Top 2024 (Part 1)
Keeping it simple this year: top 40 tracks, releases and producers I played out this year, starting with shorter(ish) blurbs and likely escalating into full-length essays by the time we reach the top 10. I know I say this all the time, but I am intentionally pretty bad at keeping up with new music. So this is a selection of what managed to get through my various filters and into my DJ sets. Starting with 20-40, alphabetically…
Ali Akram - Undertones EP [Discat]
Reviewed here. Much like Ali Berger’s tunes (and indeed his remix on this EP), ‘Undertones’ and ‘Primary Tactic’ have been excellent set openers all year.
Cathy Høbi - ‘all she wants’ [Bandcamp]
I’m obsessed with Cathy Høbi. Over the past four years the Filipina producer has been releasing Todd Edwards-inspired UKG tunes featuring cut-up vox from her hero, Latina singer Angela Bofill, though she often also speak-sings herself. I’ve played ‘You Better Make Love To Me’ at The Pickle Factory, the sublimely surreal ‘Dreaming Of Meat’ at Adonis and Pbar, and this year I stuck on ‘all she wants’ at every opportunity I had, not least when I played in Manila back in April.
She’s even had an endorsement from Todd the God himself, but there is very little info about her online. Her FB page — a deluge of dodgy ads and photos of fast food — looks like it’s being run by an AI. And then in June this year, when Angela Bofill died at the age of 70, Cathy briefly removed all of her bandcamp and changed her artist name to RIP CATHY HØBI (2003-2024), before announcing her first “posthumous EP”. Since then there have been flamewars between users on youtube and reddit discussing her sudden demise, which, reading between the lines, seem mostly to be conducted between different accounts set up by the ‘late’ Cathy herself.
I hope she’s OK, obviously. And I’ll continue to follow her work religiously. ‘all she wants’ actually has none of the Todd Edwards pastiche, standing alone as a funky, deep, bitchy 2-step anthem to being “the baddest girl in her business”. Check ‘the boy is mine (call me craft)’ on the same EP for more 2-step goodness.
Cloudsteppers - Aqua Hotel EP [Peach Discs]
Aqua Hotel EP | Cloudsteppers
4 track album
Ciel & Dan Only team up for four takes on UKG, functional but with enough depth and quirky detail to make them linger in the mind. On the A, the title track and ‘Control’ (with vocals from Eden Samara) are light, bubbly and kind of microhousey, and therefore totally on trend. On the B, ‘Duckstep’ (my most played of the four) and ‘TDG’ have enough organs and wubz for peaktime but preserve the thoughtful feel. Shouts for the exceptional artwork too, one of my favs of the year.
DJ Plead & rRoxymore - ‘Celestial City’ [Smalltown Supersound]
Gimme those claps! I love the tension in this tune, the restraint, but also the way that restraint leaves ample room for moments of drama, like every time that six-note piano flourish rings out. One note: I’m not one to argue for making everything as loud as possible, but this track is mastered SUPER quietly, possibly for the vinyl release. It’s not really a problem, but when you compare it to tracks like the next one…
DJ Satyrias - ‘Booty Worm’ [Posse Up!]
One of the loudest most in-your-face tunes I played out a lot this year. You can scratch your nails on the distortion saturating every drum hit. And it’s also been one of the most effective: a fat clap, a cowbell, a whistle, a plunging kick+bass combo… it’s Dance Mania in 2024. The first time I played it, early on in my set at the Fandango lighthouse back in February, it lit a firework under the dancefloor.
Doc Sleep - Cloud Sight Fade LP [Dark Entries]
Cloud Sight Fade | Doc Sleep
7 track album
Reviewed here. I remember playing the title track at Sx club in Seoul in April alongside OG Detroit/UK techno from the likes of Wildplanet, and it slotted right in. ‘Lemon Zest’ also got several outings as a set opener, reminding me quite a bit of Dana Kuehr’s BM18 LP.
Duckett - ‘Risking My Life For The Local Cats’ [Solar Phenomenon]
A constant presence in my DJ sets and mixes since I first heard ‘Millions And Millions Of Palastinions’ in John Gomez’s stunning RA mix, Duckett has a track for every situation. This one is a bad man stepper lurching drunkenly from the 1 to the 3, as space sirens wail ever more outrageously overhead. Halfway through, everything stops suddenly for the filthiest wubby riff to come in. It reminds me pleasingly of an updated ‘HAL (Reggae Mix)’ and is SO MUCH FUN to play out.
(Bonus mention to ‘Read Between The Lines’ on Herbert’s Accidental Records, the latest of Duckett’s eerily convincing lounge singer experiments. Is Ruby Black a real person or an AI? Perhaps it doesn’t matter.)
fleet.dreams - Echoes Of Ego EP [Vinezza]
I built an entire radio episode around this EP back in September and I encourage you to listen to that show to hear how smoothly these supple tracks slip between the highly disparate grooves and moods around them. Each one is an unassuming yet effective builder, and every time I reach for them I have a different favourite. Right now it’s ‘Tan Gallant’ for its tribal chants, putting me in mind of Alex Celler’s ‘Trapped In Dub’. In fact I’m going to try that combo out soon.
Kreggo - ‘R & B’ [art-aud]
R & B | Kreggo | art-aud
track by Kreggo
I loved this wonky and unpredictable cut-up of Max Roach playing the drums as soon as I heard it, but I was very doubtful I’d find the right time to play it. I shouldn’t have been so worried: over the course of this year I’ve dropped it in several places and, every time, people get properly stuck in. The triplet-time breaks last just long enough to cause confusion, but then the groove locks back in. Kreggo said this was the start of a new project so I’m looking forward to more where this came from.
L’Homme Statue - ‘Révolution (BADSISTA Remix)’ [Gop Tun]
I was lucky enough to see L’Homme Statue perform at Lisbon party CURVS back in September: a PA without Zopelar but in regal form nonetheless. ‘Révolution’ was a highlight, Loïc ceremonially placing an imaginary crown on his head as he sang the “you can’t fuck with me/you can’t fuck the queen!” lyric. I had a funny realisation, though, that the BADSISTA remix I’ve played so religiously this year does one of my least favourite things, by shifting the metre of the lyrics around vs the original. I guess I give it a bye, though, as it’s an outright banger, gun noises, fanfares and First Choice “aw shucks!” samples and all.
Lotéricas RJ - Esportes Da Sorte EP [40% Foda/Maneiríssimo]
Another in the long line of Gabriel Guerra aliases, Lotéricas RJ emerged this year as one of his more housey guises, first on the slap bass-heavy Jogos De Azar EP and then on this three tracker. Early Chicago was the vibe on the first EP — think Sunset Records Inc. — while this second one leans more into Italian dream house. Classic, playful, pristine, like always with Gabriel.
Mutagen - ‘Save The Planet, Chill Yourself’ [TerraFirm]
A highlight of the all-round excellent HOLOBIONT compilation that drew Tony Fairchild’s TerraFirm project to a close earlier this year, this track features Tony in partnership with fellow Pittsburgh producer Ali Berger. Mutagen is a highly apt choice of name, as this track continuously twists and turns over its runtime, playing with our expectations about phrasing and arrangement. And Chris Korda’s mutating experiments with polymeter may well have been on their minds, if the pun in the track title is anything to go by.
Percunta - ‘What Is Love?’ [Pryma]
I was kind of already over the electro house revival before it really got going, but I got sucked in by this one and played it over and over this year. In any other track the long and rather plodding intro would test my patience beyond breaking point, but when drop finally comes three minutes in, with the vocoder and crazy synth guitar riffs, I’m completely sold. I even like the completely OTT rushy break. I’m allowed one, OK?
PlayPlay - ‘Devotion’ [Bandcamp]
A late entry, I only got this a couple of weeks ago but I’ve been listening to it on repeat and already played it out a couple of times. It sounds so simple — a breakbeat, a plunging bass tone, a gated house vocal, two chords — but that’s why it works so well. It reminds me of some of those timeless Italojohnson tunes: careful studies in house music fundamentals, trimmed of all fat, done and dusted in less than four minutes.
Roska - ‘MK8’ [Bandcamp]
Another <4 minute banger! Roska came in hot this year with the three-track Foundation EP, and while I played all the tracks out, it was this middle cut that stuck with me. Something about the mellow pads lifts it, creating a warm feeling of togetherness while the beats and bass keep things tough.
Rudolf C - ‘Lattice’ [Data Disk]
Every time I reached for ‘Lattice’ this year it sent me down the DJ philosophy rabbit hole, as I wrote about at some length back in May. It’s a tightly-programmed yet chaotic-sounding funky drummer rhythm track, with a ‘Got House?’-like slap bass that doesn’t drop until almost three minutes in. I guess you could call it a tool, but to me there’s a huge amount going on. I’m still not sure if dancefloors really like it or not, but I do, and that’s what really matters.
SH - FXWL 24A EP [Flux White]
SH aka Stephen Howe followed up his debut solo EP on my label (here) with another fully formed four-tracker on Flux White, leaning into the electro and coming out sounding a lot like Electronic Corporation. But there’s added spice, from the outrageous squelchy breakdown in ‘Geröntgt’ to the melodramatic synth solo in ‘Effective Dreaming’. This year also saw Stephen debut his alias Eton Hepshew on the novelty stepper ‘Crinkle Cut’, which just came out on Astral VIP and features LTJ Bukem’s agent Tony Fordham trying to get his clothes ironed somewhere in Japan. Say it with me: “I-R-O-N… I. N. G. I-ON-ING!”
The Vast Profound - ‘Detroit Droplet (Casey Tucker Remix)’ [Fourier Transform]
If you’re a fan of Casey Tucker’s tunes — and why wouldn’t you be — then like me you are probably amazed by his ability to keep on turning them out, almost 30 years after he debuted his Variable Frequency Technician alias and established Fine Balance. Here he remixes an unreleased tune by Fourier Transform boss Wil Russell, completing the circle that began with Russell’s remix of his own 'Deep Soul Calm’ back in 2021. All the familiar elements are there: propulsive Detroit beat, soaring strings and synths, and a growling bass to complete the picture. The snares and hi hats are simply to die for. (Sidenote: I’m still waiting patiently for the full The Arrival EP to be remastered…the original vinyl sounds like absolute shite but the tracks are too good to not be rescued.)
Tryst & Vovian - ‘Haeundae Beach (Eli Verveine Remix)’ [Stólar]
This one isn’t actually out yet, but I’ve been lucky to have a promo and played it out a couple of times already. Classic fine minimal house, as Hardwax would say, with a surprising and very satisfying bass drop almost three minutes in. (Clearly this is a theme this year?) At home it sounds quite delicate, but play it on a proper system and it really slaps, thanks to mixing from Gwenan and mastering from Pole. I also played Eli Verveine’s ‘Reverie’ several times this year, including opening mine and G’s set at Waking Life with it.
Vermelho Wonder - ‘Dance Fatal (Zopelar OG Instrumental Mix)’ [Gop Tun]
The Brazilian duo who brought us ‘Se Você’ followed up their Halloween release ‘Vamp’ (reviewed here) with a full EP featuring a new original, ‘Dance Fatal’, and remixes from Zopelar. For an affirmed Zopelar stan, my reaction to his latest Ritmo Freak LP was rather muted. Something about it left me cold. Whatever it was missing, though, is present in spades on his remix of ‘Dance Fatal’, which starts strong with a huge slap bass and stuttering Hot Mix 5 vocal samples. Something about the arrangement of the bassline creates an off-beat lurching feel to the phrasing, giving it a somewhat menacing feel and constantly keeping you on your toes. After almost three minutes (!) of this, finally a sustained pad and brilliant sparkling synths crash in, instantly taking us from the back alley to the main boulevard, turning darkness into glitz and glamour.