As I hope you can imagine, constructing these detailed, comprehensive 12 month reviews that we've been doing these last few weeks or so takes a good deal of time to do properly. I loathe to use my academic preoccupations as an excuse, but unfortunately it is, so that is why the last post took so bloody long to finish. Having said that, I hope you liked it as we did put a great deal of effort into making it as interesting as possible. Expect the same level of effort in the rest of 2010 review parts which will include our top 25 tracks (originals only this time) and hopefully some kind of top albums, top labels and one or two others if we think we can manage it. The top 25 tracks is inevitably our priority so we aim to have that up by the end of January. Your patience is very much appreciated and 'liking' our page on facebook will keep you informed as soon as it's up! In the meantime, as we've been out of the rapid posting groove here's a brief summary of what's been happening recently.

Firstly, here's an honourable mention to mixmag, the magazine so many of us spend £4.20 on every month and always ask ourselves why? after. Branding themselves as 'the biggest dance music magazine in the world', this month they confirmed the market to which they make this ostentatious statement to. Dutch mega-DJ Tiësto was voted 'the greatest DJ of all time' by their readers, which has inevitably become the butt of numerous jokes within the underground dance music community. Now I'm aware Tiësto is very popular, and I'm aware mixmag's demographics are not just us underground dwellers, but if they ever want us to take this magazine seriously then this kind of embarrassing episode has to be avoided in the future. The shortlist was contentious enough, but mixmag's deputy editor, Duncan Dick responded to this accusation (which was made via the magazine's letters section), explaining the difficulties of compiling such a list, which we all do appreciate. But the problem is a magazine like mixmag should not be partaking in such a nonsensical poll. Its readership is too varied, too diverse, and lets face it, too mainstream to yield results of any true significance. Indeed, I may well just be making this assessment on the back of a result that didn't satisfy me personally, which could also be construed as direct hypocrisy considering I cast my own vote, but that was before I knew how pointless my vote for Ricardo Villalobos, who came in at 6th, really was going to be. Many predicted this outcome before it was even confirmed, and maybe I was naive in thinking differently, but to call a Trance DJ the greatest of all in this musical discipline is scandalous. I'm no Tiësto expert, but I have always assumed him to be far more of a prolific producer than a DJ anyway, regardless of the fundamental point that the skillful, expressive art of DJing can never truly flourish in the restrictive form of Trance. An important and popular musical genre yes, but it's designed to elicit one, single emotion from its audience: euphoria, and that is not the mark of a rich, sonic palate for a DJ to work genuine magic. Has Tiësto, and will he ever, have the bravery and the confidence in his audience to weave daring, unusual, controversial flavours into his sets? Will he keep his crowd moving through sunset and sunrise? Unlikely. A forum comment on this issue saying "This should have been a 'Most Popular DJ Poll, not a Greatest DJ Poll'" hit the nail on the head. In essence this is the poll's only achievement. Mixmag have confirmed to us no more than who people know in 2011 and have seen, rather than who is truly, technically and historically great. That is our opinion, I'm sure you have your own, now I'm off to buy that issue....

Regarding nightlife, we certainly have a few tales to tell, and a few nudges for things on the periphery. Firstly, we never really got to say anything about our Eastern Electrics NYE experience. In a nutshell, we now understand that a party involving Seth Troxler, Jamie Jones and Damian Lazarus rocks without any remote exaggeration, and also that we were both very lucky to be there, for more reasons than just the obvious.

Starting at the beginning, I badly cut myself just before I departed London for Christmas, potentially severing my digital nerve, but I turned down surgery as I had an important appointment with John Digweed that night at fabric (it turned out to be a very good decision, I promise). I was given a course of antibiotics, which I duly took but then discovered later I was allergic to, resulting in a very unpleasant reaction. The symptoms peaked on the Monday before Friday's events, but I wasn't convinced it was enough time to recover. Thankfully it was, and I was just about good enough to make it, and despite my depleted physical condition we both had a simply incredible night. Jamie Jones began things in the grimy arches beneath London Bridge, taking us into 2011 and beyond with some delicious house vibes, before Crosstown Rebels head Lazarus took over with a typically teasing two hours of his label's style and swagger. Seth Troxler followed, clad in shirt and tie and swigging from a bottle of Jack Daniels. He was everything I expected, from his quirky attire and cheesy tash-topped grin to his seductive session of rolling tech house that kept a packed, sweaty crowd's undivided attention for the entire time he was on. He crowned what was a memorable, if physically challenging NYE party, and what was nothing other than a perfect way to begin 2011.

Since that night, things have been relatively low-key, with my return to London consisting mostly of just inexcusably drunk nights at various locations in the city, and a smashing warehouse party that sadly ended with a 999 call, but not for myself, obviously. I did check out fabric for the first time this year last Saturday. Despite it being one of the few Saturdays this month not originally penciled in my diary, it turned out to be a good session nonetheless, with Agoria (who will be mixing fabric 57) and Sasha Dive keeping us grooving in Room One until the early hours. This weekend is the real treat though, with Kill Em All and Erol Alkan's return to EC1 on the Friday, followed by Tyrant the next day. I'll be at both, but at the risk of making many envious, and at the same time making myself look like a bit of a dick, all I can really think about right now is this year's Timewarp, which is on April 4th and will most certainly be a memorable 20th birthday present if all goes to plan and I make it. Fingers crossed! Well, I'll have mine crossed anyway...

Here's a few of the best upcoming events we've got our beady eye on at the moment for the next couple of weeks...

We Fear Silence presents Mulletover January Sale 2011 @ Cable, London: Saturday, January 29th

Kill Em All with Erol Alkan, Hey Today!, Paul Chambers (live), Shadow Dancer (live), Filthy Dukes... @ fabric, London: Friday, January 21st

TYRANT & Disco Bloodbath with Lee Burridge, Craig Richards, Paul Ritch, Alan Fitzpatrick, Luciano Esse, Sweet N Candy (live)... @ fabric, London: Saturday, January 22nd

Systematic Sessions with Marc Romboy, Stephan Bodzin, Robert Babicz, Shit Robot, KiNK... @ Ministry of Sound, London: Saturday, 22nd January

The Breakfast Club Present Maya Jane Coles @ TBA, Bristol: Saturday, January 22nd

And finally a few tunes we've only recently acquired. There are several particularly important releases that we'll designate more personal posts to soon, but for now here's a brief update on what we're listening too right now.

Rolando - Junie (Vinyl Version)


Matthew Dear - Little People (Black City) (Sascha Dive Dub Remix)


Moullinex - Tear Club


Vincenzo -The Clearing (Ian Pooley Remix)


Timtim - How We Move


Robert Babicz - Pink Trees


Green Velvet - Flash (Jamie Jones Remix)


Russ Yallop - I Can't Wait (Rob Mello's No Ears Mix)


As I've said, keep an eye out for our Top 25 Tracks of 2010 which we will be working on as hard as we can over the next couple of weeks, every track of which will be 100% downloadable for you. We may also post a few other little treats for our loyal followers too!