[Minilogue] (buy vinyl)

It’s been a busy (and largely successful) year for Minilogue. The Swedish duo have issued a stunning double-length album, Animals, a fistful of singles and remixes (including the mighty “Jamaica,” complete with love-it-or-leave-it Dubfire remix), and now, the second limited-edition 10-inch release on their own Minilogue imprint, the third release on the label overall. Through it all, they’ve maintained a consistent quality, as well as the animal-theme they seem to have grown attached to over the last year. Whatever their quirks, the pair continue to deliver the goods, and rather prolifically at that. Read more »

[Horizontal] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)

Matthew Styles took the long road to acclaim before puncturing charts and year end lists with the propulsive grind of “We Said Nothing.” As a manager of Crosstown Rebels and well rated DJ, he was already plugged into the scene before dropping his first collaborative and solo releases (the ill-advised “Baby Judy” homage with Jamie Jones and for Dinky’s label Horizontal, respectively). Firsthand knowledge of floor-filling fillips honed his own productions such that his first real hit cratered clubs wherever it was played, even if the flipsides were all too easily overlooked. Style’s second Horizontal single, “Speculate This…” plays out with similar gusto, except the tables are turned: the deep B cut is the one worth skipping to. Read more »

Listening to and judging over 35 mix submissions was something of a life-consuming task, but one which exposed us to a number of incredibly enticing sets that left us quite proud of our readers. A hearty thanks to each of you who put your time, effort and taste into these mixes. This is our last post of 2008, so happy New Year in advance. We’ll be back to a regular posting schedule on January 5th, 2009.

And now, the time has come for us to announce the winner of our first annual podcast mix competition… after the jump. Read more »

Every time the album format is declared dead for dance music a slew of great full lengths arrive to attest to the contrary. In this regard 2008 was no different, offering bountiful evidence that the extended format is a great canvas for electronic music of all stripes, from treated avant-garde to finely textured techno experimentalism, fathoms deep house music to expansive dub techno, and many styles in between. Here are LWE’s top 10 albums of 2008 as selected by our staff, each one a nail in the coffin of the phrase “the album is dead.” Read more »

05. Matias Aguayo, “Minimal”
[Kompakt] (buy)
In the year that minimal either went cynical or cyclical, or simply gave its critical audience more to harp about than usual, Matias Aguayo played devil’s advocate with “Minimal.” Aguayo’s late-night lover-man persona can be hard to read, so who really knows if this is smackdown or pisstake (I daresay it’s both at the same time), but it’s the groove that carries the track, a bumptious, licentious shake and slide. File it next to Barbara Morgenstern’s “Come To Berlin” (its sister track) as polemic you can party to. (Jon Dale)

04. The Mole, “Baby, You’re The One”
[Wagon Repair] (buy)
The Mole really out-did himself with this towering monster of a track, finding the perfect intersection between poppy house music and forcefully looped production. Whirling onto dance floors like a cyclone, it was near impossible not to be ensnared in its hopscotched rhythms, chanting along to fiercely cheerful vocal samples, heads thrown back, faces plastered with smiles. Some of my favorite moments while dancing this year involved this song and massive amplification, and I think I know why. (Steve Mizek)

03. Dave Aju, “Crazy Place”
[Circus Company] (buy)
It’s hard not to think of “Crazy Place” as epic — all slow motion build, a wobbling warm siren against a landscape of percussion. But even though “Crazy Place” might’ve been built from Aju’s mouth, what really mattered is how large he could make it sound. Open wide, indeed. (Nate DeYoung)

02. DJ Bone, “No Sleep (True To Da Roots)”
[Sect Records] (buy)
In a year where the influence of the Motor City was proliferate in house and techno, one of its native sons effortlessly showed the rest how it’s done with this jacking, emotive firestorm of a track. With its tough, raw proclivity and yearning, melodic soul all filtered through a mesmerizing key line “No Sleep” made itself a 2008 essential. This faultless stripped back funk served as reminder that sometimes it’s the simpler things that pack the most heart. (Per Bojsen-Moller)

01. tobias., “I Can’t Fight The Feeling”
[Wagon Repair] (buy)
2008 will be remembered as the year Tobias Freund struck back. Whether it was a tirelessly excellent stream of remixes or his work for Wagon Repair and Ostgut Tonträger, Freund was at the top of his game and a resurgent master of techno. The year’s best song was also his, the hypnotic “I Can’t Fight The Feeling.” Freund coaxes such sympathetically savage patterns from his synths which grow more potent each time the sultry vocals crawl up your spine and into your brain. Connecting with body and soul, “I Can’t Fight The Feeling” is the deepest and most heartfelt piece of techno I’ve heard all year. (Steve Mizek)

Read individual staff lists after the jump. Read more »

10. Sascha Dive, “Deepest America”
(Moodymann remix) [Ornaments] (buy)
Building up from a classic Motor City stomp into a looped-out masterpiece with energy to spare, Moodymann’s frenetic take on Sascha Dive’s “Deepest America” was a timely reminder of Kenny Dixon, Jr.’s mastery over the sampledelic end of the spectrum. Tastefully limiting the now-cliched Afrocentric speech of the original, Moodymann let the soulful vibes speak for him instead, with ridiculously catchy vocal clips (”Music! Music! Ain’t no soul no more!”), propulsive congas, and a massive breakdown doing the heavy lifting. (Todd Hutlock)

09. A Guy Called Gerald, “In Ya Head”
[Perlon] (buy)
Gerald Simpson moves into his third decade of production with two aces up his sleeve -– the reissue of his Black Secret Technology, which is still the finest album jungle ever coughed up, and “In Ya Head,” his first single for Perlon. Shacking up with the redoubtable German imprint makes perfect sense; like sometime Perlon peers Villalobos and Pantytec, Simpson keeps things moving even as he’s scratching details into the track’s furthest nooks and crannies. Both sides are great, but while “Moon Jelly” might have the edge texturally (its opening volley of eight-mile-high chords is delicious), “In Ya Head” is so much about the Guy Called Gerald hive mind, it’s quintessential. (Jon Dale)

08. Kevin Saunderson, “Good Love”
(Luciano’s Good Love remix) [KMS] (buy)
Luciano’s 2008 DJ sets were flavored with more deep house sounds than ever before, and his remix of Kevin Saunderson/Inner City’s “Good Love” showed that influence in spades. Looping and layering Paris Grey’s sultry vocals over his trademark percussion and a sleek one-note riff, Luciano created the perfect universal tool for jocks of all genres. Deep, soulful, and infectious, “Good Love” was very good indeed. (Todd Hutlock)

07. Vladislav Delay, “Recovery Idea”
(Andy Stott remix) [Semantica Records] (buy)
Talk about your slow burners. Andy Stott turns his masterful Mancunian hand to the already seriously deep “Recovery Idea” resulting in unchecked subterranean bliss. There’s an almost ethereal air to Stott’s remix; the ascendant strings alone could easily be mistaken for a heavenly choir. The bass is blurred and burrows towards the center of the earth as an intergalactic typewriting pool reels off accompanying effects. Dub techno re-proved itself a major force in 2008 and in no small part because of Andy Stott. (Per Bojsen-Moller)

06. Ricardo Villalobos, “Enfants (Chants)”
[Sei Es Drum] (buy)
The first and only time I went been to Fabric was about a year ago, when Ricardo Villalobos’ popularity was reaching new heights. Fabric 36 was still sinking in, “Sei Es Drum” was hot off the press, and now this weird tool that could only be Ricardo’s was popping up in clubs and on YouTube. Craig Richards and Âme seemed no less enamored than the rest of us, as “Enfants” got at least two healthy rinses that night. No one knew quite what to make of that epic piano line and galvanizing chant, but somehow it was clear that whatever we were hearing would go on to become one of the definitive tracks of the approaching year.
(Will Lynch)

Read Part Four of our top singles list here.

15. Melchior Productions Ltd, “Who Can Find Me (I Can’t)” [Cadenza] (buy)
“Who Can Find Me (I Can’t)” has to be one of the best emotional minimal tracks of 2008. It’s brittle structure and softly plodding drums are classic Melchior, but something about the shimmering arpeggios and mournful vocals make this one especially heavy-hearted. “Choir” makes the EP worth buying on its own, but “Who Can Find Me (I Can’t)” shows a prolific artist at the top of his game. (Will Lynch)

14. Osborne, “Ruling”
[Spectral Sound] (buy)
With so many of this year’s “deep-house” releases sounding more like kiddie pools, it was an absolute joy to dive into the depth of Osborne’s “Ruling.” Making no bones of its touch stones, the track interprets Chicago/Detroit house through its composer’s equally earnest and brainy production style. Hugely soulful and musically bold, “Ruling” was one of the year’s early hits that’s just as striking today (and will remain so in years to come). (Steve Mizek)

13. Matthew Styles, “We Said Nothing”
[Diamonds & Pearls Music] (buy)
Matthew Styles set a time-release bomb with “We Said Nothing.” Originally slated for fall of ‘07, it opened to little fanfare in February and as 2008 progressed, it eventually became “impossible to ignore” (noted by LWE’s own editor-in-chief). If Petre Inspirescu’s “Sakadat” had the best detuned drums of last year, “We Said Nothing” takes the cake in ‘08 with a fine acid rub to boot. (Nate DeYoung)

12. Matias Aguayo, “Minimal” (DJ Koze remix)
[Kompakt] (buy)
It was somewhat ironic for a producer like Matias Aguayo who’s more than dabbled with minimal techno to release a rather stripped back single which lyrically castigates minimal music. Thankfully the ever reliable DJ Koze was there recast the tune as a breezy summer affair thick with lush pads and tied together by ribbons of guitar licks. Best served chilled, at pool party, along side a raft of DJ Koze’s other brilliant moments from 2008. (Steve Mizek)

11. Ricardo Villalobos, “Minimoonstar”
[Perlon] (buy)
“Minimoonstar” is sinewy, percussive, and yet still laid-back as can be. The grooves and beats interact in ways that beggar belief, but somehow feel like more natural combinations than ninety-nine percent of what else is out there. “Minimoonstar” is a club dream, a politico-sexual poetics of beats and bass, or pretty much any other damn fool thing you want to call it. It deserves to be remembered long after 2008’s ups and downs have faded from thought.
(Colin Shields)

Read Part 3 (10-6) here.

In the face of critical malaise, 2008 was a great year for techno and house singles. As the landscape shifted further from minimal, deep-house (already as broad a term as “minimal”), dub and tribal sounds came back strong, joined by brand name Berghain techno, dubstep and its techy (as of yet unnamed) brother. There was certainly no shortage of great singles crowding shelves (physically and digitally), and these twenty, as selected by LWE’s staff, represent our favorites from this year. This is just the first slice, with Tuesday through Thursday hosting the rest, and our albums list will cap off the week. Enjoy! Read more »

We’ve updated our podcast feed, which means the old feed you’re subscribed to will no longer update. Keep up to date with our podcast series by subscribing to this feed. Sorry for the inconvenience and stay tuned!

For our final year-end column, LWE staff writer Todd Hutlock takes to task the top five worst ideas of 2008.

Pundits can argue back and forth all they like about whether 2008 was a good year for music — that’s a matter of taste. What can’t be argued, however, is that for any and all of the highlights of the year that was, there have to be some low points to balance out the scale. From a magical flashing box to the ongoing war between vinyl and online buyers, these were the five worst ideas of the year. Read more »