Contrary to many aspects of life, 2016 was actually a great year for vinyl, as the once ‘outdated’ format completed the comeback of comebacks in December by leapfrogging digital sales for the first time and recording numbers upwards of £2.4m in a single week. Despite losing grip of the slipmat and almost falling into the unknown in 2006, vinyl has since seen eight straight years of growth in sales, with collectors no-longer exclusively audiophiles and DJs. Online marketplace Discogs has been one beneficiary of the slide back toward analogue, with the site now revealing its top 25 most purchased techno records of 2016.

Sellers using the marketplace are permitted to label records based on their own discretion, hence why Mr Oizo’s off-kilter classic 'Flat Beat' finds its way into the list. However, the list of techno top sellers boasts a number of familiar faces including Aphex Twin, whose timeless Selected Ambient Works is still reigning supreme almost 20 years down the line after its release. The most purchased record accolade (520 copies) went to lo-fi hot shot Mall Grab for his Sun Ra EP, while techno mainstays Ben Klock, Moderat, DJ Koze, Paul & Fritz Kalkbrenner, Jeff Mills and Floorplan all feature throughout the top 25.

You can view Discogs’ list of top 25 best selling techno records of 2016 below:

1. Mall Grab 'Sun Ra' EP (520 copies)
2. Convextion '2845' (355 copies)
3. Soul Capsule 'Overcome' (352 copies)
4. Aphex Twin 'Selected Ambient Works' reissue (319 copies)
5. DJ Sotofett 'Current 82' / 'Dark Plan 5' (319 copies)
6. DJ Metatron '2 The Sky' (290 copies)
7. DJ Metatron '2 The Sky' reissue (273 copies)
8. Moderat 'Moderat' (234 copies)
9. Breaker 1 2 'Breakin’' (228 copies)
10. Mr. Oizo 'Flat Beat' (227 copies)
11. Boo Williams 'Residual' EP (222 copies)
12. Paul & Fritz Kalkbrenner 'Sky And Sand' (221 copies)
13. DJ Koze 'XTC' (217 copies)
14. DJ Metatron 'U’ll Be The King Of The Stars' (217 copies)
15. Ben Klock 'Before One' EP (205 copies)
16. Wax 'No. 30003' (198 copies)
17. Malin Genie 'Sense Of Swing' EP (196 copies)
18. Fit Siegel 'Carmine' (195 copies)
19. Globex 'Inversia 1' (180 copies)
20. Floorplan 'Sanctified' EP (178 copies)
21. WK7/Head High 'Do It Yourself'/'Rave' (176 copies)
22. Jeff Mills 'Kat Moda' EP (169 copies)
23. Thomas Bangalter 'Trax On Da Rocks' (168 copies)
24. Levon Vincent 'NS-12' (161 copies)
25. Clarence 'Hyperspace Sound Lab' reissue (158 copies)

Photo courtesy of Mark Selarski