First up, Happy New Year to everyone, readers and writers alike. I’m gonna break my review up into 2 parts, this first part is listing any reissues or compilations which really impressed me last year, from any era, in any style and not in any order. Also, I can’t think of a single album from 08 that’s really impressed me, so the only albums in my list are reissues.

Album Reissues;

Joe Higgs - Life Of Contradiction (Pressure Sounds)

Beautiful rootsy soulful reggae from this underrated artist. He was a mentor to Bob Marley and Peter Tosh when the Wailers were moving from ska and rocksteady into rootsier territory and you can hear some similarities in the melancholy spiritual tones on display here.

Cravo & Canela - Preço De Cada Um (Production Dessinee)

There’s been a bit of a resurgence in the popularity of Brazilian pop psychedelia recently thanks to the excellent Soul Jazz comps on the Tropicalia and post-Tropicalia periods of Brazilian music. A number of classic album reissues have since followed on various labels, this being the most recent one. If you’re into that sound, then I definitely recommend this album, extremely infectious poppy hooks with a sunshine feel, but it’s also pretty ambitious and experimental with all sorts of odd psychedelic touches. Japanese only reissue limited to 500 copies.

Melvyn Price - Rhythm & Blues (Wax Poetics)

Originally from Michigan, Melvyn Price moved to Sweden during the Vietnam War and recorded a number of well received albums with Swedish and international jazz musicians. This is his 3rd and most highly regarded album, rhythmic soul jazz/jazz funk of the highest order is what you get. AFAIK, this reissue by Wax Poetics Magazine is the first time it’s been available outside Europe.

Mombasa - African Rhythms & Blues 2 (Sonorama)

Mombasa were a European based group of international musicians led by LA trombonist Lou Blackburn. Heavy jazz funk with plenty of African percussion going on. Kinda similar to Cymande at times but jazzier, or the Pharoahs, but funkier! I missed out on the reissue of the first volume, so I can’t compare the 2, but this one is fantastic, highly recommended.

Miles Davis - ‘Round About Midnight (Speakers Corner Records)

Miles Davis masterpiece from 1956 beautifully remastered from the original analog masters and pressed up on heavy 180gram vinyl. Mmmmm…. a vinyl snob’s dream!

Compilation Albums;

V/a - Spiritual Jazz (Jazzman)

Subtitled “Esoteric, Modal and Deep Jazz from the Underground 1968-77″, this outstanding comp showcases jazz from an era when many musicians were looking to their roots for inspiration, as well as collaborating with musicians from Africa and the Middle East. Although it’s quite avant-garde in places, the rhythms are tight and often funky and as such it may be more accessible than you might presume. If you like artists such as Pharaoh Sanders, Mulatu of Ethiopia, John/Alice Coltrane and so on, I highly recommend picking this up.

V/a - African Scream Contest (Analog Africa)

I’ve mentioned this comp previously, heavy afro/latin/funk/psychedelic grooves from 70s Benin & Togo. Outstanding!

V/a - Nigeria Rock Special (Soundway)

Another one I’ve mentioned here before. This volume of the brilliant Nigeria Special series focuses on psychedlic rock/funk from 70s Nigeria.

Ashford & Simpson - The Warner Years: The 12″ Collection (Rhino)

8 classic disco cuts on 4x 12″s from everyone’s favourite disco couple as well as a bonus 12″ with some new remixes, ’nuff said.

Singles/EPs;

Ragtyme feat Byron Stingily - I Can’t Stay Away (Clone Classic Cuts)

Clone does it again, one of the finest Chicago house tracks ever, originally released in 1987, is made available again on vinyl. Another record off my wants list thanks to the Clone Classic series. Tear the roof off vibes!

V/a - Mission 3 (Vintage Records)

I bought this for the scratch remix of John Carpener’s theme tune to Assault On Precinct 13, but it’s the flip side that really made me take notice. Moon Base’s “Waiting For A Train” is an odd poppy italo tune from 1983, with a spoken word vocal and amazing synths, hard to describe it really, check it out for yourself.

Florence - US Heritage / Wladimir M - As The Leaves Fall From The Trees (Eevo Lute Muzique)

Very welcome reissues of the first 2 releases on legendary Dutch techno label Eevo Lute Muzique, both very much influenced by Detroit but also with quite a distinct European sound that helps them stand apart from their predecessors. “A Touch Of Heaven” from the US Heritage EP was also compiled on the classic Intergalactic Beats comp on Planet E.

Bernard Badie - Time Reveals (Mojuba)

Another house classic from Chicago, originally released in 1994.

Norma Jean Bell - Do You Wanna Party? (KDJ Remix) (Funky Chocolate)

Classic deep Detroit house from Mr Kenny Dixon Jr, also comes with the Theo Parrish remix of “Late Night Show” on the flip.

Banda Los Hijós De La Niña Luz - Dejala Corre / El Sapo / Crees Que Soy Sexy (7″) (Soundway)

Heavy Afro-Cuban funk reissue on the ever excellent Soundway label. Serious breakbeats on this killer 7″.

So that’s the first part of my round up, I’d be interested to read people’s thoughts on my picks. In the next couple of days I’ll list some of my favourite new music releases from 2008.

Just got back last night from a little trip to Rehoboth Beach with some of our B-more crew which was as enjoyable as ever. This time we brought a little portable record player with us and rocked some jazz, soul, dub, and rock LPs while we chilled out and played video games.

I read a pretty good book about dub music entitled Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae which entertainingly enough features a review by Francois Kevorkian as the top customer review on that Amazon page. Michael Veal did a really excellent job of going into the detail of the people who made dub music and the culture that consumed it. Possibly the best part of the book is that he didn’t have to make any concessions to popular culture’s perceptions of dub, unlike the final chapter of Dan Sicko’s otherwise excellent and similarly hyper-focused Detroit techno book Techno Rebels which covered some artists that were hardly even tangentially related to Detroit’s music. Veal’s examination of dub music outside of Jamaica consists only of relevent serious dub music producers like Bullwackie, Rhythm and Sound, Pole, Mad Professor, Adrian Sherwood, etc., all of whom are at least as underground as the original dub music is if not more. I’m not sure how Veal got the backing to do this as dub music is so far out of the consciousness of mainstream music fans, but this is another good step in the right direction for the documentation of regional underground music scenes that have gone on to influence music far and wide. I do wish he had more directly examined dub’s influenced on hiphop and especially it’s influence on early pre-house in NYC which was pretty damn important, but that is really nitpicking an otherwise superb book.

I just happened upon an interview with Jus-Ed that was posted in mid-December on what appears to be a blog based out of Russia. I’m not sure exactly what their deal is, but they have other interviews up with DJ Pete, 2 Banks of 4, Shed, and more.

Another nice blog appeared out of the ether recently, bass & superstructure. The author appears to be in the “serious critic” vein, which is not exactly my favorite style to read but he does cover soulful dance music that other “serious critics” aren’t which is a step in the right direction. b&ss has already been added to our Essential Links and to my own RSS reader, I hope to see more good things from them in the future!

Marcel Dettman has the newest Resident Advisor podcast up, which I haven’t had a chance to listen to yet. The only reason I’m going to is the presence on the tracklist of a new Shake track which is from his new EP forthcoming on the Morphine Records label. If that isn’t enough to get you excited as hell, you don’t really love techno music. Mr. Dettman also drops some nice soulful techno and electro in the mix from artists like Lab Rat XL, Common Factor, Robert Hood, and more, so hopefully the whole mix will be worth a listen.

I know we’re late with it, but I have to mention the passing of the great jazz trumpet players Freddie Hubbard. Oddly enough, I just purchased the “Red Clay” album on CD for my little sister for Christmas. I bet she still hasn’t listened to it, but it’s still my favorite of his albums and an essential record to own. RIP Freddie.

School starts again tomorrow, but as this is my last semester and I have all my EE stuff sewn up, this one shouldn’t be so bad. I actually get some easy classes like “Socialism vs. Capitalism” and whatnot which should keep me in a good mood without work overloads like the past few semesters. Now that my right hand is usable again, I’m going to order some new styli for my tables and have a mix ready by next Monday. I swear it won’t be 7 months before the next mix after that one, either!

So yeah, the plan to post this during the relevant year was a failure. But it doesn’t detract from the greatness of the music!
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First off, I don’t really mind making end of year lists as it gives me something to mull over on a quiet night-shift in work and every year there are always records that stand out for me, so it’s not the most painful thing to do. I stopped buying records a couple of weeks ago due to monetary reasons, but I think that for the most part my favourites of the year were already within my possession - bar a couple which may have made it, if i’d managed to get a hold of them; Reggie Dokes’ on Philpot and the Rob Hood/The Black Dog 12″. But that’s part and parcel of collecting music, you just can’t always get everything you want.

I’ve bought more music this year than ever before, but at the same time there was the odd disappointing element to the year. A lot of new techno didn’t do much for me, lauded labels like Ostgut Ton and Sandwell District didn’t excite me as much as I thought they would. Far too many people shit their pants over the Shed album too. There was nothing wrong with it, but I didn’t think it was a massive step up from some very impressive releases he’d put out in previous years, on his own Solo Action label. But that’s hype for ya. I definitely bought more house, disco and Italo flavoured records,  this  was simply taste evolving and branching out along with a much healthier bank balance allowing me to indulge more in these styles.

It’s been a haphazard year for me outside of music, and this is most certainly reflected in my choices below. There may have been some more aesthetically impressive releases to have appeared over the year, but it doesn’t really matter if they do little to you emotionally. This list is probably not definitive, but it’s fairly close and though it runs 10 to 1, most of these could be interchangeable with each other.

Finally, Happy Christmas to everyone who’s contributed or read ISM. Special thanks to Tom for letting me waffle on here too. I’ve enjoyed all of it.

10. Omar S - Psychotic Photosynthesis (FXHE)

Ok, so it actually came out at the arse end of last year, to cancel it out next year I’ll stick up something that came out this December in next year’s list (maybe). It doesn’t matter; an awesome record that could go on forever.  One record that proves Detroit Techno still matters.

9. Casionova - Shoreham Harbour Blues  - Ali Renault Rmx (Dissident)

Renault may be at the epicentre of the rather ugly London/Shoreditch hipster fondness for all things Cosmic and Italo but this is still an epic piece of modern, melancholic Italo disco.

8. Ragtyme - I Can’t Stay Away (Clone Classic Cuts)

Two out of three records now that weren’t even released this year!? I’m obviously not very good at this, but looking back on 2008 and ignoring what Clone Classic Cuts reissued would just be plain rude.  And this is possibly the highlight. 21 years on, it hasn’t lost even the tiniest bit of it’s magic. Play this and the crowd will go nuts. If they don’t, switch the decks off.

7. Motor City Drum Ensemble - Raw Cuts (MCDE)

I pretty much ignored the 2nd side of this record for about 6 months, the first more direct house “cut” proved irresistible for quite a long time. Then when I finally gave the flipside a chance, I couldn’t stop playing it either. Mightn’t change your life, but will make you dance like a crazy thing. And sometimes wiggin’ out is the best therapy there is.

6. Alden Tyrell feat. Fred Ventura - Memories (Moustache Records)

Alden Tyrell may be the most sickening man in dance music. He sits on tracks forever like they don’t matter, gives out about having to play live and freely admits to finding producing not-very-hard-at-all. Yet time after time he drops hammers on your head. A massive improvement on his update of Love Explosion with Ventura from a couple of years ago, he barely crawls above 105bpm this time, while Fred croons about a love lost. Rarely has such  histrionic, synthetic pop music been so touching.

5. Volk - The Day We Met Again (Lifeworld)

Previously only known for a couple of releases on Jeff Mill’s 6277 off-shoot, Volk returned with his own imprint, Lifeworld, earlier in the year and gave techno a good swift kick in the balls. No washes of dub nothingness, no hi hats stolen from Phylyps Traks, instead a busier sound than many go for these days, all adding to the tension and excitment contained within. His latest is just dropping now, so maybe it will be my December 08 release I’ll rave about next year, ’cause it sounds even better than this.

4. Redshape - Blood into Dust (Styrax Leaves)

I talked about this a couple of weeks ago. Both Redshape’s and Styrax’s best effort in far too long. Along with Volk, he’s not afraid to wear his influences without making it seem like a pointless exercise in retro posturing.

3. Sascha Dive - Deepest America - Moodymann Rmx (Ornaments)

The best remix of the year, the first half stomps along like house music’s going out of fashion before KDJ turns everything on it’s head with the meanest bass riff this side of, well….a big fucking bag of bad ass, mean bass riffs.

2. Theo Parrish - Chemisty/Untitled One (Sound Signature)

This has been mentioned more on the blog than any other record in the last month or two. With good reason too. I’m not afraid to admit Theo doesn’t do it for me all the time, but when he does he’s nearly untouchable.

1. The Hasbeens - Keep Fooling Yourself (Clone)

Another Tyrell tag team effort, this time with fellow Dutchman, Dj Overdose. Released in January this record took on a life of it’s own for me over the last 12 months.  Actually the b-side,  “Keep Fooling Youreslf” was yet another over the top modern italo floor filler, which even by Tyrells standards was ludicrously good. The A side cuts “Make the World Go Away” (which first appeared in ‘06, unawares to myself) and “Ain’t The Same As Before” are the true stars of this record though. Their robotic, vocodered vocals coupled with more reflective music connected with me more than any other release this year.

It’s about that time of year where every website, magazine, and blog out there starts churning out year end lists. Despite the presence of some more interesting “Top 5 of 2008″ lists over at Little White Earbuds and other places, I find that my mind just doesn’t work like that. I did submit some choices for the polls over at Resident Advisor (in fact, I even got to write the blurb for 2008’s top live act DBX) but that was mainly to ensure that the kind of music we cover here at ISM got some representation. If you check their user-generated Top 100 DJ poll, you can see why I was concerned!

I’m not gonna bore everyone with posting all my choices, but even coming up with those lists at all was rough. This being the first full year of ISM, I had our archives to go back and look through to find what albums, singles, and remixes I got excited about. The problem is, I didn’t write about EVERY record that I got this year. For example, Moritz Von Oswald’s remix of Sebbo’s “Watamu Beach” was not a record I mentioned in a post, and thus it got left off my list. And one of my top choices for albums, Karizma’s excellent “A Mind of Its Own” which I picked up in April and my man Jwan picked up in January, has a release date of March 2007 listed on Discogs. Is that even correct? How can I verify it? I also felt uncomfortable voting for numerous tracks by the same artists (even if they probably deserved it) in the name of getting more of my favorite artists in the mix so they could get some love shown for them.

The whole process just goes against how I consume music. It’s tough to pinpoint exactly, but my guess is that over 50% of the money I spent on music this year went to old records that cover the last 50 years or so in many genres. This year saw a large increase in the amount of jazz music I purchased, with basically none of that coming from the last 25 years. And those were some of the records I was most excited about! Because my music purchases are drawn from such a huge pool, the decision made when purchasing something is “Is this the best value for my money?”, not “What new things do I need?” Looking at Philip Sherburne’s list of 2008 albums for eMusic, I realised that I probably didn’t buy 12 albums from this year to make up a list that long. I don’t even feel bad about it, really. When it comes down to it, I only have so much time to spend listening to music and I’m not gonna waste it on something that isn’t interesting in the grand scheme of things just because it came out this calendar year. When you’re competing for my listening time in 2009, you’ll be going up against all the greatest artists to ever record music, not just the guys who put something out the same week as you. If you can’t fuck with John Coltrane in the big picture, I’m probably not going to listen to your shit anyway.

We definitely review much less new stuff on here than other “techno and house” blogs do, but we cover more old shit than most of them do, especially things that haven’t just been reissued. That’s an important part of who we are. I could try to do a big rundown post about my favorite things that came out in 2008 like I did in 2007, but I don’t really feel like it. There are little links on the sidebar to sort posts into the categories they’re filed under. Click on the one that says “Records” and check the posts we made throughout the year to see how we felt AT THE TIME. No revisionism necessary, no conveniently wrapped up list for you to download effortlessly, no bullshit. You can get a nice slice of new and old hiphop, soul, jazz, ambient, and more, along with what we felt stood out at various points through the year in house and techno. I think that’s a better way to look at it. You can see how we collected the records, the moods we went through, the undercurrents of buying different genres at different times in the year, etc. Not to get all High Fidelity on you, but the way we do it allows you to see how WE lived this year, as if the record titles were chapter names in our autobiographies.

We cover music with purposeful prejudice. Taking our personalities and tastes out of the equation would make this blog totally meaningless. The cats who write here were chosen for a reason, and that reason wasn’t because they were “objective” journalists. We can’t speak definitively on anything other than what we like, and that is based on years of culture and experience. We’re not going to listen to every single record that comes out in the genre of “techno” just because we are a techno blog. In fact, I’m sure that there are plenty of people out there who have listened to 100 times the number of techno tracks from 2008 that I have. What makes us unique and our voice meaningful is our perspective, and that’s what you’re going to continue to get through 2009 and beyond.

I’ll probably have one more post about new records this year as Moodymann finally dropped his “Det.riot” album and there’s a bunch of other dope sounding jams out there. I also grabbed a bunch of old records I’d been looking for for a hot second, including some things I was obsessing over on CD this summer. In the new year, we’ll have some more great interviews, record reviews, guest mixes, mixes by our resident deejays, parties, commentary, exclusive unreleased tracks to download, and whatever else we can cram into our little corner of the interwebs.

I want to give a big shoutout to all the blogs and sites listed in our “Essential Links”, you guys laid it the fuck down in ‘08. I hope everyone checks those guys out regularly as they are all truly essential. To the ISM readers, a huge thank you. The fact that you guys constantly comment and dialogue with us shows that we have a thriving community here, which in turn makes artists and deejays want to work with us so that in the end, everyone wins. To those artists and deejays, another huge “muchas gracias”. We’ve had so many great guest mixes and interviews this year that I can hardly believe it. You guys are a big inspiration, and we’re happy that you’re down with something as underground as we are. It’s been a really fun year and a half or so thus far, and we intend to keep upping the ante, trying to outdo ourselves. If things go as planned, 2009 should see the first vinyl releases associated with this blog. We’re taking this shit big time. Peace.

Now available to download - 5 hours of recordings from our November Dream Machine party. Look out for details of the next party coming 31st January 2009.

Rick Hopkins @ Dream Machine 081108
Jonny5 @ Dream Machine 081108
Intergalactic Gary @ Dream Machine 081108

There’s more and more new stuff stacking up as the year winds down, hopefully things will be a little more evenly distributed next year! Before I move on to talking about these records, I want to give a shout out to my man Carleton and his Mass Communications class. I sat on a panel of local Pittsburgh people involved in different mediums of communication yesterday for the class’ final get together. It was funny to be sitting next to reputable journalists and whatnot, but I had a good time discussing some issues with them and the kids in the class! Also, for those deejays out there in ISM-land, our boys over at Little White Earbuds are having a “podcast competition” that has 3 more days for accepting submissions. I know we’ve got some talented people just amongst the usual commenters here, it would be fun to see one of you guys win! One more thing to flag for the ISM-faithful, a nice little interview with Kyle Hall over at our man Kuri’s Energy Flash blog, highly reccomended.

Moving on to the music, pictured above is the new EP by Dam Funk on Stone’s Throw. Despite the “Rhythm Trax” title, these are not just bare bones drum tracks (though that would have been welcome by me as well!). Instead, these 8 tracks are fully realised electro boogie instrumentals, but with a modern stuttered beat. Varying between slow jams and uptempo dancefloor cuts, there’s something on here for a variety of sets, no matter if you play techno, electro, soul, or disco. I believe Mr. Funk still has a full length release in the works for early ‘09 as well, we’ll be looking out for that one as well.

Larry Heard also came through recently with a very 80’s electro influenced joint on his new 12″ on Alleviated/Black Market (through whom he issued many of his mid-90’s classics). Definitely not his usual deep house sound, “25 Years From Alpha” is one for the techno crossover crowd with its epic spaced out synth work. You can feel a little italo, a little Kraftwerk, and a little new wave in the mix, helping show why Chicago was so influential to Detroit at the dawn of techno music. Larry Heard is truly a master of electronic music.

Rahaan, another Chicago native, finally dropped his excellent edit of Timmy Thomas’ “Why Can’t We Live Together” on Still Music, taking the early drum machine track and extending it to the point of hypnosis, tossing in haunting bits of organ and vocal to keep it funky. Ron Trent also called Chicago his home, and his newest 12″ is yet another ridiculously ill house joint. Just at the title promises, “Jazz Funk Freedom” takes the sounds of 70’s CTI releases and corrals them onto his trademark deep beats.

Checking in with our Detroit brothers, I have to echo Kenny’s praise for Theo’s newest track “Chemistry”. This is the cut that was playing near the end of the Adidas film thing a few months back, and it sounds even more amazing in full. It would have been tough for Theo to drop a release better than “Love Triumphant” this year, but he went ahead and did it. Amazing. ISM cohort Scott Ferguson has a new one with Marvin Belton on Deep Explorer called “I Am Here (Piano Mix)” which is a wonderfully warm deep house groove. You gotta let this one play through the breakdown though, so you can get to the crazy piano bits that have a bit of that late 80’s NYC deep house feel. Baaz turns in a good effort as well, the other two cuts are also nice making for a strong overall release.

Going back to Stone’s Throw for a moment, the new limited edition heart shaped red vinyl 7″ of Mayer Hawthorne & The County’s “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” is definitely in track of the year contention for me. Combining 60’s soul vocals with a banging hiphop beat, this is what chart pop should sound like and for me it’s the best pop song since Gnarls Barkley dropped “Crazy”. My only complaint is its length, I want it to go on and on! This is already getting heavy play in Pittsburgh and people definitely react to it! On a similar tip, the Misled Children LP “Peoples Market” is really beautiful hiphop informed funk music played and recorded on vintage equipment. Their new album “The Misled Children Meet Odean Pope” adds some melodica and horn to the mix which works out quite well.

On the digging tip, here are some recent highlights:

Ike Yard - Night After Night: Noisy rhythmic new wave type craziness that you can dance to!

Janet Jackson - R&B Junkie: Dope dance track that is the source of the sample in Mark E’s “R&B Drunkie”.

Midnight Express - Danger Zone: Not really a dig as this was a recent re-issue that my man found for me up in NYC, but the new 12″ remix is the hot 80’s boogie business.

Yusef Lateef - Detroit Latitude 42° 30′ Longitude 83°: Awesome soul jazz with Bernard Purdie on drums. I liked the jams I had heard from this before finally scoring a mint original, but the whole album is outstanding and is now one of my favorite jazz albums.

John Coltrane Featuring Pharoah Sanders - Live In Seattle: Awesome spaced out live set of free jazz by two of the best to ever do the damn thing.

King Errisson - L.A. Bound: Nice disco LP featuring the great “Disco Congo”.

On the record buying front it’s been a hectic couple of weeks for me, overspending to the point of stupidity - and no Christmas presents bought for anyone yet either, oops. Most of these were picked up on a recent trip to London, where it was nice for a change to have so many places to go digging, both for old and new stuff.  Here’s a lowdown on a few of the goodies I came across in the last while… (more…)

Leopoldo Rosa, more commonly known as Lerosa, is an ISM favourite for some time, releasing quirky, original house on labels such as D1 Recordings and Millions of Moments since 2005. A while back I had a chat with Leo talking about everything from his musical beginnings in Italy, nearly packing it all in to been gently forced into playing live…
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You can guess somebody’s records are going to be good when they’ve released tracks on Mahogani, Track Mode, Real Soon, and Prescription as Kai Alcé has. Editing classic disco cuts for labels like Stilove4music and Editions Disco certainly isn’t going to hurt anybody’s perceptions, either. As people seem to finally be learning, they are all indeed quite dope! Stepping out on his own this year, Kai has released two 12″s on his own new label NDATL Muzik that will further cement his reputation as one of the top soulful deep house producers out there.

Aside from being an excellent producer, Kai is also one of the best house deejays in the US. His roots range from Detroit to New York City, but it is in Atlanta where he has made his mark with his legendary parties at MJQ and other spots around town. We are quite pleased to present a little slice of Kai’s distinctive style with this jazzy R&B influenced mix.

Download the mix here.

Check out Kai’s website and his Myspace page for more info.