Music Round-up 2010

Music Round-up 2010

5th Jan 2011

As the pattern of previous years continues to grow bolder, and the majority of my listening fodder takes the form of podcasts and other free DJ mixes, I'm beginning to question what the music industry has in store. Don't get me wrong, I'm still buying albums but just not as many as I once used to. I mean, why should I spend money when blogs like Resident Advisor and FACT Magazine release such satisfyingly good music so regularly for free?

Here's my round-up of the year in music for me in 2010.

First of all, my iTunes statistics tell me that I downloaded 290 podcasts and bought 56 albums in 2010.

Podcasts

I've been following so many podcasts this last year, it's been a stiff challenge to keep up and give each the attention they deserve. For instance, each month in 2010, The Black Dog released at least one free mix (all essential listening I hasten to add). Collectively, those particular mixes have taken more than 50 hours of my time just to begin appreciating. Add in all the other podcasts I've been listening to (from the likes of MINUS Connections, a strangely isolated place, Resident Advisor, mnml ssgs, XLR8R, Data Transmission, FACT Mixes, Slam's Monopod, Bodytonic, Allez-Allez, Zero") you may develop some sympathy for my overloaded brain!

So, in order, here's my top podcasts (I've linked to most of them for you):

  1. Ahu - FACT Mixes
  2. Gonzales - Pianist Envy
  3. Nelo - Eclectik Mix Autumn
  4. Brothers Bouaziz - Resident Advisor (stream only)
  5. Magda - Resident Advisor
  6. Aeroplane - Chart Mix March
  7. The Black Dog - Bodytonic
  8. Instra:mental - FACT Mixes (stream only)
  9. Round Table Knights - Autumn Mix
  10. Tevo Howard - Resident Advisor
  11. Heinrich Mueller - Research
  12. Donnacha Costello - Bodytonic
  13. The Psychonauts - Resident Advisor (stream only)
  14. Jokers Of The Scene - Bombs Over Belleville
  15. Tom Middleton - datatransmission
  16. Mystery Jets - FACT Mixes
  17. Nima Chatrsimab - Minus Connections
  18. Thomas Fehlmann - Resident Advisor (stream only)
  19. Gadi Mizrahi - Double Standard Crew Love Mix (info)
  20. Jon Hopkins - Bestimix
  21. Magda - Forty Fathoms
  22. Tripswitch - isolatedmix11
  23. Zed Bias a.k.a. Maddslinky - XLR8R
  24. Bjørn Torske - Millionhands
  25. Roman Flügel - Allez-Allez
  26. Carl Craig - Resident Advisor
  27. Slam - monopod7
  28. The Black Dog - Bonus DJ Mix

Lest we forget, four mixes that I played many times but don't really fit in the above list: my own compilations! Check those out here:

  1. Compy 15 (no longer available for download)
  2. Compy 16
  3. Compy 17
  4. Compy 18

Albums

Fifty six albums. To be honest, I didn't actually buy them all, one or two were given to me (thanks Jim and Tracy), some came with my subscriptions with Soma and fabricfirst and a handful were free. I won't bore you with details about what made these albums so great, I'll just say that the ones I've listed below are all very good.

In order, my top albums of 2010:

  1. Consequence – Live For Never
  2. Xenia Beliayeva – Ever Since
  3. Cloud – Hökarängen Space Program
  4. Major Lazer & La Roux – Major Lazer & La Roux Presents LazerProof (free)
  5. dBridge & Instra:Mental present Autonomic – Fabriclive 50
  6. Skream – Outside the Box
  7. I.D. & Baobinga – I.D. & Baobinga - Bass Music Sessions (free)
  8. Drums Of Death – Generation Hexed
  9. Actress – Splazsh
  10. Marco Bernardi – Switches, Drawers and Washing Machines
  11. We Love – We Love
  12. The Black Dog – Music For Real Airports
  13. Booka Shade – More!
  14. Harvey McKay – Machine Make Noise
  15. aKido – Gamechanger (free)
  16. Decimal – Lost in a Dark Place
  17. Scuba – Triangulation
  18. David Rodigan - Fabriclive 54