House Is A Feeling

20. Innersphere aka Shinedoe-Phunk (Ricardo Villalobos Mix) (Intacto)

The second Intacto track in this year’s poll is also very short by Ricardo Villalobos’s standards. It’s a great tool and sits under so many other tracks really well (not least Sydenham and Rune’s remix of “1985″), the perfect track for DJing. Those staccato keys that permeate the track are resounding evidence of how much this sort of music owes to Jamaican dub, and Villalobos’s dynamism is, as ever, worn on his sleeve from first pulse to last.

19. Markus Fix-Entrada De Sol (Cécille)

Cécille, out of Mannheim, is probably the last label I’ll tip in 2007, with two releases in the last 4 or 5 months that are really distinct and different. This is one track off the first, Markus Fix’s “El Comienzo” EP, on which all three tracks are worthy of attention.

Once again stylistically this one is somewhere between the boundaries; it’s house music but some organic ideas are being done in a more modern way, probably disgusting to some but not to me. The second Cécille is by SLS and just came out a week or two ago, check it on their Myspace.

No surprises to see Johnny D in their top friends and roster of artists, dance music sometimes feels like a small world where joining the dots between the musicians and labels you like is very easy indeed.

18. Radioslave-No Sleep 3 (Dedication Sound Channel Mix) (Rekids)

I voted for Radioslave in the Resident Advisor “Producer of the Year” contributors poll based mainly on three records from the second half of the year. The first was this one. The second was his remix of “Eleny” by Le Noir (gets the party going in Watergate at 8 in the morning!), and the third was of course “Bell Clap Dance”.

Of course I did like some of his other tracks, his Deetron remix for instance, but sometimes found the extreme focus on repetition and the sheer bloody mindedness a bit trying (even though those sound like the qualities I look for in music!) Still, he has two tracks in this end of year chart and that’s more than most producers have managed. I guess for me I like what I see as a sort of refinement to his sound in the last few months, a bit of a shift in emphasis perhaps.

“No Sleep” is an example of that. It’s very different to most of Radioslave’s other releases this year. I’m not even sure if it is out fully or what kind of release it got after an initial limited run. So if you haven’t heard it, feast your ears. And if you have, then hopefully you’ll agree this deserves to be included here.

[The near future: Stay tuned for more chart action, as I race to reach number 1 by Christmas Day, in a week where I’m working almost every day, including a start at 7am for the next two days. It’s tough but somebody has to do it!]