Mixes of 2010

This is a tough one the amount of mixes that can be found online is pretty insane, week in week out another arrives and gets a play. So off the top of my head I bring to you a selection of the finest mixes from this year. They come in no particular order, so don’t watch the ranking...

The Final Ruffage Session w/ Ben UFO, Ramadanma & Pangaea
What a way to start a year by killing off one of the best radio shows around: Ruffage Sessions. It was the brainchild of the above Hessle Audio crew, they made moves from their Leeds base with this show, not to mention their club night that went by the same name, which also ended this year in a quality send off with Shackleton, Kode9 and every Hessle guy within a 1m radius. This show was a special four-hour send off on Sub FM before the crew headed off to new things. It was bitter sweat at the time but ever since the crew have moved onto bigger things so its all good.
http://www.dubstepforum.com/the-final-ruffage-session-4-hour-archive-tracklisting-t124153.html

Bonus Best of Ruffage Sessions
http://sonicrouter.blogspot.com/2010/01/download-best-of-ruffage-sessions.html


Burial & Kode9 for Mary Anne Hobbs’ last show on Radio One
This was a watershed moment this year, Mary Anne Hobbs left radio one for pastures new after leaving one hell of a legacy and impact that rings through the UK underground far and wide. She managed to coax out Burial for a mix with non other than Kode9 and it’s a special one that’s for sure.
http://www.mediafire.com/?t09r1c7swgxctpu

Ben UFO - Hessle Forever and Ever and Ever Mix #62 for LuckyMe
If your some kind of fool that doesn’t tune into the Hessle Audio show on Rinse every other thursday or so w/ regulars like Pangaea and Ramadanman or go to clubs then you’re missing out on one of the best DJs around in Ben UFO. His record bags are deep his mixing is insane, genres clash in the smoothest most unexpected ways, he’s the one and this will give you a taste.
http://thisisluckyme.com/html/1music/mixtapes.html

LHF – Keepers of the Light Mix
This mysterious crew turn in mix after mix of solid gold on Sub FM and from their studio’s, they where one of my tips for ’10 and they continue to be for 2011 and you can see why from getting your ears around Keepers of the Light. I’m not messing around when I say they carve their own unique sound out in these mixes, it’s a world of its own.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=info&gid=343822987445

Petchy on Live FM
Its tough to pin point an actual mix here, he’s on the radio most weeks and kills it every time with his MC Topsee. They epitomised UK Funky in 2010 with their raw charismatic pirate radio party vibes. Tune in to see for yourself or you’re missing out big time but catch the vibe from this teaser.
http://www.mediafire.com/?qv07ob8bkz1zlzi

DJ Spinn & DJ Rashad’s Mix #195 for Fact
Two original juke heads go deep into the mix for fact and show us how its done Chicago style, which is a refreshing change to hearing bits from people from outside of the scene or cruising youtube, which was about the only way we could hear this until this year. It’s a mix full of hypnotic party vibes with a load of soul and drum machine workouts to die for.
http://www.factmag.com/2010/10/22/fact-mix-195-dj-spinn-dj-rashad/

Addison Groove Mix #157 for Fact
Headhunter went ape-shit this year and decided to break juke in the UK, he got addicted to the drum-machine/sample workouts and took it upon himself to make his own variants of the Chicago sound all while representing the native sounds of Rashad, Spinn and many more to UK audiences, it caused a hell of a stir and you can taste it in this mix. If you didn’t already have it this one from late last year is a must too: http://soundcloud.com/headhunter/headhunter-juke-mix-december-2009
http://www.factmag.com/2010/06/11/fact-mix-157-addison-groove/

Peverelist Mix #218 for Resident Advisor
He’s got to be one of my favourite producers around, no one sounds like him and that goes for his DJ sets too. His mixing is tight and selection on point, he lets the music breathe and find its own feat perfectly. Here you can see him blur the lines between dub, techno and dubstep in a distinctly Bristol way.
http://www.residentadvisor.net/podcast-episode.aspx?id=218

Levon Vincent Mix #46 for mnmlssgs
This came early in the year and still kills it big time. His spacious, tracky dubbed-out techno sound already feels timeless in its own way. If you like to get lost in a groove then you’ll be swimming in this one. Deep NY underground house sounds just keep bumping, it’s a subtle one that gets under the skin that’s for sure.
http://mnmlssg.blogspot.com/2010/01/mnml-ssgs-mx46-levon-vincent.html

Shackleton Mix #133 for Electronic Explorations
Rob Booth’s EE mixes have been an inspiration for some time now and he pulls in one hell of a guest on this one. Shackleton’s sets are more like hypnotic tribal freak-outs than mixes. He plays live via laptop instead of DJing and does it the only way he knows how… Like a post-apocalyptic bass-addled thing, no one sounds like Shackleton. Its dark yet groovy spaced out and intense. His Fact CD has to be one of the best since Omar S too.
http://electronicexplorations.org/the-show/shackleton/

Kyle Hall & Floating Points on Rinse FM
Two amazing producers/DJs get together and cause mayhem on the airwaves by digging deep into their crates to create a vibe so big it stretched from Detroit to London. Rare house and techno gems sat alongside modern UK bass variants and laid back funk rollers with ease. You get the feeling these guys could keep mixing for days and it wouldn’t get tired.
http://www.bedtimebunnage.com/2010/07/floating-points-b2b-kyle-hall-rinse-fm-2hrs/

Brainfeeder Radio w/ Flying Lotus, The Gaslamp Killer, Ras G, Samiyam, Daedelus, Jeremiah Jae, Tokimonsta, Teebs, Strangeloop, matthewdavid, Kode9 and more…
Flying Lotus decided to celebrate the release of Cosmogramma and enjoy 420 with an epic live session that went on for hours from his crew Brainfeeder and anyone else that was in town. It was pure vibes all night long.
http://dublab.com/labnotes/brainfeeder-radio-presents%E2%80%A6cosmogramma-special-420/

Darkstar Mix for 20jazzfunkgrates and Fact Mix # 200
This mix came right at the top of the year and showcased Darkstar’s vision, it was some kind of utopia with plenty of soul and space filtered through twenty-first century machines. If you book end it with their Fact mix last month (http://www.factmag.com/2010/11/08/fact-mix-200-darkstar/) you get some kind of insight into a group that created one of the best slow burning albums this year
http://sonicrouter.blogspot.com/2009/12/download-darkstar-xxjfg-mix.html

Club Autonomic’s Layer Podcast Series
This was one hell of a series that set the tone of Autonomic’s moves this year. Headed by Instra:mental & dBridge the crew unleashed genre bending blends of techno, d’n’b, house, indie, old school electro and god knows what else in a seamless mix of new and old wearing their influences on their sleeves and reaching out into the unknown all at once. Oh yeah they also ran one of the best labels around Nonplus+
http://www.club-autonomic.com/

Braiden’s Journey Home Mix for Low End Spasm
One of the best DJs around is on Rinse most weeks, right now he’s showcasing an irresistible melting together of sounds that range from old school electro to UK bass variants via house and techno. He does it like no one else. This mix from earlier in the year gives you an idea of what he’s been about, but tune into his Rinse show for further reaching up to date selections they can’t be messed with. His breakout single ‘The Alps’ isn’t to shabby either.
http://dot-alt.blogspot.com/2010/02/braiden-journey-home.html

Elijah & Skilliam Mix # 175 for Xlr8r
The Butterz crew killed it this year bringing fresh new life into instrumental grime, making moves as DJs and by setting up a label they showed there was still a raw party vibe hiding in grime’s underbelly. They kept it upfront with talent new and old, Terror Danjah, Swindle, Starkey and DOK feature heavily as well as up and comers like Royal T, SRC, TRC… Pure energy. This mix showcases their sound as well as any other they dropped this year.
http://www.xlr8r.com/podcast/2010/11/elijah-skilliam

Geiom’s mix for Planet Mu
He always puts out a solid mix, here we get a quality blend of sleek techy funky and many of its hybrids. It’s the mix that introduced me to Stella Om Source too. Quality producer, quality label, quality DJ.
http://www.mixcloud.com/planetmu/geiom-planet-mu-mix/

Terre Thaemlitz Mix #188 for RA
A laid-back mix of ambient material and other quality selections from DJ Sprinkles, Terre crosses genres and spans many years here to great effect, it’s a beauty.
http://www.residentadvisor.net/podcast-episode.aspx?id=188

Since this list has been mostly about Internet downloads a shout out needs to go out to all those inspirational cats on the radio who week in week out turn in incredible moments of musical bliss: Dusk & Blackdown, Oneman, Brackles, Bok Bok, Elijah & Skilliam, more Petchy and any time Jackmaster reaches.

Not to mention all the Sonic Router mixes. My personal favourites have to be: Blawan, Non Person, Pariah, Clubroot, SRC, Dynooo, Orphan101, Icicle, Hypno, Distal, Desto, Oli’s bleep and Hivemind’s and Always Everything’s too, Eighteen, oh and Xpldr #1/#2/#3 by me if I had to give myself a shout…

Oneman – Rinse: 11 [Rinse Recordings]

You’ve got to love a good DJ: One that has the skills to match their selection, one that digs deep into their crates just as much as they dig for the party anthems, one that brings personality to the mix and brings disparate elements together like they where always meant to be… Well Oneman is that guy. He came to prominence a few years back by mixing up old garage classics with dubstep and bringing a refreshing twist to the table that helped re-energise the scene. Since then he’s just continued to shine and bring different elements into his sets from all over the spectrum of sounds vaguely related to the uk bass underground. Rinse: 11 shows Oneman in fine form.

Opening with an unreleased gem from the LHF crew’s Double Helix which has that Keysound vibe, a found sound urban atmosphere that ushers us in perfectly before melting into a percussive number by Ramadanman and the spaced out broken funky of Martin Kemp. Already you’re in to an interesting mix before he throws the almost Clash-like Martyn mix of The Detachments, a track that’s never floated my boat before but works well in the flow. Oneman keeps the twisted uk funky hybrids further with a double header of Kode9 and Martyn who bring the smeared synths and driving bass. The stripped back carnival drum machine workout of ‘Klambu’ is a killer too.

But its when he drops the calm before the storm that is Martyn’s beatless remix of ‘Acid Bells’ by Efdemin into the mix to really mellow it out that you know you’re in the hands of a master deck-smith. It slows down the vibe and makes for a brilliant segway into some rougher funky. Which comes in the form of a Oneman special of Ms Dynamite & Geeneus anthem ‘Get Low’. Sticky keeps the auto-tune dancehall/funky vibes going with ‘Jack It Up’ before the massively addictive ‘Rubberband VIP’ that somehow manages to meet somewhere in the middle ground between bassline/funky/electro and sound good. A trick Bok Bok also manages to pull off with the insane rave-up that is ‘Citizen Dub’ with it’s ascending descending bass motif, but not before the detuned electronic steel drum coda of ‘The Flying Saucer’.

Another switch up happens with the certified crossover anthem ‘Hyph Mngo’ where Oneman picks up the pace but spaces it out to by dropping a bit of 140-dubstep-ish after all the ‘what u call it?’-130-ish... Hyph still packs a punch and gets juxtaposed nicely against the badman riddim ‘Hard’ by the Newham Generals and Breakage, which is find by ‘Mweei’. The twisted grimey hyper-funk comes next in the form of Desto, Joker, 2000F & J Kamata and Starkey who bring their unique wonked-out synth styles to the fore, Starkey’s ‘Rain City’ sounding very much like a big melodic crescendo of epic proportions just like the Brackles closer ‘I Love London’.

Oneman takes us on a journey showcasing his unique DJ vision and some of the hottest tracks around, dropping a vibrant selection in a way not many can pull off. If you’re familiar with his Rinse FM shows you’ll know what to expect here and if you’re not then this is a good a place as any to see what the fuss is about.

http://www.myspace.com/1mandj

http://www.rinse.fm/

Get Your Wonk On

Wonky? Wonk-Step? Dub-Wonk? Aquacrunk? That’s far to many ridicules questions to answer, what the hell am I on about. Well Wonky or what ever you fancy calling it is a variation on dubstep that’s getting some plays right now. I’m by no means a grime/dubstep expert but this new sound has grabbed my attention.

The main players seem to be the excellent Flying Lotus, who I have been aware of for quite some time with his remix of Mr Oizo and an album dropping soon on Warp. He makes some seriously funky off tempo high tech space funk electro dubstep A.K.A Wonky. He joined Kode 9 of Hyperdub fame in the Rinse FM studio for a back-to-back session that is blowing my mind right now. It’s out there and so wonderfully danceable and strange. Unfortunately I can’t find a track list anywhere to share with you.

Another Wonky main stay is Glasgow’s Rustie, of Wireblock records. He has just completed a mix that aired on Marry Anne Hobbes radio show the other week. The only things I recognise on the track list are the aforementioned Flying Lotus, the record labels Planet Mu, DMZ and Warp, grime/dubstep main stay Benga, another Warp new signing Pivot and a hell of a lot of Rustie.

Pitchfork describe the new style as follows:

‘As summer 2008 approaches, a theme-- not a genre-- has emerged across many existing styles of music: the mid-range is being hijacked by off-kilter, unstable synths. Crossing hip-hop, hyphy, grime, chip tunes, dubstep, crunk, and electro, one flavor unites a network of exciting sounds. What do you call it? Wonky.’

Enjoy, get your wonk on.

Kode 9 Vs. Flying Lotus Rinse FM session (Re-Up)

Rustie on Radio One Marry Anne Hobbes Show