The next part of our series of reviews for the now bygone year 2010 looks at our 5 favourite DJ sets. Again, it's an incredibly difficult task picking only 5 sets from the hundred or so we've seen over the year, but as always it's exceedingly good fun to pay credit to the exceptional performers in a field so admirable yet so massive.

There are certain criteria we all look for in a great DJ set, and this is pretty much how we've selected the five that get the nod here. Originality is what always strikes me first in a great set. The greatest of all jocks always have an appetite for spontaneity and a knack for giving their audience plenty of surprises. No one does this better than Ricardo Villalobos, the master of sound and selection. Classical Latin rhythms and Chilean folk music are often threaded in seamlessly among minimal techno and house beats, and it is this kind of bravery and unpredictability which lifts a set from the ordinary, to the magnificent. Of course, selection is fairly high on the checklist. Those DJs that have left me tearing my hair out looking for tunes they've dropped are often the very best, but it also their ability to create a style throughout the duration of their set and make that style effortlessly captivating. Finally, the last major criterion we consider is how well did the set keep bodies moving. You would be surprised at how quickly the mood on the dancefloor can change and this is not down to anything other than what is being played and how it is being played. Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you our favourite DJ sets of 2010.


5. Cassius @ Together - The Coronet, London
Together's Season One at London's Coronet showcased some of electronic music's most reputable names, but it was April that brought us arguably the most exciting line-up of the series. Despite her critics (and there are many of them), Uffie's live performance was as sassy as it was fantastic, and Kavinsky who preceded her delivered a typically fun set of all things electro. But it was in French house duo Cassius that the night really became something rather special. I knew Cassius for their classic producing skills, but as DJ's I wasn't entirely certain how they would approach things. Would it be old school French Touch? Combining Daft Punk with Sebastien Tellier? No, that wasn't the Cassius style behind the decks on this occasion, instead they went for an explosive electro house assault that genuinely rocked the vast main room of the converted theatre. Naturally the temptation to self-indulge led to welcome inclusions of their own The Sound of Violence and Tim Green's champion remix of their classic hit 1999, but there was no holding back on their appetite for more aggressive sounds. L-Vis 1990's savage electro-funky house crossover Compass went down a treat, as did Afrojack's sizzling house banger Pacha on Acid among various other bombs. Cassius as producers was always undisputed, but their performance spinning at Together for me firmly placed them on the DJ map.

4. Craig Richards @ Delicatessen - Motion Skate Park, Bristol
I could have picked any of Craig Richards' sets I've witnessed at fabric this year, and there have been quite a few as he famously soundtracks every Saturday at the club. However, I've decided to go for one of his rare performances outside of EC1, on this occasion at Bristol's Motion Skate Park where he closed Simian Mobile Disco's Delicatessen. Here Richards was totally and utterly awesome on so many levels, but what was most impressive was his wisdom on the decks and his understanding of his audience. Motion isn't fabric and here Richards wasn't blessed with the world's greatest soundsystem at his disposal or the loyal fabric faithful who will keep grooving until they are dragged from the dancefloor. Did this mean the effectiveness of his 4-6am set was to any extent compromised? Not in the slightest. The veteran jock read how the night had unfolded, knowing SMD's energy-sapping pounding techno session in The Tunnel before him left most with little rigorous raving power left, so therefore took things down a notch. Richards explored the quirkiest, tripped out angles of tech house, as he so often does at fabric, and it worked so perfectly, using all his mixing experience to keep things delightfully funky yet not too physical, which was exactly what we desired at the time. In a more reflective sense, Richards demonstrated that night he could take fabric's endless energy out of the hip confines of the capital, which is far from an easy task.

3. Ricardo Villalobos @ fabric, London
As soon as Ricardo Villalobos' March return to fabric was announced, it was always going to become the most eagerly anticipated event of the whole month in London, if not the entire country and even Europe, given the exceptional amount of continentals inside the club that night. Fast forward to Sunday afternoon when the night had eventually concluded (extension of the club's opening hours is mandatory when the Chilean is in town) and I now fully understood a few very important facts: Firstly why Ricardo Villalobos is perceived by many as the greatest DJ of all time and seen as a cult figure within the electronic music community; secondly I had seen for myself why he is often cited as the most skillful user of fabric's incredible soundsystem, and finally why Saturday nights at fabric are unequivocally the thing of legends. In short, Ricardo Villalobos and fabric is a marriage made in heaven- endless amounts of hours to mix whatever he wants, a totally captivated, loyal, responsive audience and sound that makes all those obscure records and their layers of frequencies sound better than ever. At the time I had never seen a nightclub so packed, and even now, 9 months on and dozens of top parties later I still haven't. Despite this there was a wonderful atmosphere in that cave-like Room One. At one point late into his set a Chile flag was thrusted above head-level in a moment of magnificent, pure Villalobosian love. It was what he was playing and how he was sewing it all together that made everyone so happy. Rhythm- the guy knows how to emit rhythm in floods of beautiful basslines, beats and startlingly organic sonics. Old-school techno and house was the predominant flavour, with classics such as Ron Hardy's Sensation and Laurent Garnier's vintage Acid Eiffel among so many other magnificent electronic antiquities used to incredible effect. Other slightly fresher records such as MMM's rave-rich Nous Sommes and Jacuzzi Boys' Bicho Corderillo were also on the menu, but what made this particular Villalobos set so memorable came at around 10am, as the dancefloor was still packed and as arguably electronic music's greatest ever track was skillfully mixed in from Acid Eiffel. To hear the master himself actually use Dexter in his own set at fabric is something I had fantasized about, but experiencing it for real was something of indescribable beauty. The richness of that bassline and every other unique, obscure shard of sound was allowed to breathe in that great main room in a way I had never felt before. It was so unexpected too, but then it is that unpredictability that is at the core of every Villalobos set and is what makes every one so fascinating.

2. Dixon @ fabric 11th Birthday Weekend - fabric, London
By the time Innervisions label-head Dixon took to the cockpit-like booth of Room 1 at fabric's 11th birthday, the party had already been swinging close to 24 hours. Those swarming in and out of the three rooms still open were an interesting mix of dilapidated long-stayers and significantly fresher faces with pristine hair who had obviously just come for Sunday's antics. I couldn't exactly blame them, for although I had the great pleasure of seeing sets from Tyrant, Âme, dOP and of course Luciano throughout Saturday night and Sunday morning/afternoon, spending around 15 hours underground immersed in a chasm of nothing but deep, throbbing techno and house was sending me to the brink of delirium. But then on came Dixon, just before Damian Lazarus, late on the Sunday night and all of sudden I was liberated once again, like I had just stepped into the club for the very first time. How on earth did he do this? I must say I wasn't all too certain what to expect from Dixon. Despite reading many very good things about him I had never seen him before, but my excitement for his set was undiminished regardless. After only about half an hour into his set it became clear why he was held in such high esteem. It's no secret that Dixon is experimental in his sets, but this was daring, thrilling and even shocking at times. He was playing music that he loved, whether it was techno, house, electro or even rock. Yes rock, in fabric. Believe me when I say a guitar riff on that Room One soundsystem is ground-quaking. It was probably the most eclectic set I've ever witnessed and I can't remember having so much fun at the mercy of just one DJ as I did with Dixon. He was so good in fact that he made other jocks look boring.

1. SebastiAn @ EXIT Festival - Petrovaradin Fortress, Novi Sad, Serbia
Sunday. The final chapter of the enormous EXIT festival 2010 and the Ed Banger Crüe had landed to close what had been an incredible four days in Serbia. DJ Mehdi and Busy P had already delivered energetic sets of cutting edge electro and house, and to complete the French take-over in the Dance Arena was the pasty chain-smoker that goes by the name of SebastiAn. One of Ed Banger's most controversial and provocative producers, SebastiAn has as many critics as he does admirers, but this divided reputation didn't seem to effect his undeniable position on the line-up as the headliner. Curious as this may be for a DJ who you wouldn't see at the world's top clubs or in any of the many end of year DJ polls by the electronic music magazines or websites, his appearance at EXIT, as it was at Ed Banger's 7th Birthday Party at The Coronet in London earlier that year, was among the most highly anticipated of the entire festival. People simply couldn't wait to see him. The buzz in the campsite on the eve of his performance was all about SebastiAn. This was quite remarkable considering the Sunday featured huge acts such as The Chemical Brothers, Crystal Castles, Busy P and A-Trak, but I knew, as did Chris and anyone else who knew what he is capable of that SebastiAn's set was the unmissable one. Now I'm not for one minute implying SebastiAn is a 'great' DJ in the technical sense at all. Having seen the likes of Ricardo Villalobos, Craig Richards, John Digweed, Luciano and other greats I know the difference between a truly gifted disc jockey and someone who can mix two tracks together, but I also know when a set has blown me away. With a wry smile of unhidden smugness and a cigarette constantly between his lips, for over three hours the little guy from Boulogne ripped the Dance Arena to shreds with one of the most savage, most explosive, uncompromising electro assaults I will ever experience. It wasn't intricate, or in any way groovy, but it was hilariously noisy and dangerously ravey. In fact, I still feel lucky I escaped without some kind of serious skull injury after mine and Chris's head-banging antics following the drop of D.I.M & TAI's legendary Lyposuct. That was just one of the many classic electro numbers that were unleashed during his blitz of a set. There was ample Boys Noize, Justice, Daft Punk's Aerodynamic tossed in, and several of SebastiAn's own brutal works. Some sort of modified version of his remix of Kavinsky's Testarossa Autodrive went down very well, as did his well named 'Insane Edit' of Walkman. However, all of this was ambient compared to what he had up his sleeve, and what we had been craving ever since we knew he was billed for the festival. When Threnody was leaked onto the Internet in the Spring of 2010, the reaction was intensely divided, which is sort of the story of SebastiAn's entire musical career. But a 13 minute track of which 11 is merely a build-up of white noise? It was SebastiAn all over and we loved both the tune and him for creating it. If we were to ever hear it played out we just assumed it would be one of the more concise (if less fun) edits, so when we detected the full version slowly filtering in we couldn't contain our excitement. Actually, with over a 10 minute wait for the one and only drop, we sat down. Followed by a few others, and before we knew it a good couple of hundred people towards the front of the Dance Arena had joined us. Some knew very well what was coming and stayed seated, while others in an understandable state of confusion got up after a few minutes of waiting and scratched their head. But we stayed put, right up until that lethal, crushing, onslaught of a drop that manufactured utter chaos. That memory will stay with me forever. The time we sat for 10 minutes on the dancefloor through nothing but white noise, waiting for a drop that lasted under 2 minutes. It was worth the wait, and SebastiAn executed it all with such irritatingly amusing satisfaction that it only made us love him even more. He couldn't care less what anyone thinks about him, and neither do we.

And a BIG shout out to...
Matthias Tanzmann, who's debut set at fabric bubbled with all that Moon Harbour tech-house energy we know and love him for, Luciano who delivered an truly bizarre but memorable 4 hour set in place of the ill Ricardo Villalobos at fabric's 11th Birthday weekend, Damian Lazarus also hit EC1 that night and was sensational with his array of weird and wonderful Crosstown Rebels house mastery, back in early spring, the great Kavinsky on his own turned a poor Skins party in Bristol into a good one with a brilliant electro set to close the night, Erol Alkan & Boys Noize's sets at EXIT were both true highlights of the festival, as was Ricardo Villalobos's who treated us to what many call the very best in Serbia that week and finally John Digweed who delivered one of the most perfectly engineered sets of prog house and techno in fabric right at the foot of the year.