Daft Punk
Alive 2007 [Virgin]
My Robot Friend: “By all accounts, it was a banner year for Daft Punk. This album is as important for the creative transformations of the landmark songs that it presents as the incredible tour that it documents. Viva la robots!”
Dapayk & Padberg
Black Beauty [Mos Ferry]
Pan-Pot: “Very nice album with good listening stuff and the Presingle is killer.”
Matthew Dear
Asa Breed [Ghostly International]
Mike Monday: “Cool pop. There isn't much of it about, but Matthew Dear surprised and excited me with this brilliant offering of bonkers production and catchy vocals. And Neighborhoods is definitely one of my tracks of the year.”
Audiofly: “Matthew Dear – aka Audion – comes up trumps with an album that manages to unite pop sensibilities with weird techno sounds. Genius.”
Dean Muhsin (Codex): “This is a predictable inclusion, mainly as it is undeniable as one of the best electronic albums of the year. Wit, funk and soul in a joyous off-centre way.”
Tim Paris (Marketing Music): “Let's face it, he's THE producer of the moment. Thanks to him you needn't classify deep house, Detroit techno, minimal or any style you might think of any longer. He's so talented he leaves us speechless… A great album from someone essential on the club scene today.”
Gregor Tresher: “I’m a big fan of all of Matthew Dear’s productions, especially all the recent Audion releases and remixes. I would rate this my favorite album of the year.”
Deekline & Wizard
Live: The Mix CD [Rat Records]
Skool Of Thought (Against The Grain/Supercharged): “Another strong year for these guys – their Steam collaboration with DJ Fresh is my tune of the year. I’d go as far to say these guys are the number one act in the world of breaks now. If not now, then certainly in 2008. The album is a quality, well-thought out blend of UK culture with a state side twist. Bang on.”
D:Fuse & Hiratzka
Skyline Lounge [Lost Angeles Recordings]
D:Fuse (Lost Angeles Recordings): “What can I say? I'm very proud of this album. We worked on it for a year straight and I still love listening to it. Collaborating with Mike and infusing lots of live instrumentation really brought a warmth and melodic direction to this project. It's pretty smooth and vocal heavy, and it was great working with DJ Rap, Ceci Castelblanco and violinist Govinda.”
DJ Format & Mr Thing
Holy Shit [Private Press]
Nominated by Aquasky
DJ Muro
45 ARE pm [Unknown]
DJ Yoda: “This is a mix CD by a Japanese DJ – he takes 70s soul tunes and plays them all at 45rpm when they should be at 33rpm. It's kind of like chipmunk music – reverse chopping and screwing.”
DJ Shortkut
Going Uptown – A New Jack Swing Era Mix [Antidote]
James Mowbray (Four:Twenty): “The best DJ mix I heard all year: Bobby Brown, Bell Biv Devoe, Keith Sweat and much more. “That girl is poison…”
DJ Sneak
Sessions – Sneak Beats [Ministry of Sound]
The Jinks: “The master of jacking house music brings a storming mix together here. CD one is definitely the one for us – it’s got classics all over it. CD two is a bit tougher, but also has the fonk.”
DJ Vadim
The Soundcatcher [Bbe]
Ben Gomori (Going Places): “Can this album be faulted? A sublime blend of hip hop, funk and reggae with the dopest beats this side of J Dilla's grave and some of the most stunning vocal performances of the year.”
Dopplereffekt
Calabi Yau Space [Rephlex]
Nominated by Alex Smoke (Hum+Haw)
Dub Pistols
Speakers and Tweeters [Sunday Best]
Drum Monkeys (Carl Loben): “The definitive Dub Pistols record, Speakers… was way more accessible than its predecessor. Inspired cover versions of Peaches by The Stranglers and Blondie’s Rapture helped, but the whole album was shot through with a dubwise sensibility tackled with punk attitude.”
Elektrons
Red Light Don't Stop [Wall Of Sound]
Dicky Trisco (Disco Deviance): “Defining LP by The Unabombers. It charts the musical influences - house, disco, funk, hip hop and urban – on a generation like a top mix tape of our times and pulls it off.”
The Emperor Machine
Vertical Lines And Horizontal Tones [Dc]
Black Ghosts (Theo Keating): “Always loved the Chicken Lips stuff (this is by one half of them) and this carries on where that left off, and is even better. Awesome flavours of disco, acid, 80s boogie, electro and italo all converge on a great album.”
Peven Everett
Power Soul [Soul Heaven]
The Jinks: “This guy is just king of soul – he plays most instruments on the album, and his voice and lyrics are all so damned fine.”
Thomas Fehlmann
Honigpumpe [Kompakt]
Gudrun Gut (Monika Enterprise): “Because I love honey and I love it when the honey is pumping. And thomas was not afrait to mention Joseph Beuys.”
4 Hero
Play With The Changes [Raw Canvas]
DJ 3000 (Motech/Submerge/UR): “I don’t have to say much about this album just plain hot shit! Love the way 4hero continues to just pump out killer albums and always stay fresh in there sound and collaborations with vocalist always a great touch!
Manuel Gottsching
E2-E4 [Mg Art]
Thugfucker: “Re-released this year, this is a classic of all classics. The hour-long track is like a mind trip that slowly evolves but somehow never bores, and it was made by a guitarist who certainly didn't expect the dance music community to pick up on it the way they did more than 20 years later. I first heard this on the dancefloor at Club Shelter in NYC maybe 10 years ago and it blew me away. And seeing as it was originally recorded back in 1984, it's amazing how it still holds up. It's rare to have an occasion where you could actually play this in the club, but the few times I've heard it dropped in the right moment, it's just unbelievable.”
Guillaume and the Coutu Dumonts
Face L'Est [Musique Risquée]
Nominated by Dan Ghenacia
High Contrast
Tough Guys Don’t Dance [Hospital]
Drum Monkeys (Carl Loben): “From the old skool jungle referencing opener If We Ever – all Omni Trio pianos and Diane Charlemagne vocal soul – to corking roller The Ghost Of Jungle Past, this was drum and bass full of fresh flavas and liquid creativity.”
Also nominated by Aquasky
Michel Ho
Screw The Coffeemaker [Tuning Spork]
Nominated by Dan Ghenacia
Interpol
Our Love to Admire [Parlophone]
South Central: Keith: “We can listen to Interpol all day. They’re a band who transcend the sum total of their influences. I remember when this album came out, there was a fanfare about a change in direction due to the addition of keyboards. I for one was quite worried. In fact with this album they have narrowed down the parameters set by the previous two.” Rob: “The thing with Interpol is that the singles are good, but there are always better tracks to be found on the album. The centrepiece here, Pace Is the Trick, is a gloom-ridden anthem and one for the repeat button.”
Interstellar Fugitives
The Destruction of Order [Underground Resistance]
DJ 3000 (Motech/Submerge/UR): “Not because I am on the project or down with the label but as a true fan first and foremost, this 2CD album put all doubters to rest that the UR camp had not been putting out the calibre of songs like they use to! This double CD features over 38 songs from electro, techno, to ethno fueled funk with 15 plus artist pushing the boundaries of not only electronic music but music in general along with addressing current social and economical events…”
Jazzanova + Gerd Janson
Computer Incarnations For World Peace [Sonar Kollectiv]
Dicky Trisco (Disco Deviance): “Excellent compilation of cosmic disco sounds exploring the early history of electronic dance music. Includes the wonderful 'Adventures in Success' by Will Powers.”
Justice
† [Ed Banger]
Drum Monkeys (Carl Loben): This album from the French duo just totally captured the zeitgeist, for the noisenik cut & paste ethic that’s cut through so-called ‘nu rave’ and into breaks with Alex Metric, Koma & Bones and the likes.
DJ Yoda: Along with the Ed Rec compilations, this was the album that finally got me into new electro music. There's something about the way the samples are cut up that still feels "hip-hop" to me, so my ears are now officially open to uptempo!
Black Ghosts (Theo Keating): “I was making noise about these guys right from day one, so was hopeful for the album. And it didn't disappoint. Unlike all their imitators, these guys still know about melody and music, rather than just distortion for the sake of it.”
Barry Ashworth (Dub Pistols/Dogtown Clash): “They are just off the hook and followed up some enormous singles with an album that everyone has loved this year.”
Kraak & Smaak: “21st-century rock and roll.”
