I am excited to have been a contributing writer on The Best Electronic Music of 2011 feature from PopMatters. I spent a lot of time this year with fascinating techno outings — from BNJMN’s work, to a couple of things from Andy Stott, to a great free record from Legowelt — and found it difficult to whittle the list of my favorite electronic/beat records to a count of 20. At PopMatters, we put together a list of ten with additional recommendations and “best singles,” etc., toward the close of the feature. Go have a look, and thanks for reading.

Scott Hansen has been making wordless electronic music for years, building each piece with organic accompaniment that’s often treated to make it sound both warm and worn. As Tycho, Hansen’s inspired productions feel appropriately soft and weathered — listen to his “Adrift” here. They’re an aural embodiment of the affinity for late-’60s- and ’70s-styled color saturation that he so frequently demonstrates in his illustrative work. Read my piece in the December 2011 issue of The Brooklyn Rail.

Even as they’re busy with equally provocative electronic records in separate solo side projects, New York City producers Travis Stewart and Praveen Sharma dealt an aurally dense and lively full-length as Sepalcure in 2011. I wrote about their absorbing EP called Fleur earlier this year, and the self-titled LP follows strongly the ambient house/bass-driven beat sound they’ve been turning out since 2009. Read my PopMatters piece on Sepalcure’s debut LP.

I wrote about releases from HTRK, Walls, I Break Horses,  Tropics, Max Cooper, Balam Acab, and Martyn in my new Beats Working column/blog at Blurt Magazine. Don’t you want to read a bunch of words about electronic music today? Streams, downloads, and chatter here.

In his book about Ernest Hemingway’s early years as a reporter, Charles Fenton wrote that the author grew to value newspaper writing for its “opportunity to write constantly, for publication, in a medium which required narrative that was interesting and forceful.” I’ve long been familiar with Hemingway’s short stories and a couple of his novels but I’ve only recently discovered his early newspaper and magazine stuff. In finally getting to his archive of journalistic efforts, I’m appreciative of how his reporting sharpened his ability to confidently, carefully tell a story. At PopMatters, my piece about Hemingway’s reporting was published earlier this week. Thanks for reading.

Brooklyn-based teenager Chester “Infinitirock” Anand explores stitched-together beats and ambient techno on his contribution to Asthmatic Kitty’s Library Catalog Music Series. His Music for Primordial Recollection is one of the strongest chapters yet — a rich and divergent compendium of psychedelic, wordless grooves, and weighty sound collages. Go to PopMatters to read more of my piece on library music and Anand’s album, and for a free download of his mighty 17 Years LP.

The only prominently available full-length that bears Kate Simko’s name is Music from the Atom Smashers, a hypnotic and specifically not dancefloor-oriented 2009 film score built on trailing ambient forms with crackling electronics. However, the Chicago producer has been active within the dance music community for years, having issued well-received house and techno singles and EPs for a handful of labels such as Ghostly International’s Spectral Sound imprint. Read my review of Lights Out at PopMatters, and my post about Music from….is here.