Bleep

2009 saw the album as art-form bite back, the following picks represent our highlights. Spring awoke with Dutch producer Martyn and his vision in UK bass, dubstep and techno. Other newcomers this year include dream-poppers Nite Jewel and beat-scientist Nosaj Thing. Bibio released a debut record of skewed pop sonics for Warp while fellow genre adventurer, Matias Aguayo created an album that fused minimal techno with street-party vitality. Finally, 09' saw SND with their most consistent work to date and Jonny Trunk delivered natural history music from forgotten composer Edward Williams.

Here are our top EP choices for the year. UK bass culture witnessed a surging new-wave of talent; Floating Points, Mount Kimbie, Hudson Mohawke and Gold Panda toyed with convention, creating some of the best new music in '09. Clark scored an invigorating result with Growls Garden and intricate, propulsive techno was shaped by Nathan Fake whilst Black Meteoric Star made a record of raw acid house/EBM, veteran Dutch producer Legowelt made one of the most curious releases of the year with his mutant, 4/4 afrodelia... and that was 2009.

In a year crammed with label birthdays we only saw fit to further applaud those that have celebrated anniversary years. Hyperdub, Warp. Enough Said. Bleep's reach was extended to the world of skweee with Harmonia. In Germany, Raster-Noton's audio-visual supremacy reigned, Ostgut was borne out of a Techno institution and Munich's Permanent Vacation flew the disco-house flag high. Likewise New York's IDIB whose late-night electronic disco kept us dreaming. Finally Hotflush was responsible for many of the groundbreaking dubstep 12's released this year including 'Hyph Mngo'.

When choosing our best artists we have gone for those who have shaped scenes, done something a little different and made great music. Omar Souleyman and Dam Funk introduced two sounds this year, Syrian Dabke and 80s Boogie. The U.S alternative scene saw career breaking records from Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear while 18 year old Kyle Hall gave us a series of genre-melting electronic variations. In the UK, Joker, Hudson and Floating Points have had great years and legend Moritz Van Oswald recovered from a stroke, given us new music and remastered Maurizio/Honest Jons material.