To begin our series of reviews for this truly epic year for electronic music, we begin with our top five events over the year that we've had the pleasure of attending. For both of us, 2010 has been a year almost dedicated to the weekends, and we've certainly made the most of them. To come up with 5 of the best was never going to be an easy task, with so many memorable nights, stretching all the way from early January and our first (and probably last) night at the great Matter, all the way to the mesmeric one-man show which was John Digweed at fabric just a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, we've had to look over certain nights that could have so easily found a place in the Top 5, such as Ed Banger's 7th Birthday party at the Coronet in March, Matthias Tanzmann's incredible debut performance at fabric, Erol Alkan at Bristol's Thekla or Simian Mobile Disco's Delicatessen at Motion Skate Park, and so many more. All of these gave me a serious problem in choosing just five, but ultimately the selection I've come up with were nothing short of magnificent and thoroughly deserve to be given all the credit they receive. Remember, this is purely on personal experiences- unfortunately we weren't able to attend every great event this year, as much as we would have liked to, so I expect there will be many who disagree with my selection.

5. Ricardo Villalobos @ fabric, London (20.03.2010)
This particular night inaugurated me to the unadulterated extremities of a classic techno rave, and perhaps more importantly, to the glory of Saturday nights at fabric. At this time, I was only just beginning to fully appreciate minimal, and almost inevitably the figurehead responsible for this new-found fascination was Ricardo Villalobos. I had listened to his fabric 36 mix over and over and was left speechless by his debut album, Alcachofa, which fast became probably my favourite LP of all time. I had read about him, seen pictures of him, but as anyone who understands Ricardo Villalobos will know, there is still precious little out there about him. The only way to get to know the real Ricardo Villalobos, in all his sonic-bending beauty is to witness a set at his mercy for yourself, and more specifically at fabric where the guy grew from a little known minimal-jock, to the greatest DJ of all time. That's exactly what I did and to say I was blown away by the whole thing would be an understatement. It was my first real endurance test to begin with, the night ultimately lasted over 12 hours, but I had never seen a DJ have such an infectious effect on a dancefloor. I fell in love with Ricardo Villalobos that night, and I will be forever thankful for it.

4. Planet Turbo @ The Coronet, London (1.05.2010)
There was simply no way Turbo Recording's Planet Turbo episode at London's Coronet was not going to make it into this selection. The venue was excellent and the show was nothing short of breathtaking, with Tiga, Boys Noize and Erol Alkan delivering mind-blowing sets of the finest acid, techno and electro to a packed crowd. What made Planet Turbo so utterly awesome however, was the dazzling light-show that had been designed by Andreas Nilsson, the man responsible for The Knife and Fever Ray's famously spectacular live performances. Rainbow lasers, psychedelic visuals, strobes, it was all there and together it transformed a very good rave, into something totally amazing. The music, of course, was quite a treat too. For the first time we got a taste of ZZT's ZZafrika, which subsequently caused quite a stir as to its identity, and also Boys Noize's massive house banger Yeah. But what capped off one of the most explosive events of the year for me was one Tiga's concluding selections to his brilliant set sandwiched between Erol and Boys Noize. Proxy was never going to make it to London's edition of Planet Turbo due to visa isssues, but there was no better way to pay tribute to the Russian than to unleash his rampant remix of Tiga's own What You Need. To this day it still remains one of my favourite tracks of all time, and I won't forget the moment it came crashing down at Planet Turbo...

3. fabric's 11th Birthday Weekend @ fabric, London (16.10.2010-18.10.2010)
When the line-up to fabric's 11th birthday weekend was announced, it had many, including myself, fall to their knees in child-like excitement. The occasion not only marked 11 years of existence for the world's greatest and most influential nightclub, but also a year since fabric first tested their experimental (and originally ridiculous) concept of a 30 hour long rave, starting on the Saturday and not concluding until Monday morning. Their 10th birthday christened the event which would become known as On & On...& On, and after two more events throughout the year, the 11th birthday was the perfect way to round the sequence off. Despite Ricardo Villalobos's no-show, which was initially a huge blow, the weekend was everything I expected and a bit more. We drifted through night, day, into night and back into day again, absorbing all the weird and wonderful delights of such a party. Luciano, who remarkably filled in for the absent Ricardo, entertained us on Sunday afternoon with a wild, deliriously hedonistic four hour set, but undoubtedly the best came towards the end of Sunday, when Tyrant, Dixon and Damian Lazarus destroyed the disco with utterly captivating sets as the sun set and proceedings in Room One got all the more fascinating, right into the early hours of Monday morning.

2. Decked Out 10th Anniversary @ The Coronet, London (05.02.2010)
It's hard to believe Decked Out's 10th Anniversary party was over 10 months ago, and I still remember it like it was yesterday. Tickets for the extravaganza sold within days, something I anticipated, leading to me setting my alarm for the second they became available and as it turns out, that was not at all OTT. Dubbed 'The Party of The Decade', it certainly had a lot to live up to, but the line-up went some way in making that statement possible, with Busy P, Erol Alkan, DJ Mehdi, Boys Noize, Brodinski, Feadz, Dave Clarke, Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo of the Bloody Beetroots, Aeroplane, The Glimmers, Crookers and Xavier de Rosnay of Justice all billed at The Coronet in what promised to be something quite incredible. With such a line-up, disappointment was never going to be on the menu, but it sure was something of a party. The highlight of the action-packed night had to have been Erol Alkan and Xavier de Rosnay's 2 hour tag-team session, which toured all those brilliant distorted electro sounds we associate with Justice, with a few surprised thrown in, such as Erol's (and Boys Noize's) own Lemonade, which was dropped to devastating effect. Add to that a ridiculously wasted Feadz, a stage-diving Bob Rifo, loads of free vodka, loads of glitter and surprise appearances from Uffie, SebastiAn and Gaspard Augé (the other half of Justice), who along with many of the DJ's who performed earlier joined those dancing in Room 2 for a little groove, and we had a serious challenger for the greatest event of 2010. As for the greatest party of the decade, only time will tell...

1. EXIT Festival 2010 @ Petrovaradin Fortress, Novi Sad, Serbia (08.07 - 11.07.2010)
To call a festival an 'event' maybe pushing it slightly, but to call EXIT a festival is a bit of an understatement. It's a celebration of everything good there is about music. Freedom, great weather, endless nights and the invitation to dance and dance and dance... Well at least that was what it was like in the famous Dance Arena, each of the four days the festival lasted. Four day festivals aren't in great supply, especially when the music on offer is of such high standard as it was at EXIT this year, which in the end was why we picked it over many of the other very appealing European festivals. The line-up had everything to offer, from the kings of maximal in Boys Noize and Erol Alkan on the Thursday, to the dons of techno in Josh Wink and Ricardo Villalobos on the Friday. Even the Ed Banger crew were in on the act, finishing off the Sunday with DJ Mehdi, Busy P and one of the most outrageously exciting, yet daring sets I've ever experienced from SebastiAn who made mine and Chris's dreams come true when he said 'fuck off' to those who felt playing the full-length version of Threnody was a bit too much... Chemical Brothers, LCD Soundsystem, Crystal Castles and Brodinski also made memorable appearances, as did so many others in what was one of the most cryptic schedules to balance. Setting wasn't too bad either- a 17th century fortress with around a dozen arenas, built at the peak of Novi Sad, offering stunning views across the city from one of the many beautifully designed and conceived chill-out zones at the festival site. As with any festival though, what made EXIT so special was the trememdous amount of memories it made. From seeing Villalobos send the entire Dance Arena into a frenzy of grooves and moves with Butch's massive re-cut of No Worries, to our eccentric Northern campsite neighbours, or even Chris's infamous night on 50% vodka, there was no shortage of great moments both music related and non-music related. That is why EXIT 2010 is our favourite event of the year.