As 2010 bows out, it is time to look back on a year that has been rich in new music, some from very well established artists, and some from entirely new comers. Here are themilkfactory’s twenty favourite records of the year, and this year for the first time, this list is augmented with thirty other records that have marked the year.

With no less than four albums in the top 20, the year belonged to Rune Grammofon, and more particularly to Supersilent, who occupy two places, including the top spot. Room40 also place two albums in the twenty best records on 2010, while new imprints Desire Path, Hibernate and Textura also feature with some strong releases.
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PHONOPHANI
Kreken
RCD2101
Rune Grammofon 2010
12 Tracks. 55mins55secs

Amazon UK: CD | DLD Norman Records: CD iTunes: DLD

Phonophani, the project of multi-instrumentist and digital artist Espen Sommer Eide, is back with a fourth serving of expressionist electro-acoustic experimentations, and this time, Sommer Eide has turned his attention to Norwegian folklore, using traditional instruments as sound sources and building them into the fabric of his record.

Sommer Eide is, amongst other things, one half of the excellent Alog, a project he founded with Dag-Are Haugan in 1997 and with who he has released five albums, four of which published on Rune Grammofon, and a number of EPs. Running in parallel, Phonophani has had for main objective to bring together acoustic and electronic instrumentation and explore the strange world that is brought to life as they meet. This has led to three radically different records, from the hypnotic orchestral textures of his self-titled debut, originally released in 1998 on Geir Jenssen’s Biophon imprint and re-released on Rune Grammofon four years ago, to the much more fragmented abstraction of Genetic Engineering (2001) and the often abrasive and angular Oak Or Rock (2004). Continue Reading »

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Money Will Ruin Everything: The Second Edition
RCD2072
Rune Grammofon 2009
25 Tracks. 152mins42secs

Buy: CD

‘It’s hard work to sell Rune CD outside of a small group of freaks’. To celebrate its first five years of activity, Norwegian label Rune Grammofon issued Money Will Ruin Everything, a beautiful limited collection documenting the label’s first few years spent charting the outer reaches of the music industry, spread over two CDs and presented with a book designed by Kim Hiorthøy. Fast forward five years and a few months, and it is time for label owner Rune Kristoffersen to look back once again and take stock of one of the most eclectic and forward-thinking catalogue around. And once again, Kim Hiorthøy, who is still single-handedly responsible for the visual identity of the label, including its occasional advertising, has designed a beautiful artefact, which collects not only the two CDs of this second edition of Money Will Ruin Everything, introduced by Geoff Travis and Robert Fricke, but also essays by Wire collaborator Rob Young and design consultant Adrian Shaughnessy, photographs and artwork reproductions. Continue Reading »

PHONOPHANI
Phonophani
RCD2054
Rune Grammofon 2006
13 Tracks. 75mins28secs

Phonophani’s Espen Sommer Eide began his solo quest with this self-titled opus back in 1998. The album originally received a very confidential airing on Geir Jenssen’s Biophon imprint in 1998, and has just been re-released by the ever-excellent Rune Grammofon with an additional three tracks. Eide has since released two further albums, Genetic Engineering (2001) and Oak Or Rock (2004), and has teamed up with Dag-Are Haugan to form Alog, with whom he has released three albums and a handful of EPs which were recently collected on the excellent Catch That Totem! Continue Reading »