Well colour me impressed!

There has been an absolute shedload of amazing music – and great musical experiences – so far in twennyten. As there’s a finite amount of things I can review or write about properly, I thought I’d mash it all together into one post here. After considering and vetoing a monthly update (because I am way too undisciplined), or a general end of year round-up (I have a dodgy memory, and, generally, meh), I settled on every 3 months, to round up some of my favourite music and other things.

I’ve been astounded at the volume of quality music that’s crossed my desk/inbox/ears of late, and it makes me very very very happy to know that while the music industry wrings its hands and furrows its brow over its own uncertain future, that art and creativity continues to persevere, propagate, prosper. Proper heartwarming ish, innit.

Hessle Audio in particular is one label that has been romancing my ears this quarter with their three artist EPs. The Ramadanman EP was bloody great, Pangaea EP was amazing, and James Blake’s otherworldy The Bells Sketch EP still does funny things to my insides. Kyle Hall swatted away any scepticism I may possibly have had about him, with Kaychunk/You Know What I Feel, a very mature and understated effort.

Loops have had me in a spin lately, with lots of simple repetitious, sounds that have been hitting the sweet spot. The A-side of STL’s Things From The Basement has him doing what he does best, newcomer Childproof Man has some kind of mojo working on his chantlike debut for Spectral Sound (RA review coming soon), A Made Up Sound took me back a decade to the authentic early dubstep sound of Ghost/Tempa/Soulja with “Sun Touch” and to another rhythmic wonderland with the untitled track from the same Sun Touch EP , and Actress rustles up more of his vaguely industrial, cinematic bass music for his new Nonplus EP . Magic.

The new Bonobo album Black Sands is something quite special, and sneak peaks of other releases from Daedelus and Funki Porcini bode well for Ninja Tune for the rest of the year. Cannot get enough of Lindstrøm & Christabelle’s Real Life Is No Cool, and on a compilation tip the Cold Waves and Minimal Electronics collection and DBridge & Instra:Mental’s Fabric mix have both soothed the soul.

On nepotism tangent, I have some truly talented friends who are making me very proud. Jay Shepheard and Marysia Pawlik inked their new Retrofit imprint with their excellent #1 EP, of which “Add Arp” is the bizness. Miss Michelle Owen made her production debut with the summery delight “What’s In A Name” in collaboration with Dirt Crew, and Phillygran had me chomping at the bit over his unfinished, unmastered track “Bright Lights”. Duuude — hurry up and get this out!

Out & about, there’s been a few moments of pure dancefloor bliss. Legging it to London for the latter part of the Red Bull Music Academy program was well worth the ‘logistical issues’ with Ryanair on the way back to Berlin. Highlights of that week/end were Önur Ozer’s invigorating set during On & On…& On at Fabric, Giles Smith playing some truly delightful house at Secretsundaze surrounded by gobsmacking views from the 35th floor, and of course the wholesome, joyous fun of the Moodymann/HMD rollerdisco, which had me grinning like a loon the entire time. Back in Berlin, more wholesome, joyous fun from Kenny, in the most unwholesome setting of Berghain, dropping Yazoo, De La Soul and both sides (one right after the other) of Marshall Jefferson’s “Move Your Body” 12″ during a truly memorable set. Panorama Bar highlights include Jus-Ed toughing it up for Underground Quality, and Omar-S being his grouchy yet charming self. Other Berlin mentions include the M_nus Contakt film, which managed to remind me of the simple idealism behind the minimal juggernaut, my virgin trip to Horse Meat Disco at Tape, and the ever-reliable Retreat nights (best midweek party in Berlin. Fact.)

Downer of the quarter would have to be falling for one of Ryanair’s dirty tricks (thieves!), but that nasty memory is totally outshone by the #1 best moment: seeing my beloved supervillain DOOM/Vik Vaughan/King G live – the real deal, not an imposter -  sober, healthy and KILLING IT at Roundhouse. Even though the sound was shithouse, it was a real joy just to be there, and this was definitely the highpoint of the night:

Oh and one last honorable mention from 2010 thus far. This:

If anyone would still like to pay tribute to the late, great Alexander McQueen but isn’t sure how to go about making that gesture, can I suggest you do so by gifting me with this sublime fuchsia knuckle duster clutch from his Spring 2010 range?
It’s a win-win situation, really. Thanks a bunch.