The 50 Best Albums of 2016
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The compilation (as we used to know it) is not as big as it once was. Playlists and mixes have become the standard way for DJs to show off their sets, there is no need for a commercially produced mixed CD with only the established series such as Fabric and DJ Kicks still releasing mix CDs these days (and still offering us excellent mixes!). However, in 2019 , ‘Curated’ collections continue to provide us with some choice platters, such as the second volume of John Gomez's ‘Outro Tempo’ on Music From Memory or Fabio & Grooverider's '30 Years of Rage' series of 4 different vinyl doublepacks, and, of course, everyone loves a DJ Harvey mix and this time, he decided to give us the unmixed tracks on a lovely double vinyl too! These unmixed collections of tracks can concentrate on a micro-genre, a geographical area or even a cross-section of many genres but having a common thread… this reflects digging culture and diversity in DJ sets, ways in which you can be original when presenting records to people despite an age when everything is on YouTube!
This year, the DJ Kicks series features heavily with 4 releases all featuring in our round-up: Peggy Gou, Kamaal Williams, Laurel Halo and Leon Vynehall. Fabric aren't far behind though as they celebrated both 100 Cds across both their Fabric and FabricLive series (and sadly, the end of them) and then, just a few weeks ago, 20 years of the club. Delving a little deeper are the excellent Light In The Attic Japanese ambient compilation 'Kankyo Ongaku' and the Stroom compilation 'Shakti' combining Western discotheque rhythmics with Eastern influences! An honorary mention too to the excellent Analog Africa imprint too who gave us 'Jambu' from the city of Belem in Northern Brazil and 'Mogadishu' from Somalia this year.
Enjoy our compilation selection.....
Musique Pour La Danse release a treasure trove of material by Dirk Desaever, the under-appreciated mastermind behind Industrial/New Beat projects A Thunder Orchestra & White House White. While the cassette and 12" counterparts to this LP present some of his more sought after productions, this album unveils a goldmine of previously unreleased material and needs to be heard to be believed.
Powder has been making excellent music over the years, hard to describe, always interesting and sometimes challenging but always pleasing, her sounds can be heard on labels such as Esp Institute, Cocktail D'Amore and born Free. Here Beats in Space asked her to compile a mix - she provided them with a true snapshot of music from her scene over the last 2 years. Don't DJ, Karamika, Samo DJ, and The Sun God are just some of the names on this excellent compilation.
A stunning new collection featuring music influential to the artist Keith Haring, defining 1980s New York during an intense period when downtown artists and musicians collaborated like never before. Haring’s musical inspiration took in the punk/dance downtown sounds of clubs like The Mudd Club, underground disco at Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage, as well the early days of hip hop and electro. The music here includes the work of a number of Haring’s close friends, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Yoko Ono, Larry Levan, John Sex and George Condo (The Girls), as well as healthy dose of rare disco, early electro and New York punk/dance tracks.
Compiled by Soundway's Miles Cleret and DJ/collector Jeremy Spellacey, Body Beat explores the fringes of this often maligned (by outsiders) genre. Boiled down to the bare bones of the matter though: soca is party music. Filled with up-tempo tracks from start to finish, seventeen slabs of soca crossover, rapso, electronic calypso, and Caribbean ‘soca-soul’ for your enjoyment - and bound to fit well into modern, open-minded DJ sets alongside the resurgence of burger-highlife, digi-reggae, soukous and zouk.
The twelve-track collection ‘Ultimate Yokota 1991-2019’ traverses through Yokota’s emotive and playful house sound - employing infectious synth hooks, analogue drums, soulful vocals and an underlying positive energy throughout. Sound Of Vast shine a light on one of Japan’s unsung heroes of House. A loaded compilation full of choice bumps and positive House vibes recorded over the last 28yrs!
Wrapping up the fabric series in its current format, ‘fabric 100’ is a triple disc package drawing on the 19 years of the fabric nightclub’s existence and its associated record label. Residents Craig Richards and Terry Francis contribute mixes for volume one and two whilst fabric founder Keith Reilly delivers the third. Though distinct in style the artists remain fused by their efforts imparted to the electronic scene in London over almost two decades. Craig Richards, who also plays a key role in programming the club’s line-ups, delivers an electro-infused take whilst Terry’s contribution draws on the influence of his early Nineties contemporaries like Tiefschwarz and Pure Science. Keith’s soulful vocal-inspired house mix leads the historical series to a century.
An amazing and exhaustive compilation of long lost gems from Somalia! After being blown away by a few tunes - probably just as you will be after listening to this - Samy Ben Redjeb travelled to the infamous capital city of Somalia in November of 2016, making Analog Africa the first music label to set foot in Mogadishu. Thanks to Samy rifling through piles of cassettes and listening to reel-to-reel tapes in the dusty archives of Radio Mogadishu, we are treated to a cornucopia of different sounds: radio jingles, background music, interludes for radio programmes, and a good number of disco tunes, some having been stripped of their lyrics, the interesting parts had been recorded multiple times then cut, taped together and spliced into a long groovy instrumental loop.
This heavy compilation from Brownswood shines a light on the independent underground in Melbourne, where a close-knit collection of artists have taken cues from soul, jazz and club culture to carve out a fresh Melbournian sound. Featuring nine different groups, many of them sharing members and studios, the record surveys the musical contours of this bubbling scene, nodding to house, broken beat, samba, p-funk and soul.
On the 100th and final instalment of the FABRICLIVE mix CD series, two UK pioneers join forces. Burial and Kode9 are each credited with fostering esoteric, hyperlocal sounds and steering them to global recognition, helping to shape the landscape of contemporary electronic music as we know it. They are also close peers, having influenced each other’s careers immeasurably over many years. Both artist’s origins can be traced back to bass-heavy strands of UK underground music - a sphere in which they have worked closely together for many years, the mix reaches into obscure corners and a disorienting range of tempos across its 37 tracks. Featuring artists from Africa, China, South America and Japan as well as the Europe and US, the mix draws from gqom, juke and footwork to trance, jungle and grime.
Street Soul Brasil (1987 - 1995) compiled by Augusto Olivani features songs from prominent artists of the era's urban street movement, at their creative epochs. Part mellow pop, part R&B, adorned by melodic drum machines and hints of national rap, this noteworthy work is a soulful compendium of sounds, memories, and feelings from Augusto's own universe, translated into his first ever compilation under the Hello Sailor Recordings catalog.
Our trend setting friends Public Possession over in Munich have been running a tip top label and record shop for 5 years now. We were lucky to have them instore at Phonica a few years ago, and also played alongside them while in London. This excellent CD only compilation of exclusive tracks project their expertise and taste for contemporary balearica, sunny pop and ambient house. An overall theme of relaxation, wellness and contemplation succeeds throughout - here's to the next 5 years of quality guys!
Growing up in Cape Town, South Africa, during the last days of Apartheid, Esa Williams is not only a musical polymath but also passionate about connecting people through music. A skilled DJ, producer and educator, Esa has found ways of bringing people together and enhancing the talent present - from being a band leader, reigniting the legendary Ata Kak band from Ghana, or a collaborator with the likes of Tanzanian artist Mim Suleiman, to focusing his energy on electronic music-focused educational programmes in Cuba, Brazil, and East & South Africa The result is a rainbow of complementary electronic styles hailing from not only South Africa but further afield, including zouk from Brazil and the French Antilles, as well as Afro-futurism and Bacardi House. Together, they form a comprehensive picture that connects the dots of Esa’s musical journey – from growing up in South Africa, to artists he has encountered in his worldwide travels who have helped develop his identity as a musician.
Musique Pour La Danse give us an album of personal favourites and forgotten pearls selected by Dj Morpheus aka Samy Birnbach, member of post punk / wave band Minimal Compact and responsible for compiling the classic downtempo / ambient late 90s Freezone series on SSR Records (parent label of Crammed). A timeless collection of unintentional psychedelic, post-everything, and pre-anything music with his one of a kind, unique, selector air.
Winston, an established record collector, gets the chance to show us some of the obscure classics from his record collection: Winston has included tracks taking in soul, funk, disco & boogie with many of the tracks costing hundreds if you were able to find the originals.
David Haffner (not only the deepest of disco heads but a great D.J as well) helped reissue label Athens of The North license many of the rare Disco 45s on the label. So now David gets the shine he deserves as the label asked him to compile some of the songs he helped licence for the label alongside new songs. David's definition of disco includes 70s Soul or Modern Soul 45s that fit into the disco sound, soulful and magical. The whole LP is straight up dance-floor fire, no matter who you are or where you're from - a soul boy, disco lady, or a house head you are going to feel the heat of these club smashers.
Not just one doublepack compilation, but two - one concentrating on the sounds of Saturday's Fabric and the other focusing on the bass-heavy sound of Friday's FabricLive night! fabric is widely acknowledged to have long supported the underground London house and techno scene and the breadth of talent here shows this from the melodic techno of Nina Kraviz, the shuddering electro of Steffi, and evolving experimental house of Margaret Dygas. New resident IMOGEN drives darko techno whilst Marcel Dettmann’s is a classic late-night sound. Houndstooth’s Call Super takes things down a deep melodic notch and Maya Jane Coles steps up with a playful slice of house. British dance music pioneer Sasha closes out on a euphoric high with layers of building vocal and melody. And this is just part 1!
The iconic album series Back to Mine returned once again in 2019 with the first DJ mix compilation from world dominating indie-dance band Jungle, showcasing their personal tastes for the after-hours.
Japanese City Pop reissues have always been thin on the ground in Phonica over the years, via this great compilation there are plenty of cute breezy 80's songs to discover here. Much like the term Balearic, City Pop is more a feeling and a movement from a certain time and location - bright synth ditties rub shoulders with easy listening jazzy numbers, disco-light affairs and tropical funky dreams. Delve into this sunshine soaked replay for guaranteed feel-good moments.
'Esoteric, modal and deep jazz from Prestige Records, 1961-73' The tenth edition of the excellent Spiritual Jazz series takes a closer look at the music Prestige was recording at the start of the 1960s. This was the period when the modal jazz sound pioneered by Miles and Coltrane was starting to percolate through the jazz underground. Featuring Afro-Eastern visions from Yusef Lateef and Ahmed Abdul-Malik, deep modal excursions from Mal Waldron and Walt Dickerson, and essential spiritual jazz grooves from Gary Bartz and Idris Muhammed, Spiritual Jazz vol. 10 documents the sound of modal jazz in full flight, unabashed and authentic from the pioneers!
As Fabric and Fabric Live's famous mix CD series came to a close on the 100 mark, they ushered in the new dawn of Fabric Presents.. featuring global, almost household names at the helm. Bonobo is the first to curate, instead of just re-licencing classic and underground tracks, more emphasis is placed on gaining exclusive tracks espcially written for the project. Some of these brand new tracks read like a roll-call of today's most prominent producers - DJ Seinfeld, Earth trax, O'Flynn and Bonobo himself.