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…

12”

It’s back, the assorted records from my bag post of music I’ve been wanting to chat about but hadn’t got round to it yet… This month I catch up on a few that I’ve not been able to stop playing.

Addison Groove – Footcrab/Dumb Shit [Swamp81]
Anthem of the moment sees Headhunter in a juke inspired beat down. Bass heavy 808/909 drum patterns, chopped and looped vocals and an insane amount of dance floor moving energy. This is so addictive it could do with its own dance routine.

Joy Orbison – The Shrew EP [Aus Music]
He’s back hot on the heels of last years hyped Mngo and the fantasitic J.Doe. This time is a slow burning gem of a release on the renowned techno label Aus Music. ‘So Derobe’ is the pick for me, restrained melodic euphoria over rolling beats, bliss. Actress drops in a subtle rework too.

James Blake – Bells Sketch EP [Hessle Audio]
Following up his insane Untold remix and low-key collaboration with Airhead on BRAiNMATH comes a diverse three tracker of twisted soul infused, blues addled R&B meets dubstep funk. Yeah he’s hard to pin down, but has a sound all his own. ‘Buzzard And Kestral’ is rhythmic joy on wax.

Bok Bok ft. Bubbz/Brackles & Shortstuff – Citizens Dub/Pipey D [Blunted Robots]
Pure party jams from Bok Bok, destroying it with adrenaline fuelled ascending descending bass tones with a grimey electro beast that should give you a big shit-eating grin. The flip sees the label bosses bring out the winding rave gear, keeping it funky and broken.

Altered Natives – Believe In Me ft. Sacha Williamson/(Zed Bias Club Mix)/Raaaatid Einstien [Fresh Minute Music]
Smooth spaced out vocal cut that brings the soulful house vibes coming on a track you get so hypnotised by you don’t want it to stop. ‘Raaaatid Einstien’ ups the hype with a raw energetic funky cut that should keep the floor moving in fine style.

Egyptrixx – Battle For North America EP [Aaahh! Real Monsters]
Bubbling electro infused dubstep/funky hybrids ‘Hexagon Ya’ is THE one with A ‘Citezen Dub’-like ability to twist floors out of proportion with addictive ascending bass tones, builds and drops. The rest is suitably on it and they’ve got a Night Slugs on the way too, killer stuff.

Kuedo – Dream Sequence EP [Planet Mu]
Jamie Vex’d debts’ his Kuedo name with a damaging EP. Taking the off-centre bright synth led hip-hop meets dubstep he’s been destroying it with since his ‘Twitch’ rework and last years In System Travel EP, and shaping it further into his own vision. ‘Star Fox’ is a real gem and makes me nostalgic for my old SNES.

Slugabed – Ultra Heat Treated EP [Planet Mu]
Sluga gets deep down and dirty with his own gnarly hyper coloured vision of hip-hop, like the evil twin to the already slightly deranged Kuedo EP, he makes harsh dance floor noise in the most fun way possible, which shows you can keep it dirty and send it sideways all at once.