A small dark basement is filled with smoke. Red strobe lights flicker as white noise and distorted rhythms violently make their way from the speakers. Lights fade and we’re sunken in darkness, with only the crackling of unidentifiable voices and dark piano tones embracing us. When the strobe lights start pulsating again in front of the small stage, we make out other figures in the room: people in a seemingly dreamlike trance, others stare bewildered at the stage trying to catch a glimpse of the artist responsible for all this confusion, some are even dancing. When the small group of us attending the Rewire Festival lock eyes through the bursts of light, it is clear that we are having a shared experience, one of joyous awe, as Maria w Horn continues her set.

Maria w Horn’s latest record ‘Epistasis’ came out later in the year and it never really left my record player; an entirely different beast compared to her live performance (or even last year’s ‘Kontrapoetik’), but even more so, an emotional experience and my record of the year.

A lot of my favourite music I listened to in 2019 was aided by having attended live performances: from the visceral experiences of Maria w Horn and Sunn O))) to the sparse and minimal sets of Mohammad Reza Mortazavi and Sarah Davachi. Other records, like Caterina Barbieri’s ‘Ecstatic Computation’ or older releases by Windy & Carl, Roy Montgomery and Paysage d’Hiver just stuck around all year, ever-relient like a best friend, accompanying me (us) on roadtrips, train rides, late-night work sessions or casual listening sessions on the couch.

These twenty-five records from 2019 were probably the ones I listened to the most, always on repeat, always there when I needed them. So give them a listen and support the artists, they are awesome.

HNY x M