The best record artwork of 2016

List season is in full swing and we’ve exhaustively counted down the sounds that have delighted our ears in 2016, and now it’s time for the sights that have pleased our eyes. Any digger will know the importance of record artwork; it can be the difference between discovering a gem or flicking on straight past it. And how a producer or label chooses to present a release is worthy of artistic recognition, often providing insight that can flesh out concepts or mirror the mindset of the maker.

In 2016 we’ve seen covers adorned by Babyfather’s British pride-satirising hoverboard, Fatima Al Qadiri’s riot-ready Teletubby, James Blake recruiting the services of a beloved childrens’ illustrator, Lafawndah swallowing a dagger, Skee Mask’s skiing mountains, those cute kids from Stranger Things, and much more.

Check out some of 2016’s most striking artwork in the gallery above, and see below for the list of featured release.

Abra ‘Princess’ (True Panther) A Made Up Sound ‘A Made Up Sound’ (A Made Up Sound) Aphix ‘Chemtrail’ (Infinite Machine) Babyfather ‘BBF Hosted by DJ Escrow’ (Hyperdub) Bruce ‘I’m Alright Mate’ (Timedance) Chino Amobi ‘Anya’s Garden’ (UNO) Convextion ‘2845’ (a.r.t.less) Dedekind Cut ‘The $uccessor’ (NON Worldwide) DJ Earl ‘Open Your Eyes’ (Teklife) Equiknoxx ‘Bird Sound Power’ (DDS) ERP ‘Ancient Light (Hubble Telescope Series Vol. II)’ (Solar One Music) Gerd Janson ‘fabric 89’ (fabric records) Fatima Al Qadiri ‘Brute’ (Hyperdub) Floorplan ‘Victorious’ (M-Plant) Hex ‘Hex’ (Liberation Technologies) James Blake ‘The Colour In Anything’ (Polydor) Jeff Mills ‘The Kill Zone’ (Axis Records) Jessy Lanza ‘Oh No’ (Hyperdub) JoeFarr ‘RPM’ (Bloc) Kaytranada ’99.9%’ (XL Recordings) Kornél Kovács ‘The Bells’ (Studio Barnhus) Kyle Hall ‘From Joy’ (Wild Oats) Lafawndah ‘Tan’ (Warp Records) Leon Vynehall ‘Rojus’ (Running Back) Midland ‘Blush’ (Graded) Moodymann ‘DJ-Kicks’ (!K7) Moro ‘San Benito’ (NON) Motion Graphics ‘Brass Mechanics’ (Future Times) Omar S ‘The Best!’ (FXHE) Pangaea ‘In Drum Play’ (Hessle Audio) Peggy Gou ‘Seek For Maktoop’ (Technicolour) Reckonwrong ‘Passions Of Pez’ (Whities) Sasha ‘Scene Delete’ (Late Night Tales) Space Dimension Controller ‘Orange Melamine’ (Ninja Tune) Steven Julien ‘Fallen’ (Apron) Skee Mask ‘Shred’ (Ilian Tape) Sky H1 ‘Motion’ (CODES) Various Artists ‘Erelitha’ (Staycore) Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein ‘Stranger Things Vol. 1’ (Lakeshore Records) Throwing Shade ‘House Of Silk’ (Ninja Tune) Various Artists ‘When I Was 14’ (трип) Yves Tumour ‘Serpent Music’ (PAN) Ziúr ‘Taiga’ (Infinite Machine) Zora Jones ‘Ruby Fifths’ (Fractal Fantasy)

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Staff Writer, follow him on Twitter