Part 4 of our 2010 review brings you arguably the most anticipated of all our features so far: our top 25 tracks. Similarly to our remixes feature, many of those in this list picked themselves, but others caused considerable debate and disagreement between me and Chris. After plenty of acquiescence and negotiation, we settled on something we both are very happy with, each track thoroughly deserving to be in there for reasons we will again do our best to describe. It's worth mentioning as a more general reflection that 2010 was once again a magnificent year on the production side of electronic music. In all honesty we were spoiled for choice picking just 25 as it could easily of been 50, but those we selected represent the very best of 2010 in house, techno and electro. I'm sure there are massive tracks we've missed out, but we thought long and hard about the tracks we simply loved personally- not what everyone else loved, or what DJ's, critics and other personalities loved, just us. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, Sweat On The Walls' top 25 tracks of 2010...

25. Kebacid - Jack The Potato


A surging, squelching, sizzling electro classic from Kebacid, who kicked off our year with vintage rave material. We loved Jack The Potato for its undeniably aggressive confidence. Ruthless bassline, layer upon layer of filthy synths, and that lovably random vocal that cues the most chaotic moments throughout the track.

24. Boy 8-Bit - The Keep


You would have struggled to avoid Boy 8-Bit's blistering hit The Keep at any electro night in 2010. Why? Because it was a simply irresistible track for DJ's to use in their set. Bubbling and bouncing with unrelenting intensity from start to finish, it was the perfect peak-time choice and it never failed to get me and Chris feverishly soaking up that instantly recognizable build-up and devastating bassline.

23. Kaiserdisco - Aguja


Kaiserdisco was one of 2010's most consistent producers without doubt. I can't think of one record the German laid down last year that didn't get my attention, but by far the most gripping of all was Aguja, and many others agreed. A simply dazzling tech house adventure, with all the frolic, tribal, percussive morsels you could ever wish for, it sent dancefloors into wild frenzies wherever it was dropped.

22. Round Table Knights - Calypso


Calypso just appeared out of nowhere around late Spring, and its huge reception was entirely understandable. The Round Table Knights didn't re-invent the wheel with the concept of having their tech-house bassline laced with steel drums, it had been done before, but it felt incredibly new and organic. What perhaps was different about it was that those Caribbean touches were the main body of the track, delivering the bulk of its rhythmic qualities, instead of just being a quirky decoration. It worked perfectly, and was one of those genuine stand-out tracks of the year that everyone loved.

21. Santos - Matinée


Fabric, 10.30am, Ricardo Villalobos has been spinning for just an hour in a crowded Room One and is gradually mixing in a psychedelic house piece, drenched in delicate house notes that climb and climb with just as much character and mystery as the guy who is playing it. All of a sudden there is a breakdown after around six minutes of patient building and nothing but slightly distorted white noise screeches from above. Then it all comes crashing down and those pianos blissfully change in tone and pile on top of deeply seductive drums. The track I eventually discovered was Matinée, by Latin-American producer Santos, and I have been a fan ever since. Maybe it's just the associations I make with it being played by Ricardo Villalobos, but it's a delightfully trippy cut, with bags of dance potential but earthy enough to be strictly for only the most prepared dancefloors.

20. Congorock - Babylon


Right on the fence between underground electro filth and mainstream dancefloor bomb, Congorock revolutionized so many dancefloors during the summer of 2010 with Babylon. Another one of EXIT's favoured tunes, played by Busy P, DJ Mehdi and Crookers, it became an instant favourite among all club revelers who couldn't get enough of all those volatile squeeks, tears and slams.

19. Tim Green - Old Sunshine


Tim Green was arguably one of 2010's major players thanks to two tracks; his classic remix of Cassius's 1999, which came in at 15th in our top 25 remixes, and his very own Old Sunshine which lit up dancefloors all around the world over the summer. From London to Ibiza, from Buenos Aires to Berlin it was a natural selection for all DJ's with any interest in tech house. A superbly groovy, summery bassline and fluid doses of teasing vocals made us all go mad for it and as we begin 2011 it now carries nostalgic qualities of the 2010 vintage clubbing season.

18. Carte Blanche - Gare Du Nord


Production-wise, 2010 was a relatively quiet year for Ed Banger. There was only one album released, that being the grossly belated Sex Dreams & Denim Jeans from Uffie, and just a handful of EP's as the key figures of the label focused on various side projects. But without doubt the greatest success for the Parisian clan was Carte Blanche's Black Billionaires EP that landed around late spring. The project that consisted of Ed Banger's own DJ Mehdi and the very British Riton seeked to promote a cleaner approach to House music than the distorted signature style of Ed Banger, but ironically the star piece on their debut EP, Gare Du Nord is soaked in enough ear-ringing distortion to make Justice slightly envious, but that was all for the good. Sure it was noisy and abrasive, but it still felt fresh, not just another Ed Banger outing of unrefined electronic mishchief and it soon found itself as something of an icon among sets of that kind.

17. Pleasurekraft - Tarantula


UK tech house newcomers Pleasurekraft demonstrated the perfect way to plant your flag in the tough EDM soil in 2010 with their instantly recognizable hit, Tarantula. To call it an important track last year would be a gross understatement, it was adored by DJ's and fans alike for it's deeply sexy beat, but what made us all really fall in love with Tarantula was that notoriously mesmerizing vocal hook that doesn't emerge until around half way. We don't know quite what it is, that vocal always frustratingly out of touch, but we know it made 2010 a much more interesting year, especially when you knew what to expect.

16. SebastiAn - Threnody


Controversy is never usually an issue in our ever-loving bubble of electronic music. There are no irritating, narcissistic lyrics from gaudy, untalented wannabes, no abysmal music videos and the artists themselves are all relatively low key by nature (Seth Troxler an exception, Jay Haze maybe another). But if there's one artist and a record label so many just love to hate, it's SebastiAn and Ed Banger, and fortunately for us, that's just how SebastiAn likes it. It's this constant criticism and general misunderstanding towards the entire Ed Banger style that inspires him to produce even more controversial music, seeing how far he can push his critics before they top themselves with disgust it seems. We like to think we understand SebastiAn, and as a loyal follower of both him and Ed Banger for years now, I can safely say 2010's Threnody is arguably the most outrageous of all to come from Paris, but that is exactly why it lit up our lives last year. The concept wasn't exactly ingenious; have a 12 minute build up of nothing but rising white noise, followed by a drop less than two minutes long that bared close resemblance to the effects of Hiroshima, but it was stylistically brilliant. That drop, although so short, is both impudent and immensely satisfying, encapsulating in little over 90 seconds what SebastiAn is all about. Serious technical analysis of Threnody will yield little more than a few lines describing the two crude components of the track, and without looking at any reviews out there I can see 1/5 scrawled in every corner, but for us it was everything we expected and wanted from an artist who to be honest, has never disappointed us.

15. Lee Jones - Yoyo


There's no questioning Lee Jones's influential role in shaping house and techno last year. Not only did he join the established list of artists selected by Berlin's Watergate to mix one of the club's CD's, he also invented Yoyo, which twisted us, tripped us and kept us grooving with monumental ease whenever one of many DJ's weaved it into their sets last year. An absorbing 10 minute house cut, with delicate flakes of percussion and that signature looped horn sample, it left a lasting impression on us from the very first time we heard it, and for us was a stentorian mark of what was coming out of Berlin last year.

14. Kavinsky - Nightcall


Going all the way back to the chilly depths of last year's late winter, Kavinsky had just released his third EP Nightcall. This was cause for considerable excitement for us as we were, and still are, genuine fans of Kavinsky. Although not signed to Ed Banger, the affiliations are inextricable, with the Paris record label one of the main hype-machines prior to the EP's launch, and there's it's no surprise to us why Busy P et al were so firmly behind it. Nightcall, the head track of four on the EP (including superb remixes from Breakbot and Dustin N'Guyen), was a striking divergence from the style we anticipated from Kavinsky. That notoriously visceral arcade-game/cheesy '80's action movie aesthetic was abandoned for something far less satirical, this time using bewitching vocals and a patiently surging house beat. But the old Kavinsky was remained entirely visible, regardless of the slightly more mature brush-up, and his eccentric taste for those retro synths and 'zombie driver' sub-plot to all his music only made us love Nightcall even more.

13. Booka Shade - Regenerate


Booka Shade took 2010 by storm with their sensational live performances, but having a track like Regenerate behind them made failure very unlikely, regardless of how striking their live set-up was. An exquisite composition of ghostly, hair-raising vocal samples, layered perfectly over a bassline scattered with flakes of intelligent, delicate sounds and a devastating mid-way crescendo not only created something marvelously ravey, but undeniably moving.

12. Storm Queen - Look Right Through (Vox)


It may have come late on, but Storm Queen's Look Right Through was an anthem that soundtracked plenty of parties for the last couple of months of 2010, and will surely be doing the same for a while to come. Sexy and svelte with such a groovy, disco-house bassline, it was the perfect peak-time record for dancefloor revelers needing that little lift we all know of...

11. Tensnake - Coma Cat


Whether you hear music submerged in an East London warehouse or on radio in your car, you would have struggled not to hear Coma Cat last year. Tensnake's breakthrough track, it was the perfect amalgamation of tech house wizardry and disco delight, lighting up dancefloors everywhere but also tweaking the eardrums of those not actively involved in the underground scene. This isn't always a desirable transition, but in Coma Cat's case, it made it all the more charming.

10. Simian Mobile Disco - Aspic


Simian Mobile Disco's failed attempt at vocal electro-pop with their second album Temporary Pleasures was well documented by us and many others, and the pair's Delicatessen venture last year almost appeared like a direct response to the criticism, which worrying for them came predominantly from their genuine fans. The concept: make a record label called 'Delicacies', hold a club night called 'Delicatessen' and a bunch of tracks that musically represent exactly what the gastronomic equivalent does- unique, often unpleasant flavours only for the most acquired palates. What a way to restore your fans faith and desires, and in Aspic, their first of a series of 'Delicacies' released throughout the year, we were introduced for real what SMD had up their sleeve- uncompromising, unforgiving and for many, simply unpleasant techno. Of course, we lapped up every dirty morsel...

9. Lee Burridge & Mathew Dekay - Wongel


Simplicity so often proves to be the most wonderfully vivid, expressive and effective formula for electronic music production, and nobody demonstrated that better last year than Lee Burridge and Mathew Dekay with Wongel, which they pretty much swept the floor with when it emerged. At over 10 minutes long, it was never going to be a quick, breathless cut, but there is seldom more than just a drum beat to the entire record, and this was its beauty. That drum beat with its constant, buoyant order of bass, snare, kick is just so moreish. But to say that literally is what the entire track is built upon wouldn't be strictly true. Gradually, and patiently, it morphs itself towards a brilliant and slightly wacky bassless break of cow-bells, which after teasing for a minute or two are suddenly immersed back into a pool of thumping drums once again, and that simplicity is laid out in its full glory.

8. Jozif - Beats In Space


Jozif, now an established London-based producer, will forever look at 2010 as his breakthrough year, as a lot of others will do. Much in the same way as Maya Jane Coles with her huge deep-house hit What They Say, Jozif's vinyl-only Beats In Space, released on his newly found label Fist of Finger with Craig Richards, was the track that turned heads and planted his flag on the underground map. Brimming with various twisted little samples, it treads heavily and slowly before breaking down into a deep, hollow fissure. It is here where the deranged magic of Beats In Space is conjured, gently shifting towards a devastating bassline that continues with all that wonderful, organic originality that the first half of the record kept us on our toes with.

7. Boys Noize - Yeah


Another year and another wonderful 12 months for Alexander Ridha. Following the release of his second full album Power the year previously, 2010 was a year of just having fun it seemed, with no album but a handful of hugely successful EP's, plenty of highly sought after remixes and dozens of explosive DJ sets all over the world. He was arguably the main catalyst for the rebirth of acid we witnessed, one of the most notable electronic music trends, but ironically his best production was far more classically electro house. Yeah began blowing the roofs off nightclubs and the eardrums of ravers around May when Ridha first began slipping it in his sets. Despite being typically brutal in style, it was uplifting and refreshing, pieced together perfectly with a careful balance of hammering basslines and that epic vocal hook, which made it impossible to ignore. Ridha's production skills remain second to none, and in Yeah he delivered something every dancefloor wants.

6. Maya Jane Coles - What They Say


We have 2010 to thank for the emergence of Maya Jane Coles, who has firmly established herself as one of the UK's most exciting underground producers. Already with a string of excellent EP's under her belt, she's well on her way to passing the protigé stage and will almost certainly be one of clubland's most desirable names in the near future. Where did it all start? With What They Say. MJC carved something so gorgeous, so elegant and so deep that we instantly fell in love with her, and before we knew it, What They Say had become one of the years signature hits.

5. Boys Noize & Erol Alkan - Lemonade


Another flawless maximal collaboration from two of electro's most influential and important players. After their acclaimed Waves/Death Suite EP in 2009, it seemed only a matter of when, not if, Alex Ridha and Erol Alkan would join forces once again, and they returned in blistering style with Lemonade/Avalanche around Easter time. In all honesty, either track on the EP could have seamlessly slipped in at the lofty heights of number 5, both genuine masterpieces, but there was something irresistible about Lemonade. It was at the memorable Decked Out 10th Anniversary Party all the way back in February where I first tasted Lemonade. At the time, its identity was unknown, and as so often is the case, those who heard it engaged in chaotic speculation in trying to pin down what the hell it was. How could we track down that fizzing, thumping, incredible banger? I had heard whispers, but nothing concrete, but then Erol Alkan told me, sort of. At a Friday night gig at the Thekla, Bristol, soon after Decked Out!, he dropped it again. Being right at the front, as usual, I explicitly gestured 'what the hell is this tune?', and he kindly took the CD it came from, broke it in two and threw it on the stage. I grabbed a piece, and managed to make out the word 'Lemonade' scrawled on it, and then I knew. From then on, Erol and many others are still playing it, evoking the same frenzied reception as when we first heard it.

4. MMM - Nous Sommes MMM


'We Are MMM'. What a brilliant name for a record that could be described in no other way than the techno A-bomb of 2010. My first experience of it came in fabric, monitored by no other than Ricardo Villalobos who stitched it into his epic 6 hour set of all things house and techno. The effect it had on us in that smokey, bassy, Room One was incredible, but the way MMM constructed the record made such a reaction inevitable for any dancefloor in any club. Ravey, noisy and drenched in adrenaline, the entire track is almost like one big build-up, endlessly rising and teasing with thunderous bass seeping in and out at unpredictable moments. It's difficult to pin down when there is a climax. There seems to be so many, but there quite possibly could be none at all. It was this totally new approach to a synth-heavy techno that made us addicted to Nous Sommes, and is probably why it will continue to be dropped to the same devastating effects for many years to come.

3. Butch - No Worries (Re-Cut)


Butch's 're-cut' version of No Worries couldn't have delighted DJ's and dancefloors much more last year. This was hardly a surprise though, considering Butch's history making of making uncomplicated, floor-friendly tech house. His full length album Eyes Wide Open continued to illustrate what he's all about, a portfolio of yet more rich, throbbing beats and percussion, the exact formula that made No Worries such a memorable hit everywhere. That thumping pulse, those crafty little breakdowns and that incomprehensible vocal sample, flirting from the off is what made No Worries so enjoyable. Again, far from a elaborate concept, but Butch knows just how to get bodies moving, so much that I would suggest it's impossible not to dance to something like No Worries, and a record number of DJ's agreed when they allowed it to spill from their monitors last year.

2. Art Department - Without You


As far as labels go, 2010 belonged to Crosstown Rebels. Damian Lazarus's unique brand of tech-house was an unstoppable force all year, with everything coming from the London-based label irresistibly good. Top of the pile though was Art Department, another one of the year's major breakthrough acts, who provided us with one of the finest examples of a house anthem for a long time. Without You didn't just sound good, it made us feel good. A bassline so deep, so groovy, it went beyond the simple realms of aural stimulation, it got under your skin, gripping you with every sluggish thump and trippy bleep. On top of all that, there was the effortlessly hazy chorus that got us all chanting through bleary eyes and slowly waving arms, "I just caaaaan't...."

1. Breakbot - Baby I'm Yours


Despite the general lack of activity, all the side-projects, the speculation (and often disappointment), Ed Banger still managed to leave their mark on 2010, a mark we believe was the most significant. If Busy P only has his signing of Breakbot to show for last year, then he can rest assured that it was a major victory. Thibaut Berland if anything rescued Ed Banger from widespread disillusion with Baby I'm Yours. Forgetting the loyal stalwarts (i.e, like myself), for many, Ed Banger was still just an uber-cool, party-mad bunch of posturing Parisians, with a reputation propped-up only really by Justice and Mr. Oizo. Their signature, buzzsaw electro sound began to grate for many, but then along came Breakbot who injected elegance, freshness and a whole new aura of modesty to the whole Ed Banger phenomenon. Languid, quiet and bearing an uncanny resemblance to a certain Sebastien Tellier, we liked Breakbot straight away, and his music was just as distinctive and charming as his physical demeanor. Forget any coarse synths, stomping bass or of those wacky idiosyncrasies that have shaped Ed Banger's identity, Baby I'm Yours was an exquisite blend of retro disco and feel-good house, with lyrics. Actual lyrics, courtesy of Irfane who sings as impudently as you would expect on a reality show final, but makes the record oh so memorable. The future of Ed Banger? We're not sure, but we couldn't think of a track that had more of an impact on us last year.

I couldn't think of a better way to welcome back Now We Rave and its eleventh installment, as always bringing you the very best filthy, abrasive, synth-heavy electro sounds of now. I'm also going to use this as an opportunity to discuss the events of last night, which involved me, Chris and most importantly our old friend Erol Alkan at Kill Em All in fabric, in what was a classic rave of pure maximal electro/techno pleasure on Chris's birthday, to make things a bit more of an occasion.

Despite my roots in electronic music owing a lot to the noisy, savage electro from the likes of Justice, Boys Noize and SebastiAn, I would be kidding myself if I said I went to many events with this sort of flavour anymore. It's not that my love for the style has at all diminished , in fact my passion for good electro productions remains as strong as ever, but the intense nature of the style makes it difficult to keep going back for more, which is perhaps why I now see electro nights as something of a treat. While my doses of more minimal beats is ten for a penny these days, being reunited with the old electro kings such as Erol, is something I can never contain my excitement for. Maybe it's just nostalgia, and the associations I make with the sound and the DJ's I first really fell in love with, but whatever the reasons are, a good old-school electro rave is simply unbeatable, as the Filthy Dukes proved once again last night at fabric with their Kill Em All residency.

Very rarely do I step foot inside fabric on Friday nights anymore. This is not just down to the style of music pushed by the club on Fridays, but also because of the awful crowd that gather there too, who I blame entirely for the theft of my iPhone when I reluctantly agreed to go with friends from university sometime towards the end of last year. It does baffle me that for a club I couldn't possibly love any more on Saturdays, I actually genuinely dislike it on Fridays. There is one exception to this though, and I thank Tim Lawton and Olly Dixon of The Filthy Dukes who since they began their quarterly residency at fabric have provided me with at least one Friday every now and again I can fully trust to give me a top quality electro fix.

So far they have not once disappointed, with the two events last year I attended being nothing short of complete successes. Guests such as Four Tet, James Holden, Gold Panda, Floating Points, Carte Blanche, Jamaica and Brodinski among many others made sure that all angles of the indie-electronic spectrum were covered, while the Dukes themselves ensured their sets remained consistently fresh and exciting. It was in their Room One set last Autumn that I was first introduced to one of the year's biggest hits, Tensnake's sensational Coma Cat. For their first event of 2011, as they did at almost the identical time last year, the duo enlisted Erol Alkan to headline, with Paul Chambers in Room One, while over in Room Two, Hey Today! and Shadow Dancer were the pick of the bunch.

By the time we arrived at fabric, our childish excitement got the better of us at first as we were embarrassingly refused entry for apparently being 'too drunk'. Co-operating wholeheartedly with the fear of not getting in at all, we returned soon after, as suggested by the door staff and made our way to Room 1 where Erol was soon at the helm once again. Now I can't say I can recall much in any great detail, by this time I was well and truly in the rave spirit, but I remember Erol laying down a typically magnificent two hour set of classic, top-quality electro with plenty of his own acclaimed productions with Boys Noize used. Having lived in London for the best part of 4 months now, if there's one thing I can be sure of it's that Erol Alkan is one of this city's most celebrated and respected DJ's and events with his name in are almost always sold out. If fabric was not at its capacity during his set then it wasn't far off as a densely packed Room One leaped about wildly to all the devastating bombs Erol had up his sleeve. It didn't take long for him to unleash his recent edit of 2009's Death Suite he created with Boys Noize, something we confidently anticipated after recently (and technically prematurely) acquiring Boys Noize's new Super Acid Compilation. The edit is arguably the star track, giving far more dance potential to the original with a more solid, regimented beat and it was obvious to me and Chris that Erol would be desperate to road test it on Room One's soundsystem. When he did, it received a predictably raucous reception, the edit proving to be one of the night's special moments. Other highlights included the compulsory Pacha On Acid that never fails to reek havoc, and both Lemonade and Avalanche, two of last years greatest releases from Erol and Alex.

It was an unforgivably maximal affair that epitomized the thrilling nature of when Kill Em All arrives at EC1. After bouncing around feverishly to every explosive drop in Room One for a duration I'm unsure of, we made our way to the rumbling smoky chasm of Room Two where German duo Hey Today! were delivering a searing session of more merciless electro-techno. The experience was essentially a blur, but I recall genuine euphoria and a frenzy of embraced arms and bodies with my companions when we sensed Boys Noize's Yeah gradually sizzling in from those gargantuan Martin Audios. This was followed immediately by Hey Today's own bleepy electro cut Talk To Me which elicited poor attempts of trying to recite the elementary lyrics from me and Chris. We finished off what had been nothing short of splendidly hazy night back in Room One where resident Stopmakingme kept things moving right until lights-up with more fantastic synth-heavy beats. One tune that made a lasting impression on me, due to the instantly recognizable Twin Peaks sample used, I soon discovered was an obscure little number called Stop by an artist called Dekker. I knew it definitely wasn't Moby's rave classic Go that I was aware used a TP sample, but I made it my mission to find out what it was and thanks to the Filthy Dukes' willing assistance I managed to track it down. Unfortunately it's unreleased as of yet, but enjoy this magnificent production on Dekker's myspace page.

As way made our way out at what I believe was a time close to 7am, I felt undeniably shattered yet remarkably energized. I forgot why I loved the brutal sound of electro and why I was hardened electro-kid not too long ago, but this night reminded me exactly why. Maybe this is why it's such a treat these days.

MUSIC Please...?


As I mentioned earlier in this post, Boys Noize has just released his Super Acid compilation- a collection of the finest and rudest acid techno he and his friends have been destroying dancefloors of late. You would have had to have been hiding somewhere pretty remote to not have noticed the burgeoning trend for the acid sound last year, and Boys Noize has certainly not hidden his passion for this classic style with several of his productions and pretty much all of his sets last year littered with that notorious squelch. His tribute compilation is a perfect collection of ravey acid cuts from the likes of Jan Driver, Brodinski, Feadz and Erol Alkan, who's also aforementioned edit of Death Suite is arguably the show-stealer of the compilation. We have it, but its official release date isn't until next Monday, so until then we'll leave just a couple of tracks to whet your acid appetite...

Joakim & Krikor - Azid


Erol Alkan & Boys Noize - Death Suite (Erol Alkan Edit)


Super Acid compiled by Boys Noize is out on 31.01 on BNR - available on Beatport

Keeping things BNR focused, Shadow Dancer has just released his new 5 track EP Murder Room. The title track is a typically sharp, ruthless electro outing, with plenty of top-quality rave credentials, but we like the far more disco-themed Parallax which is sure to get hands in the air. Available now on Beatport.

Shadow Dancer - Murder Room


Here's a few more bludgeoning bombs that have been incessantly irritating my neighbours and frying my ears of late. All three have interesting stories behind them: Falcon Punch comes from The Japanese Popstars latest EP titled Controlling Your Allegiance and is yet another demonstration of the Irish act's proficiency in producing savage yet often quite interesting work. If you haven't already been exposed to the hype surrounding the release of David Lynch's new two track EP Good Day Today / I know then it's worth checking what all the fuss is about, especially as Alex Ridha (yes, him again) among several others has remixed Good Day Today. And finally Jori Hulkkonen's dub mix of Villa Nah's All The Days is another gem from Turbo Recordings.

The Japanese Popstars - Falcon Punch


David Lynch - Good Day Today (Boys Noize Remix)


Villa Nah - All the Days (Jori Hulkkonen Dub Mix)

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!

So we've named our top events of 2010, and also our favourite DJ sets of the year but now we start to tackle the most important aspect of any party, any event: the music. Compiling our top 25 remixes and our top 25 tracks of the year was far from an easy task. Horns were locked between me and Chris on several occasions, as you can expect. Despite having remarkably similar musical radars, inevitably we both had our own ideas about what tunes should be featured in these posts. The rate at which we acquire music I can assure you is actually quite overwhelming at times, and actually listening to all of it is near impossible. The result of this is that we are often listening to different things and so therefore stumble upon different tracks of distinction. There were a certain number of tracks that planted themselves in our list with no discussion necessary, simply because they were undisputed works of pure genius that you would find difficult not to find in any list of similar nature, but the aim of our list is to provide what we thought were just great productions from the past year. Free from bias, prejudice and bandwagons, this is a completely honest and independent review. Some of them may come as a surprise but we will do our best to explain why they made it into our top 25.

We'll start with remixes. Electronic music is as rich with remixing as it is with original production, it's part of the game. But surely the guiding philosophy of a remix is to simply make the original even better? In many cases this is strikingly evident and we wish to pay tribute to the creativity of those who have tweaked, twisted and turned a good track into a great one. Boys and girls, SOTW's top 25 remixes of 2010...

25. Nelski - Body Pop (Radio Slave Remix ft. Thomas Gandey)


Like a huge number of great songs, this one starts with an incredibly simple idea that slowly develops into something quite brilliant. Straight from the 3 note piano riff that begins the 11 minute neo-jazz tech house voyage, it is obvious that the original had really been raised to new levels of contortionism by the veteran producer as there really are no apparent similarities between this masterful take and the original, which in this case can only be a good thing.

24. LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change (Tiga Remix)


Tiga has certainly been a busy boy this year, programming a show-stopping global tour with Planet Turbo while steering numerous releases on his Turbo Recordings label to underground acclaim (see Gesaffelstein, Sei A and Azari & III among others). But he has also honed his remixing skills, the best being his take on LCD Soundsystem's I Can Change. Keeping James Murphy's instantly recognizable lyrics, Tiga sharpens the synthetic qualities of the original, adding more bass and a few typically Tiga touches, making the whole thing even more energetic and danceable.

23. Crookers feat. Yelle - Cooler Couleur (Junkie XL Remix)


Listening to the original of Cooler Couleur you would be forgiven thinking it wasn't the work of Crookers at all. Where was all that electro-fidget noise? Junkie XL obviously decided a makeover was in order and squeezed all that Kitsuné charm out and replaced it with a stomping bassline and a monstrous electro-guitar riff that was a huge hit over the summer with the likes of Erol Alkan and other kings of electro.

22. Friendly Fires vs. Aeroplane - I Crave Paris


Not strictly a remix, but when Aeroplane smudged their fingerprints all over Friendly Fires' stand-out track from their last album Paris, one of the year's most beautiful, elegant and inspiring collaborations was born: I Crave Paris. If the original didn't make you want a weekend break in the French capital then this will do exactly what the name suggests. The main synth-line from the original is taken, chopped up only slightly and laid crisply over a trademark groovy disco-house bassline courtesy of the Belgian duo. Together with some sensual female vocals and it's a thing of total beauty.

21. Swedish House Mafia - One (Congorock Remix)


Swedish House Mafia's ridiculously huge summer hit One became boring as quickly as it became really good. In short it desperately needed to be remixed if it was to survive the test of any length of time beyond Ibiza season. It was a perfect canvas for remixing too with those big synths and even bigger drops and crescendos and no one took advantage of this better than Congorock. Taking a chainsaw to the whole thing and slicing it into savage, dangerously sharp shards, what was left was an even bigger, scarier and lets face it uglier shadow of the white-suited, Ray-Ban wearing original, and that is exactly why we love it. It filled all the wholes the original had created for itself with such a mainstream persona, producing something that was ready for the most daring, most brutal of dancefloors.

20. Emmanuel Jal - Kuar (Olof Dreijer Remix)


The general consensus seems to say that the Henrik Schwarz remix of Emmanual Jal's Kuar is the favourite of the two released on the EP, but we like Olof Dreijer of The Knife's version. Buzzing and bubbling with so much energy and enthusiasm, the remix is classic Dreijer with so many influences from his time as one half of the Swedish electronica duo. The child-like African chanting of the original is kept, but Dreijer lays down a splendid bassline made up of steel drums and other beefy percussive elements, resulting in a genuinely unique and refreshing approach to the whole thing.

19. Uffie feat. Pharrel - ADD SUV (Armand Van Helden Club Mix)


Yes it may have been played in some of the country's notoriously shit mainstream clubs, but Armand Van Helden did a fine job of turning Uffie's electro-pop-hop release from her debut album into a massively danceable summer house banger. Pounding bassline, cleverly rearranged lyrics and some sparkling extra synth work made this one of the year's undeniably biggest hits.

18. Gonzales - Never Stop (Erol Alkan Rework)


Once again Mr. Alkan sprinkles his magical reworking skills all over a Gonzales classic. Chewing up the vocals into a distorted chant that often gets full crowd interaction, Erol turns the original into a funky number that is almost faultless.An incredibly bouncy, driving bassline with a synth ready to shock your grandmother, the usual intimidating Erol snare rolls and a lead line that never fails to shape a smile. Oh and it was released on gold vinyl.

17. Para One - Kiwi (Noob Remix)


Sound Pellegrino have had a fantastic year, that's for sure and Para One's Kiwi/Toadstool EP was one of their finest products, but the person really responsible for this was the mischievously brilliant Noob. His adaptation of Kiwi is something both me and Chris still marvel at even now, about 9 months on from its release. We're still yet to hear tech house as relaxed and humourous, with Noob's trademarks all over it. Littered with so many daft, hilarious, cheeky, wonderful little sounds on top of a seriously groovy bassline, it was destined to go down well, but going on a year and it still sounds as good as ever... It's everything a remix should be in both spirit and concept.


16. Fever Ray - Seven (Seth Troxler Remix)


As brilliant as Fever Ray's intensely personal, melodic electronica is, it's not really dance music. Not that this is a problem, her live shows have demonstrated how effective her music is for a large audience, but then they weren't on a dancefloor in the truest sense. There have been several remixes of Seven, taken from her groundbreaking debut album, but by far the best effort came from one of the more unlikely candidates. I could never see Seth Troxler even listening to Fever Ray, let alone taking the time to actually remix it, but I stand corrected as the party animal morphed the atmospheric original into a glorious swaggering house gem.

15. Cassius - 1999 (Tim Green Remix)


2010 marked the return of Cassius. Zdar and Boombass joined forces with Busy P and Justice to form Club 75 which swept Pacha Ibiza away in the summer, they released a brilliant new EP on Ed Banger, but what possibly really got their name on the tip of people's tongues again was Tim Green's resurrection of the classic 1999. The original was Cassius at their French Touch best, but TG stepped in and decorated it with a gorgeous tech house bassline and all of a sudden Cassius were once again back in the house.

14. Tiga - You Gonna Want Me (Hey Today! Remix)


We debated long and hard where to place this in our top 25 remixes, but we decided that quite high was about right. Ok Tiga's original is an electroclash classic and this remix removed that brilliant, fizzing bassline we loved it so much for, but Hey Today! have still managed to treat it in a genuinely daring and interesting way. Although it is predominantly just loaded with various layers of high-octane, chopped-up synths, the short break around midway where Tiga's immortal chorus from the original filters in is what makes this a truly stand-out remix of the year. It helps that it was also a staple of one of the years greatest tour of parties, Planet Turbo.

13. Murphy Jax feat. Mike Dunn - It's The Music (Alden Tyrell Remix)


Acid. The sole notion of that oh so sweetly unique musical reverberation is enough to get me itching to hit an underground party. Alden Tyrell's remix of Murphy Jax's It's The Music has one of those delicious acid-laced basslines that provide overwhelming dancefloor satisfaction. On top of that it's punchy and engaging at heart and with the welcome inclusion of the original lyrics, which are are as poetic as you'll find in a track drenched in the acid synth.

12. Radio Slave - I Don't Need A Cure For This (Kenny Larkin Remix)


Oh the Kenny Larkin Remix of Radio Slave's I Don't Need A Cure For This. Whether you already know it or not you've most likely heard this dropped at some point. It was a divine reshape of the deeply sweaty original, embedding those instantly recognizable piano patterns onto that surging house bassline. But what was strikingly obvious about this remix, unlike many others, was the invention and imagination behind the concept of changing the original. They are both entirely different dancefloor animals, yet still obviously feel like Slave's work. Kenny Larkin has worked wonders at creating such graceful identity to something crudely underground.

11. Gonzales - I Am Europe (Djedjotronic Remix)

Another remix infused with an addicting piano sample, this time coming from the Bordelais producer Djedjotronic. Quite easily his best work to date, which is saying a lot in itself, he takes the brilliance of the original and improves it ten-fold. If the chiming piano driven drop at the start isn't enough to invoke a plethora of smiles all around, Gonzales' novelty lyrics in the break should more than suffice.

10. Boys Noize - Sweet Light (Boris Dlugosch Remix)


Boris Dlugosch's merciless approach to dance music is something that should be totally celebrated. Boys Noize's overall mastery as a producer is something electronic music needs, so when Dlugosch decides to redesign one of Rihda's finest works, the result was always going to be formidable in our opinion. It sure was, and what came out the other end is nothing short of a superb house transformation with a shuddering, thumping main drop and squelchy bassline, but still kept those wonderful mechanical synth stabs and other glittery sounds that made the original fantastic.


9. Breakbot - Baby I'm Yours (Aeroplane Remix)


The virtually unanimous positive reception to Breakbot's summer disco anthem on Ed Banger made it hot property for remixing, but a slippery project too. Keep all the lyrics, or just the chorus? Remove all the quaintness and make it more classically Ed Banger? All these approaches were probably considered by numerous producers of various styles, but we think the best came from a pair who are disco house through and through regardless. Aeroplane's striking remix caught our attention first at EXIT when it was dropped several times. The deep, synth-heavy opening is seriously effective, but then the stomping disco bassline and Irfane's words are introduced soon after and it all feels so, so right. Aeroplane made the remix feel like the original, shaping it in such a natural, organic style but giving it slightly more muscle for the dancefloor.

8. October - That Placid (Ewan Pearson Remix)


Ewan Pearson's reputation as one of the finest remixers out there is certainly no secret. One of the most inventive, innovative and experienced producers, those who have been remixed by him should not only be proud to have been selected, but are always left with something that is always utterly compelling. Maybe this comes from Pearson's love for such a wide scope of electronic music, always eager to express his appreciation for varying sounds. His remix of October's That's Placid was a massive success, charted by DJ's from John Digweed to Boys Noize, and it's not difficult to understand its popularity. Snappy, unpredictable and ebbing with a seductively deep, strutty personality, it was both good to mix and relentlessly captivating.

7. The Gathering - In My System (Jef K System Remix)


In My System has been remixed by several others as well as Jef K, but it was this particular adaptation that was the choice of so many DJ's over the course of 2010. The first time I heard it played was by Ricardo Villalobos in fabric all the way back in March, and it subsequently caused quite a stir. Nobody knew what it was, and those soothing, repetitive lyrics were interpreted so differently by many that identity became an elusive task. After it was eventually pinned down, it was an instant favourite in the nightclubs, an exquisite work of house bliss, with anthemic, unifying effects on the dancefloor.

6. Marc Romboy vs. Blake Baxter - Muzik (Kink Remix)


Marc Romboy is no novice in rocking dancefloors. His pulsing, swaggering house belters have been doing just that for a long time, but as with even the very best producers, sometimes an outside spark is needed to really bring a track alive. Kink was that spark on Muzik, where originally Blake Baxter joined forces with Romboy, and generated a phenomenally potent remix that became a staple in sets from the likes of Tyrant (Craig Richards and Lee Burridge). Progression is the key; building and building to a frightening crescendo, the main bassline, immersed in floor-shaking sub-bass blew soundsystems all over, and those chilling lyrics that whisper all through complete a genuine blockbuster remix of 2010. But its lifespan is nowhere near over yet...

5. The xx - VCR (Four Tet Remix)


The xx may have swept all the mainstream gongs for their sensational self-named debut album, but there has been plenty of use of their tracks underground too. Jamie Jones and Tiga are just a couple of a handful of influential producers who have slapped a bassline onto the band's melodic dream-pop and created something pretty good. But there was something about the prospect of a Four Tet remix that made superiority inevitable, and sure enough we were all right. It doesn't need me to introduce Kieran Hebden as one of the most talented, creative and original producers out there (although I do every time), but for these reasons nobody else could have possibly remixed VCR better. It's still blissfully dreamy and eloquent, but given a deeper electronic backbone and not at all in a crude way, an easy mistake to make considering how perfectly brittle The xx's melodies are. So far, no remix of the band can touch Hebden's and it would be a great surprise if one ever did.

4. The Chemical Brothers - Swoon (Boys Noize Remix)


2010 also marked the explosive return of The Chemical Brothers, who were back rocking things with a new album that was an undisputed success. A fortunate bi-product of this was also that the album provided ample perfect remixing material for those able to use it properly. One of those who certainly did was Boys Noize, which was certainly no surprise to us. The Swoon Summer Mix was perhaps the tune of the summer for us, and was the highlight of Ridha's set at EXIT. It didn't change the general shape of the original all that much, nor did it inject any typical Boys Noize electro madness, but it was given so much life and energy with a several brilliant drops and other tweaked components. What we love so much about this remix is its simplicity. Rihda didn't impose the maximal techno style he so famously enjoys on the piece, with crunching, blistering synths, but just raved-up the original a bit to staggering effect. It's seriously addictive, and the original lyrics are undeniably easy to shout along to. So we did.

3. Boys Noize - Kontact Me (Rynecologist Turbine Remix)


Maybe it was because of the relentlessly intense hype prior to its release, with all the effectively edited YouTube videos, amateur footage and tantalizing speculation, but the Rynecologist remix of Kontact Me was arguably the greatest of the many, many Boys Noize remixes in 2010. Why was it so good? Because it made the original even more savage and terrifying, which we didn't think was possible to do without making it ridiculous. There is little technical analysis I can discuss regarding this particular track. It is just loaded with even more blistering heat and energy, with an even more pounding bassline, and roughly chopped up for good measure. The result: 2010's most savage electro remix.

2. H.O.S.H - Cash The Chord (Audiojack Remix)


There were only a select few in our top 25 that me and Chris agreed on with absolutely no discussion necessary. The Audiojack remix of H.O.S.H's Cash The Chord was one of those few, an attitude shared by almost the entire electronic community it seemed when it was first doing the rounds. Charted by many, and played by many more, Craig Richards and Sven Tasnadi being just two that we heard slip it in their sets, it was just simply irresistible. That gorgeous piano chord ducking in and out all the way through and that perfectly groovy tech-house bassline was enough to make it really good, but its greatest success was the break at around halfway as that piano chord suddenly becomes isolated, snowballing into a fizzing main drop that got dancefloors madly jumping about with no exceptions.

1. Four Tet - Sing (Floating Points Remix)


There is something about Four Tet and Floating Points that complement each other so well. Floating Points accurately, if not modestly describe their music as 'electronic bliss', and while Four Tet hasn't labelled his style in such a way, it could be construed very similarly. Flirting between dance music and ambient electronica, both Four Tet's and Floating Points' music is notoriously difficult to pin down, but it is this elusively dreamy sonic potion that has made almost everything the two produce utterly delectable. Remixing Four Tet is a brave thing to do, and success often depends on how well Hebden's peerless melodic imprint is preserved while the new dimension is constructed. This is where Floating Points were head and heels above the rest, not just regarding this particular track, but what we believe was any remix last year. Their remix of Sing demonstrated why producers should remix others' work. While the original quivered with all those beguiling, relentless bleeps, the remix removed that pattern and rebuilt it into an epic 13 minute masterpiece for which almost 6 minutes is technically just a build up. As I mentioned previously when I originally posted it, any track that lasts 13 minutes has to be for a good reason, and in Sing not one minute is redundant. The build up is so captivating that its actual duration is easy to forget. Every beat, every snap and all the other divine sounds that Floating Points either stitched in themselves or are kept from the original work in glorious harmony to produce something which moved me, in both an emotional sense and a physical one.

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.