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…

Moments in Space

Sometimes I don’t have time to talk about everything I want to, often videos and random links don’t get shared on Sonic Minefield, as I like to keep this space for words. This made me set up xpldr on tumblr: a news feed of sorts for this site where I could quickly put up links and share them via a RSS feed on Sonic Minefield and Twitter. Sometimes to remind myself to write about them later and others to just spread them around a bit more to anyone watching, so here are some of my recent favourite posts…

Listen: DJ Roc – The Crack Album (Via. Nasty Sonix)

Hype: ‘A resurrected DJ mix/album by DJ Roc, originally called ‘Juke City: The Crack Capital’ I believe, from a long gone internet archive/stream, pieced together lovingly by Drilla’. Juke’s raw energy is doing it for me right now.

Watch: JME & Tempa T – CD Is Dead



JME always brings it differently; his simple wordplay creeps up on you until you find yourself shouting ‘serious’ at passers by from your car. Tempz keeps it minimal too on this grime beat that seems to take inspiration from electro when it was electro (raw drum machines and synth bass) not lame chart fodder and blog house. Not quite as catchy as ‘Over Me’ but solid none the less.

Watch: Redlight ft. Roses Gabor - Stupid [Digital Soundboy]



Rough and slinky, the fine line UK funky walks when it’s at its best is pulled off in style here with an official video and forthcoming release on d’n’b lable Digital Soundboy. Big gnarly bass and R&B vocals keep the dance floor moving.

Watch: Golau Glau - ‘Held’



One of my favourite unsigned Silver Pop act has been moved by the current election enough to make some tracks, ‘Held’ sees them place footage from old party political broadcasts to their music. More from them on Sonic Minefield always.

Watch: Rude Kid – Jack Daniels



Massive grime instrumental gets an official video. The first I’d ever seen and the heads could only offer up Skepta’s DTI as another example from grime’s closet too.

Mix: Geiom for Soul Motive

GeiomixbySoul Motive

From Wolf Eyes to Sticky in minuets via Hizatron and more, I don’t need to say much here its Geiom…

Watch: Trim – Monkey



One of my favourite MCs drops a massive track complete with hood video. I love it when Trim goes in on a dirty swaggering beat, ‘Hands on my goolies’.

Listen: Slackk – Eski House Mix

Grimetapes.com founder keeps it raw with some Eski House renditions for Lower End Spasam. Taking inspiration from early grime legends like Wiley, Ruff Squad, Jammer and god knows who else to create a UK Funky variant that vibes off all that energy.

Watch: Ill Blue’s ‘Youtube Master Piece’…



Huge sounding track that will hopefully find its way out eventually. The rolling drums are too much, and that bass is just stupid.

Watch: Sun Araw – Deep Cover

DEEP COVER - SUN ARAW from CatCakes on Vimeo.

Super dubbed out and psychedelic rock jam from Not Not Fun’s Sun Araw. Heavy Deeds was a big album for me last year and this new track keeps that trend going.

Listen: oOoOO

HeartsbyoOoOO

Slow motion syrup drenched lo-fi indie leaning electronica from the mysterious oOoOO, who I picked up from uber hip blog xxjfgs: http://www.20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk/ who re-ignited my love for indie-geddon blogs no end, oh and they put up a killed mix by Darkstar late last year.

Watch: Dot Rotten – The Rotten Club News Report (Woo Riddim)



Dot Rotten has been one of my favourite MCs along with Trim, Durrty Goodz, D Double E and P Money for some time, Wiley too just for releasing his old instrumentals… The Woo Riddim has caught MCs attention, D Double E has killed it and so has Dot, I still can’t decide who’s is on top. Dot’s seems so personal and full of drama, plus he’s made an official video so he’s got to be the one for now, you also download it as part of Logan Sama’s Still Keepin It Grimy Mixtape. Hopefully D Double E will drop his sometime…

That’s it for now…

Geiom Ft. Marita – Sugar Coated Lover / Brackles & Shortstuff Remix [Berkane Sol]

Geiom’s Berkane Sol is an essential label and ‘Sugar Coated Lover’ is another reason why. They’ve been exploring the fringes of dubstep, house and garage for quite some time as well as introducing us to some sparkling new talent along the way, see: Brackles, Shorstuff, Spamchop, Earlybird and The Hizatron for example, some even for the first time… The last time Geiom made an outing with vocalist Marita it was on the anthem ‘Reminissin’ so this is a welcome return.

Geiom and Marita’s ‘Sugar Coated Lover’ is a house anthem waiting to happen, the vocals deal with the age old notions of falling in love over melancholic house pads and slinky groove that goes right to your feet and hips because of the infectious bassline and subtle percussive elements that shakes the kick free from its four four pattern while keeping the drive. But most importantly it has that infectious bitter sweat loved up vibe that should bring a smile to the dance floor.

Brackles & Shorstuff pop the cork on the sparkling stuff and drop a remix on a garage flex. They take their energetic 8-bit boogie, a bassline that’s full of momentum and splice it with some of that broken 2-step magic, a dash of cut up vocals and plenty of the original vocal to make it into something with a harder dance floor hustle but with that all important slinky garage bump.

Three producers that have been at the top of their game for a while all showing their flex along with some brilliantly emotive vocals from Marita: equals an essential 12” that will add a bitter sweat dance floor soul to your record bag.

http://www.myspace.com/geiom

http://www.myspace.com/djshortstuff

http://www.myspace.com/brackles

Originally written for Sonic Router.

12”

The return of the semi regular, ‘randomly selected platters from my record bag that I’m really feeling right now’ blog post, maybe it needs a catchier name…

Joy Orbison – BRKLN CLLN/J.Doe [Doldrums]
Two 12”s, a few remixes and all the hype in the world. His first release on his own label, Doldrums, shows he deserves it too. BRKLN CLLN is the subtler cousin of Hyph Mngo, just as catchy and full of blissful energy. J.Doe takes the diva samples and throws it down old school house style.

Geiom & Shortstuff – No Hand Signals/Wardenclyffe [Planet Mu]
Tag team antics from two heavy weights, Geiom’s music is always special and Shorstuff makes some of the most exciting stuff around and together we get hyper coloured house variants built to move you. There is something grimy about Wardenclyffe, its like eski-acid house. No Hand Signals picks up the tempo but keeps the funky bump.

ASC – Porcelain/Focus Inwards [Nonplus+]
More Nonplus+ I can’t get enough… having missed the d’n’b boat entirely this is the first label that’s getting me excited about the sound. Super smooth half stepping d’n’b that’s so minimal it sounds like electro being fed through a wormhole. The flip takes in dubstep a tempo, big up the multi tempo 12” crews for pushing DJs to think and ride that pitch shifter!

Headhunter – Prototype (Modselektor remix)/Sex At The Prom [Tempa]
This 12” sounds massive: Modeselektor return the remix favour and make their own take on dubstep, which sounds like big room techno with a dark edge. Sex At The Prom goes deep with acid bubbles and hypnotic bass. It’s like Berlin and Bristol are tearing each other a new one on the same 12”.

Starkey Ft. Badness – Ok Luv/Ok Luv (instrumental)/Multidial [Planet Mu]
Taster of things to come from Starkey’s next album ‘Ear Drums and Black Holes’ due March 2010: super smooth hyper soul with grimy undertones and epic colourful melodies. Multidial, heads right to the dance floor with robo-bass and energy surges, killer.

V.I.V.E.K. – Kulture/Meditation Rock [Deep Medi]
Big room material from V.I.V.E.K., dub techno undertones pulled off in a very Deep Medi way, your soundsystem will shake. Things get ravey with Kulture,the filtered stabs re-live the hayday and make you want to loose it in a field outside the M25. But there is something else here too, an eerie blissful dub vibe... Which is where Meditation Rock picks up from.

Joker – City Hopper/Output 1-2 [Tectonic]
These tracks aren’t even the catchiest Joker tracks this year but I still can’t shift them from my head. He keeps it grimy and techy for Tectonic, Output 1-2 especially. City Hopper makes you want to roll around the city with your windows down, swaggering funk and irresistible melodies that somehow remind me of the circus.

Instra:mental/Skream – No Future (Skreamix)/Minimalistix [Nonplus+]
Minimalistix is THE one here: Skream takes it into tech infused stripped back and subtle roller territory while No Future tears the dance a new hole. It’s like the evil twin of his Zomby Float remix and will have to do until that drops fingers crossed…

12”

A rummage through my record back…

Cluekid & LD – I Don’t Wanna Cry/Jupiter 9 [Bullfrog Beats]
The jungle vibes are strong on this one, emotive diva samples and Detroit techno chords play off some serious 140 jungle experiments with some soul shaking bass. Not unlike Skream’s insane ‘Burnin’ Up’ and last years ‘Monkey Style’ on Subalicious.

Geiom/Hizatron – Bubbles/Von Glooperstine [Berkane Sol]
Bag on sight white 12” business from the Notts crew. Geiom comes with a skipping techy bubbler, which sounds not unlike a robot short-circuiting to a garage pulse that switches up into a 4x4 bump. Hizatron takes us on a low-slung bleep’n’gloop tip, minimal in a techno sense but with an ear for fun.

LV ft. Errol Bellot – Don’t Judge/(Fantasic Mr Fox Remix) [2nd Drop]
Deep and rootsy excursions into dub: A-side, has lush horns, instrumentation and vocals off-setting the sparse beats and bass. FMF kick up the rhythm section and get squelchy on the bass creating some kind of garage/digidub hybrid.

Quest – Last Dayz/The Unknown [Deep Medi]
Some of my favourite anti-social tracks right here, epic slices of deep soundsystem future funk. Those breakdowns take you to another place, while the synths add the energy.

Heny.G – Area 1/Retro Love [Gangsta Boogie]
This plate has been on the cards for ages and delayed for to long, but now its hear and takes some seriously funked up dance floor kicks that bring the boogie while the soulful bass and pads bring the bliss.

Brackles – Rawkus/Air Pie [Planet Mu]
He’s been unstoppable this year and this 12” is no exception. Mad energetic twisting synths and that broken beat meets garage shuffle he’s so good at along with Shortstuff. Pure dance floor energy from the grey area that brought you future/garage/funky/dubstep/grime/electro/techno/house-U-call-it?

FaltyDL – Party/Alpafun [Ramp]
Low down garage funk with plenty of soul and the party vibes to match. Like Ghost moved to New York and started a warehouse party with a house band made of funk legends and free cocktails.

Sully – Reminder/Jackmans Rec [Frijsfo Beats]
Bumpin’ garage beats and a rude rough and ready bass pressure that sounds so dark and swung. These tracks have been a long time coming and they still kill it.

12”

Back again with a mini round up of records from my bag, check out more in-depth pieces including interviews and mixes on the badass Sonic Router.

Gatekeeper/Appleblim & Gatekeeper – Hades/Tomb VIP [Immerse]
Dark doom fuelled steppa with a jungelist vibe and the ghost of Skull Disco looming near, you really can hear the original spirit of dubstep on this platter: Immense from Immerse.


Pearson Sound – PLSN/WAD [Hessle Audio]
It bleeps and bounces like a squirrel trapped in a box on the dance floor and is easily one of the most addictive 12”s around. PLSN goes a little deeper and WAD keeps it funky.


Karizma – Neccessarry Maddness/Drumz Nightmare [R2]
Some broken funky house with a raw edge from the US, the A side comes on like a sugar rush with its bleeps and breaks the flip takes things on a more soulful tip.


Goth-Trad – Dark Path/S.A.T.U.R.N [Deep Medi]
Big soundsystem bangers from Japan, one mellow and spaced out while the other one is on an intense techno-like tip. The more I listen the more I get hooked.


Shorstuff - A Rusteling/Stuff [Ramp]
Incredible first solo outing on a 12” from Shortstuff, A Rustling is so broken it hurts (in a good way), the bass is fucked and both tracks come on like a shot of adrenaline to the heart.


Spamchop & Geiom – Cave Rave/Sirius Star [Berkane Sol]
Speed boating into focus like a mutant techy garage hybrid, it wouldn’t be out of place on a SNES racing game, while the other side Cave Rave gives a broken energetic bleep out with an awesome bass drone.


Rustie – Bad Science EP [Wireblock]
Killer EP from Glasgow’s finest imprint, low swung crunked out bleeps and bass that sounds like your copy of Mario got a virus that gave it a mind of its own and it turns out he’s a bit evil. The title track comes on like Zombie Nation era electro trance being kicked down the stairs by Terror Danjah.


Unknown Artist – Space Invader/Human [Dancing Demons]
Mysterious 12” yet again from this new label, Space Invader jabbers and pummels you with bass before having to load up Atari style in the drop. The flip is deep and has one hell of a switch up after the drop.