10. Agnès presents Cavalier, A Million Horses
[Drumpoet Community] (buy)

It wasn’t until this year that Agnès, partially under the guise of Cavalier, laid out his blueprint for an ideal house on a canvas bigger than an EP. In many ways A Million Horses lives up to the Swiss producer’s great potential, offering his refined take on more than a dozen facets of house. They arrived in an array of sizes — some only as baubles, others as full-on Jesus pieces — each bearing his Swiss precision hi-hat programming, attention-grabbing bass lines, and subtle melodies that stand up to close scrutiny and club play. The tracks really move, too, putting all their weight into swinging rhythms or playing it deliberately straight, but always with a grace that feels instinctual instead of studied. Rather than trying to turn house on its head, it was obvious Agnès preferred to work with the same forms as his peers and just did a superior job within those parameters. Although at times uneven, A Million Horses repeatedly proved Agnès is one of house music’s most talented craftsmen whose low-profile toiling paid off even in the tricky album format. (Steve Mizek)

09. Steffi, Yours & Mine
[Ostgut Ton] (buy)

With just six tracks to her name at the start of the year, no one knew much at all about Steffi. Setting aside her lauded DJ sets, that is. Nevertheless, with the release of Yours & Mine, it became clear the Dutch artist had been doing much more than just collecting records. For a debut album (hell, any album) it was technically impeccable, delivering stomach-dwelling bass and radiant synth work with equal clarity. One thing it didn’t do was break the mold compositionally, nor offer incredible variation. That didn’t matter: in distilling deep house down to such reliable elements, Steffi created a long player that was exceptionally dependable, wherever you dived in. There was the innocent dreaminess of “Lilo,” the relentless pulse of “Nightspacer” and of course, “Yours,” the track that lodged Virginia’s imploring vocals deep into everyone’s brains. Who wants to race to the end of the pool when treading water is this pleasant? (Nick Connellan)

08. Legowelt, The TEAC Life
[Self-Released] (buy)

A sprawling 14 tracks which often come close to the 10-minute mark, The TEAC Life was Danny Wolfers’ most engrossing album yet. Released as a free download, he memorably described it as “raw as fuck Detroit unicorn futurism made on cheap ass analog and digital crap synthesizers recorded in a ragtag bedroom studio.” Raw it may have been, but it was also a powerfully emotive listen, navigating the completely idiosyncratic landscape he’s been building up for over a decade. Tracks like “U Can Fly Away from the Hood” and “The Soul of a City” summed up everything that was great about this LP — layer on layer of colorful synth swirls grounded by warm and rounded drum machine funk. But while the obvious influences, both musical and cultural, are writ large, The TEAC Life never sounded contrived — or, worse, twee. Rather, the dual engines of vintage house and electro were twisted further and further away from the club, and into areas that speak of space navigation, lo-fi futurism, and innocent escapism: a real trip, from one of the great journeyman of electronic music. (Harry Sword)

07. Tim Hecker, Ravedeath, 1972
[Kranky] (buy)

Physicality is something that draws many to dance music, but Ravedeath, 1972 isn’t body music in the same sense as everything else you’ll find on this list. Tim Hecker’s finest hour (not to mention 2011′s best ambient record) does’t set your body in motion so much as it moves you — physically, sure, but its vibrations penetrate deeper, rattling obscure organs and dredging up emotions you maybe weren’t sure you had. While the effect isn’t unheard of in Hecker’s music, some credit must go to Ben Frost, the Australian composer and master of harsh beauty who engineered the sessions in Reykjavik where these almost painfully lush sounds originate. Though it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with any beatless, experimental, or modern classical record you could get your hands on this year, Ravedeath struck a chord with many who might not normally know what to do with this sort of stuff. Perhaps its structure, moving from the bitterness of the “In the Fog” through to the blurry, gossamer sensuality of “In the Air,” helped this abstract music become as seemingly universal as a four-to-the-floor kickdrum. Or maybe it’s just that the album actually delivers on its cover (which is pure class, by the way): you feel like that nearly-alighted piano has slammed straight into your chest, a collision sure to cause more than a bit of internal bleeding.
(Jordan Rothlein)

06. Roman Flügel, Fatty Folders
[Dial] (buy)

It’s hard to believe Fatty Folders was the very first solo album to bear Roman Flügel’s birth name. After all, he’s been releasing music with his real title since the late 90s. In that respect, the LP’s appearance may have been more of a surprise than its actual contents. Besides featuring previously released tracks “How To Spread Lies” and “Bahia Blues Bootcamp,” Folders continued the steady course Flügel has been plotting for several years, rather than swerving to an unfamiliar vector. As always, however, there was no one on the path but him. Armed with his customary confidence and poise, the Frankfurt-based producer delivered neon-lit electro-funk with “Deo,” idyllic synth noodling via “Krautus” and a touching elegy in “Song With Blue.” It was an album of carefully spread variation, though wherever it went, Flügel’s hand was always audible. And perhaps that’s the simple reason why Fatty Folders was so popular. In one big hit, it delivered more of the celebrated producer than anyone has heard in half a decade.
(Nick Connellan)

05. Jonsson/Alter, Mod
[Kontra-Musik] (buy)

Every once in a while a friend or acquaintance asks me to recommend an album of exemplary house music which they, the uninitiated, might enjoy. Since Jonsson/Alter’s LP Mod landed in October it’s been my go-to recommendation, one that’s been met with more than a few approving head nods and foot taps from said recipients. My reasons for recommending it are the same reasons it’s been so well received: the duo exhibit an absolute mastery of house music’s fundamentals and have excised anything that might detract from them. Listeners get the sense every synth tone and timbre has been labored over for just as long as it took to arrange them into a track, yielding sumptuous melodies that ricochet around the brain for weeks. Their work is obviously indebted to classic house and yet makes no attempts to reanimate the past, preferring to belong to the canon of classic house records because of its quality. And like all the best dance albums, Mod cultivates a series of moods and feelings that justify its existence rather than relying on utilitarian notions to get by. Put succinctly, Mod offered everything I wanted in a house album. Given its inclusion in this list, I suspect I’m not alone in this conclusion. (Anton Kipfel)

04. Morphosis, What Have We Learned
[Morphine Records/Delsin/M>O>S Recordings] (buy)

Rabih Beaini’s daring and unconventional approach to his album, What Have We Learned, ended with equally audacious results. Using a limited amount of equipment and taking a live jam approach that extended over just two days, he was able to create a work immersed in an exotic atmosphere that is equal parts eerie and thrilling. His penchant for jazz shows itself in many ways, most notably on the abstract side during “Silent Screamer,” “Ascension,” and again with “Gate Of Night” as cosmic synths swirl and xylophonic percussion envelop the listener. Elsewhere jazz tonalities are felt within the melodic strains or within the loose drum programming and spontaneous percussive fills. On “Too Far” we see Beaini combining those jazz idioms with Middle Eastern motifs, an ominous bass line and haunting lyrics from vocalist Kae to create something truly unique. With “Spiral” and “Dirty Matter” Beaini offers up chugging percussive techno that has a primitive, hypnotic quality that is richly textured. That What We Have Learned is considered techno is almost beside the point, as Beaini has masterfully achieved a cohesive atmosphere that seems to transcend the album’s individual components. It’s as if he’s created a mythical sonic world where anything goes and usually does. (Kuri Kondrak)

03. BNMJMN, Plastic World
[Rush Hour Recordings] (buy)

It’s impossible to know now if BNJMN would have broken as large as he did if he hadn’t have released his debut on Rush Hour. The most on-point label in the world was the perfect fit for the producer who also turned out to be one of the most compelling finds of 2011 with not just one but two incredible albums. His first, Plastic World, was his introduction; the densely packed, rich rhythms finding a home in ears appreciative of the meeting points between techno and bass music that have been so prevalent this year. In places the pure strains of Dutch and Detroit techno were plastered all over the tracks, such as on the celestial opener, “Blocks,” or the deeply grooving “Tunnel Flight.” Elsewhere, like on “See Thru Stars” or “Miniature Steps” the influence of UK bass music is clearly felt. But Plastic World was much more than simply being a derivative strain of these popular trends. Its force lay in both its sonic architecture and the unique take that the producer had on the ideas contained therein. In the first instance BNJMN intensifying and heightening the frequencies contained in his tracks to the maximum, and in the latter being able to fully realize his ideas and shape them how he saw them, making Plastic World sound unlike anything else that came out this year. (Per Bojsen-Moller)

02. Andy Stott, Passed Me By
[Modern Love] (buy)

Although Andy Stott experimented with dropped tempos on last year’s Tell Me Anything, this spring’s Passed Me By drastically redefined his career, squashing and dragging his shimmering dub techno to a lurching, lethargic pace. Often a slight drop will add a bit of sex to a rigid rhythm, or as Jochem Peteri says, the “simply dissolves in a more beautiful way.” But on Passed Me By (and its companion, We Stay Together), Stott took his tracks a step further. Any slinkiness is smothered in unrelenting bass weight, creaky industrial ambience, and claustrophobic side-chain compression. The recent trend for slowness — not only in music, but also in movements like slow food — has been widely attributed to the rapidly increasing speed of media and communications, as its proponents attempt to exert some control over their environment. Passed Me By seems much more about being trapped under the weight of that information flow, and its solemn trudge is frequently punctuated by sharp cries ringing out into the graininess, skewed beyond intelligibility. It’s this pervasive unease that makes it such an intoxicating, relevant effort. (Steve Kerr)

01. Machinedrum, Room(s)
[Planet Mu] (buy)

It might have been the tapping of fingers, closely clipped samples, or some nameless drummer going nuts on the kit, but if there’s one sound that defined the year’s best album, it’s percussion. A complete and utter reinvention, Travis Stewart’s nth album as Machinedrum splashed intricate percussive tracks across all sorts of landscapes, beats that click, clack, and bang at incredibly high tempos, speeding ahead of everyone else in “bass music” in 2011 both literally and artistically. While there was no shortage of footwork influence seeping into dance music — especially that made on American shores — Stewart takes what was fast becoming a cliche and flies off with it in a direction that I don’t think anyone could have predicted or even really imagined. Recognizing the music’s compatibility with jungle, with Room(s) Stewart crafts an eminently futurist album that tears and twists bits of footwork — its thrill-seeker pace, its dislocated bass frequency dread politics, and its penchant for hypnotic repetition — and weds it with the uniquely flighty feel of jungle, music that feels like it’s hurtling joyously and unapologetically in any direction it could fling itself toward.

What makes Room(s) so much more than “footwork for white people” is its expansive sonic makeup: while there’s a definite formula here, each does it with completely different sets of ingredients. Forgoing footwork’s roughly hewn, sawed-off vocal aesthetic, every vocal on Room(s) — a mixture of Stewart’s own cooing and the usual array of disembodied sample — sounds shimmering and iridescent, touched just slightly with AutoTune and other processing effects. Its near-convoluted percussive patterns range from soft (“She Died There”) to lusciously tactile (“Youniverse”) to just plain drummer’s abandon (“U Don’t Survive”), and even throws in a few tender moments, like the tender “Lay Me Down,” a slow jam at 150 beats per minute, making the most of the Burial recipe of mallets, makeshift drums, and strangled yelps. The album’s unrelenting breakneck speed might scare off prospective listeners, but even at its most frenzied the elements congeal into something attractively psychedelic and sonically adventurous (the piano-house-on-speed of “Come1″ or the Boards of Canada-sampling “Sacred Frequency”) rather than a deafening jackhammer.

Far be it for me to go all “consensus rules,” but maybe the biggest indicator that there was something special happening here was how music like this — music that takes the most extreme elements of “bass music” in terms of sampling, speed, and structure — managed to unite sticklers and scenesters from all over the dance music map. Sometimes critical acclaim really does line up with greatness, and Machinedrum’s Room(s) deserves no less than the uproarious reception it received: there was no other album this year more adventurous, confident, perfectly executed or so damned exciting every single play through. There was no album either as giddily celebratory or celebrated as Room(s) in 2011, he owned this spot since bits and pieces of his masterpiece started trickling earlier out this spring. (Andrew Ryce)

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Staff Charts:

Per Bojsen-Moller
01. BNJMN, Plastic World [Rush Hour Direct Current]
02. Machinedrum, Room(s) [Planet Mu]
03. Rick Wilhite, Analog Aquarium [Music 4 Your Legs]
04. Andy Stott, Passed Me By [Modern Love]
05. Martyn, Ghost People [Brainfeeder]
06. Legowelt, The TEAC Life [Legowelt]
07. James Blake, James Blake [Atlas Recordings]
08. When Saints Go Machine, Konkylie [Studio !K7]
09. Jonsson/Alter, Mod [Kontra-Musik]
10. DJ Qu, Gymnastics [Strength Music Recordings]

Nick Connellan
01. Roman Flügel, Fatty Folders [Dial]
02. Steffi, Yours & Mine [Ostgut Ton]
03. Morphosis, What Have We Learned
[Delsin/Morphine Records/M>O>S Recordings]
04. BNJMN, Plastic World [Rush Hour]
05. Dominik Eulberg, Diorama [Traum Schallplatten]
06. tobias., Leaning Over Backwards [Ostgut Ton]
07. Jonsson/Alter, Mod [Kontra-Musik]
08. Nebraska, Displacement [Rush Hour]
09. Vincenzo, Wherever I Lay My Head [Dessous Recordings]
10. Massimiliano Pagliara, Focus For Infinity [Live At Robert Johnson]

Steve Kerr
01. Julia Holter, Tragedy [Leaving Records]
02. Zomby, Dedication [4AD]
03. Hype Williams, One Nation [Hippos In Tanks]
04. Max B, Vigilante Season [Amalgam Digital]
05. Maria Minerva, Cabaret Cixous [Not Not Fun Records]
06. Afrikan Sciences, Means And Ways [Deepblak]
07. Oneohtrix Point Never, Replica [Software]
08. Andy Stott, Passed Me By/We Stay Together [Modern Love]
09. Niggas With Guitars, Ethnic Frenzy [Digitalis Recordings]
10. LV & Joshua Idehen, Routes [Keysound Recordings]

Anton Kipfel
01. Andy Stott, Passed Me By [Modern Love]
02. Machinedrum, Room(s) [Planet Mu]
03. Portable, Into Infinity [Perlon]
04. BNJMN, Plastic World [Rush Hour Recordings]
05. Maria Minerva, Cabaret Cixou [Not Not Fun Records]
06. Agnès presents Cavalier, A Million Horses [Drumpoet Community]
07. Roman Flügel, Fatty Folders [Dial]
08. Steffi, Yours & Mine [Ostgut Ton]
09. Jonsson/Alter, Mod [Kontra-Musik]
10. tobias., Leaning Over Backwards [Ostgut Ton]

Kuri Kondrak
01. Morphosis, What Have We Learned
[Delsin/Morphine Records/M>O>S Recordings]
02. John Heckle, The Second Son [Mathematics Recordings]
03. Conforce, Escapism [Delsin]
04. Afrikan Sciences, Means And Ways [Deepblak]
05. J.T.C., Creep Acid [Nation]
06. Kuba Sojka, Mysterious Intrigue [Mathematics Recordings]
07. Legowelt, The TEAC Life [self-released]
08. Lerosa, Amanatto [Uzuri]
09. Fudge Fingas, Now About How [Prime Numbers]
10. Fred P, The Incredible Adventures of Captain P [Soul People Music]

Chris Miller
01. Andy Stott, Passed Me By [Modern Love]
02. Morphosis, What Have We Learned
[Morphine Records/Delsin/M>O>S Recordings]
03. Machinedrum, Room(s) [Planet Mu]
04. Fred P, The Incredible Adventures of Captain P [Soul People Music]
05. Tin Man, Perfume [Salon]
06. tobias., Leaning Over Backwards [Ostgut Ton]
07. BNJMN, Black Square [Rush Hour Direct Current]
08. DJ Qu, Gymnastics [Strength Music Recordings]
09. Tim Hecker, Ravedeath 1972 [Kranky]
10. Martyn, Ghost People [Brainfeeder]

Steve Mizek
01. Machinedrum, Room(s) [Planet Mu]
02. Jonsson/Alter, Mod [Kontra-Musik]
03. BNJMN, Plastic World [Rush Hour Recordings]
04. Agnès presents Cavalier, A Million Horses [Drumpoet Community]
05. Tim Hecker, Ravedeath 1972 [Kranky]
06. Andy Stott, Passed Me By [Modern Love]
07. Portable, Into Infinity [Perlon]
08. Morphosis, What Have We Learned [Delsin]
09. James Blake, James Blake [Atlas Recordings]
10. Hercules & Love Affair, Blue Songs [Moshi Moshi Records]

Jordan Rothlein
01. Machinedrum, Room(s) [Planet Mu]
02. Tin Man, Perfume [Salon]
03. BNJMN, Black Square [Rush Hour Direct Current]
04. Africa HiTech, 93 Million Miles [Warp]
05. Tim Hecker, Ravedeath, 1972 [Kranky]
06. Legowelt, The Teac Life [Legowelt]
07. Roman Flügel, Fatty Folders [Dial]
08. Steffi, Yours & Mine [Ostgut Ton]
09. FaltyDL, You Stand Uncertain [Planet Mu]
10. Elektro Guzzi, Parquet [Macro]

Andrew Ryce
01. Machinedrum, Room(s) [Planet Mu]
02. The Weeknd, House Of Balloons [Not On Label]
03. M83, Hurry Up We’re Dreaming [Mute]
04. Andy Stott, Passed Me By [Modern Love]
05. araabMUZIK, Electronic Dream [Not On Label]
06. Instra:mental, Resolution 653 [NonPlus+]
07. Kuedo, Severant [Planet Mu]
08. Salva, Complex Housing [Friends of Friends]
09. Balam Acab, Wander / Wonder [Tri Angle]
10. Lucy, Wordplay For Working Bees [Stroboscopic Artefacts]

Harry Sword
01. Pinch & Shackelton, Pinch & Shackelton [Honest Jon's]
02. FaltyDL, You Stand Uncertain [Planet Mu]
03. Andy Stott, We Stay Together [Modern Love]
04. Alex Kortex, Kihon [Pomelo]
05. Planetery Assault Systems, The Messenger [Ostgut Ton]
06. Machinedrum, Room(s) [Planet Mu]
07. Omar-S, It Can Be Done But Only I Can Do It [FXHE Records]
08. Legowelt, The TEAC Life [self-released]
09. Surgeon, Breaking the Frame [Dynamic Tension Records]
10. Steffi, Yours & Mine [Ostgut Ton]

05. Steffi ft. Virgina, “Yours”
[Ostgut Ton] (buy)

Taken from her faultless Yours & Mine long player from the early days of 2011, Steffi’s lead single “Yours” was not only the perfect calling card for the album but also one of the stand-out hits of the year. Easily one of the 2011′s most recognizable tunes thanks to simple yet compelling chord stabs that lead in to Virginia’s honeyed vocals, “Yours” was so popular it eventually became a victim of its own success. At its height, “Yours” could be heard in almost every house and techno set, sometimes being played multiple times in one night as each successive DJ took to the decks and waited for the time when they could drop the tune. Finally becoming too played out, DJs took the track off of its high rotation, but not before it had been indelibly embossed on everyone’s aural memories. A near perfect example of how to write an instant hit dance track, “Yours” takes relatively standard elements (the aforementioned chord stabs, understated, swinging percussion and chord variations) and marries them with an unforgettable vocal that never veers towards being too saccharine or diva-like. A soft shot to the heart of sonic serotonin, “Yours” provided one of the eyes-closed, melting moments of the year. (Per Bojsen-Moller)

04. Kassem Mosse, “Untitled-A”
[Workshop] (buy)

Kassem Mosse has never been afraid of going abstract, but the untitled opening track of Workshop 12 shows him working at new levels of trippiness. The nearly 14 minute piece is almost entirely underlined by a vocal loop that ends up sounding like several different words at once; it’s repeated so frequently that the elements he throws on top — a bulbous bass line, shuffling percussion, strained horror movie strings — seem almost totally commanded by it. He deftly plays with time, interspersing the rhythm so delicately that the effect is somewhat dissociative. It’s hard to say where the “track” even begins, and as if to prove the bizarre hypnotic power of his mantra, the last three minutes consist of just the vocal. In a catalog that oscillates between sinuous, low-slung house and heady experiments, the two have never been so convincingly, intoxicatingly combined. (Steve Kerr)

03. SCB, “Loss”
[Aus Music] (buy)

Even though you might associate Paul Rose in 2011 with the endlessly controversial trance-baiting “Adrenalin,” the much more universally loved “Loss” was inescapable for a good half of the year, whether it was seeping into sets from house, techno, or bass music DJs. There’s a reason: unadulterated accessibility. Released under an alias more often reserved for stripped-down techno, SCB’s first go on Aus Music is gleeful, candy-coated tech house, still built with the familiar Scuba elements — jaunty bass line, leaden percussion, and syrupy synths — but arranged with a disposition much sunnier than usual. Rose has always had a way with repetitive vocal samples, but “Loss” wins you over with pure infectious delirium, completely unintelligible but no less singable. It might all be a little simplistic were it not for those iridescent synths that pipe through the track’s peripheries, overwhelming it for a good old-fashioned Scuba-style breakdown before chugging back to life in earnest. Sure, it’s odd to hear the perennially-downcast Scuba this unguarded, uplifting, and, cheery, but no one’s going to question something as potent as “Loss” — that it came from such a surprising corner of the dance music world only added to its unique, irresistible charm. (Andrew Ryce)

02. Tin Man, “Nonneo”
[Absurd Recordings] (buy)

Tin Man has long been spoken of with hushed tones and beatific language, but in 2011 Johannes Auvinen went straight for the jugular. More than peek his head out of the realm of nightshade-crooner-techno he seems to perpetually inhabit, “Nonneo” saw him return to the acid house of his first couple records but with a brightness and groove very much in contrast with those early, austere Roland jams. Uptempo, vaguely tribal percussion and punchy, beaming chords give an almost sunny disposition to the track, but the masterstroke of a 303 line that is the tune’s centerpiece is moody and glum enough to make it clearly a piece of Tin Man’s storied oeuvre. That bass line, easily my most listened to and loved of 2011 by a very generous margin, twists and turns through “Nonneo”‘s length, turning up the psychedelic cutoff and emotional resonance with each iteration. It didn’t get played out a whole lot, and I would like to think that’s because this one lay a bit too close to our hearts: playing it out would mean bearing our souls a little too much. During Tin Man’s staggering live set in New York earlier this year, the whole room certainly felt when that bass line came in, and I don’t think I was the only one with a glimmer in my eyes. (Chris Miller)

01. Omar-S, “Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance!!”
[FXHE] (buy)

Sometimes the track of the year truly defines it. (See Kassem Mosse’s “Untitled,” our top pick from last year, which seemed to neatly summarize everything that was happening in dance music in 2010.) But Omar-S, as high as his stock rose in 2011, has always existed a bit out of time, a scene and subgenre of one. Truth be told, “Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance!!” — first issued on a single-sided 12″ (that decoy side was truly a brilliant touch) earlier this year before presiding over Omar-S’ It Can Be Done But Only I Can Do It full-length — could have come out at any time for the last few decades, and it likely would have topped any year-end list it was a part of. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel or, as Machinedrum seemed to do this year, rip the wheels off the car and install magnetic levitators; rather, it invites us to revel in the power of a supremely well-oiled machine, and that’s no small feat. For while it may not ask much of us intellectually (as the title implies, there’s really only one reaction it’s after), “Here’s Your Trance” truly couldn’t have been made by a lesser producer: it’s as if Omar-S has spent his entire discography sorting out the very sounds bodies require to be set in motion, and we revelers are currently proving his hypothesis. And how lucky we are to be part of this experiment — the sort of chain reaction one imagines won’t be slowing down for some time. (Jordan Rothlein)

<< 10-6
<< 15-11
<< 20-16
<< 30-21

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Staff Charts

Per Bojsen-Moller
01. Omar-S, “Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance!!” [FXHE Recordings]
02. Steffi ft. Virginia, “Yours” [Ostgut Ton]
03. James Blake, “The Wilhelm Scream” [Atlas Recordings]
04. Eduardo De La Calle, “Disco 05A” [Analog Solutions]
05. Zomby, “Natalia’s Song” [4AD]
06. Rick Wilhite, “Music Gonna Save the World Pt. 1″ [Music 4 Your Legs]
07. Spector, “Pipe Bomb” [Sound Signature]
08. BNJMN, “Keep The Power Out” [Rush Hour Direct Current]
09. Andy Stott, “North to South” [Modern Love]
10. Crystal Maze, “Crystal Maze” (Chicago Skyway Remix) [aDepth Audio]
11. Frank Martiniq, “Golden Dusk” (Panther Version by Scott Grooves and Kataconda) [Curle Recordings]
12. Vakula, “Dub As Always” [Shevchenko]
13. Eduardo De La Calle, “Disco 06A” [Analog Solutions]
14. Martyn, “Masks” [Brainfeeder]
15. Reggie Dokes, “Haiti” [Royal Oak]
16. Seaside Houz Boyz, “Deephouse Yall” [Crème Organization]
17. Oni Ayhun, “Meets Shangaan Electro” [Honest Jons]
18. Steffi, “Sadness” [Ostgut Ton]
19. Kassem Mosse, “Enoha” [Nonplus Records]
20. Hieroglyphic Being, “Night Thoughts (2AM Remix)” [Sequencias]
21. Oskar Offermann & Moomin, “Nasty Nate” [Aim]
22. Juju & Jordash, “Bleached Roots” [Rush Hour Recordings]
23. John Beltran, “Brilliant Flood (Kassem Mosse & Mix Mup Remix)” [Delsin]
24. Jerzzey Boy, “Get It Started” [My Love Is Underground]
25. Gunnar Jonsson, “Tempelhof Zoo” [Just Another Beat]
26. Mark E, “Call Me (Dixon Edit)” [Merc]
27. BNJMN, “Nightvision (Andy Stott Remix)” [Stolen Kisses]
28. Erdbeerschnitzel, “Always Remain” [3rd Strike]
29. Juniper, “Jovian Planet” [Ominira]
30. Myriadd, “Beyond This Life” [Crème Orginization]

Chris Burkhalter
01. Kassem Mosse, “Untitled A1″ [Workshop]
02. Spekter, “Pipe Bomb” [Sound Signature]
03. Move D, “Your Personal Healer” [Uzuri]
04. Rolando, “Junie” [Ostgut Ton]
05. Tin Man, “Nonneo” [Absurd Recotdings]
06. Instra:mental, “From The Start” [Autonomic]
07. Omar-S, “Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance!!” [FXHE]
08. Terrence Dixon, “The Parkhurst” [Thema]
09. Frank Martiniq, “Golden Dusk” (Panther Version by Scott Grooves & Kataconda) [Curle Recordings]
10. Nina Kraviz, “I’m Week” [Rekids]
11. D’Marc Cantu, “Set Free” [M>O>S]
12. Octo Octa, “High Reflection” [100% Silk]
13. Sandwell District, “Speed + Sound (Endless)” [Sandwell District]
14. Chicago Skyway & Dcook, “Lager Nord” [M>O>S]
15. 2562, “Aquatic Family Affair” [When In Doubt]
16. Terekke, “Damn” [L.I.E.S.]
17. Gerd, “Palm Leaves” [Royal Oak]
18. Ethyl & Flor, “Shelter” [Secretsundaze]
19. Lone, “All Those Weird Things” [Wigflex]
20. John Heckle, “The 4th Dimension” [Mathematics]
21. Ital, “Ital’s Theme” [100% Silk]
22. Kowton, “Show Me” [[Naked Lunch]]
23. Reggie Dokes, “Haiti” [Royal Oak]
24. Dijkhuis, “Underground Persistance” [Night Gallery]
25. Gesloten Cirkel, “Yamagic” [Moustache Records]
26. Protect-U, “U-Uno” [Future Times]
27. Benjamin Brunn, “Queen Mary” [Smallville]
28. Trevino, “Chip” [3024]
29. Murphy Jax, “It’s Time To Bump” [Turbo Recordings]
30. Raiders of the Lost Arp, “Night Theme” [Lunar Disko]

Nick Connellan
01. SCB, “Loss” [Aus Music]
02. Steffi, “Yours” [Ostgut Ton]
03. Roman Flügel, “Mulish Crease” [Live At Robert Johnson]
04. Roman Flügel, “Iron Curtain” [Live At Robert Johnson]
05. Marcel Dettmann, “Translation One” [Ostgut Ton]
06. Martyn & Mike Slott, “All Nights” [All City]
07. Todd Terje, “Ragysh” [Running Back]
08. Todd Terje,S”nooze 4 Love” [Running Back]
09. Robag Wruhme, “Ende” [Pampa]
10. Tin Man, “Nonneo” [Absurd]
11. Objekt, “CLK Recovery” [None (white label)]
12. Omar-S, “Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance” [FXHE]
13. RNDM, “Hideaway Lane (Dub)” [Laid]
14. Mathew Jonson, “Learning to Fly” [Minus]
15. Conforce, “Vacuum” [Delsin]
16. Julius Steinhoff, “Mischief of One Kind and Another” [Geography]
17. Legowelt, “Sark Island Acid” [Long Island Electrical Systems]
18. Basic Soul Unit, “Soulspeak” [Dolly]
19. Basic Soul Unit, “Groundswell” [New Kanada]
20. Juniper, “Jovian Planet” [Ominira]
21. Lawrence, “Just Like Heaven” [Smallville]
22. Cottam, “Sunrise Sunset” [Use of Weapons]
23. Dionne, “Back On the Planet” [Smallville]
24. Jacques Greene, “Another Girl” [LuckyMe]
25. Josef Jaktmark, “Breathless” [Crime City Disco]
26. Reggie Dokes, “Haiti” [Royal Oak]
27. Slow Hands, “Sweetest Taboo Cover” [Double Standard]
28. Stefan Lohse, “Fog Patches” [Uncanny Valley]
29. Legowelt, “Moonmist” [None (white label)]
30. Tiger & Woods, “Gin Nation” [Running Back]

Steve Kerr
01. Laurel Halo, “Head” [Hippos In Tanks]
02. Gesloten Cirkel, “Yamagic” [Moustache Techno]
03. Moomin, “Watermelon (Marvin Dash Edit)” [Aim]
04. Ital, “Culture Clubs” [Lovers Rock]
05. D’Marc Cantu, “Set Free” [M>O>S Recordings]
06. Prostitune, “NJ Turnpike” [Just Another Beat]
07. Minus Yogis, “All Tied Up (Juju & Jordash Gospel Mix)” [Jansen Jardin]
08. Kassem Mosse, “Untitled A1″ [Workshop]
09. Terekke, “Damn” [L.I.E.S.]
10. Burial, “Stolen Dog” [Hyperdub]
11. Legowelt, “Poverties Paradise” [Echovolt Records]
12. Virgo Four, “It’s A Crime (Caribou Remix)” [Rush Hour Recordings]
13. Spekter, “Pipe Bomb” [Sound Signature]
14. Protect-U, “World Music” [Future Times]
15. Invisible Conga People, “Can’t Feel My Knees” [DFA]
16. Genius of Time, “Houston We Have A Problem” [Royal Oak]
17. Vakula, “Dub As Always” [Shevchenko]
18. Juju & Jordash, “Chelm is Burning” [Golf Channel Recordings]
19. Jhene Aiko, “Do Better Blues Pt. 2″ (Marvin’s Room) [Self-Released]
20. Hype Williams, “Rise Up” [Hyperdub]
21. B-Tracks, “Specialize” [Supply Records]
22. George Fitzgerald, “Silhouette” (John Roberts Remix) [Aus Music]
23. CFCF, “Looking So” [UNO]
24. Reggie Dokes, “Haiti” [Royal Oak]
25. Abdulla Rashim, “Asayita 1″ [Abdulla Rashim Records]
26. MD, “Megapolitan Soul” [Not On Label]
27. Omar-S, “Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance!” [FXHE]
28. Jay Simon, “Faith” [Wild Oats]
29. Mark Ernestus, “Mark Ernestus Meets BBC” [Honest Jon's Records]
30. Panda Bear, “Surfers Hymn” (Actress Primitive Patterns Extended Mix) [Kompakt]

Anton Kipfel
01. The Citizen’s Band, “West 42nd” [Live At Robert Johnson]
02. D’Marc Cantu, “Set Free” [M>O>S Recordings]
03. EQD, “Equalized#005-B” [Equalized]
04. Crystal Maze, “Crystal Maze” (Chicago Skyway Remix) [aDepth Audio]
05. Matthew Styles, “Polee” [Running Back]
06. Hitsafe, “Let The Acid Out” (Tin Man Remix) [Shaddock Records]
07. Gesloten Cirkel, “Yamagic” [Moustache Techno]
08. Machinedrum, “Now U Know The Deal 4 Real” [Planet Mu]
09. Julius Steinhoff, “Mischief Of One Kind And Another” [Geography Records]
10. Storm Queen, “It Goes On” [Environ]
11. Roman Flügel, “Iron Curtain” [Live At Robert Johnson]
12. Martyn, “Masks” [Brainfeeder]
13. Oskar Offermann & Moomin, “Nasty Nate” [Aim]
14. Burial, “Stolen Dog” [Hyperdub]
15. Todd Terje, “Snooze 4 Love” [Running Back]
16. Jonsson/Alter, “En_Livfull Skildring” [Kontra-Musik]
17. BNJMN, “See Thru Stars” [Rush Hour Recordings]
18. Ital, “Ital’s Theme” [100% Silk]
19. Moomin, “Watermelon” (Marvin Dash Edit) [Aim]
20. Recloose, “Tecumseh” [Rush Hour Recordings]
21. Legowelt, “Sark Island Acid” [L.I.E.S.]
22. Genius of Time, “Houston We Have A Problem” [Royal Oak]
23. Steffi ft. Virginia, “Yours” [Ostgut Ton]
24. Levon Vincent, “Tyner” [Soul People Music]
25. Gerd, “Palm Leaves” [Royal Oak]
26. DJ Duke, “Summer Madness” [Self Defence]
27. 2562, “Wasteland” (Head High Remix) [When In Doubt]
28. Nebraska, “The Mountains” [Rush Hour Recordings]
29. Contakt, “Not Forgotten” [Local Action Records]
30. Kruse & Nürnberg, “Daze Without You” [Liebe*Detail]

Kuri Kondrak
01. Protect-U, “World Music [Future Times]
02. Anthony Nicholson, “Suntek” [Neroli]
03. Alex Israel, “Gaz 13 feat. Etiku Dancer” [W.T. Records]
04. Terrekke, “Damn” [L.I.E.S.]
05. Juju & Jordash, “Chelm Is Burning” [Golf Channel]
06. Dijkhuis, “Salt Caramel” [Night Gallery]
07. Kevin Reynolds, “Liaisons” [Nsyde]
08. Tin Man, “Nonneo “(Donato Dozzy Remix) [Absurd]
09. Fred P, “Somewhere” [Soul People]
10. Omar S, “Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance!!” [FXHE]
11. Juju & Jordash, “Bleached Roots” [Rush Hour]
12. Terrence Dixon, “City Nights” [Thema]
13. M.D., “Megapolitan Soul” [X]
14. John Heckle, “The 4th Dimension” [Mathematics]
15. Esteban Adame, “I’ll Never Give Up” [Underground Quality]
16. C-Beams, “Thumbling” [Uncanny Valley]
17. Mark Du Mosch, “Blue Sphere” [Tabernacle]
18. R-A-G, “Harold’s Invention” [M>O>S]
19. D’Marc Cantu, “Set Free” [M>O>S Deep]
20. Spekter, “Pipe Bomb” [Sound Signature]
21. Kassem Mosse, untitled A [Workshop]
22. o1o, “Beat Datazz” [Further]
23. Tangula, “Jebisu” [Diametric]
24. Royalty, “Twilight Fades” [Five Easy Pieces]
25. Paul Bennett, “After All The Tomorrows Became Yesterdays” [Modernista]
26. The Florian Muller Project, “Jam With It” (The Olverwho Factory Vocal Remix) [Terpsichore]
27. Eduardo De La Calle, “The Concept Sampler [Analog Solutions]
28. Martyn/Mike Slott, “Pointing Fingers” [All City]
29. DJ Yoav B, “Temptation” [Syncrophone]
30. Shokazulu, “Part 4″ [2000 Black]

Chris Miller
01. SCB, “Loss” [Aus Music]
02. Tin Man, “Nonneo” [Absurd Recordings]
03. Omar-S, “Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance!!” [FXHE]
04. Levon Vincent, “Man or Mistress” [Novel Sound]
05. Tin Man, “Rockers Ravers” [Salon]
06. Ital, “Ital’s Theme” [100% Silk]
07. DJ Qu, “Get Sum” [Strength Music]
08. Sepalcure, “Taking You Back” [Hotflush Recordings]
09. Andy Stott, “Posers” [Modern Love]
10. Kassem Mosse, “Workshop 12 A1″ [Workshop]
11. Legowelt, “Sark Island Acid” [Long Island Electrical Systems]
12. Juju & Jordash, “Chelm Is Burning” [Golf Channel Recordings]
13. Hunee, “A Leaf For Hand In Hand” [Ostgut Ton]
14. EQD, “Equalized #005 B” [Equalized]
15. Machinedrum, “She Died There” [Planet Mu]
16. Ital, “Only For Tonight (Dubout Saviour’s Love Megamix)” [100% Silk]
17. Pearson Sound, “Stifle” [Hessle Audio]
18. Mark Ernestus, “Mark Ernestus Meets Shangaan Electro” [Honest Jon’s]
19. Black Jazz Consortium, “Stay” [Soul People Music]
20. Joy O, “Jels” [Hotflush Recordings]
21. Midland, “Through Motion” [Aus Music]
22. Martyn, “We Are You In The Future” [Brainfeeder]
23. Reagenz, “The Labyrinth” [Ostgut Ton]
24. Harkin & Raney, “Workin’ & Steamin’” [Throne of Blood]
25. Steffi feat. Virginia, “Yours” [Ostgut Ton]
26. D’Marc Cantu, “Set Free” [MOS Deep]
27. Versalife, “Solenoids of Insomnia” [Clone West Coast]
28. Octo Octa, “High Reflections” [100% Silk]
29. Patrice Scott, “3AM” [Sistrum]
30. Unknown Artist, “Sicko Cell” [Swamp81]

Steve Mizek
01. Todd Terje, “Snooze 4 Love” [Running Back]
02. Storm Queen, “It Goes On” [Environ]
03. Osker Offermann & Moomin, “Nasty Nate” [Aim]
04. Hercules & Love Affair, “My House” [Mochi Mochi]
05. BNJMN, “See Thru Stars” [Rush Hour Recordings]
06. Tin Man, “Nonneo” [Absurd Recordings]
07. Gerd, “Palm Leaves” [Royal Oak]
08. RNDM, “Hideaway Lane” (Dub) [Laid]
09. Roman Flügel, “Bahia Blues Bootcamp” [Dial]
10. Ital, “Ital’s Theme” [100% Silk]
11. Lauer, “HR Boss” [Live At Robert Johnson]
12. John Heckle, “What Once Was” [Mathematics Recordings]
13. Portable, “Fadeaway” [Perlon]
14. The Citizen’s Band, “West 42nd” [Live At Robert Johnson]
15. Ricardo Miranda, “Urbanism” [Noble Square Recordings]
16. Gesloten Cirkel, “Yamagic” [Moustache Techno]
17. Cuthead, “The Sinner” [Uncanny Valley]
18. Maxi Mill, “To The Next” [Rush Hour Recordings]
19. The Weeknd, “What You Need” [self-released]
20. SCB, “Loss” [Aus Music]
21. Peverelist, “Dance Til the Police Come” [Hessle Audio]
22. Nebraska, “The Cruives” [Rush Hour Recordings]
23. Cavalier, “Lipizzan” [Drumpoet Community]
24. OCP, “Little More” [Aim]
25. Prostitune, “NJ Turnpike” [Just Another Beat]
26. Kevin Reynolds, “Liasons” [Nsyde Music]
27. Morning Factory, “Fantasy Check” [Royal Oak]
28. FaltyDL, “Voyager” [Planet Mu]
29. Julius Steinhoff, “Mischief Of One Kind and Another” [Geography Records]
30. Spekter, “Pipe Bomb” [Sound Signature]

Jordan Rothlein
01. Tin Man, “Lost In LA” [Salon]
02. Vakula, “Picture Of You” [Dekmantel]
03. Omar-S, “Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance!!” [FXHE]
04. Machinedrum, “Come1″ [Planet Mu]
05. Levon Vincent, “Man Or Mistress” [Novel Sound]
06. Roman Flügel, “Brasil” [Dial]
07. Tin Man, “Nonneo (Donato Dozzy Remix)” [Acid Test]
08. Legowelt, “Poverties Paradise” [Echovolt]
09. SCB, “Loss” [Aus Music]
10. Sepalcure, “Taking You Back” [Hotflush]
11. Tin Man, “Nonneo” [Acid Test]
12. Steffi feat. Virginia, “Yours” [Ostgut Ton]
13. Archie Pelago, “ArcJoe” [Slime Recordings]
14. Boddika, “Soul What” [Swamp81]
15. Cottam, “Deep Deep Down” [Aus Music]
16. Ital, “Culture Clubs” [Lovers Rock]
17. Mark Ernestus Meets BBC, “Version 1″ [Honest Jon's]
18. Morphosis, “Too Far (Marcel Dettmann Definition 1)” [Delsin]
19. FaltyDL, “Voyager” [Planet Mu]
20. Harkin & Raney, “Workin’ & Steamin’” [Throne Of Blood]
21. Gerd, “Palm Leaves” [Royal Oak]
22. John Osborn, “Epoch4″ [TONSTAAFL]
23. Lauer, “H.R. Boss” [Live At Robert Johnson]
24. Incyde, “Axis” [Hotflush]
25. Kassem Mosse, “Untitled (A1 – Workshop 12)” [Workshop]
26. Mathew Jonson, “Dayz” [Crosstown Rebels]
27. Holger Zilske, “E Preciso Acreditar (Axel Boman Remix)” [Acid Test]
28. Achterbahn D’Amour, “Trance Me Up (I Wanna Go Higher)” [Acid Test]
29. Scuba, “Adrenalin” [Hotflush]
30. Burial, “Stolen Dog” [Hyperdub]

Andrew Ryce
01. Blawan, “Getting Me Down” [Not On Label]
02. Andy Mac, “Everytime” [Punch Drunk]
03. SCB, “Loss” [Aus]
04. Kahn, “Like We Used To” [Punch Drunk]
05. Mosca, “Done Me Wrong” [Numbers]
06. M83, “Midnight City” [Mute]
07. Scuba, “Adrenalin” [Hotflush]
08. P Money & Blacks, “Boo You” [Butterz]
09. 2562, “Aquatic Family Affair,” [When In Doubt]
10. Kevin McPhee, “Get In With You” [nakedlunch]
11. XI, “Gamma Rain” [Orca]
12. Boddika, “Soul What?” [Swamp81]
13. Pearson Sound, “Deep Inside Refix” [Night Slugs]
14. Hackman, “Close” [Greco-Roman]
15. Peverelist, “Dance Till The Police Come” [Hessle Audio]
16. James Fox, “New Jack Swing” [Well Rounded Housing Project]
17. T Williams, “Break Broke” [Local Action]
18. LV, “Northern Line” [Keysound]
19. West Norwood Cassette Library, “Get Lifted”
[West Norwood Cassette Library]
20. Distal, “Angry Acid” [Tectonic]
21. Jon Convex, “Falling Again” [3024]
22. Steffi, “Yours” [Ostgut-Ton]
23. xxxy, “Ordinary Things” [Ten Thousand Yen]
24. Maya Jane Coles, “Focus Now” [2020 Vision]
25. Spectr, “Dance 4 Me” [Roska Kicks & Snares]
26. Terror Danjah, “Full Attention” [Hardrive]
27. Paul Woolford & Psycatron, “Stolen” [Hotflush]
28. Kassem Mosse, “Enoha” [NonPlus+]
29. Bulb, “Tenderness” [Kokeshi]
30. Pangaea, “Inna Daze” [Hessle Audio]

Harry Sword
01. Mark Ernestus, “Mark Ernestus meets BBC” [Honest Jons]
02. Regis, “In a Syrian Tounge” [Blackest Ever Black]
03. Peverelist, “Dance till the Police Come” [Hessle Audio]
04. Nochexx, “Savage Herald” [Ramp]
05. AnD, “Hydrothermal” [Idle Hands]
06. Kowton, “Keep Walking” [Naked Lunch]
07. Andy Stott, “passed me by” [Modern Love]
08. Kaseem Mosse, “Workshop 12″ [Workshop]
09. Blawan, “what you do with what you have” [R and S]
10. G.H, “Ground” [Modern Love]
11. Pigon, “Sunrise Industry” [Dial]
12. Marcel Dettman, “Planning” [Ostgut]
13. Floorplan, “Baby Baby” [M Plant]
14. Pacific Blue, “Industry Part 1″ [Pacific Blue]
15. Midland, “Bring Joy” [More Music]
16. Paul Woolford and Psycatron, “Stolen” [Hotflush]
17. Boddika, “Electron” [Swamp 81]
18. Martyn, “Masks” [Brainfeeder]
19. Basic Soul Unit, “soulspeak” [Dolly]
20. Norman Nodge, “The Happenstance” [Ostgut]
21. Cooly G, “Its Serious” [Hyperdub]
22. D1, “Subzero” [Hessle Audio]
23. Legowelt, “Sark Island Acid” [Long Island Electrical Systems]
24. Bassclef, “Rollercoasters of the Heart” [Punch Drunk]
25. Ecoplecz, “Daytron Romance” [Mordant Music]
26. Shifted, “Control” [Mote Evolver]
27. Planetary Assault Systems, “The Messenger” [Mote Evolver]
28. Raime, “Told and Collapsed” [Blackest Ever Black]
29. Andy Stott, “we stay together” [Modern Love]
30. Jon Convex, “Convexations” [2562]

01. Drivetrain, “Lift Me High”
[Soiree Records International] (buy)
Every time I think I have a grasp on the many talents Detroit has to offer, a new record comes to reminds me how much more there is to learn. This time it’s Mo 2 Meaux 2 on Soiree Recordings International, an EP that forms a bridge between the Motor City and Meaux, France. For all the talent on offer, the opening cut by Drivetrain — also known as Derrick Thompson, the proprietor behind Soiree — feels like a wake up call. “Lift Me High” bears all the hallmarks of a producer who has been producing since 1990 — a potent marriage of interwoven melodies and soulful vocals laid out with the greatest of care. Its synths sizzle with carefully controlled energy — more a late night joy ride than a rocket to space — and the wriggling pitches of its bass line are a sensual massage for the ears. Not only does this record offer a killer cut, it’s a chance to dig deeper into an oft overlooked figure in Detroit house music.

02. The Oliverwho Factory, “Galactic Transit” (Recall Instrumental Mix) [Rush Hour Recordings] (buy)
There are records that give you new reasons to love an artist and others which reinforce the ones you’ve already developed. Galactic Transit, the first 2011 release from The Oliverwho Factory, fits into this latter category, building on the punchy and sublime aesthetic they’ve firmly established. While the vocal mix is quite a trip, the “Recall Instrumental Mix” feels like a sequel to the duo’s beloved remix of Prosumer & Tama Sumo’s “Rareified” with its pounding toms and slyly unfolding motifs. Shonie C’s wordless vocals have all the dramatic intrigue of a ’60s sci-fi soundtrack, lighting the fuse on room-filling melodic washes and rapid fire synth riffs. And despite its many layers, the arrangements provide plenty of room for mixing, making it the side on which DJs are the most likely to drop the needle. So while “Galactic Transit” isn’t exactly revelatory, it stirs the embers of my appreciation for the OWF and is a must-own for new and old fans.

03. Jamie Lloyd, “Cloud Hopping”
[Love International] (buy)
It’s been so long (five years, to be precise) since Jamie Lloyd put out a record of new material that audiences’ expectations for the Australian producer have likely reset. This actually works in the favor of I Left My Heart In Your Pants EP, Lloyd’s first in five years, as his boogie-influenced style proves quite agreeable to the current musical climate. This is best represented by A-side “Cloud Hopping,” a lighthearted romp of buzzing funk riffs pinned together by the dual desire to make dancers smile as they sweat. The floppy swagger of the low end is nibbled at by frantic upper register leads, eventually joining forces when downy pads lift the tune into the stratosphere. The biggest surprise is that this record arrives on the Malaysian, digital only imprint Love International rather than Lloyd’s usual outlet, Future Classic. Fans of Space Dimension Controller, Oriol, and Dam-Funk should take note: your latest jam isn’t by the usual suspects.

04. Omar-S, “Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance!”
[FXHE Records] (buy)
Single-sided vinyls are an unusual beast in the record world, and Omar-S’ FXHE presses more of them than most labels would even consider. Perhaps it’s his utmost confidence that the selected tune can stand on its own; his certainty has been bolstered by the popularity of tunes like Kyle Hall’s “Plastic Ambash” and his own “Psychotic Photosynthesis.” The latest single-sider to emerge from FXHE, Omar’s “Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance!”, certainly has the potential to reach similarly anthemic heights. Borrowing some of trance’s melodic cheese, the track assembles a rainbow of colorful tones and progressions — some cheerfully swaying, others jutting into the air, still more percolating below — to burst from the speakers. Although significantly more straightforward and ecstatic than “Psychotic,” “Here’s Your Trance” is similarly capable of bringing down the house and lodging itself in listeners’ memories — not least because it sounds unlike anything else out there. Flip right past if you’re looking for sleek sophistication; this is big, bold, beautiful unicorn of house music that dissolves audiences’ inhibitions.

05. D’Marc Cantu, “Set Free”
[M>O>S Recordings] (buy)
Like their compatriots at Rush Hour, M>O>S Recordings have repeatedly proven astute at A&Ring American talent and assembling complete packages that further their aesthetic. Following his M>O>S release as one-half of 2 AM/FM, D’Marc Cantu is the latest to deliver the goods with Set Free/Tonight. In line with but decidedly less acidic than his rugged tracks for Crème Organization and Nation, record highlight “Set Free” is home to both flinty analog percussion and foggy, lingering chords. The latter are sent searching through spectrum-scouring sonar washes, mapping out the room and tinging the atmosphere with a decidedly grungy, basement feel. This balancing act of vaporous melodies and unyielding drum programming seems most natural to Cantu — carefree and considered all at once. It’s what’s kept me coming back to this record over and over again throughout February.

06. James Blake, “I Never Learnt to Share”
[Atlas Recordings] (buy)
07. Steffi, “Mine” [Ostgut Ton] (buy)
08. Martyn & Mike Slott, “All Nights”
[All City Records] (buy)
09. Norman Nodge, “Convergence” [MDR] (buy)
10. Half Hawaii, “Bring Back the Love” [Perlon] (buy)

Staff Charts:

Chris Burkhalter
01. Move D, “Your Personal Healer” [Uzuri]
02. Theo Parrish, “Stop Bajon (T.P. Translation)” [Archive Recordings]
03. D’Marc Cantu, “Set Free” [M>O>S Recordings]
04. Omar-S, “Here’s Your Trance Now Dance!” [FXHE]
05. 214, “Porous Surfs” [Harbour City Sorrow]
06. Dresvn, “Untitled A2″ [Acido Records]
07. Nina Kraviz, “I’m Week” [Rekids]
08. dBridge, “Detuned Heart” [Autonomic]
09. Sven Weisemann, “Caprice” [Mojuba]
10. Marcelus, “Friction” [Deeply Rooted House]

Luke Hawkins
01. Kassem Mosse, “Untitled A1″ [Workshop]
02. Tin Man, “Life Is Acid” [Keys of Life]
03. Tin Man, “Wasteland” [Global A]
04. Morphosis, “Wild in Captivity” [Delsin/M>O>S/Morphine]
05. Atheus, “Dequadrant Redux” [Styrax]
06. Conforce, “State of Mind (XDB Reshape 2)” [Clone Basement Series]
07. Mike Parker, “Ringing Bass” [Prologue]
08. Rod Modell, “Body Sonic” [Plop]
09. Move D and Benjamin Brunn, “Radar” [Smallville Records]
10. DJ Qu, “Everybody’s Dark” [Soul People Music]

Steve Kerr
01. The Deep, “Muddy Tracks” [100% Silk]
02. Julia Holter, “Hello, Stranger” [NNA Tapes]
03. Kassem Mosse, “Untitled B1″ [Workshop]
04. Shackleton, “Deadman” (King Midas Sound Death Dub) [Honest Jon's]
05. Zwischenwelt, “Clairvoyant” [Rephlex]
06. BNJMN, “Depressure” [Rush Hour]
07. DJ Spinn, “I Really Feel” [Planet Mu]
08. Sylvia Mason, “We’ve Gotta Dance” [Carrere]
09. Genius of Time, “Houston We Have A Problem” [Royal Oak]
10. Factory Floor, “A Wooden Box” [Blast First Petite]

Anton Kipfel
01. BNJMN, “See Thru Stars” [Rush Hour Recordings]
02. Levon Vincent, “Tyner” [Soul People Music]
03. Steffi ft. Virginia, “Yours” [Ostgut Ton]
04. CloudMasterWeed, “Wicked System” [Soiree International Records]
05. Krause Duo ft. Ian Simmonds, “Hell On Earth” [Musik Krause]
06. Contakt, “Not Forgotten” [Local Action Records]
07. Manuel Tur ft. Holly Backler, “Most Of This Moment” [Freerange Records]
08. Martyn & Mike Slott, “Left Hander” [All City Recordings]
09. Hercules & Love Affair, “Step Up” [Moshi Moshi]
10. Lawrence, “Just Like Heaven” [Smallville Records]

Chris Miller
01. Omar-S, “Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance!” [FXHE]
02. D’Marc Cantu, “Set Free” [M>O>S Deep]
03. Tin Man, “Rockers Ravers” [Salon]
04. Black Jazz Consortium, “Stay” [Soul People Music]
05. Moritz von Oswald Trio, “Structure 1″ [Honest Jon's]
06. Pangaea, “Inna Daze” [Hessle Audio]
07. Kassem Mosse, “Untitled B2″ [Workshop]
08. Radiohead, “Feral” [Radiohead]
09. Joy O, “Wade In” [Hotflush Recordings]
10. SCB, “Loss” [Aus Music]

Andrew Ryce
01. Instra:mental, “User” [Nonplus+]
02. They Live, “Pure Palms” [Autonomic]
03. Actress, “Harrier ATTK” [Nonplus+]
04. Photek, “Avalanche” [Photek Productions]
05. Hercules & Love Affair, “Falling” [Moshi Moshi]
06. Kahn, “Like We Used To” [Punch Drunk]
07. Boddika, “Soul What” [Swamp81]
08. Until Silence, “Palindromes” [Pushing Red]
09. Icicle, “Redemption” [Shogun Audio]
10. Boxcutter, “Allele” [Planet Mu]

You know a label has full confidence in one of its artists when they provide them the chance to make an album in spite of a scant discography. That’s just what Ostgut Ton did with Steffi Doms, whose debut LP arrived this week. Their confidence was well rewarded by Yours & Mine, a solid and dance floor-focused record which is sure to please DJs and home listeners in equal measures. This week’s download, “Mine,” is one of the Steffi’s most driving cuts, a powerful marriage of Chicago house percussion (dig the 808 rimshots) and incandescent pads and synth leads. Reverant, relevant, and downright catchy, “Mine” is the ideal track with which to start your weekend. Our thanks to Steffi and Ostgut Ton for offering this killer tune for free.

Download: Steffi, “Mine”

[Ostgut Ton]

While I never doubted the supreme bump and grind Ms. Steffie Doms achieves on her debut full-length, Yours & Mine, I wasn’t always sure how to approach it as an album. When I’m listening to a long-player, I don’t necessarily want to be “in the club” all the time. And Steffi has certainly taken us there before. “Kill Me,” her debut solo 12″, along with her recent “Reasons” release on Underground Quality, both missile-lock on a groove with precise elegance: they’re manifestations of house music at its most powerfully direct, with absolutely no excess fat to trim. Her tracks don’t all sound the same, but her discography doesn’t yet boast the sort of breadth of styles that often makes for solid artist albums; and the clips that started popping up late last fall made it apparent Steffi wasn’t straying too far from her bread and butter. A producer doesn’t have to faithfully execute 15 genres and 46 different tempos, but an album should take you somewhere, maybe to a place we’ve yet to go with her.

The idea of an album’s worth of Steffi bangers is of course tasty for DJs, but it’s a whole lot of thump for mere listeners to size up. But what I’ve come to realize about Yours & Mine — what’s brought me around to how lovely it is — is that she makes it work by making it personal. While these nine blistering house tracks adhere to the fundamentals with the sort of zeal we expect from Ostgut Ton, they don’t militantly tow some line about what house music should be or mean. Instead, Steffi is inviting us into her love affair with this stuff, taking us deep inside her personal party space. Whether you’re there on a packed night or have the dance floor all to yourself, it’s a pretty fantastic place to be.

Nine dance cuts back-to-back is indeed a hefty load, but I’m hesitant to recommend approaching this set any other way. Fixating on one or two or four cuts from the bounty will surely cause you to leave something out. For DJs, Yours & Mine might be one of the best things to happen to your record bag in quite some time; given a time slot long enough, you could conceivably work all of these into a single set without boring anyone. But while the quality is uniform — each track is good in more or less the same way — Steffi switches up the small things enough to keep you from overexerting yourself. From the vocal-driven devastation of “Yours ft. Virginia” (a step up in form from the already excellent “Reasons”) to the Fred P-reminiscent dreaminess of “Arms” and “Nightspacer” to the razor-sharp pulse of “Mine,” Steffi gives us a reading of house that feels both unabashedly reverent and utterly contemporary. In other words, she lets house get back to being house, freeing it from the sort of polemics that sometimes accompany this kind of thing (think Midtown 120 Blues or Shedding The Past). For Steffi, the strongest argument for house is the sound itself, and I’m hard-pressed to think of something more persuasive.

Yours & Mine is in no way a departure: she’s still utilizing the same crisp sounds and clear arrangements that thus far been her signature. Though she’s apparently been working on music for quite some time, her discography is still rather short, and I think putting together an album of wildly new sounds would have been premature. The album is instead a crystallization of a particular feeling, one Steffi has been kind enough to share with us. While I don’t foresee a time when this thing leaves my bag, I also see it digging its heels into my iPod. Whether driving an epic party of thousands or a bedroom freakout of one, Yours & Mine is about as right-on as house music gets.

09. Fred P., “On This Vibe”
[Esperanza] (buy)
The very term deep house implies there is a certain profundity to the music it describes, a lushness that doesn’t always exist in its prefix-absent cousin. Fred Peterkin is a demonstrative proponent of deep house, whether under the Black Jazz Consortium handle or as Fred P., and in 2010 he was responsible for some of the most conclusive moments in the genre. “On This Vibe” found the New York producer decamping to Spain for a jaunt on the Esperanza label with a track that couldn’t have been better matched to its name. When the only discernible melody is a one-fingered piano key that appears every two bars you better hope the rest of your track has an abundance of feeling to carry it. Fred matches pads that shimmer with the intensity of solar flares and a vocal wail that melts into your brain like pitch on a desert highway. It’s the deep throb of a bass line and shuffling, tracky percussion that keep these flighty, etheric elements moored and add further gravitas to one of this years most sublime moments in house music. (Per Bojsen-Moller)

08. Steffi ft. Elif Biçer, “Kill Me” (Instrumental Dub)
[Ostgut Ton] (buy)
It is far worse to be ignored than hated because at least hatred means someone feels something for you. For her first solo EP, Steffi ably channeled this singeing feeling of indifference into the powerful and compact tune, “Kill Me,” with help from Ostgut Ton’s resident chanteuse, Elif Biçer, and longtime confidante, Dexter. This single was too catchy and effective to ignore, confidently improving on the retro-tinged sound first debuted on “24 Hours” by smoothing out the edges, allowing her drum programming room to flirt with complexity, and tailoring the intensity of her pitches to perfection. Although the original vocal version is a masterful example of integrating narrative lyrics into house music, “Instrumental Dub” version gets our nod for maintaining the original’s charm while being utilitarian enough for use by a wide variety of DJs. With all this arriving so early in her career, it’s likely her forthcoming debut album will be just as difficult to overlook. (Anton Kipfel)

07. Oni Ayhun, “OAR004-A”
[Oni Ayhun Records] (buy)
In his review of Oni Ayhun’s OAR004 earlier this year, Chris Miller wrote that “sometimes you just need to let shit get out of hand,” and there’s hardly a better way of describing how the producer’s sole 2010 release sounds on first listen. Initially the A-side seems in disarray, like a jam-out that hasn’t found its groove, all glassy wobbling lines and bursts of screeching white noise atop anemic, metallic 4/4 rhythms. Midway through, though, that shell of chaos cracks and a jacking sub-bass-inflected groove worms its way out, those earlier elements all reigned in, orbiting around it. It’s a perfect bait-and-release; when he pulls back, you’re left lusting after that rhythm, hoping that somehow that tense mess of elements will magically realign itself. Relentlessly teetering on the edge, “OAR004-A” is a compositional tour de force, reaffirming that Oni Ayhun plays only by his own rules. (Steve Kerr)

06. Morphosis, “Musafir”
[M>O>S Recordings] (buy)
The word “Musafir” translates from Arabic as “traveler” and indeed, Morphosis sometimes seems like a traveler from a distant land where techno doesn’t adhere to any rules and is not afraid to not make sense. You could say that it’s this unorthodoxy, this complexity that makes “Musafir” one of the best tracks of the year, but that might mask the fact that it also simply steamrolls over everything in its path. It kicks off with a contorted, resonating saxophone that stumbles over a kick drum. But it’s soon joined by the main attraction, the titan-sized synth line that never seems to repeat itself the same way twice. At times it’s muted and subdued, other times Morphosis cranks up the resolution and the tune singes the hairs on the back of your neck. Hi-hats slice the air in irregular intervals. Snare hits feel like crack of Hephaestus’ hammer against the forge. Indeed, everything about “Musafir” feels epic, like the soundtrack to a storm the strength of which only Poseidon could conjure. Techno doesn’t get much more mental, powerful or extraordinary than this. (Chris Miller)

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There’s long been talk about podcasts usurping mix CDs, but that never felt as overwhelmingly possible as it did in 2010. It isn’t just that there were only a handful of convincing commercial mixes available, although that certainly didn’t help. What really made the influx of podcasts feel so intense was the sheer quantity of them. Plenty sit here on my computer unheard simply because of time constraints and there are hundreds more out there just waiting to be discovered. 2010 may have been stocked to the brim with WikiLeaks and anti-austerity protests, but some days it seems that neither compare to the glut of podcasts. That said, I cannot claim this is the definitive list of the best mixes from the second half of 2010, but these are the ten that hit me the hardest and still get regularly aired. If you want to know the soundtrack to this writer’s 2010, this list and the first half list should just about cover it.

Steffi – mnml ssgs labyrinth special
Steffi’s productions may tend towards deep, sometimes-vocal house (just check her latest “Reasons” for Underground Quality or “Kill Me” on Ostgut Ton), but as a DJ she’s nearly impossible to define. What’s most impressive about her mixes are the many moods and styles she manages to go through while keeping everything cohesive, and her mix for mnml ssgs in anticipation of Labyrinth was no exception. Her deft touch and always killer selection make her one of the most exciting DJs, and made this mix simply one of the best of the year.

Peverelist – RA.218
I can’t quite figure out Peverelist. On the one hand, he seems to be one of the only DJs around with a purist attitude towards dubstep, and on the other hand he pushes bass music further than almost anyone else. Both sides are on display in his killer contribution to RA’s podcast series, where Pev keeps true to dubplate culture while showcasing some of Punch Drunk’s finest 2010 emissions (of which there were many) and plenty of other big tunes the UK offered up this year. Essential.

reagenz – lunar landing live
David Moufang and Jonah Sharp’s recent releases on Workshop were excellent, but hardly the only reason the reagenz project has been so vital. This vast, immersive live set, made available at the beginning of this year on Soundcloud, has been on constant repeat for me. Kicking off with slowly moving textures and eventually encompassing more beat-driven pieces (climaxing with, of course, the indomitable “Keep Building”) resulted in an incredible, glowing set. As a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, nothing sent me to the moon quite like this.

Function – Promo Mix 009 /// Red Zone
Function: Sandwell Collective member, techno extraordinaire. But that would be selling Dave Sumner’s talents short, given that his Promo Mix representing New York’s Red Zone in 1991 was an incredible trip through the most classic of house music. This mix, and its explanation provide a top notch history lesson, from the use of rotary mixers to the decay of New York nightlife in the early 90′s.

Conforce – FACT mix 168
Conforce may have produced one of the best EPs of this year (the incredible, ethereal Grace EP on Delsin), but his sheer talent was probably best on display in this sterling live set. FACT’s podcast series can be a tough one to keep up with, but this mix shines brightly above the almost one hundred podcasts they offered this year. Melodic and swinging, this hit my techno pleasure zones every time.

Eli Verveine – bptchk! fanzine #03
I feel like Eli Verveine may be the most underrated DJ on the planet. Perhaps my perception of her popularity is a bit off, but if gigs were booked based on straight talent Eli would be traveling the world with the best of them. Her “Rawmance” mix for French website-cum-print-publication Boing Poum Tchak! is a perfect example of her warm and romantic style. To dance with fireside with a bottle of red wine.

Ramadanman – Bestimix 23
These days Ramadanman sets are almost unfair given that he can play so many of his own productions and dubs. The man’s 12″s and various unreleased goodies this year were like gold; giving any DJ who wielded them an incredible leg up. That’s not to diminish David Kennedy’s own DJing chops, as his Bestimix is an addicting mix of modern bass music. But when his own productions hit, watch out.

JD Twitch – Optimo Podcast 06: Acid Eyeful
Optimo may be known for their eclectic DJ sets, but when they focus on a singular sound the results can be staggering. Case in point: JD Twitch’s ode to acid house “Acid Eyeful” (cheeky name). Flurries of 808s and, of course, 303s are all here, sure to induce wild and jacking acid flashbacks. A great companion to their fabric 52 CD, released around the same time.

Autonomic Layer 11
The Instra:Mental/dBridge/Autonomic juggernaut has been near unstoppable this year. Their own label NonPlus+ reached well outside the confines of drum and bass (Kassem Mosse, Actress), and so do the Autonomic mixes. While 2009 saw a new one almost every month, the appearance of Layer 11 in October after an unfortunate drought was more than a welcome sight. Unsurprisingly it’s a destructive bit of modern drum and bass, electro, house, and everything in between, bookmarked by the always-enjoyable influences sections. If you want to hear the future, the Autonomic crew have you covered.

John Roberts – LWE Podcast 59
We’ve gotta give props to our own series, especially in a year where we felt with each Monday came a really killer listen. Picking just one LWE mix from the past couple months has caused many headaches, but I’ve got to give it up to John Robert’s magical set of dusty Chicago house. Classics from Trax, Robert Owens and others sat alongside future classics, especially Roberts’ own “Porcelain.”

If the press put as much store in quality as we do in stylistic consistency, Remy Verheijen might well rank among dance music’s upper echelons. But the Dutch producer, who has produced in a wide breadth of styles as Beserk, The Noodle Project, Skindeep, Butterfly Kiss, and most famously as Dexter, is only now garnering the reception an artist with his talents deserves. Those who have been clued in have found much to enjoy in his catalog which stretches back to the mid-90′s: Rich in melodic hues and scored with texture, his tracks for Clone, Rush Hour Recordings, and his own Klakson imprint, as well as remixes for everyone from Ellen Allien and The Hacker to Fischerspooner and Alton Miller, are strong because they’re all in the service of masterful songwriting. Lucky for us, it seems Verheijen is prepared to keep delivering the goods now that more have caught on. We chatted with the man known as Dexter in anticipation of his September 3rd appearance at Public Assembly for The Bunker in New York City.

Since you started making music you’ve been present in a variety of sub-genres, from electro and trance to house and techno. Would you say you’re adaptive to the musical climate you’re in or do you produce what interests you at the time?

Remy Verheijen: Not trance. I just produce what interests me at the time. I have a very wide taste in music and when I listen to a certain kind of music I think, I’m gonna make something like that! Or it’s a new piece of equipment that sets me in a mood to produce a kind of genre. I was in Berlin for gigging and some studiowork for a few weeks ago, that made me want to do house/techno stuff. And after that I was playing at an electro party in London and now I’ve just finished four new electro tracks. I just making everything I like if it’s in my reach.

It seems the Netherlands really grabbed on to electro back in the day and still holds tightly to the sound. Why do you think electro resonates so much with Dutch producers?

I don’t know really. I know that electro was quite big already in the past. In the bigger cities you had these radio pirates who played electro and the early hip hop. I remember that a lot of us were taping all these shows. We called it “space” and we knew about it because of older friends who were really serious in breakdancing and even became Dutch champions. So we were kids, around 12 years old, all listening to Kraftwerk and Egyptian Lover, et al. I know from guys from The Hague that there was a really big Italo scene and I think maybe that had something to do with it as well.

How does electro music inform your productions now?

Well at the moment I’m in a kind of “electro modus” if you mean that by inform? But it’s not the purist electro that’s out there. I’ve heard some 808 electroish kind of stuff with dubstep from the UK that really inspired me. In the UK they are mashing up everything at the moment and that’s something I really like.

Listening to some of your more recent productions, especially your remix of Midland’s “Play The Game,” it seems like you strive to make your productions accessible and catchy in a way some might deem “poppy” (not that it’s a bad thing at all). I’m curious what influence historical pop music has played on your music making sensibilities? Do you feel more comfortable making accessible music now than you did in the past?

I want to do both. I want to do more accessible music but also more experimental/underground stuff. Historical pop music influenced me more than I realized. Well, maybe more funk and hip hop than pop music. At the moment I’m working together with two guys who are kind of musical geniuses and that’s gonna be more “poppy.” They play a variety of instruments and we have this incredibly talented singer who is actually my neighbor in the building were my studio is. So this is gonna be more accessible and poppy.

Although you’ve made a bunch of solo records you’ve also done a lot of remixes for a very varied bunch of artists. What do you enjoy most about remixing? What least? How important is it for you to retain the original elements or their essence?

With remixing I like that you get to do to very different kinds of music and reach people who normally wouldn’t buy your music. The Midland remix was a dubstep track that I turned into a rave kind of track, it’s stuff like that I like to do. I mostly like to remix vocal tracks. With instrumental tracks it’s important to use original elements but with vocal tracks I almost never do. For me it’s important to really turn it into a new track and not like a lot of remixes with some snippets of the original vocal with delay and most of the time isn’t even in tune. What I enjoy the least is when people try to get me in a certain direction. Remixing for me works the best if you leave me completely free.

Many producers take comfort in the fact that even if their tracks are NOT very complicated musically, they are effective at keeping dance floors moving. When you’re making your tracks, are you thinking about what would be effective on a dance floor, what you’re trying to achieve musically, or some combination of those? What factors are most important in how your music takes shape?

A bit of both I think, but I think more effective on a dance floor. At the moment I’m finishing a track that’s mainly a vocal sample with a beat and bass line. Other tracks I’ve put in more chords and melodic progressions and stuff, but it’s not necessary for me. It just depends what works.

What inspired you to start Klakson?

To put out music that we couldn’t buy at that moment, but also just the love for music and releasing it.

How did you meet Steffi? I noticed you were a co-producer on her excellent track, “Kill Me.” What is it like working with her in the studio? Do you have plans to work on more music with her?

We meet through Steven the Peven, a mutual friend of ours, who was also part of Klakson. We were on the same level right away and been friends ’till this day. Working with her goes really smooth, I must say. She’s really becoming a very good producer and really gets the sound that she wants to make and that can be a struggle. We just did a track together for her album on Ostgut Ton and we are going to work on a release of us together, I think next month.

How did her Klakson sub-label, Dolly, come about?

Dolly is for more house-y/techno/deep stuff, I think, and Klakson for funk electro and stuff.

I know you started out as a DJ but these days you only do live sets. Why have you opted to stop DJing in favor of live PAs?

I just get a bigger kick out of playing my own music. And everybody is a DJ these days. I just think it’s a bigger challenge to keep people dancing and having a good time with my own music.

So far you’ve only released singles; do you have any desire to release an album?

YES! 2011.

What is coming up from you and from Klakson?

The album and more releases than I did the past few years. More collaborations. More genres. More gigs. I’ve left Klakson to focus more on my music, it’s in good hands with Steffi.

[Ostgut Ton]

One of Ostgut Ton’s greatest strengths has always been the canny A&R work involved in each release. Their ear for talent is nearly unmatched in contemporary house and techno, having provided big breaks for Marcel Dettmann, Ben Klock, Tama Sumo and Marcel Fengler, and hosted career milestones by Shed, Prosumer & Murat Tepeli, and Cassy. Yet there is no sign of Ostgut Ton resting on their laurels or their reputation as the label arm of Berlin’s most highly regarded clubs. The imprint’s first release of 2010 is also Panorama Bar resident Steffi’s debut solo single, one so skillfully and confidently produced it all but insures everyone involved will reap rewards for their efforts.

[zero a="Steffi" t="Kill Me (Original Mix)" r="kill me ep"]

Stylistically in line with “24 Hours,” Steffi’s contribution to the Panorama Bar 02 single series, Kill Me offers a more mature and precise take on her classicly-influenced sound. Co-produced by Dexter, whose lengthy discography dates reaches back into the early 90′s and is the other set of hands on the wheel of Steffi’s Klakson label, “Kill Me” is expertly paced and solidly built from the impeccable vocal arrangements down to Doppler-panned shakers. Elif Biçer, another great Ostgut Ton find, manages to sound both strong and delicate as she delivers lyrical kiss offs to an undeserving lover who she’d rather have “kill me” than withstand their advances. Suspended just above dulcet pads and the prowling strides of a filtered 303, Biçer (aided by a relatively brief five-and-a-half minute run-time) pulls the song clear into song-oriented territory. DJs are provided for as well with an equally effective instrumental dub, which parses Biçer’s potent syllables between more assertive synth strides and creates a sumptuous avenue towards dance floor bliss. The Prescription-styled “Crushed Soul” mix rounds out the package on a laid back note, alleviating the angst of the original with an even blanket of velvety tones, blinking leads, and a bumping bass line. If the original sounded as if it took place during a charged argument, the “Crushed Soul” mix scores the reflective moments as the dust settles on what’s been said. Kill Me is a versatile release that proves Steffi is capable of penning robust tunes, adds a feather in Dexter’s already full cap, and is a promising sign for Ostgut Ton’s judicious A&Ring in 2010.

Welcome to the latest edition of our series of interviews and mixes affectionately titled Talking Shopcasts. The majority of media and fan attention gets showered on the artists who create the music we love to listen to/DJ with/dance to, and for good reasons. But without the hard work, keen ears and business savvy of label staff, we’d be stuck only streaming tracks on their websites. For our fifth volume, we focus on arguably Berlin’s hottest label, Ostgut Ton. It’s difficult to describe the label’s meteoric rise to the top of the pile without lapsing into hyperbole, as it evolved rapidly from merely Berghain/Panorama Bar’s label wing to a dominant force in underground dance music in fewer than four years. In that short time, Ostgut Ton has helped make stars of Marcel Dettmann, Ben Klock, Cassy, Shed, Prosumer & Murat Tepeli, and almost anyone else who earns one of its coveted catalog numbers. Each must-purchase release pushes house and techno forward in a way few labels can claim without letting the success go their heads. With that in mind, we picked label manager (and LWE podcast alumnus) Nick Höppner’s brain about the label’s sound, its future, and even a tip for getting past Berghain’s bouncers. In case that’s not enough, we’ve also procured an exclusive and incredibly deep mix from Panorama Bar resident, Steffi.

Please tell me your your job title and what you do on a day-to-day basis for Ostgut Ton.

Nick Höppner: I am Ostgut Ton’s label manager. I take care of all things administrative here at the label, i.e. licensing our compilations, booking mastering dates, setting deadlines for our artists, graphic designers, lay-outers and press sheet writers and trying to make everyone stick to those deadlines, translating press releases from German to English, coordinating schedules with our PR agency Tailored Communications, our distributor Kompakt and our manufacturer Handle With Care, handling third party licensing, accounting sales for all our releases and artists. I am not doing it alone though. I’m supported by Michael, one of Berghain’s co-owners. He’s taking care of most of the artwork together with our layouter Yusuf Etiman and different artists, illustrators and graphic designers. For some of the day to day business, I’m getting support by Nicole and Elif who are taking care of our booking and bills are taken care of by our company’s general financial accountant.

Tell me about the beginning of Ostgut Ton. Why and how did you start out? How did the name Ostgut Tontraeger come about?

First of all, the label’s name is Ostgut Ton. It started as Tonträger, which means carrier of sound in German, but after our first release we changed it to Ton, which is German for sound. Ostgut is the name of the company running Berghain and Panorama Bar and was the name of the club preceding Berghain, which included a smaller version of today’s Panorama Bar, where I have already been a resident DJ. Ostgut had to close at the beginning of 2003 due to a re-development plan of the entire area. There’s a massive O2 arena now where the club once was. As a reminder, especially of the Sunday afterhours at Ostgut’s little garden right next to the tracks coming out of Ostbahnhof, André Galluzzi did a mix called “Im Garten” (in the garden) on his own label Taksi Music after Ostgut finally closed. The idea for a label had been floating around for a while, but everyone was so busy running the club itself and it was never realized; so André and his business partner just did it as they already had the infrastructure.

When it became clear there would be a follow up club, I got in touch with the guys running it and offered my help in case they were still thinking about setting up their own label. They reacted very positively, but needed to spend more time on setting up the club itself. And six or seven months after Berghain and Panorama Bar had opened, I went to work on licensing our first mix, Berghain 01 by André Galluzzi. We didn’t have any big plans then. We wanted to make that compilation, that was it. Kompakt agreed to distribute it. My bosses advanced me with an incredible amount of trust. Although I had worked for a record label before, I wasn’t really experienced as I hadn’t been given any responsibilities at my former job. That’s how it started. A while later Ben Klock and Marcel Dettmann, both residents at Berghain, left a demo with Michael and this demo became our first vinyl release.

What is Ostgut Ton’s mission statement, its modus operandi?

We just wanted to set up a platform for our residents to release music on, and that’s what we did.

How is the label’s roster decided? Is it strictly limited to Berghain/Panoramabar staples?

It is, with the exception of special projects like our ballet cooperation, where we asked artists like nsi., Luciano, Sleeparchive, The 7th Plain and Âme to write music for choregraphy staged by the Staatsballett inside Berghain, which we then released as Shut Up And Dance! Updated (Ostgutcd 03). Other special projects include the exclusive tracks we’ve released on vinyl for our mixes Berghain 02 & 03, although none of the artists involved have been complete strangers to the club. On the contrary: Norman Nodge is a resident, Radio Slave runs a label night at Panorama Bar, tobias. and Shed have had quite a strong affiliation through Cassy and Marcel Dettmann already.

An example of Berghain/Panorama Bar flyer artwork

Ostgut/Berghain stands out both as an insular, tight-knit music community and, as has been said, a “world capitol of techno.” Do you still see Ostgut Ton as a local label?

Mostly, yes — at least when you look at it from the production side of things. The core of the label is completely Berlin based, although we have just started to release material by one of our international residents, Luke Slater as Planetary Assault Systems, as well. He plays Berghain four times a year. In terms of how the label is perceived and where our music is bought, it totally is an international label, though.

How much freedom do Ostgut’s artists have in what they release? How much control do they have over the final product?

They have 100% control and freedom. It is not a rare thing for me to hear the music after it already has been mastered and the manufacturing process is already in full swing. We have declined to release music by one of our close artists only once. When it comes to artwork and packaging the label gets more involved, though. Michael is a very visual person and usually has quite an influence on how our releases end up looking.

What is one of your favorite releases on your own label? Why?

It has to be our first vinyl one, “Dawning” by Dettmann/Klock as its success came as a complete surprise. We have just put it out, no press or DJ promo. Marcel hadn’t released anything before and Ben only rarely before that, I think/ “Dawning” was such a fresh track at that time. It has this kind of dark seriousness about it and at the same time has a very playful edge. It combined straight banger qualities with an afterhours sensitivity making for quite a unique combination. It was a very satisfying experience.

Ostgut has risen quickly to the top of the pile in tandem with Berghain/Panoramabar. Is there a lot of pressure to maintain Ostgut’s top rated reputation? How does it impact your label decisions?

I would be lying if I said I’m not feeling any pressure at all. At the same time, we are trying to stick to what we believe in and what has worked for us in the past: Give the artists as much freedom as possible, do nice packaging, pay bills on time

In the last couple years the Berghain sound has crystallized and used to describe a generally dark and banging sort of techno. By contrast, Panorama Bar doesn’t seem as clearly defined. Do you think there is Panorama Bar sound, and if so, what is it?

First of all, I’d like to say that, for me, Berghain hasn’t such a defined sound as is always attributed from the outside. Of course, there are certain congruities between Marcel Fengler, Marcel Dettmann, Norman Nodge and Ben Klock especially. At the same time, they are very different from each other. Len Faki is something else completely already and all our other residents like Luke Slater, Rolando, Tama Sumo, Boris, ND_Baumecker and myself who are frequently playing downstairs as well are all adding different flavours to the Berghain pie. But you’re right in assuming that Berghain musically is a much more defined space as compared to Panorama Bar, where the music policy is much more open yet generally house-oriented. Up there anything might work. The stylistic range is very broad. Thus, it is a lot harder to pinpoint a certain sound, although I’d say that all of the residents have a very good understanding of where house is coming from in general.

Some have likened Ostgut’s signing of Luke Slater’s Planetary Assault Systems to the missing link between early-to-mid 90′s “hard” techno and contemporary sounds. Do you find that to be the case as well? Do you see Ostgut as something of an ambassador of that style?

Not really, to be honest. The way we have released the music as we did, has been more a matter of who had what available at what time. If some of the more house-y DJs and producers had been more prolific, it could have been the other way around completely. There has never been a master plan behind what we did. We just went along with it. Of course Luke Slater and our label are a good match. But again, the relationship with him goes back to a time when the thought of a label didn’t even exist. The guys behind Berghain have been promoting parties in Berlin since the mid 90s and started booking Luke at a very early stage. It is nice that it’s all falling into place, but it does so because of long term, quite personal relationships and not because of business plans.

Along those lines, is there a particular era of electronic music you feel is ripe for rediscovery?

Can’t think of one at the moment. Maybe, because in the environment of Berghain/Panorama Bar, it all has been always kind of present. We have so many residents, and Michael and Norbert have chosen DJs very well. Anything from Hi-NRG, deep house and loop-y, banging techno has always been represented, independent of current trends. This might sound a bit pompous, but it is how it is.

An example of Berghain/Panorama Bar flyer artwork

After hearing the Shut Up and Dance! Updated compilation and seeing artists like Animal Collective, who aren’t necessarily dance-oriented, on the Berghain schedule, is Ostgut Ton open to releasing more than dance music? Are there any plans on this front?

Yes, we are open for something like that, but there aren’t definitive plans at all.

Going back to Panorama Bar, are there plans for a second Panorama Bar mix CD?

Yes, indeed. I’ve almost completed licensing our second Panorama Bar CD which is compiled and mixed by Tama Sumo. It’s going to be released on October 19th and there will be exclusive tracks by Levon Vincent, Basic Soul Unit, Lerosa and our resident Steffi on a two part vinyl set.

How have the exclusive tracks for the Berghain mixes come about? Do the DJs propose the selections or do the producers approach Ostgut Ton with the tracks? Or is the label that’s making the suggestions?

It’s all in the DJs’ hands. They all are very well connected, some are even close friends with the contributors. As soon as they’ve decided which tracks to use, I get involved for the paperwork.

How do you think the proliferation of podcasts and live sets over the Internet impact the viability of mix CDs? Is there something that can be captured in a mix CD that’s missing from podcasts and downloaded live sets?

Economically speaking, in order to sell mix CDs these days there has to be an added value compared to podcasts and live mixes off the Internet. We are trying to achieve this by featuring exclusive material and I think we will even focus more on that in the future. So far it is working out for us, only meaning we are not losing money with the mixes

Although Ostgut Ton is by no means the first label affiliated with a club, it’s quite possibly the most popular in recent memory. Perhaps seeing your success, a number of other clubs have opted to release records and mix CDs as well. Do you think clubs make for good record labels? Why or why not?

Well, I think our success is very relative. Of course, we have fortunately been getting a lot of attention, but anyone who thinks we are making a lot of money with the label is clearly mistaken. Bookings are where the money’s coming in. I still think it is not a bad idea for a club to set up their own label, even today. A club already brings an office infrastructure, there is a network of DJs and artists to be tapped into, and there’s a great chance for cross-pollination between club and label, as long as both jobs are done well.

What are a few other labels, past and present, you respect/revere the most? Why?

Quite obvious, but Factory, because they really treated music as a piece of art to an extent where they actually lost money with mega hits (“Blue Monday”) without diverting an iota from the original idea. I really like how Innervisons are tackling the new challenges of running a record label today, plus they’re releasing good music. And although it’s probably really about time now to rethink their stance, I love Perlon’s stubbornness not to go digital.

The Berghain/Ostgut crowd seems to have a cozy relationship with Hard Wax. What is Ostgut’s relationship with some of the labels it releases/distributes?

Well, a lot of artists we are working with are distributing their labels through Hard Wax: Shed, Marcel Dettmann, Ben Klock, and Cassy. We’re all shopping for records there frequently. Prosumer, Marcel Dettmann and Shed work there, and Cassy used to until last year.

What can we expect from Ostgut Ton in the next year or so?

For the rest of 2009 there will be the new Panorama Bar mix, Ben Klock remixes by Sandwell District, Kenny Larkin and Robert Hood, a new Marcel Fengler 12″ as well as a new one by Prosumer & Murat Tepeli. At the end of 2010 it’s our five year anniversary and I hope we will come up with something nice to mark the occasion. I hope to release both a new Panorama Bar and a Berghain mix next year, as well as one or two artist albums and a string of 12″s including one by Steffi who provided the podcast for this feature. She’s very busy in the studio at the moment. There will also be a new Shed 12″ and maybe even a dubstep mix CD in cooperation with Scuba, who’s running the Sub:stance parties at Berghain four times a year.

And finally: Berghain’s bouncers are notorious for their seemingly random enforcement of door policy. Do you have any tips for getting in?

Don’t give up

Talking Shopcast 05: Steffi (76:14)

Tracklist:

01. Sven Weisemann, “Winter Tale” [Essay]
02. Linkwood Family, “Miles Away” (Intrusion Sunrise Dub) [Firecracker]
03. Tevo Howard, “Everyday House Music” (Album edit)
[Beautiful Granville Records]
04. Kerri Chandler, “Time Is Destiny” [Large Records]
05. Franck Roger, “Klubhead” [Real Tone Records]
06. Leonid, “Sadim” [Sistrum Recordings]
07. Neville Watson, “Up Yours” [Clone Jack For Daze Series]
08. House to House, “Taste My Love” (Tasty Club Mix) [Police]
09. Boddhi Satva, “Warriors Of Africa” (Seedadan Inst.) [Offering Recordings]
10. Scott Ferguson, “Any Day Now” (ElectroVox Remix)
[Deep Vibes Recordings]
11. DJ Boom “Kinda Kickin” [Phonography]
12. Parallel 9, “Domunis” [Music Man Records]
13. Mike Dehnert, “One O Eight” [Fachwerk]
14. OBX, “It’s All We Know (Trippin’ On Air)” [Ascension Records]
15. Shed, “Well Done – 033472 Edit” [Soloaction Records]