I haven't been quite so strict about limiting the numbers to the ten I'd intended, and the order is a little vague. The first few are definitely the cream, but after that I haven't been too concerned about order.
This list is not just about how often I have played things, it's as much about how much I've enjoyed them, how excited I got about them or how often they've featured in my DJ bag. The number of times I've played thing is a factor, but I also listened through most of last year's purchases in the process of preparing this list so it all went together in deciding what to include.
It couldn't really have been anything else at the top of this list. I was so excited when I heard that they had a new album and I am still amazed how fantastic it is. I mean, I am a big fan of LCD Soundsystem, but I thought this record took them to a new level. Too many top selections to mention, check the most played. Hope they are not finished like I've heard...
I rave at length about this record in the main body of the blog, so it should suffice to say that it's still getting a lot of attention from me and there has had to be a conversation about who gets to play this record every time I've spun out since this was released.
Cottam - Story #3
Cottam - Cottam EP4
I came into 2010 looking forward to new releases by Cottam after the belters he'd put out in 2009 and he did not disappoint. He had a superb year as far as I'm concerned, with the great gig at the Sub Club early in the year and then these two smashing singles.
Both of these came out after the blog had started and I think I had plenty to say about both of these at the time. From the look of his Soundcloud I reckon there is still more to come and I frankly can't wait. Here's hoping that 2011 carries on this sequence of first class action.
One of the records I got most worked up about while waiting for its repeatedly postponed release, this compilation is still proving to have been worth the wait and to deserve the praise I give it to anyone who will listen. The description alone is enough to get most folk's interest.
Lando Kal and Low Limit gave us this as the first release on rubadub's Numbers label and it made me very excited about what would follow. This is a cracking single which I've come back to over and over throughout the course of the year, and crucially not always to the same song.
Greg Wilson - Credit To The Edit 2.2
I'm still blown away by the edits on this single and it is a first pick when I fill a bag to go out to play. I've played it out quite a lot and it featured on one of the Radio Magnetic shows.
The post about this record is by far the most looked at on the blog. Evidence of the justified interest and excitemnet about this pair of belters. Seems a shame that this is such a low key limited release that my blog is the most publicity it gets.
Another release from earlier in the year. I'm still taken with the range of styles on show here, almost something different for every track and all well executed. My favourite selection from the EP has varied over the year, which is a good sign for a record in my view. I played a few out and there was a track on a mix that I spent a large part of the year failing to finish.
There is too much cool stuff on this compilation for it not to make this list. There is so much that I didn't appreciate how good most of it is when I picked it up, gravitating as I always do to a handful of favourites. However, repeat visits have shown me that the standard is pretty much first class throughout and if this is the future of bass music then 2011 should have some fun in store.
My introduction to Sandwell District and another single that featured on my failed techno mix. The single radiates so much quality that I still eagerly check all the Sandwell District stuff I see, even though there hasn't seemed to be much that was as good as this. Maybe this year?
My first taste of the Horizontal Ground/Frozen Border stuff and still about my favourite, especially as both versions of the track on this single are really cool.
Mental German business from earlier in the year by an artist that made one of my favourite ever tunes. My mates are a bit divided about this, but I don't expect this to be everyone's bag.
Aus Music singles. There are reasons to add them all and reasons to leave them out, but that's the thing with lists of favourites, I guess that there is always room for more and I'd probably draw it up differently on another day. Maybe I will come back and re-write history.....
