Top 5 Albums of the Year : Phon°noir

Matthias Grübel, aka Phon°noir, unleashed one of the most imaginative albums of 2006, in the shape of "Putting Holes Into October Sky". The album was an inventive mixture of lo-fi bedroom electronica and dark, understated pop. He also finds time to record with other projects such as Phonofix and Maibach. This is his intriguing top 5 selections for 2006.
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5. Trespassers William - "Having" (Nettwerk Music Group)

"the most pop orientated record in my top5. This is a band from seattle, produced by the guy who worked for mogwai and mercury rev... an album with a dark melancholic mood, which has subtle little cracks here and there. Feels like going on a plane, the moment you get into the clouds, and off them again... the singer is awesome, a lovely fragile voice, the band sound is precise. I like the way they always seem to work at the border to a really feedbacky sound but still seem to keep it in balance, it's something really nervously on the edge - yet at the same time everything's so calm and easy... i am also happy to have anna-lyne with her fantastic voice as a guest on my next record..."


4. Calika - "Small Talk Kills Me" (Audiobulb)

"another audiobulb release. A bit darker and even more twisted and complex in the way the tunes are being built. A lot of dirty and droning sounds on it. Really deep and in a way un-heard. I was happy to find this music! simon, the guy behind the music, is my age & this is also his debut album. We are in touch by now & even collaborated on a few occasions, helping each other on tracks for our respective forthcoming albums."


3. Ultre - "All The Darkness Has Gone To Details" (Audiobulb)

"the newest album in my top5. Even though I've only owned it for a week now, it has had an instant impact on me. Energy in every hidden corner. An incredible trickyness in the beats. beautifully detailed arrangements. Indietronics meets aphex twin. I love it. Released on audiobulb, UK. My label discovery of the year."




2. Uzi & Ari- "It Is Freezing Out" (Own Records)
"A wonderful record and one that keeps growing the longer you listen to it. At times it feels like a post-pop-indie-guitar-band-release, at times you hear traces of radiohead's "Kid A" in it. At times you just ask yourself how they came up with that beat again. An album full of lovely little ideas and beautiful songs. Everything in its right place, i'd say."


1. Thom Yorke - "The Eraser" (XL)

"Something I have been waiting for for a long time. Fullfilled my expectations. Yorke finally entered a sound cosm which I always wanted to hear his voice in. An incredible album. Guess i don't have to say anything else about this one. "