2016's Best Releases (30-21)
This Discwoman mix was a none stop thrill ride from start to finish. Driving through a wave of squelching acid and slashing hot bash your head in techno. A real no let up affair. Whereas many mixes like this become tiring, the stamina comes in the way the dingy, naughtier moments weave into the harder hitters. When your mix is racing away and your flying high on the elation of it all, its a hard come down and that’s where UMFANG wins with this hour long joyride.
She also issued a FACT mix which was much in the similar vain, but this wins on the basis it feels raw, and under thought, without compromising one bit. A white hot hour of hysteric, euphoria.
As i’ve already touched upon, 2016 was the year of the EP. It just seemed to be the best way of hitting a hefty mark without having to stuff in the blanks with pointless filler. Lloyd SB was testament to that on the Nervous Horizon released ‘Boida Flare’. Starting with the smash and grab of the title track, he lances into the trance like stabs and hits of ‘Hypercube’. At its peak, its unquestionably one of the best club tracks this year. 'Peaches Palace’ is much the same but is a great lesson in restraint and tittering on those aforementioned stabs. 'Pirate Bay’ then fizzles away on a teaser of a rhythm, before both Wallwork and TSVI help out on 2 equally enticing productions and remixes.
Nina Kraviz had a banner year for her трип imprint. Much of that owed to releasing a small part of Bjarki’s hardrive. ‘Б’ , ‘Lefthanded Fuqs’ & final single ‘Fresh Jive’ being just a fraction. So 3 and a bit records in one year was a tough choice to for me to pick the prize. ‘Æ’ takes the plaudits however, for mixing ambient structures within trippy technoid framework. Some hard “B04″, some softer than a pillow in “Amelyn” and the inbetween “B07″.
It’s taken nicely as a whole with the rest of 2016′s catalogue of work in truth, all 3 seemingly taken in at night, enhancing the feverish hues of everything on offer. The vacuum space atmosphere of ‘Б’, the slammed out acid of ‘Lefthanded Fuqs’ but the Autechre and Aphex Twin nod in ‘Æ’ stands for its engaging of the hard and soft with ease.
27
Al Dobson Jr.
Rye Lane Volume II & III
Rhythm Section International is a tidy little label that releases all kinds of disco, house, beat driven boogie flavours. Imperative jaunty, rays of endless sunshine. Along with Duke Hugh’s tidy little creation 'Canvas’ & Dan Kye’s disco mush release 'Joy, Ease, Lightness’ they also gave us the loitered worldy beat tape by Al Dobson Jr. The Follow Up to the first Rye Lane, II & III is an expansion of the first both in length and quality.
For almost an hour, we’re treated to Al’s psyche of drum patterns, a slew of samples, as well as house and jazz, in shortform. Cultural informity also plays a huge part, with stop offs in 'Guyana Special’, 'Overseas Lebanese’, 'African Salon’, 'Guadeloupe Meditaaao’ & 'Peru Timing’. It’s a trip through sounds and flavours, I also think it’s a nice gateway into other associations for instrumental hip hop heads too.
26
Night Slugs Allstars
Volume 3
The 3rd installment in the Allstars series, and an entry point into a label I will be observing far more in 2017. This sticky humid assortment owed much to Bok Bok & Sweyn J’s attempts. The rest of the NS crew all gravitate towards that direction. DJC’s 'C100’ is a filthy flyover before Hysterics and NA, bring some filthy sweat. The 3 guest spots on the comp never shade over the production side either, credit is due, to the swarming ‘Good 2 U’ , starring Semma, the oozing, ‘Sweet Spot’, with L-VIS 1990 & Ronika and
‘Unlimited’ with Flirta D and his hyper esque rhyming.
Other highlights come in Girl Unit’s overdue yet standard “Allstars” appearance 'Queen B’, Jam City’s 'Direct Drums’ distorted clammy based contortions. ‘Funky 1irst’ & ‘Cyberia’ by Helix and Neana respectively keep the club vibe up to the boil. A lauded 3rd installment, one that stands on a steeped pyramid alongside 1 & 2.
25
Peggy Gou
Mixmag Impact
What an extraordinary year Peggy Gould has had. The Berlin based Korean released 4 consistently impressive EP’s (topped by the latest ‘Seek For Maktoop’ effort), A kooky collab for the SIA2016 Project and endless high quality entries in mix series for Solid Steel Radio Show, Phonica Records and FACT Magazine.
Picking something to highlight an extremely impressive year was hard, but her mix for ‘Mixmag Impact’ from May would be a fine place to begin. The track selection is on point as any other of the aforementioned podcasts, but where this one wins is the fun of it all. It just sounds like it was a blast to mix, like she was sipping on some wild Cuba Libre or something. ‘Alliance’ by Nu Guinea, the 1, 2 of S.L.F.s ’Show Me What You Got (Acid Mix)’
/ Tribal Infusion ‘Sumba-Lumba (S-Man’s Got You In A Trance Mix)’ is joyous selecting at it’s best. Ending with a Ron Trent and her own ‘Day Without Yesterday’ finale, more than tips the iceberg. Needless to say she’s on my 2017 live wishlist.
24
Venezuela 70
Cosmic Visions Of A Latin American Earth: Venezuelan Experimental Rock In The 1970s
Soul Jazz Records
Soul Jazz Records continue their ongoing observations into the endless musical scenes that have cropped up throughout the world in the last century. Whether that’s the early rap and disco party starting Boombox 1, the calypso, highlife, juju & apala of Nigerian Freedom Sounds! Or even the 4th volume in the New Orleans Funk series.
The astonishing Venezuela 70 offers more than just a look at the so called Experimental Rock of the sub title. Its psychedelic without being inflated with haze, its ambient, without coaxing you into a sleep. The latin analysis ventures through jazz, careening without ever really rotating around club like values of modern day dance.
The whole thing is an ever expanding musical brew of ideas and interpretations into everything the title suggests, but is never as dreary as the said title may lead you to believe.
If you nick one retrospective before Christmas ensues in a couple of days time, go with this.
23
Gundam
Summer / Dummy Mix 338
Gundam has always struck me as a producer/DJ who parties in the grime and club circles of London but often goes unnoticed in comparison to heavier hitters. Yet he releases an awful lot, whether that’s his own mash ups, 8 bar wifey productions or sets of mixes. He even has a slot on Radar Radio, With some of his best this year coming in the shape of this harder dubplate infused set in May and the reversed ambient entry in November just gone. August saw the excellent 'WAIFU' released but having only just heard it, is a little late to get in any running.
His Summer mix for Dummy is everything you could want rattling out of your car stereo with the red hot tarmac steaming below. R&B, Radio Rap as well as plenty of tasty edits to boot. The preceding tough productions by some of the scene’s contemporary originators pepper the gaps in fine fashion, making for a tautly wrought, flexible hour and 15 minutes worth.
22
CHI
The Original Recordings
[Original Release: 1985]
Reissued neatly alongside “The Bamboo Recordings”, “The Original Recordings” is a den of jammed out meditation. A surrounding record, that could easily be mistaken for a psychedelic rock outfit. Make no doubt about it, you’ll fall into another realm with this. Whether its the dark trudge of “Before The Mountain”, the clanging “Hopi” & “Twisted Camel” or the ever expanding “Mahat”.
The Dutch collective drove out into a duo called CHI Factory for the Bamboo set, and is just as enticing, yet this is far more encompassing.
Press C to Chill. Basco’s Gamebient mix slipped out of nowhere in June this year, and what really owes to its charm, is the cull of music and where it came from. All video game soundtracks, you’d be forgiven for thinking this might be a zany OTT mix, but it’s not.
From the moment you hear the dark bloom of the PlayStation start up theme, it trickles in and out of the shady corners of enveloping gameplay. It’s one of the most listened to ambient releases for me this year, at 40 minutes its a agile burst of drowsiness. That it’s a free download is unbelievable.
