Blog

drum and bass / funky / bassline / rave / hardcore

1 Watching You Instra:mental
2 Original Sin feat. Teure Sabre
3 Organiser Spectrasoul
4 Clear Skyz (Break Remix) Die
5 Long Long Time Marcus Visionary
6 Chemical Imbalance (DJ Die Mix) Karime Kendra
7 9 by 9 (M.I.S.T. Full Vocal Mix) 4 Hero Feat Imani Uzuri
8 Make It Tonight High Contrast
9 Proof Positive Calibre
10 Whale Dance Electrosoul System
11 A Thousand Beautiful Things (Blu Mar Ten Remix) Annie Lennox
12 Can't Get Over You Calibre
13 Wonder Where d bridge
14 Hyph Mngo Joy Orbison
15 Just For You (Roska Remix) Untold
16 Glitch Dub Emvee
17 Pull It (Ill Blu Funky Mix) Shystie
18 Pon de floor' feat. Vybz Kartel Major Lazer
19 Bad (Mowgli is Bad Remix) Michael Jackson
20 Hot City Bass Hot City
21 The Change Up Rob Threezy
22 Jump Bounce Wayne P
23 Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selectah) Artful Dodger feat. Craig David
24 Renegade Master '98 (Fatboy Slim Remix) Wildchild
25 Just Be Mowgli
26 Burnin Daft Punk
27 Sugar Is Sweeter (Armand's Drum & Bass Remix) CJ Bolland
28 Color Correction (Jimmy Edgar LTNT Remix) X-District
29 Growls Garden Clark
30 Freaky Bitches Andrea Parker feat. DJ Assault
31 Mega (Dub Version) The Count And Sinden
32 Moombah (Afrojack mix) Silvio Ecomo / Chuckie
33 Hey ! (Foamo Remix) Diplo &Laidback Luke
34 War (Blatta & Inesha Go To Luanda Remix) Rampage
35 Keep On Dancin' (Let's Go) Perpetual Motion
36 Yeke Yeke (Hardfloor Mix) Mory Kante
37 Higher State Of Consciousness Wink
38 Another Wedged Chicken (Martyn's 131mix) Shed
39 Aztec Spor
40 Hubble Raiden
41 Hotness Dynamite MC feat. Origin Unknonwn
42 Pacman [RAM Trilogy Remix] Ed Rush & Optical
43 Go Away Audio & Mackie
44 Smack My Bitch Up (Sub Focus Rmx) Prodigy
45 Crime Side Black Sun Empire, Concord Dawn
46 Bang Bang Unknown
47 Pulp Fiction Jade
48 Dub Dread Serum
49 RM Bleeps Raiden, Current Value
50 I Am A Star! Chrissy Murderbot
51 Silke Ilsa Gold
52 Religion Members of Mayday
53 Madness Revisited Search & Destroy
54 Madonna Bio Phobith Feat. Search & Destroy
55 Drunken Piece Of Shit 6-pack
56 Hard Attack [Original] D&F
57 4 x Funk (Bass in ya face) Evil Maniax
58 Pump This Party DJ Paul Elstak
59 Riot In N.Y. Rob Gee & Repete-Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo
60 First Rebirth Jones & Stephenson
61 Rave City Yves Deruyter
62 Y.R.S Stomp TechnoTrance
63 In My Electric House feat. Yves Deruyter Cherrymoon Trax
64 Somewhere Over the Rainbow Marusha
65 Weather Experience The Prodigy
66 In The Groove Enzyme, Malice
67 In for the Kill [Skream's Let's Get Ravey Mix] La Roux
68 Has it Come to This (Starkey rmx) The Streets
69 Blinded By The Lights (Nero Remix) The Streets
70 Rain Breakage
71 Kid For Today Boards of Canada
72 Donnie Darko Soundtrack - Mad World
73 hurt Johnny Cash

In date order here are the entries from my diary's chart that are currently on Spotify.

Wildchild– Renegade Master - Fatboy Slim Old Skool Radio Edit
Goldie – Temper Temper
DJ Quicksilver – Planet Love (Maxi Version)
Cornershop – Brimful Of Asha - The Norman Cook Remix (Single Version)
Madonna – Frozen
Natalie Imbruglia – Torn
Finley Quaye – Your Love Gets Sweeter
Adam F – Music In My Mind (Album Version)
Run-DMC vs. Jason Nevins – It's Like That
Usher – You Make Me Wanna... - Extended Version
Texas – Say What You Want (All Day Every Day) - Remixed Version With Method Man & RZA
The All Seeing I – Beat Goes On - LP Version
Natalie Imbruglia – Big Mistake
Da Hool – Meet Her At The Loveparade (Original Mix) - Original Mix
Roni Size – Watching Windows
The Ganja Kru feat. DJ Daddy – This World
Rhymes, Busta – Turn It Up - Explicit LP Version
Perpetual Motion – Keep On Dancin' (Let's Go) - Original 1998 Banging Club Mix
Asian Dub Foundation – Buzzin
All Saints – Under The Bridge
Madonna – Ray Of Light
The Tamperer – Feel It (Radio Version) (Feat. Maya)
Catatonia – Road Rage
Steps – Last Thing On My Mind
Tin Tin Out – Here's Where The Story Ends
Massive Attack – Teardrop
The Verve – Lucky Man (Happiness More Or Less)
Radiohead – No Surprises
The Verve – Sonnet
Sheryl Crow – Tomorrow Never Dies - Full Length Version
Pulp – This Is Hardcore - Original Version
LCD – Zorba's Dance
Embrace – Come Back To What You Know
Jamiroquai – Deeper Underground - Full version
Lost Tribe – Gamemaster - Original
Beastie Boys – Intergalactic
Faithless – God Is A DJ
Mousse T. vs. Hot 'n' Juicy – Horny - Horny '98 Radio Edit
All Saints – Bootie Call
Melanie B – I Want You Back (Radio Edit)
Manic Street Preachers – If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
Cher – Believe
Jay-Z – Hard Knock Life - The Ghetto Anthem
Binary Finary – 1998 (Binary Finary Mix - Edit)
Storm – Storm (Radio Mix)
Culture Club – I Just Wanna Be Loved
UB40 – Come Back Darling
Chef – Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You)


Given the possibility of 52 weeks of 10 tracks, this playlist could be 520, but thankfully for me and the rest of the world a lot of bad dance music isn't up on Spotify.

In my defence i was 18.


FULL SPOTIFY PLAYLIST

Everybody listens to rap! Listen to rap!!! Listen to lots of rap!!



wow, look at that hilarious shrek video. great joke!



another great shrek video? count me in!!



an excellent music video for up-and-comer Socceristhebest.



the shocking truth about saint patty...

well, hope you enjoyed those youtubes.

The BeatlesElliott SmithColdplayNine Inch NailsLinkin ParkRed Hot Chili PeppersRadioheadMuseMetallicaThe KillersArctic MonkeysNirvanaPink FloydSystem of a DownFallout BoyGreen DayLed ZeppelinModest MouseMy Chemical RomanceCryptopsyThe CureAvril LavigneBeckGorillazBob DylanJustin TimberlakeSufjan StevensAC/DCToolblink-182Chef BoyardeeMadonnaMichael JacksonNeil YoungPearl JamMobyAmon TobinAFILou BegaMikaNelly FurtadoThe FrayPorcupine TreeThe StrokesFrank ZappaYesThe Rolling StonesRushKing CrimsonSufjan StevensBruce Genitals50 CentNasUsherKornIron And WineThe DecemberistsBright EyesCat PowerAmon AmarthBurzumPanic! At the DiscoGwen StefaniGarth BrooksBomb the Music Industry!MetallicaMegadethAnthraxSlayerDavid BowieCreamJimi HendrixLed ZeppelinSonic YouthB.B. KingChuck BerryJohnny CashToby KeithThe MoonglowsElvis PresleyAerosmithMulatu AstatkeHüsker DüThe PharcydeCompany FlowSlavlandMithotynRivuletsGirl TalkRatatatSongs of Green PheasantSix Organs of AdmittanceClaude DebussyMoondogGhostfaceTime MachineEarthlessGZAWu TangElvis CostelloElectric WizardFunkadelicNebulaCybotronModel 500Sunset RubdownJames BrownCurtis MayfieldArt Ensemble of ChicagoCaptain BeyondOMSleepHigh on FireFu ManchuMahmoud AhmedNasDead MeadowBardo PondCanErik SatieAcid BathPig DestroyerBoards of CanadaJefferson AirplaneSage FrancisMF DOOMDr. OctagonDick DaleTeargas & PlateglassRakothWindirBurzumIlbeltzChamillionaireNeutral Milk HotelWildchildThe Twilight Singers2PacStyles PUGKKevin GilbertOMPaul McCartneyJohn LennonGeorge HarrisonWingsBorisToolChoukoku no NiwaMerzbowSunn O)))EarthThe VenturesThe ShadowsJusticeDidoShinki ChenRammsteinLee PerryMy Bloody ValentineJefferson AirplaneA Tribe Called QuestTwilight 22Sonic YouthDeerhunterDeerhoofErik SatieSleepdead prezJedi Mind TricksThe StrokesCaptain BeyondGenesisCamelDick DaleEdanLos Natas

Slightly late podcast to celebrate the year of the ox.
Ox-based songs, music, quotes, sketches, all that.
You know the drill.
恭喜发财

Tracks:
1. Aesop - The Oxen and The Butchers
2. Fieldtriqp - Goodnight Moo
3. The Who - The Ox
4. Oh No - Exp out the ox
5. Monty Python - The Background to History
6. Ilkae - Equate With Oxen
7. Captain Beefheart - Safe As Milk (Take 5)
8. Donald Hall - Ox-Cart Man
9. Seven Central and Mountain - oxen only want to be free
10. Sonic Youth - Bull In The Heather
11. Wildchild - Ox to tha D (feat. Frank-n-Dank)
12. Sufjan Stevens - Year of the Ox

To download this mix and the previous 19 also go here - Last Night A DJ Killed My Dog

THAT WAS 2008 – THE YEAR IN CHARTS

Well, here we are again. Another busy year in the ever-thriving world of electronic music has just about whizzed us by. And returning once again is my whistle-stop tour of what has been hot in those dizzy 12 months, this time of course with more bells, whistles, awards and “probing” commentary than I provided last year. 2008 has been an excellent year. The overall standard of artist albums has been exceptionally high this year, and, despite the market becoming further saturated in some sub-genres, we have still been treated to some absolutely killer tunes from all corners of the dance music galaxy. Note: these charts are of the best stuff I've heard this year, not just a mindless list of absolutely everything I have even vaguely enjoyed. As I say, there’s been a lot of stuff worth checking out this year, so naturally there are some good albums and tunes missing.

Ok, let's look back. Kicking us off, the best albums of the year...

-----------------------------------------------------

TOP 20 ALBUMS OF 2008

20. Above & Beyond presents OceanLab - Sirens of the Sea
(July / Anjunabeats)



One of the summer's most anticipated “trance” albums turned out to be quite a smooth, downtempo affair, a mix of soft, "airy" progressive and stirring Ibizan chillout. Immaculate vocals and production as always from Justine and the boys.

Favourite Track: Sirens of the Sea

19. Insomnia - Rollercoaster
(March / Trancelucent Productions)



Pumping no frills full on, courtesy of Tom Shoval and Orel Shapira. Pure energy filled, electro driven psy-trance.

Favourite Track: Displacement

18. Quivver - Dirty Nails & Vapour Trails
(July / BozBoz)



A refreshingly varied approach from progressive trance's old head, John Graham, who mixed the drum & bassey feel of Chasing A Feeling with the moody electro breaks of What's Not Going On and the pure haunting minimalism of Dancing In Dark Rooms.

Favourite Track: Dancing In Dark Rooms

17. Josh Gabriel - Eight
(October / Different Pieces)



Josh Gabriel, formally one half of Gabriel & Dresden, served up a top notch progressive tech fest ruined only by the fact that the unmixed tracks are faded out at the ends. Infectiously danceable stuff though.

Favourite Track: Azora

16. Morphonix – Off the Grid
(March / Vaporvent Records)



This was my first real experience of the phenomena of psychedelic breaks. I got all excited, thinking this album was showcasing an entirely original genre of its own. Not the case, of course. But this was still a highly impressive effort from San Francisco's Lawrence Hoffman and definitely gets extra brownie points for completely blowing me away on first listen.

Favourite Track: Island Sanctuary

15. Trifonic - Emergence
(February / Trifonic Music LLC)



American newcomers, Trifonic, brothers Brian and Laurence Trifon, crash landed with this top quality downtempo/IDM debut. Brain apparently worked with fellow countryman BT on his incredible 2006 album, This Binary Universe. The influence of that is not hard to see at all.

Favourite Track: Sooner Or Later

14. Perfect Stranger - Free Cloud
(October / Iboga Records)



A stunningly hypnotic collection of progressive goodness from Israeli producer Yuli Fershtat. Part psychedelic progressive, part straight minimal progressive, this was another gem from the consistently amazing Iboga Records.

Favourite Track: Easy

13. Ott – Skylon
(January / Twisted Records)



Twisted Records' only new album release of the year was this "sunny" reggae flavoured psydub effort from Ott. Cool as a summer's breeze.

Favourite Track: Roflcopter

12. Simmonds & Jones - Interpretations
(June / Armada Music)



Better known to trance fans as Chakra, Lustral, Oxygen and Ascension, Simmonds & Jones set out to transform their discography of trance classics into a soothing collection of Balearic chillout tracks. Mission accomplished. This almost couldn't have been done better than it was.

Favourite Track: Home

11. Eat Static - Back to Earth...
(June / Interchill Records)



Merv Pepler, now working on his own, delivered the best psydub/psychill album of the year in Back To Earth, a mesmerizly diverse mixture of sounds which took us as far as the sands of Egypt and the carnival street of latin America. Magnificently glitchy and jazzy in places too.

Favourite Track: Epoch Calypso

10. Sander van Doorn - Supernaturalistic
(February / Doorn Records)



This could well be the "marmite" album of the year - most it seems either love it or hate it. It's also interesting to note that I've seen this album criticised as fervently by fans of minimal and tech house as I've seen it criticised by disappointed fans of melodic trance. I'll have to admit, I was once a bit of a Sander skeptic myself. Two or three years ago I had him down as quite a "hit and miss" producer and when it first emerged onto the scene I thought Grasshopper was a pretty, boring uninspiring track. But, having seen him DJ three times now, it seems I've come full circle. As simple as it is, I've fallen head over heels in love with Sander's style, a style that he is making his own within the trance scene with every release and every DJing gig. What I do specifically like about this album is that, despite always being fairly minimal in style, it does have a wonderful balance between chilled out moods and dancefloor energy. I'm no expert in minimal and tech house, that is for certain, but I thought a lot of the percussion on this album was absolutely perfect, particularly in Apple and Dozer. And, of course, this album has Riff on it, which is pure dancefloor gold. How could you possibly not want to dance your balls off to that tune? Watch out, Sander - if it were scientifically possible, I'd want your babies.

Favourite Track: Riff

9. Kino Oko - Alphabetically Divided Highway
(August / Tribal Vision)



If this chart was solely about innovation then this album would be sitting proudly at the top of the pile. This was nothing like anything I'd ever heard before - an unusual mesh of psydub and progressive with nuggets of IDM, electro, trance and even jazz sprinkled on for good measure, busting with delicate little basslines and sparklingly with bleeping synth-lines. To save the effort of trying to categorise it accurately, it might be tempting to just call it a progressive psychedelic trance album, but tracks like Made In Satisfaction or Body And Mind don't quite flow like trance; they swirl, they reverberate, they float. To me, this album almost sounds like Zombie Nation, Shpongle and Tegma making a wild head-on collision, sending funky psychedelic jazz debris flying all over the road. In terms of creating something new and different, this was definitely electronic music's main achievement of 2008.

Favourite Track: Mother Mature

8. Armin van Buuren - Imagine
(April / Armada Music)



Oh, no. Armin's gone pop? No, not quite. The trance purists will hate me for charting this so high, but fuck it. Now that Armin is sitting top of DJ Mag's DJ poll, like Tiesto was previously, he is there to be shot at. And after producing something here that isn't necessarily "pure" trance from start to finish and something that in many ways reflects the direction that his A State Of Trance radio shows have supposedly gone, the cries of "Armin's gone pop" were bound to follow. But I'm sorry, I have a fairly broad taste, I don't turn my nose up at the first sign of a vocal and therefore I really enjoyed this. It's hardly music to be totally ripping up dancefloors, but if you take it for what it is, a chilled out trance-house crossover for the Ibizan beaches and terraces, then you have to concede it's more than fit for purpose. I think most of the vocals are great on this album, particularly those on In And Out Of Love and Hold On To Me, and the "spirit" of Ibiza seems to sustain itself from the first to the very last minutes. Whether it's better than 76 or Shivers I'm not entirely sure yet, but at least it's something different. Armin may have remixed The Killers this year, but don't panic trance fans, those collaborations with Girls Aloud and Miss Spears are a little way off yet.

Favourite Track: In And Out Of Love

7. Ferry Corsten - Twice In A Blue Moon
(November / Flashover Recordings)



With Right Of Way and L.E.F., the mighty Ferry Corsten had already set the bar incredibly high. I think if you compare Ferry's artist albums to those of the rest of trance's "big 4" - Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto and Paul Van Dyk - Ferry generally seems to deliver that extra something else, at least in terms of delivering a holistic yet varied package of tracks that work as well at home as they do on the dancefloor. And, more so than any of the others, he has found his own sound and more or less stuck with it. But, at the same time, he's managed to cater for quite a broad range of tastes. With Twice In A Blue Moon we are treated to yet more of the same. Same old Ferry, slightly different mood. This album makes stylistic reference to almost all of Ferry's older material - the uplifting trance, the electro trance, the vocal trance, even the dark moody stuff - yet injects an extra element of funky progressiveness in places. Another thing that I thought was excellent about this album was its use of vocals. If there's one criticism you could level at Armin Van Buuren's Imagine it's that it maybe uses vocals to the point of overkill. Ferry uses them much more sparingly and to much greater effect. The vocals themselves in terms of quality are right up there with the best you'll hear on any trance album. In particular, the vocals in Made Of Love, Black Velvet and Feel You are awesome. I would be hard pushed to say that this is better than Right Of Way - Right Of Way is a special album - but it's honestly not a million miles away from it. I certainly think it generally has a more listenable "vibe" or atmosphere than L.E.F.

Favourite Track: Made of Love

6. Quadra - Voice Of Reason
(June / H2O Records)



Having already released 3 albums under his Quadra alias, Ido Liran, one half of Save the Robot, was already a very well-established name in full-on psy-trance. His fantastic bootleg of Gorillaz's Feel Good Inc., LSD Came Falling Down, was one of my favourite psy-trancers of 2007. This album picks up from that in a very obvious way, bootlegging a number of familiar melodies and vocal samples such Wildchild's Renegade Master, Niels Van Gogh's Pulverturm, Planet Funk's Chase The Sun and even Tiesto's In My Memory. And I think that sense of familiarity works really well. In terms of overall sound, Voice Of Reason is your typical up-to-the-minute full-on album, with its crisp, punchy basslines, melodic breakdowns and bouncing psychedelic effects. This was by far the best artist album from this specific brand of full-on psy-trance this year, albeit not quite as good as Time Lock’s amazing Prototype 0.1 from last year and not quite the best psy-trance album of the year overall... keep reading for that.

Favourite Track: Pulvertrum 3.0

5. Enigma - Seven Lives Many Faces
(September / Virgin Music Germany)



Now, this is a bit of a strange one. Not the album itself necessarily. The album itself is classic Engima and, as always, extremely relaxing stuff. It's where this album fits into Enigma's overall discography that slightly bemused me. Everything about this album, including its title, had a sort of "final chapter" feel to it. Rather than carry on from where the incredibly subtle and significantly less vocalised A Posteriori left off, Seven Lives Many Faces seemed to bring together Michael Cretu's entire discography, going in all sorts of different but familiar, old directions. You can even hear vocal samples cut from previous albums which are clearly not meant to be carefully hidden away. Now, if this was planned as Cretu's final album as Enigma then a sort of "stylistic review" would have been a fitting way to bring this landmark project to an end after 18 spectacular years. But apparently this isn't Enigma's last album and Cretu is already working on the next one. So... why take Enigma stylistically backwards? A lot of Enigma fans moan about A Posteriori, some say that it was by far Cretu's most disappointing work. I love it, personally, and would have appreciated seeing Enigma continue a little further down that ethereal path, seeing what more could have been made of A Posteriori's wonderfully emotional and delicate feel. But if you put questions of overall artistic direction to one side and judge this newest release on its own merits then there is still a lot to be positive about. Even this album's cheesiest moments are carried off will such aplomb that you have sit back and say to yourself, "fair play to you, Michael." Another high quality record from the king of mainstream meditation. The question is, what next?

Favourite Track: The Same Parents

4. Juno Reactor - Gods & Monsters
(February / Metropolis)



I noticed quite a few Juno fans were disappointed with this, one of the year's first big releases. The last two tracks, which are essentially ballads, did leave a lot of people scratching their heads. But considering how long it had been since Labyrinth was released and considering how much of a free-thinking innovator Ben Watkins is, this was never going to be anything other than surprising. Watkins has never been afraid of throwing together styles and sounds that you wouldn't expect could or even should work together. Labyrinth was proof of that; Gods & Monster is unequivocal proof of that. However, there is something distinctly "Juno Reactor" running through tracks like Inca Steppa, Tanta Pena and City Of The Sinful- that dark, pulsating bass, that epic "world fusion" tribal feel. Even in Las Vegas Future Past you can hear "left overs" from his work on the Matrix soundtracks. But obviously we get a distinctly new take on that familiar sound. In Inca Steppa, for example, "Mexican rasta" is exactly what you get as that familiar Juno Reactor tribal takes on a distinctly Central American feel and melts seamlessly into reggae flavour. Other parts of the album treat us to something entirely different however - Haunting dub, chillout, touches of jazz, metal and, of course, ending on those two ballads. Do the ballads spoil it? Well, the answer is yes and no. Perfect Crime is a well-written song that sometimes even has me passionately singing along, complete with "emo" facial expressions. Whereas, the less said about Pretty Girl the better really. But overall, a sublime effort from Juno which I think might even grow with time. Superbly innovative and, in Inca Steppa, Tanta Pena and City Of The Sinful, has 3 real gems in its hefty locker.

Favourite Track: Inca Steppa

3. Pendulum - In Silico
(May / Warner Music UK Ltd)



As I mused in one of my most recent journals, Pendulum's long-awaited 2nd album wasn't as good as their first. But I never expected it to be. Hold Your Colour was one of those magical albums, an album which contains levels of balance and quality that even the greatest artists around don't just repeat at the drop of a hat. What I hoped Pendulum would do is take some of the key ingredients of Hold Your Colour and build something new, fresh and exciting, to elaborate on the group's familiar formulas to create something different. And that is exactly what they did. For me, In Silico is the perfect balance between familiarity and freshness. Pendulum have evolved without ripping up root and branch. Certain people were always going to be slightly disappointed. By nailing their colours to the mast and deciding to take the project definitively down the root of half-drum & bass-electronic-rock crossover, this Slam plus rock approach, certain stylistic elements of Hold Your Colour were bound to be lost. Hold Your Colour was after all quite a varied affair, whereas In Silico is more single-minded and makes no conscious attempt to "cover all the bases" just in case old fans get disillusioned. I think Pendulum have to be commended for that, for sticking to their guns and doing what they want with their music. Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed with In Silico. Hey, so the days of Another Planet and The Terminal are clearly gone, but large parts of this new offering still had all the energy and power I've come to expect from them, without just being an attempt to copy Hold Your Colour tune for tune. Fuck the snobs; whatever genre you care to call it, whatever its popularity, this is good shit.

Favourite Track: Midnight Runner

2. Orkidea - Metaverse
(March / AVA Recordings)



Armin did very well, Ferry did even better - but unfortunately for them they were both royally owned this year by Finland's finest, Tapio Hakanen, better known to the world of trance as DJ Orkidea, albeit with the help of a few other big name producers such as Andy Moor, Solar Stone and David West. The opening few tracks of this album are so uplifting, particularly the last 2 minutes or so of Free Dreams. YearZero is just sheer quality and always has me turning up my stereo on the 4:26 mark. It combines that uplifting mood with a catchy, driving bassline to produce a near perfect example of what trance music is really all about at the moment. Other parts of the album have a slightly darker, moodier feel however, which provides an important element of balance and variety. Stretching Time, for example, even starts out sounding quite tough, almost psychedelic, while later developing into a lushly melodic affair. And the introductions of Masochrist and Requiem are totally epic, leading into yet more faintly psychedelic but melodic moodiness. And I'm sure many trance purists will delight in the fact this album contains almost no sung vocals, a la Ferry, Armin or DJ Shah. This album didn't require them at all, so you have to give Tapio credit for not being tempted to throw a few in arbitrarily. This is a distinctly different experience to Imagine or Twice In A Blue Moon and almost a million miles away from Sander's Supernaturalistic and, for my money, is the best of the lot.

Favourite Track: YearZero

1. Wizzy Noise - Renaissance
(September / Harmonia Records)



This came like a bolt out of the blue. Wizzy Noise are indeed a highly reputable psy-trance act with a solid and distinctive sound. But likely to produce an album that could comfortably clinch my top album spot for 2008? Certainly not. At least I didn't think so. I honestly never expected the Greek duo to come out sounding this good, especially considering how little they have altered their overall style to achieve it. Wizzy Noise just took that trademark sound that everyone in the psy-trance scene knows them for, gave it a bit more of a melodic edge and took it up a few notches. The interesting thing about this album is that almost every single track on the album starts out sounding like your run-of-the-mill psy-trancer, some of them even start out sounding quite dull. But then each one starts to move up the gears, gear by gear, kick back by kick back. Before you know it you're being bombarded by a wall of sound - a wall of soaring electro melodies and pumping psychedelic basslines. Trance is all about that progression towards a spine-tingling crescendo and this album has those crescendos in abundance. Sea Song turned out to be my psy-trance tune of the year. Anybody that has heard it will understand why. That kick back on the 6 min 30 second mark is a pure "hairs on your neck stand up" moment, every single time.

Favourite Track: Sea Song

-----------------------------------------------------

ALBUMS - THE HONOURABLE MENTIONS

10 albums that deserve a shout... in no particular order:

Nicholas Bennison - Tension of Opposites
(November / Propulsion) (Progressive Psychedelic / Progressive / Psychedelic Breaks)
Mirco de Govia - Iconic Path
(April / euphonic) (Chillout / Progressive Trance / Trance)
Tegma - Lo-Fi Adventures
(February / Tribal Vision) (Progressive Trance)
Kularis - Technical Progress
(February / Spintwist Records) (Progressive Psychedelic)
Liquid Soul - Love In Stereo
(August / Iboga Records) (Progressive Psychedelic)
Deadmau5 - Random Album Title
(September / Ultra Records) (Progressive Trance / Progressive House)
aladdin - Void Last Line
(November / Meira Records) (Full-on Psychedelic)
Jaytech - Everything Is OK
(June / Anjunabeats) (Progressive Trance / Chillout)
Ernesto vs. Bastian - Authenticity
(February / High Contrast Recordings) (Trance / Progressive Trance / Tech Trance)
Psysex - Healing
(May / HOM-Mega Productions) (Progressive Psychedelic / Full-on Psychedelic / Psychedelic Breaks)

-----------------------------------------------------

TOP 20 TRANCE, PROGRESSIVE AND TECH TRANCE TUNES OF 2008

1. Sander van Doorn – Apple (Marcus Schossow Remix)
(July / Doorn Records)
2. Simon Patterson - Smack
(April / Reset Recordings)
3. Georgia - Ode To '99
(March / Levare Recordings)
4. Mike Foyle - Pandora (The Blizzard Remix)
(May / Armind)
5. B.E.N. vs. Mr. Pit - Superstition
(May / Coldharbour Recordings)
6. Graeme Harrison – Xanthe
(February / Flux Delux)
7. Lee Haslam – Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD)
(May / Digital Remedy)
8. Armin van Buuren - In And Out Of Love (Richard Durand Remix)
(August / Armanda Music)
9. Talla 2XLC vs. Sean Tyas - Heart To Heart (Sean Tyas Remix)
(February / Tetsuo)
10. The Doppler Effect - Beauty Hides in The Deep (John O'Callaghan Remix)
(February / Armind)
11. Orjan Nilsen – La Guitarra
(May / Armind)
12. Rank 1 vs. Jochen Miller - And Then...
(February / High Contrast Recordings)
13. Jochen Miller – Lost Connection
(July / High Contrast Recordings)
14. Onova – Niveus
(April / Total Digital Recordings)
15. Akesson - Sunchaser
(April / Fraction Records)
16. El Cortez - Desert Rose
(April / Intuition Recordings)
17. Oceania – Never Forget (Arctic Moon Remix)
(August / Well Mixed Records)
18. Tom Colontonio - Headless Horseman
(November / Discover Digital)
19.Alex M.O.R.P.H. - Walk The Edge (Alex M.O.R.P.H. B2B Woody Van Eyden Remix)
(May / High Contrast Recordings)
20. Ryan Blair - Tek Drum
(July / Monster Tunes)

Producer Of The Year 2008:

3. Orkidea
2. Simon Patterson
1. Paul Miller

Superstar DJ Award 2008:

3. Paul van Dyk
2. Eddie Halliwell
1. Sander van Doorn

Label Of The Year 2008: High Contrast Recordings
"One To Watch" for 2009: Tom Colontonio

-----------------------------------------------------

TOP 20 UK HARD DANCE TUNES OF 2008

1. ng rezonance – Sinners
(September / High Drive Recordings)
2. Technikal presents Helen G – Don’t Stop (Rodi Style Remix)
(August / Technikal Recordings)
3. Kenemy - Sorry For Itself (Emilio Remix)
(August / Presence Hard Trance)
4. Technikal presents Kris Mclachlan - Return To Innocence
(November / Technikal Recordings)
5. Jason Cortez – Set U Free
(June / Tranzlation Whites)
6. Iridium - Give It To Me
(July / Carbon Recordings)
7. Aftershok – Extraordinary
(June / Outbreak Digital)
8. Technikal - Ssst...(Listen)
(October / Tidy)
9. Technikal vs. The Lost Boys - Mass Effect (Iridium Remix)
(May / Technikal Recordings)
10. Paul Glazby – Alien Animal
(August / Vicious Circle)
11. Amber D - Rush On Me
(October / Tidy)
12. Bryn Whiting - 3rd Movement (Iridium Remix)
(November / High Drive Recordings)
13. Paul Maddox meets Technikal - Captive
(September / Tidy)
14. Velos - The Joker
(November / Fireball Recordings)
15. SQ presents Ben Collie - End Of Dayz
(September / Outbreak Digital)
16. Rob Tissera & Quake – Holdin’ On (Rob Tissera & Technikal Remix)
(July / Tidy)
17. Kym Ayres - Guitar Hero
(December / Tidy)
18. Pero - Obsession
(September / Technikal Recordings)
19. Emilio – Sabotage (Iridium Remix)
(February / High Drive Recordings)
20. Scott Genetik – Can’t Stop The Signal
(April / Encoded)

Producer Of The Year Award 2008:

3. Paul Maddox
2. Iridium
1. Technikal

Superstar DJ Award 2008:

3. Paul Maddox
2. The Tidy Boys
1. Rodi Style

Label Of The Year 2008: Technikal Recordings
"One To Watch" for 2009: Emilio

-----------------------------------------------------

TOP 20 FULL-ON PSY TUNES OF 2008

1. Wizzy Noise - Sea Song
(September / Harmonia Records)
2. System Nipel & Electra – Game On (Ananda Shake Remix)
(June / Utopia Records)
3. Dynamic – Make Me (Space Cat vs. Dynamic Remix)
(July / H2O Records)
4. Wizzy Noise - Eyes Wide Open
(September / Harmonia Records)
5. Vibe Tribe & Gataka & Electro Sun & ziki- Tokyo Tel Aviv
(September / Noga Records)
6. Spade - Reaction
(June / Utopia Records)
7. Quadra – Pulverturm 3.0
(June / H2O Records)
8. Insomnia – Displacement
(March / Trancelucent Productions)
9. aladdin - U Know This
(November / Meira Records)
10. Freedom Fighters – Robotic
(June / Utopia Records)
11. Electro Sun vs. Stereomatic - Bubble Crash
(September / Noga Records)
12. Aquatica feat. Sapir – Angels
(July / Com.Pact Records)
13. Ultravoice vs. Rizo – Keep It Real (Azax Syndrom Remix)
(March / Com.Pact Records)
14. aladdin - Soul Of A Worm
(November / Meira Records)
15. Quadra – Back Again
(June / H2O Records)
16. Injection – In Su Lin
(August / Phonokol Records)
17. Ferbi Boys – Oggy Monster
(April / Com.Pact Records)
18. Ananda Shake & Phanatic - Phananda
(May / Utopia Records)
19. CPU – Wicked Plastic
(June / Nutek Records)
20. Tactic Mind vs. Unique - Problem
(February / Tactic Records)

Psy-Trance Compilation of 2008: Thank You For Flying Utopia



Producer Of The Year 2008: Wizzy Noise
"One To Watch" for 2009: Stereomatic

-----------------------------------------------------

TOP 20 ELECTRO-HOUSE TUNES OF 2008

1. Melleefresh & Deadmau5 - Attention Whore
(October / Play Record)
2. Dave Darell - Children
(June / DBX Records)
3. Sebastien Benett - Extremly Madness
(December / BITRATE RECORDS)
4. Felguk - WashEm & GiveEm Food
(November / plasma.digital)
5. Zoe Badwi - Release Me (TV Rock Edit)
(November / Time Records)
6. Vaca - Move Me 2008
(January / Ministry of Sound Germany)
7. Felguk - Whatever Clever
(September / plasma.digital)
8. Three Drives - Greece 2000 (Chris Reece Remix)
(July / S2 Records)
9. d.kingz - Rescue Me
(August / Clubtronics)
10. JS16 - Lights Go Wild
(Febuary / VIP Recordings)
11. Michael Woods - Natural High (Out Of Office Full Vocal Mix)
(November / Diffused Music)
12. Romain Curtis feat. Awa - I'm A Soldier (Filthy Rich's 'Full Metal Jacket' Remix)
(Febuary / Twist My DJ Records)
13. Toby Emerson - Inappropriate Electro
(November / Bugeyed Records)
14. STEVE FOREST - Freed From Desire (Ortega 2008 Remix)
(July / Jolly Roger (Sound Of Pirates)
15. D'argento - Come On Over (Chris Reece Remix)
(September / Pinkstar Records)
16. Lazy Rich - Don't Go Back
(November / plasma.digital)
17. Dave Darell - Freeloader (Spencer & Hill Remix)
(December / Tiger Records)
18. Feed Me - The Spell
(November / Mau5trap)
19. Jean Elan - Where's Your Head At? (Klaas Remix)
(July / Cinnamon Flava)
20. Guru Josh Project - Infinity 2008 (Klaas Remix)
(November / Maelstrom Records)

Producer Of The Year 2008: Felguk
"One To Watch" for 2009: Bass Weazal

-----------------------------------------------------

Well, there you have it ladies and gents. That was 2008. With the new Prodigy album on its way in March and my trip to the White Isle booked for July, I'm already psyched for the musical year of 2009. Bring it on, I say!

Merry Christmas one and all; Be excellent to each other.

hip-hop / bootleg / bmore / bassline house / breakbeat / jungle / drum and bass

1 Molotov Bitch - The Prodigy
2 Insane In The Brain - Cypress Hill
3 Mistadobalina - Del tha Funkee Homosapien
4 Whoomp! (There It Is) - Tag Team
5 I Get Money (Estaw Gets Cash Remix) - 50 Cent
6 Shimmy (M. VOGEL Diskotech Remix) - Ol Dirty Bastard
7 Drop It To The Floor - Machines Don't Care
8 On A Ragga Tip - SL2
9 Injected With A Poison (MNO Power Mix) - Praga Khan
10 Renegade Master '98 (Fatboy Slim Remix) - Wildchild
11 Girls (DLake's Baltimore Boys & Girls Club Remix) - Beastie Boys
12 Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nothin' to Fuck With (Bird Peterson Remix) - Wu-Tang Clan
13 Insomnia (The Hump Day Project Remix) - Faithless
14 Everybody Needs A 303 - Fatboy Slim
15 Smack My Bitch Up - Prodigy
16 On A Roll - Machines Don't Care
17 Killing in the name of (SebastiAn late night laptop edit) - Rage Against the Machine
18 Sweet Assed Child O Mine (DJ Donna Summer Remix) - Guns N Roses
19 Are You A Big Boy Dj - Si Begg
20 Fogbank - Boy 8-Bit
21 Come 2 Life - Drop the Lime
22 Hey U (Switch & Sinden Remix) - Basement Jaxx
23 XR2 - M.I.A.
24 Original Ses (Police In Helicopter) - Topcat
25 Here I Come (Jungle) - Barrington Levy
26 Circles - Adam F
27 8 Bit Bitch (Spor Remix) - Evol Intent feat. Ewun
28 Tele Realite - Metod
29 Dude (Zinc Vocal Mix) - Beenie Man
30 Ska vs Original nuttah - Zinc vs Shy FX

1 L.E.S. Artistes (XXXchange Remix) - Santogold
2 Died in Your Arms (Drop the Lime Remix) - Cutting Crew
3 thriller (Bird Peterson tis the season remix) - Michael Jackson
4 Sweet Assed Child O Mine (DJ Donna Summer Remix) - Guns N Roses
5 my name is Prince (TEPR Just for Fun Rmx) - Prince
6 Shout (Miscellaneous Chocolate Remix) - Tears for Fears
7 Shake It To The Ground (Drop the Lime Remix) - Blaqstarr
8 Hey U (Switch & Sinden Remix) - Basement Jaxx
9 Thunderstruck (Tittsworth Remix) - AC/DC
10 Girls (DLake's Baltimore Boys & Girls Club Remix) - Beastie Boys
11 Renegade Master '98 (Fatboy Slim Remix) - Wildchild
12 Boyz (Rock Steady Drew Fight Mix) - M.I.A.
13 I Get Money (ESTAW Gets Cash Remix) 50 Cent
14 Killing in the name of (SebastiAn late night laptop edit) - Rage Against the Machine
15 Smack My Bitch Up - Prodigy
16 Everybody Needs A 303 - Fatboy Slim
17 Drop It - Mathhead
18 Ready or Not (Drop the Lime Slime You Refix) - The Fugees
19 XR2 - M.I.A.
20 Open Sesame - Leila K.
21 Celebration Generation - Westbam
22 Voodoo People (Original) - Prodigy
23 Pacman [RAM Trilogy Remix] - Ed Rush & Optical
24 The Code (Future Cut Remix) - Absolute Zero & Subphonics
25 Scammers - Masheen
26 Assurian - Sunchase & Illuminati
27 Call To Arms - Evol Intent
28 A Thousand Beautiful Things (Blu Mar Ten Remix) - Annie Lennox

Jakiś czas temu w mojej głowie zrodziła się idea prowadzenia na lascie dziennika, w którym co jakiś czas będę ludziom podtykał albumy, którymi aktualnie się jaram (czyt. nie usuwam ich przez dłuższy czas zarówno z playlisty w foobarze, jak i z odtwarzacza). Wprawdzie nie jestem Druhem Sławkiem czy innym Hirkiem Wroną, żeby ktoś mnie słuchał, ale myślę, że ludzie o podobnych gustach może trafią na coś czego nie znają. ;) Jako że jest to pierwszy tego typu wpis, zamieściłem wstęp. Później będą już tylko same opisy płyt, bez zbędnego przynudzania. :)

Dinal
W strefie jarania i w strefie rymowania

Stare, wszyscy znają, a ja mimo to dopiero jakieś pół miesiąca temu zacząłem bliżej poznawać ową ekipę. Zanim jednak to nastąpiło podejmowałem już wiele prób polubienia materiału, do którego jakoś nigdy nie potrafiłem się przekonać. Tym razem w końcu się udało. Na dobrą sprawę to nie wiem co mogło być czynnikiem, który to spowodował, bynajmniej jestem niezmiernie mu za to wdzięczny. :) Zawsze irytował mnie już sam wstęp, Mili ludzie, kawałek był zawsze dla mnie czystą sieczką, pewnie za sprawą masteringu, bo do tej pory tak jest. Ale tym razem wczułem się w wokal i usłyszałem naprawdę grube pokłady luzu. Śmiałbym powiedzieć, że w pewien sposób całość przypomina mi dokonania łódzkiego składu Afront, co już samo w sobie jest odpowiednią rekomendacja. :) Zarówno lirycznie (mamy tu luźniejsze i skłaniające do refleksji utwory, choćby Bułki Z Szynką), jak i muzycznie (bit do Chryzantemy złociste zostaje na długo w pamięci) płyta prezentuje bardzo wysoki poziom, biorąc pod uwagę dokonania na polskiej scenie na przełomie choćby ostatnich trzech lat.

Peanut Butter Wolf Presents:
Stones Throw Ten Years

Kto siedzący w rapie nie zna legendarnej wytwórni Stones Throw? Nawet jeśli sama nazwa nic nie mówi, wystarczy wspomnieć o takich ludziach, jak Madlib, J Dilla, MF DOOM, M.E.D. (aka Medaphoar), Wildchild, Percee P. Sama śmietanka zagranicznego, prawdziwego i w pewien sposób dalej undergroundowego rapu. Komplikacja typu all stars, czego chcieć więcej? :) Nie wiem czy jest sens pisać więcej o tym wydawnictwie. Dla ludzi dopiero zapoznających się z zagramanicznym rapem pozycja jak najbardziej obowiązkowa, to w końcu zapis dziesięciu lat istnienia kultowej już wytwórni, która w swoich szeregach ma już żywe legendy. Dla fanów właściwie polecanie albumu jest również jak najbardziej na miejscu. Znajdziemy tutaj kilka niepublikowanych nigdzie i unikatowych utworów. Dziwi mnie jednak brak Guilty Simpsona, w końcu ze stones throw jest, jakby nie patrzeć bliżej związany. Jako że album jest dwupłytowym wydawnictwem wspomnię jeszcze o drugiej płycie, gdzie znajdziemy (bodajże nie wszystkie z 25. utworów) sklejony przez J Rocca mix cd.

Madlib
Shades Of Blue

Słuchacze jazzu po tytule albumu powinni od razu wiedzieć czego można się spodziewać. :) Nazwa nawiązuje do znanego wszystkim jazzowego dzieła, Miles Davis - Kind of Blue. Otis tym razem podjął się próby reinterpretacji oraz zmiksowania starych nagrań (z wyjątkiem Funky blue note, to zupełnie nowy utwór) słynnej jazzowej wytwórni Blue Note. Z opisu płyty dowiedzieć można się, że nie sam jeden Madlib stworzył to cudo. Oczywiście, do współpracy Otis zaprosił swoich kolegów po fachu, całe Yesterday's New Quintet oraz Morgan Adams Quartet Plus Two. Ale, ale, jak to z naszym bit konduktorem bywa, wszyscy artyści z wymienionych zespołów to tylko kolejne wcielenia Madliba. Jedynymi współpracownikami, którzy nie są alter ego Otisa są tu Eli Wolf oraz Peanut Butter Wolf. Przejdźmy jednak do czysto muzycznej warstwy albumu, która prezentuje się wprost genialnie. Myślę że wprawdzie konesera jazzu nie zaspokoją często spotykane loopy, ale przeciętny Kowalski lubujący się w tych klimatach powinien naprawdę się na to nakręcić. Już sam wstęp, Slim's Return kopie po głowie swoją świeżością. Dalej jest już tylko lepiej, jedynym wyjątkiem jest kawałek Please Set Me At Ease, gdzie na mikrofonie udziela się Medaphoar. Wiecie, wszystko byłoby w najlepszym porządku, ale jakoś nie bardzo mi to tutaj pasuje. Mimo to nie można powiedzieć, że utwór jest słaby czy przeciętny. Wszystko trzyma tu równie wygórowany poziom. Co jakiś czas przyjemnym (o dziwo?) smaczkiem są tutaj skity w postaci wypowiedzi ludzi związanych z Blue Note, opowiadających pokrótce historię labelu. To byłoby na tyle, myślę, że ludzie znający madliba bez wahań powinni zainteresować się albumem, jeśli do tej pory go nie znają. Wszak jest to artysta, którego produkcje zawsze warto kupować w ciemno.

J Dilla
Donuts

Nie mam najmniejszego zamiaru rozpisywać się na temat tej płyty. Dla jednych jest to raczej zupełnie inny Dilla, nic szczególnie ciekawego, dla drugich to po prostu arcydzieło. :) Chyba oczywiste jest to do jakiej grupy się zaliczam. Więcej o płycie dowiedzieć możecie się z osobnego wpisu do mojego dziennika na ten temat. Album jest naprawdę trudnym do strawienia materiałem. Utwory znajdują tu swoje nowe znaczenie, synonim, pączki. Tak więc, jak ktoś dawno przede mną cholernie trafnie napisał - każdy z pączków żyje swoim własnym życiem, przedstawia zupełnie inny świat. 31 na pierwszy rzut oka słodkich wypieków z czasem nabiera nowego znaczenia. Słuchacz dochodzi do nadzienia i chce kosztować go do znudzenia. Z czasem przestaje ono być takie słodkie, tym bardziej jeśli zdamy sobie sprawę z tego w jakim okresie życia Jamesa powstawał ten album. Nic więcej pisać nie będę, tego po prostu trzeba spróbować samemu. Polecam zdecydowanie, nawet mimo tego, że pierwsze gryzy mogą okazać się być niezbyt smaczne. Choć z drugiej strony - kto nie zna donutsów? :)