2010′s Top 50 Original Tracks

Of all the slo-mo disco house kids that emerged this year, Lee Foss takes the biscuit for his warm and downright inventive productions. And he’s had a huge year, what with his Hot Creations label, his Hot Natured collab with Jamie Jones, as well as a slew of top solo productions. ‘You Got Me’ wins by a whisker with its swirling, strangely familiar disco sample. Always soulful, Foss weaves 80’s r’n’b samples into a tapestry of dizzy, sultry and, yes, sleazy disco sounds. Filtered vocal fragments rise up out of a swarm of juddering house chords and sunny synths.

Deep house and old school garage collide in Midland’s debut single, a collaboration with his friend Ramadanman. The two Leeds housemates ride soft-pedalled yet deliberate tech-house beats, amidst the sparse stab of piano chords, the darker, techier edges tempered by the warm bass and filtered female vocal sample. In case you missed it, Midland’s follow-up EP ‘Play The Game’ also deserves a look-in, with Midland’s meticulous production style and versatility both on display.

4. Justin Martin, Ardalan – Mr Spock

A cheeky, cartoonish house banger. ‘Mr Spock’ came to fruition only after an unsigned 20-year-old, Ardalan, sent a 10 minute demo to Justin Martin. The thing needed a little cleaning up, but sure enough Justin Martin tweaked and released one of the biggest – and most fun – tunes of the year with the young newcomer. The quirky, ghetto-bass-infused houser perfectly sums up the gleefully bouncy sound of Claude Von Stroke’s Dirtybird imprint. Positively guaranteed to smash the dancefloor.

Raw, energetic drums rattle and thrum with a satisfying punch that strongly call to mind the old school – in both spirit and production technique. The Iranian Shlomi Aber’s most consistent point of reference remains the raw energy of Detroit percussion. And, despite its repetitive simplicity, ‘Tap Order’’s clattering beats bristle with such organic fervour, the whole thing could go on for another hour and we wouldn’t get bored (and, in fact, that’s exactly what the album does).

6. Cottam – Cottam 004B

Mr Cottam makes impossibly slow house numbers, I’m talking 106 bpm. Sure,‘004B’ doesn’t quite measure up to the jubilant, roots-injected sounds of ‘Cottam 002B ‘or ‘Cottam 003B’. But he unfolds some raw, clunking beats that smack so damn hard and push a groove so stripped-back and yet so funky, that it’s impossibly to ignore. And all this is wrapped around a familiar r’n’b sample.

7. Axel Boman –Holy Love/Not So Much

A relative unknown but with a couple of releases over the last few years on Swedish label Ourvision, Axel Boman came out of obscurity in 2010 to show the mighty Wolf + Lamb camp how it should be done with this superb three-track EP on Pampa. Unable to decide which was better – the vocal disco of the title track or the deliciously understated piano closer – I placed both joint 7th. It appears DJ Koze had been keeping a watchful eye on Boman, biding his time before snapping him up for this impossibly uplifting and imaginative house release.

8. Laid Back – Cocaine Cool

Laid Back are the Danish pop group of the late 80s who provided the effortless cool of ‘Bakerman’ or the grubby funk of ‘White Horse’. ‘Cocaine Cool’, a previously unreleased gem, is all gurgling acid synths and tinny snares that provide a tasty backdrop to a vintage, nonchalant vocal ramble about cocaine…or is it ‘cooking’..? This is glorious, two-fingers-up anti-pop; built almost entirely around pop sensibilities (rhythm, lyrics and downright catchiness) but fitted with a slippery, squelchy electro-tech bassline and a subject matter that would repel any commercial radio station.

9. jozif – Chicago

‘Chicaggggoooo’. What better way to celebrate Chicago house than simply sing the name of the city over and over for eight whole minutes? Well, not quite; it of course helps that London’s jozif brings an epic, string-drenched build up, edging tantalisingly into that deliciously retro love-chant to Chi-town, before unleashing a throng of swooning piano chords. The whole thing’s sealed by the Londoner’s mid-way plunge into a deep, larger-than-life piano breakdown.

10. Nicolas Jaar – Time For Us

Ah. The eternally trendy choice. Play this at an after-hours party and prepare to soak up approving, knowing nods from various scenesters about the room. This newcomer super-kid has gained the kind of fervent, clamorous hype Joy Orbison was riding in 2009. And it appears each and every production of Nicolas Jaar’s further cements his reputation for offering up a truly novel approach to house music. The crawling, funeral pace of the moody ‘Time For Us’ screams quirky and offbeat, and yet the 20 year old Chilean insists such tracks of his are those simply designed for ‘the market’ (read here) – he’s keen to pursue the more abstract, less sellable side of music (display on his Cloud & Sunset imprint).

11. Tensnake – Coma Cat