Meme Review of the Year 2010

For us, this was the year of broken beats, disco re-edits and, of course, the cloud. We also managed a major design revamp which seems to have gone down well as our visitor numbers nearly quadrupled over the year. But we would be nothing without the music and the artists that made it…

A whole genre developed and matured in front of our ears in the form of the broken beat scene, populated by visionaries such as Free The Robots, Eskmo and Lobisomem. Just when we all thought that real innovation and originality had been well and truly killed off by the X-Factor virus, along come some young upstarts such as Baths and Botany to innoculate us all and provide such a new sound we are all left reeling with its freshness.

Listen to ‘Feeling Today’ by Botany

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Listen to ’20,000 Africans in Guangzhou’ by Lobisomem

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Then, on our musical taste flip-side, we had quite a few top-drawer disco re-edit and remix compilations (plus quite a few very average ones), with top prizes easily going to Dimitri From Paris and Tom Moulton. Mentioned in dispatches should also be the Jumpin’ series, which reached Volume 3, and Horse Meat Disco for their modern take on the scene. Whilst many genre-rebirths seem to be only there to make money for the labels, this particular corner of the sub-culture is made purely from love.

Listen to ‘Living Together (Dimitri From Paris Disco Re-Edit)’ by The Jacksons

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Listen to ‘Let Us Entertain You (Tom Moulton Remix)’ by The Philly Groove Orchestra

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We were also able to deliver so much more music to you through sites such as Soundcloud, Mixcloud and Bandcamp. Soundcloud, in particular, with its superb community and sharing tools, meant that more people were able to listen to more great music, and more previously-unrecognized artists and producers were able to make their voice and art heard. As well as our regular Soundcloud Track Of The Week and our own mixes, we were able to interview some of our favourite Soundcloud contributors, including Dimitri From Paris and Hint, which provided a real insight into the culture and spirit that has built up around the site.

Listen to ‘Same Dream Again’ feat. AHU & Miles Bonny

Listen to ‘Space Oddity (Appo Remix)’ by David Bowie

During the year we were fortunate enough to be able to interview some great new bands but also some of our long-term favourites. Top of that particular tree must be Tracey Thorn and Alice Russell, but we also loved our digital interactions with Hidden Orchestra and The Amplifetes.

And then there were a few bands that came at us out of leftfield and made us fall in love with them, top of the pile of which would be the very aptly named Lovers, who we also interviewed. Competing for our affections were Thunderball, Lady Daisey and the aforementioned Baths. Those who had already been around a bit, but created new love, included Röyksopp, Simian Mobile Disco and Belleruche.

Listen to ‘Make Your Move Featuring Mustafa Akbar’ by Thunderball

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Listen to ‘Rain Smell’ by Baths

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Listen to ‘Fuzz Face’ by Belleruche

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Now, the traditional thing to do at this point is to name our Top 50, or Top 20 or Top whatever albums of the year. But we’re going to keep it really simple and give you our Top 3 Labels and Top 5 LPs.

For those of you who come to this site on a fairly regular basis, then the top labels will be of no surprise to you.

Freestyle Records has provided us with our staple diet of soul and funk all year, including The Transatlantics,Speedometer and Black Lillies, as well as some really neat compilations.
BBE Music gave us, of course, ‘Get Down With The Philly Sound‘ but also a very diverse mix of artists such as Lady Daisey, Pugs Atomz, Space Invadas and Ladi6. Their compilations, especially the ‘Strange Games…‘ series were also worthy of high praise.
Tru Thoughts has long been a favourite label of ours, and 2010 only really strengthened that feeling. Established artists such as The Bamboos, Belleruche, Natural Self and Quantic released great new music, and new signings such as Maddslinky, Wildcookie and, especially, Hidden Orchestra (with our interview) all demonstrated how well this label picks its artists.

Other labels who deserve your support would be Harmless (who celebrated their 15th year), Sonar Kollektiv and Strut (especially for their ‘Next Stop Soweto‘ trilogy).

As for the music itself, our Top 5 LPs of the year would have to be:

Dimitri From Paris – ‘Get Down With The Philly Sound’ (BBE) – the undisputed compilation of the year, containing remastered and remixed versions of some of the greatest records to come out of Philadelphia during the disco era. Dimitri’s touch is masterful and respectful, and brings new a life to these classic tracks.
Lovers – ‘Dark Light’ (Badman) – we would still stand by what we said in our orginal review of this record: “‘Dark Light’ is an exercise in understated brilliance, a stark and intense record of pared-down emotion”. Full of humour and suffering in equal measure, this is a record you will love for a long time to come.
Free The Robots – ‘CTRL ALT Delete’ (AlphaPup) – so many fantastic broken beat albums this year, but this one stood out for us because of its energy and its diversity. Two years in the making, this album crams so much originality in one record it makes your head hurt. A must have LP for anyone who loves their electronica.
Bamboos – ’4′ (Tru Thoughts) – This fourth LP from The Bamboos is where it all comes together for them (and us) so perfectly. Competing against myriad other funk bands, The Bamboos really are the daddy of them all, by a very long chalk.
Gil Scott-Heron – ‘I’m New Here’ (XL) – ‘the father of hip hop’ brings us a perfectly measured album full of painful memories and new hope. The years haven’t been good to Gil, but it is the listener who benefits from his first record in 16 years. Dark, disturbing and brilliant.

Listen to ‘The Night The Lights Went Out (Dimitri From Paris Disco Re-Edit)’ by The Trammps

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Listen to ‘Barnacle’ by Lovers

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Listen to ‘Global Warning’ by Free The Robots

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Listen to ‘Keep Me In Mind’ by The Bamboos

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Listen to ‘Running’ by Gil Scott-Heron

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So, in 2011, we will carry on bringing you what we believe is the best music around. We will stand by our core practices of bringing you quality over quantity, and letting you hear as much of the music as possible so you can make your own mind up. And remember to please continue to support the artists by buying their music if you like it.
Peace.