remix)
Kiefer - It's OK, B U
Astrid Engberg & Mo Latte - On Time
Rival Consoles - Coda
Janus Rasmussen & David Bergmüller - Ado
Hinako Omori - Czanotype Memories
Kloxii Li - Silver Lotus
Braids - Apple
Eydís Evensen - Tranquillant
Hania Rani & Patrick Watson - Dancing With Ghosts
Akira Kosemura - Lasting Memories
Nntn
Telefon Tel Aviv - standing at the bottom of the ocean;
HVOB - A List
Christian Löffler - Ry
Janus Rasmussen - Lilla
John Tejada - Performance Review
Kelly Lee Owens - Let It Go
Roosevelt - Falling Back
Lake Malawi - Friend of a Friend
Vök - Autopilot
Chlöe Howl - Millionaire
Com Truise - Existence Schematic
Kllo - Back To You
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Spinning Song
Nils Frahm - Sweet Little Lie
Apparat - Outlier
Amanda Palmer - The Ride
8Teen
St. Vincent - Slow Disco (Piano Version)
Ólafur Arnalds - undir
Sylvan Esso - Funeral Singers (feat. Collections of Colonies of Bees)
DJ Koze - Muddy Funster (feat. Kurt Wagner)
Maya Jane Coles - Waves & Whirlwinds
Kllo - Potential
Kiasmos & Högni - Zebra
AyOwA - Insomnia
Roosevelt - Under the Sun
Christine and the Queens - Girlfriend (feat. Dâm-Funk)
Laing - Nein
KATE NV - кто WHO
Mia Diekow - Die Ozeane sterben
Soap&Skin - Creep
Nils Frahm - My Friend The Forest
Seven Of Ten
The name was inspired by one of my favourite characters from Star Trek (yes, I think you can call me a geek, after all) – and this even in a year that was all about Star Wars… Anyway, here is my “best of 2017” compilation for you.
Kllo – Virtue
The XX – On Hold
Kiasmos – Blurred
Goldfrapp – Anymore
Portico Quartet – A Luminous Beam
Mount Kimbie – Blue Train Lines (feat. King Krule)
Com Truise – Isostasy
Thievery Corporation – Letter to the Editor (feat. Racquel Jones)
Tycho – See (feat. Beacon)
Roosevelt – Colours
Little Dragon – High
Sylvan Esso – Die Young
Kelly Lee Owens – S.O.
Sampha – Plastic 100°C
Bonobo – Break Apart (feat. Rhye)
HVOB & Winston Marshall – The Blame Game
Högni – Komdu Með
Sixteen Songs
Sixteen Songs – plus one bonus track... This year was probably filled with as much exciting and good new music as all the years before. But for some reason that I cannot find out why, there was much less music that stuck with me and impressed me enough to include in the yearly compilation. So, I thought, why not limit myself to a much smaller number of songs than I usually pack into my best of? It wasn’t exactly a “Sweet Sixteen” either (think: Brexit, Trump elected for President, Bowie, Cohen passed away…), which you can hear in the mix too.
And, as I’ve done in similar ways before, there is one song that hasn’t been released this year, so it technically shouldn’t be on here. But it is from an album that I only discovered this year and that meant a lot to me during the year. It inspired me to a lot of the music I made myself, and it was comforting when I needed it. So, there goes Kiasmos, who should have been in the mix already two years ago!
Also, as in previous years, this is not meant to be a ranking chart, but much rather put into a flow, like an album.
Beacon – IM U
Poliça – Berlin
Operators – Cold Light
Warpaint – New Song
Wild Beasts – Alpha Female
Moderat – Ghostmother
Throwing Snow – Seren
Sylvan Esso – Radio
Plaid – Melifer
Com Truise – Sunspot
De La Soul – Pain (feat. Snoop Dogg)
NAO – Bad Blood
Jessy Lanza – Going Somewhere
Massive Attack – The Spoils (feat. Hope Sandoval)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Distant Sky
Ólafur Arnalds & Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir – Particles
Kiasmos – Thrown
Foffteihn
Foffteihn (northern Low-German for “15”, also used as synonym for a short break during work) is the name of my best-of music compilation of the year 2015.
Nils Frahm – Ode
Laing – Wechselt die Beleuchtung
Funkstörung – Laid Out (feat. Anothr)
Lapalux – Don’t Mean a Thing
MG – Pinking
Holly Herndon – Interference
Alight – Laudanum
HVOB – Window
Tim Green – Against The Clock
Audion – Dem Howl feat. Troels Abrahamsen
The Chemical Brothers – Go
Rex The Dog – Sicko
Yppah – Separate Ways Forever
Howling – Signs
Romare – Jimmy’s Lament
Everpure – Paris feat. Mole (Everpuremix)
Kelela – Rewind
NAO – Apple Cherry
Charles Murdoch – Frogs (feat. Ta-ku, Wafia & Hak)
Zero 7 – 400 Blows
Portable – Surrender (feat. L_Cio)
Nannou – Rain Complex
Twentyfourteen
Here is my personal best of 2014. As usual, this is not a ranking hit list, but rather a compilation, where the idea is to create a musical flow from start to end – much rather like in songwriting or in a DJ set.
Check out the playlist below. There are some great videos for some of the songs. In general though, I prefer audio-only, since I am not a very visual person and enjoy my own personal movie when I listen to the songs.
HTRK – Give It Up
FKA Twigs – Two Weeks
Holly Herndon – Chorus
Rumpistol – Asleep
Com Truise – Mind
Deft – Emeralds
Submotion Orchestra – City Lights
Bonobo – Duals
Biome – Alternate
Gerwin – Jealousy Cure
Beacon – Fault Lines
Operators – Ancient
GusGus – Another Life
Throwing Snow – Avarice
Hockeysmith – Hesitate
Warpaint – Love Is To Die
Tycho – Awake
alt-J – Hunger Of The Pine
TOKiMONSTA – Realla (feat. Anderson Paak)
Chet Faker – Release Your Problems
Sylvan Esso – Coffee
Niels Frevert – Das mit dem Glücklichsein ist relativ
The Notwist – Casino
Wild Beasts – Nature Boy
Little Dragon – Cat Rider
Band Ane – 9520 DK, At Night
Thirteen
The year 2013 in music – for me – in all its glory. The compilation’s title is an homage to my favourite character in the tv series House. Well, what can I say?
As always, remember to support the artists by buying the music directly from them, their labels or, if that is not possible, check out the good chaps from Bandcamp. There, you can purchase and download music at best quality and at very reasonable prices.
Astrid Engberg – Life Goes On
Blue Hawaii – Follow
Shlohmo – Out Of Hand
Shigeto – Detroit Part 1
Toro Y Moi – So Many Details
Lapalux – Without You
Jessy Lanza – 5785021
Falty DL – For Karme
Locust – Strobes
Margaret Berger – I Feed You My Love
Veto – Battle
I LOVE MCHN DRM – 24 Step
Letherette – After Dawn
Everpure – Forty Stories
Mia Diekow – Black Beauty
Everything Everything – Don’t Try
Moderat – Bad Kingdom
Maya Jane Coles – Fall From Grace (feat. Catherine Pockson)
2011 was the year when Lena tried to win the Eurovision Song Contest again. She didn’t win, but she definitely had the coolest song of all, which earns her the reference in this year’s mixtape title.
Low B – Whealer Dealer Healer
James Blake – Limit to Your Love
Emika – Count Backwards
Rumpistol – Through All This Madness
Sinusstøv – When You Say A
Lena – Taken By a Stranger
13 & God – Old Age
The Belligerents – Such A Crime
Veto – Slowres
Wild Beasts – Plaything
Washed Out – Eyes Be Closed
Lamb – Butterfly Effect
Submotion Orchestra – Backchat
Burial – NYC
Kode 9 & Space Ape – Neon Red Sign
Thievery Corporation – Culture of Fear
Beastie Boys – Make Some Noise
Katy B – Katy On a Mission
Stereo MCs – Far Out Feeling
Photek – Closer
GusGus – Be With Me Now
Camille Jones – Now You Know
Earth – One More Reason
Extrawelt – Yummy_Unbroken
Isolée – Taktell
Ada – Faith
Mogwai – You’re Lionel Ritchie
Robag Wruhme – Fusspause
I Could Have Loved 2010
Here is my best-of compilation for the year 2010. The lyrics of the opener contain the line that still gives me shivers down the spine, so there goes the title. It seems, I found so much music that I couldn’t limit myself. This is my longest mix so far, it just never stops...
Marie-Louise Munck – The Birds Fly Up
Troels Abrahamsen – Edge
Bonobo – Eyesdown
Lamb – She Walks (Snowed In Mix)
RebekkaMaria – Corollaceous
Gorillaz Feat. Snoop Dogg – Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach
Ralph Myerz and the Jack Herren Band – Polish Border (feat. Karin Park)
Pantha du Prince – Stick To My Side
Röyksopp – The Drug
Scuba – Before
Mescalin, Baby – The Ostrich (Everpuremix)
Darkstar – Two Chords
Massive Attack – Flat Of The Blade
Spejderrobot – Der Er Krabbens Bevægelser Og Der Er Togets
Portishead – Chase the Tear
Plan B – The Recluse (Nero Remix)
The Album Leaf – Stand Still
Superpitcher – Friday Night
GusGus – Thin Ice (Video Edit)
Kele – Tenderoni
Morgan Page – Fight For You
Robert Babicz – Darkflower (Fever Mix)
Underworld – Always Loved a Film
Robyn – Dancing On My Own
Shakira – Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) {feat. Freshlyground}
Ellie Goulding – Salt Skin
Sade – Soldier Of Love
Johnny Cash – Ain’t No Grave
Lou Rhodes – One Good Thing
Lena Jensen – Astrofobi
Antony & The Johnsons – Salt Silver Oxygen
Agnes Obel – Close Watch
The Sound Of 2009
Also in my second year of compiling, I didn’t seem to be very creative with my titles. Well, it’s all about the music, isn’t it? There is actually one peculiar thing about this mix: I couldn’t find the right order of songs. I tried and tried and tried and it’d never work. So I decided in the end that I’d just sort them by song titles – and it worked!
Band Ane – Alma Krathus
Xenia Beliayeva – Analog Effekt
Antony & The Johnsons – Another World
Telefon Tel Aviv – The Birds
Imogen Heap – Canvas
Det Sejler I Effekter – Cease & Sekkle
Depeche Mode – Come Back (pitchfork.tv Exclusive)
Fischerspooner – Danse En France
Troels Abrahamsen – End Scene (Everpuremix)
Pearl Jam – The Fixer
Wild Beasts – The Fun Powder Plot
Zero 7 – Ghost sYMbOL
Julian Plenti – Girl on the sporting news
Fever Ray – If I Had A Heart
Iggy Pop – Je Sais Que Tu Sais
Little Boots – Meddle (Tenori – On Piano Version)
Birk Storm – Pause for Music
Massive Attack – Pray for Rain
William Orbit – Radioharp
Zoot Woman – Saturation
Röyksopp – Silver Cruiser
Soap&Skin – Sleep
Lawrence – Sunrise
The Beatles – Tomorrow Never Knows
Jon Hopkins – Vessel
Moby – Walk With Me
Extrawelt – Was Übrig Bleibt
Phoenix – 1901
The Sound Of 2008
Here is the first of my “official” best-of compilations. In 2008, it seems I wasn’t as obsessed with finding new music as I seem to be these days sometimes. Clearly the shortest mix so far… But brevity is the soul of wit, some say.