Man this is always so tricky boiling 12 months down to 10 tracks. It's taken longer than I anticipated to put this all together so just pretend it was posted a week ago back when it was that distant year we've all forgotten about now, 2010. Massive THANKS to everyone who still reads this lil' blog of mine and hope you all had a super duper silly season. Will get stuck into 2011 very soon but for now here are the things that really tickled me in the last 12 months. Hope you enjoy!
-------------------------------------------------
#10 Justus Köhncke - Stilove4music 025In a recent interview Harvey said that to him "techno and disco [are] just the same but using different instruments. It's just a natural progression." I reckon that's a really nice perspective and, whether or not you agree with him, this philosophy seems to be deeply embedded in
Justus Köhncke's music. This
Stilove4music record he did earlier in the year featuring 3 drastic reworkings of classic Chic tracks had me pretty torn at first. I had a different opinion after each listen - sometimes I adored it, sometimes I thought it was boring rubbish. I guess it's a lot to do with context: play this record in the right place at the right time and it's devastatingly good. When the disco and techno edges collide it all makes perfect sense.
Justus Köhncke - Now Phreeq [
buy]
-------------------------------------------------
#9 Hudson People - Trip To Your Mind (LTJ Re-Edit)LTJ has had a fantastic year, releasing some of the most consistently great edits of 2010. For me this
Hudson People edit was up there in contention for disco edit of the year. LTJ's edits are so tasteful, so restrained and mature, and his selections are just superb. Whilst the original track is a severely groovy number with gorgeous vocals and a funky rhythm section, it's truly taken to the next level with the simple addition of a thumping kick drum, some careful EQing to really get the horns blasting, and thoughtful restructuring to turn it into an absolute club bomb. The breakdown turns even the most stubborn punters into dancefloor puppets being manhandled by this stellar jam.
Hudson People - Trip To Your Mind (LTJ Edit) [
buy]
-------------------------------------------------
#8 Midnight Savari + Death Strobe RecordsOK OK, I really don't want to toot my own horn here - hence the low chart position - but running a record label has been soo much fun and I absolutely adore the music we've released so far. If I wasn't worried about getting web-slapped this would be up at #1 because it's easily been the best + most fun thing about this year.
Domeyko/Gonzalez managed to conjur up a ridiculous EP for us that's as captivating and awe-inspiring as it is brain-mushing and disorientating.
Midnight Savari's 'Pinisi' EP is a properly superb club record that moves from maritime balearic disco to 808-laden 80s electro to space cruising synth grooves. It just feels so awesome to be holding the finished record! Hope it's been enjoyed by you lot as much as it has by us.
Midnight Savari - Pinisi [
buy]
-------------------------------------------------
#7 Max Essa - Uptown VibrationWhat a fucking jam! This release by
Max Essa on
Is It Balearic? is a real winner from every angle - and I'm not even going to have time to mention the 20-minute slo-mo atmos-balearic journey on the A-side. Uptown Vibration is kinda laid back and dubby but at the same time a real pumper that grooves hard and deep. The chubby bass balances perfectly with the shapely pads and crispy piano line. Hang out for the slap-tastic bridge and the strutting guitar that follows and you've got a real winner. I've been playing this one way too much, it's completely danceable in just about any situation.
Max Essa - Uptown Vibration [
buy]
-------------------------------------------------
#6 Pilooski - AAAThere's been a bit of sadness this year with the
RVNG of the NRDS 12" series finishing up and Moxie edits saying goodbye to the record business. Easily two of the best names in obscure disco edits of the past few years, fingers crossed some labels will step up and fill those oversized shoes.
Pilooski's offering as the final NRDS release is a real thing of beauty - a quaint journey through a psychedelic soundscape which swirls and swells and continues to descend into a beautiful strangeness that's quite haunting and has an understated kind of sinister vibe buried deep in the song. It's not a record that suits all (or even many) occasions but when you're in the right mood it's a stunner.
Pilooski - AAA [
buy]
-------------------------------------------------
#5 Trickski - Pill CollinsOhhh man this
Trickski tune is a real masterpiece of deep. It builds and swells and rises with subtlety, and so does your anticipation. You know something big is coming and it makes you go crazy. In that sense it's a little like Sebastian Tellier's La Ritournelle - the build seems to go on for an eternity, then it bursts like a balloon filled with paint and everything in instantly drenched in colour and it's a massive injection of euphoria, then you've got the rest of the track to groove and let that brief moment sink in. If you don't get what I mean then it's probably the worst musical comparison ever. Just reaching the little sliver of Phil Collins' vocal feels like such a dazzling achievement and the final 3 minutes is spent in a state of 50% elation 50% relaxation. And if all of that sounds like total bullshit, it's still a fucking great dance track.
Trickski - Pill Collins [
buy]
-------------------------------------------------
#4 Harvey's Doc Severinsen EditsIt was so exciting to see
Harvey returning to edits this year after a decade of leaving them behind. What's even more exciting is just how much effort was put into the production of this record by
Pacific Beach Recording Company. It seems like the mastering of the edits was equally as important as the edits themselves. The result is an obscenely beautiful high-fidelity 12" with a couple of mind blowing tracks skilfully cut up and reworked by THE disco edits master. Whether you're a DJ or just someone who loves to whack on a great sounding record at home, this is easily one of the most essential releases of the year. My rip is a bit crap, buy it and see for yourself.
Doc Severinsen - Be With You (DJ Harvey Edit) [
buy]
-------------------------------------------------
#3 Black Cow EditsThese
Black Cow 7"s have been such a joy to stumble across this year. As far as I can tell they're done by some dudes from the
Jazzy Sport crew, aside from that they're super mysterious and that's the way I like it. It's the perfect thing to do - guys who run a specialist record store, and therefore have worked up pretty supreme digging powers, doing some rocking edits of the tastiest and rarest gems they can uncover. I haven't been able to track down any of the originals but man they sound unbelievable. This track for example mixes strange sounding dense electronic drums, a soul party chant, fluttering flute-synth melodies and a dangerous huge acid line noodling through the middle. It's incredible! Like I said, simply joyous records.
Black Cow - PMMF [
buy]
-------------------------------------------------
#2 Nicolas Jaar - A Time For UsProbably one of the most predictable entries and rightly so. Young
Nicolas Jaar has impressed zillions of electronic music lovers this year, particularly with this song. It starts so innocently with lightly coloured synths and a cruisy sounding party and you're lulled into a false sense of being led into a summery pop song. Something about the mesmerising ketamine vocals, the thickly textured bass and the dark druggy atmosphere suck you in so deep that you're suddenly heavily sedated and moulding around the song like jelly. When I first heard this track I was in a puddle on the floor by the end, my muscles and bones somehow disintegrating. And he's 20. Talented prick...
Nicolas Jaar - A Time For Us [
buy]
-------------------------------------------------
#1 Tornado Wallace - Tornado Never DiesThe number one spot was extremely easy for me to pick this year. This tune, and the whole EP that it's from, is absolutely supreme. It's far from just another disco edit - this is a stunning transformation of an already great track by
Peter Jacques Band into a funky deep house disco monstrosity that grooves so agonisingly hard I'm surprised I haven't shattered a few teeth in the hundreds of listens I've given it since its release. It's as uplifting and euphoric as dance music comes with zero cheese factor. And it's by an Aussie, no less! Mr
Tornado Wallace aka Lewis Day has had a pretty massive year with a string of beefy remixes and a couple of fab releases on
Delusions of Grandeur but nothing in the past 12 months can touch his godlike
Sleazy Beats record. If you can still find a copy of this anywhere it's worth selling a limb for. Otherwise the label is releasing a CD in the next month or two so keep an eye out!
Tornado Wallace - Tornado Never Dies-------------------------------------------------
I don't have the effort to proofread any of this so if I've used the word gem too much or got my facts completely wrong don't get too agro :)
I'd love to hear what your favourite things of 2010 were, feel free to comment away with your thoughts! I'll probably do a podcast with a bunch of things I couldn't squeeze in so if there's stuff you want to slap me for not including just hang tight, it might show up real soon. Thanks for another awesome year, much love to all! xxx
Posts Feed (RSS)
