Every Wednesday, from 11pm-midnight, Electric Waves brings you classic and contemporary electronic music. From old school rave to jungle to dub techno, we want to show you the very best electronic sounds from across the globe. We’ve been privileged to share some incredible music from this year, and below is a list of the top 5 albums of 2026 so far. All releases have been featured on previous editions of Electric Waves, and they’ll most definitely continue to spin in setlists and at home.
Topdown Dialectic – False LP A (False Aralia)
The previously anonymous Topdown Dialectic made a name for themself by putting out deconstructed dub techno that was as alluring as it was inscrutable. Past releases on Peak Oil, Aught, and Seattle’s Further Records weaved a complex pattern of skittering rhythms, processed and ghostly vocal clips, and oftentimes head-spinning ambient dub. With the reveal of his identity as San Francisco photographer Izaak Schlossman, not much feels different on his latest, False LP A, out on the False Aralia label Schlossman co-runs with Brian Foote. At 80 minutes across a double LP set, False LP A navigates murky beats, white noise ambience, and spectral techno. It’s easily Topdown Dialectic’s best album, and a grand statement for a project where every proceeding release has felt like the latest benchmark.
Alex Albrecht – Hariketaya (Analogue Attic)
Melbourne, Australia’s Alex Albrecht creates electronic music that’s easy to get lost in on the first listen. His sound reflects a love of house music with jazzy undertones and hypnotic, propulsive energy. He found inspiration from the southern Sri Lankan coast for his latest, Hariketaya, named for the enclosed bay that is home to the MOND artist residency. Released on his Analogue Attic Recordings, Hariketaya fuses Albrecht’s lush deep house with field recordings and live instruments including the sitar, double bass, and saxophone. Gorgeously textured and expansive, the album is geared towards headphones and home listening, as its deep grooves open up on each listen.
Foote/Dickow – High Cube (Geographic North)
Los Angeles producer and record label owner Brian Foote pairs up with Portland’s Paul Dickow, who performs as Strategy, for this collaborative release on Atlanta’s Geographic North. They’ve known each other since Foote’s days in the Portland music underground, with Foote’s Peak Oil label putting out several Strategy records over the years.
High Cube was produced in a designated timespan, with a limited set of gear, and the results reflect their decades of collaboration. The sounds of their respective solo projects meld perfectly into a collection of bubbling, playful electronica. Hopefully, we hear more from the duo; however, the album stands on its own as an excellent addition to either artists’ catalogues.
Variant – The Setting Sun (Field Records)
As the co-founder of Detroit’s seminal Echospace label, Stephen Hitchell is responsible for some of the best ambient-leaning dub techno to grace our speakers. The mind behind a number of projects, his best and most well known is Variant, which has seen several essential releases get the reissue treatment. The most sought after is his 2009 debut under the moniker, The Setting Sun. Field Records gave it a gorgeous vinyl remaster, and it sounds every bit as contentedly ominous as it did upon release. Field recordings of thunder storms in Germany and train rides in Japan sit alongside distended keyboard patterns smeared in reverb and various effects. As with most releases in his catalog, The Setting Sun is meant to be ingested in one sitting, as loud as possible so the ambient dimensions can absorb you in their ethereal, enchanting beauty.
PARC – Clear Light (Self-Released)
Vancouver’s Jeremy Rawkins self-released their latest collection under the PARC moniker. With cassettes on Ume Records and 100% Silk full of dreamy, ambient adjacent house music, PARC’s Clear Light infuses touches of breakbeats within the serene soundscapes.
His love of digital synths and hints of nostalgia steeps the album in a pillowy production aesthetic that brings to mind a long flight where you look out the window and get lost in the passage of time and the ground below.
