NHK: "Unununium" (Raster-Noton, 2008)

Raster end the year with what must surely rank as one of the SICKEST records of 2008 with the first installment of a series entitled Unununium from Japan's Kouhei Matsunaga and Toshio Munehiro, a name derived from the series of greek atomic numbers of the chemical elements 111-119. Kouhei has previously worked with Sean Booth of Autechre, Merzbow, Asmus Tietchens and Mika Vainio, with all of whom the pair share an aural aesthetic of exceedingly powerful and abrasive digital techno, serving the dual purpose of club wrecking and intense home listening. For us, this is the absolute business.