Jonny's Top 10 Releases of 2012

If there was ever a year to get into electronic music, 2012 was probably that year. As well as Burial and Clubroot showing the world how dubstep should be done, we've had an explosion of talent from Russia in the likes of Night Shift and Clonki  as well as local scenes blossoming in both the east (Borealis, Liar) and west (Kettel, Secede, Chymera) of mainland Europe. In the meantime, Indie music seems to be suffering from an identity crisis in this Hipster-conscious age if Metronomy singles are to be believed, Metal continues to go the way of pop-punk by continuing to stagnate and Pop itself is even embracing the deeper sides of electronic. Folk's done alright, actually, but for the purpose of getting you to listen to electronic we'll ignore that. Ambient, as ever, has enjoyed a fantastic year.

So here it is, my personal top 10 releases of the year.

Artist of the Day: Listening Mirror

Listening Mirror has been a hive of activity since the project was formed in 2010 by Jeff Stonehouse and Kate Tunstain. In the last two-and-a-bit years the two busy bees have released a honey pot (I'll stop now, I promise) of 14 pristine drone-ambient EPs, and since their compilation/LP Resting in Aspic released earlier this year the two have been enjoying a well deserved buzz (okay, now) of acclaim.

The Clearing/ My Hiding Place is the first release since the LP, and Listening Mirror don't disappoint. The new EP takes a similar tack to the artists' previous work - with a very tangible sense of space carefully developed through field samples and texture, as well as a constant veil of a very sinister kind of danger - except it develops the idea further. With each of the three tracks, the album becomes progressively darker: giving the sense of the danger circling closer and closer around you.

It falls short of being their most successful release, sadly, but it's still exceptionally well crafted and has obviously had hours upon hours of time, thought and effort crammed in to its duration. So don't worry, the Listening Mirror are still unbelievably good at what they do, and this release is certainly worth the £3 asking price.

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Album Review: Listening Mirror - Resting in Aspic

Album Rating: B+

Ambiance... If I were to make the cardinal sin of comparing music to art - which, I assure you, I would never even dream of doing - I would liken ambient music to just one curved line on an otherwise blank canvas. The point of it all? To ask that question would be to miss the... idea. Unlike conventional music, ambient does not try to convey a particular message, nor does the message even matter. No, think of an ambient piece as the very beginning on a journey to a point; any point. What matters is how your mind travels from that starting position; which sound-tinted thought it springs to. It’s music for thinking men with time on their hands to think, and this is precisely the rut that Listening Mirror nestles into.