Normally, we're on our break but we figured we couldn't just stop posting things without doing something special. And since it's the time of the year, we decided to make a top ten of the finest producers of 2007. To earn a spot in our top ten, one would have to produce on a consistent level and not limit oneself to a fantastic compilation (Booka Shade, Ewan Pearson) , to mind-blowing remixes (Carl Craig) or just a fantastic album (Pantha du Prince). What we were looking for were producers who managed to combine these elements. After doing some thinking, we came up with a blend of promising new talents and well-established names in what is to be our top ten...
10. CrookersA breakthrough year for the talented Italians who created a furor with a series of excellent remixes and some very nice productions of their own.
9. BurialAn artist that most will know because of his wonderful album "Untrue", which is acclaimed by many as one of finest as 2007, and I have to join the party as well because words fail to describe the exceptional quality of "Untrue". Just listen to it is my advice. Moreover, Burial has made some tremendous remixes such as the one for Jamie Woon's "Wayfaring Stranger" and one for Bloc Party.
8. BrodinskiIn his debut year, the young Frenchman made a series of impressive remixes (especially the one for D.I.M's "Is You", which helped to ease the pain for the dissapointing original) and an amazing track of his own: "Bad Runner". Keep an eye on this kid!
7. Hot ChipHot Chip keeps amazing us by constantly doing new things. They now made a compilation for the reputed DJ Kicks series which was quite fabulous indeed. It was surprisngly coherent and the exclusive track they recorded for this compilation ("Piano") is the shit because I couldn't get it out of my head for like 2 weeks. Not to mention the terrific remixes they made for the likes of Matthew Dear ("Don and Sherri") and Chk Chk Chk (Must be the Moon).
6. EfdeminThis bloke came up with an amazing album early this year and then followed through by creating top quality remixes such as Gestern's "Till Von Sein", Sascha Funke's "The Acrobat" and Andreas Heiszenberger's "Perfect Moment". And next to his album, he even produced two more EPs: "Lohn & Brot" and "Métisse 02". I can just keep listening to his releases. Every time I seem to detect something new, or maybe that's just my imagination. There's just something magical about his productions. Just listen to "Acid Bells" (those drums!) and you'll see what I mean...
5. Midnight JuggernautsOne of the most impressive breakthroughs of the year can be accorded to Midnight Juggernauts. Last summer, their massive album "Dystopia" was released and more than the Klaxons' "Myths of the Near Future", this album made me like the whole nü-rave concept. They also made some nice remixes, especially their version of Kim's "Wet N Wild", which was wild indeed.
4. Boys NoizeAfter strong productions "Don't Believe The Hype" and "Feel Good (TV = Off)", it was Boys Noize who washed away my dissapoint of earlier maximalist albums of Justice (they aren't to be compared with Daft Punk at all) and Digitalism with his massive debut album "Oi Oi Oi". He's also the man who's responsible for the track I listened most to this summer, namely his remix of Feist's "My Moon My Man". And his remix of Justice's Phantom Pt II just makes the original sound like a mellow piece of trash compared to the raw trash beats Ridha had in store for us. I could keep going on about Alex Ridha but I'll just conclude by saying that he is the true master of maximal nowadays.
3. KlaxonsThese guys are the undisputed flag-bearers of the new nü-rave sound and I must admit that they've kind of earned it. Their album "Myths of the Near Future" sounds innovative and was very much liked by, well, just about everyone. But what I liked most was the Bugged Out compilation they made because they actually showed that they don't have to continuously elaborate on nü-rave (meaning: Guns N Bombs or Punks Jump Up tracks would've been obvious on this mix). This Bugged Out mix of theirs is truly impressive because it travels through different genres (Wu-Tang clan!, Roy Orbison!) and features many not so well known artists (Overnoise, Aleister Crowley,Da BoogieBoys and basically a shitload of others I'd never heard of). And in case you doubted their mixing talents, it is very well executed.
2. Radio SlaveWhat I like about Matthew Edwards is his versatility. Whether he's making electro house or dropping dance floor bangers or creating minimal techno, he always gets it right. His "Screaming Hands" is arguably my favourite track of 2007 and the recently released "Bell Clap Dance" has already been placed in my Favourite-tracks-of-the- moment-playlist on the iPod. His Misch Masch compilation was magnificent and his recent compilation of Rekids released gave me goosebumps. I hope he keeps up the speed at which he makes remixes, productions of his own and compilations because I couldn't bear long without some new things by Radio Slave.
1. Matthew DearUnder his Audion alias he keeps on making remixes that stun everything they touch. Even over a year after its release, "Mouth to Mouth" still feels like getting hit by a sledgehammer. And I don't mind taking the hit time after time. He pulled off the same trick with his 2007 remixes for Blackstrobe's "I"m a Man", Dubfire's "I Feel Speed" and the Chemical Brothers' "Do it Again". This year was also the year in which Matthew Dear made a synth-pop album that shows his songwriter talent: "Don and Sherri" and "Give me More" are stunning. Matthew Dear is an incredibly talented artist who manages to do quite a lot of things at the same time and make them sound
good ,which makes that he holds the rightful claim of best producer of 2007.
An honorable mention to those who didn't make it into our top ten: Redshape, Franz and Shape, Dixon, Henrik Schwarz, Jamie Jones, My My, Pantha Du Prince, Sebo K, Gui Boratto, Stephan Bodzin, Aril Brikha, Soulwax and Ricardo Villalobos. A word of explanation on the latter: Villalobos has produced "Fabric 36", which is basically an album since it contains only material of himself, has created "Sei es Drum" and outstanding remixes (Shackleton's "Blood on My Hands"). The reason why he isn't in this top ten is because you'd expect things like that from Villalobos. It's because of the hype that is created around him, expectations are just so high that people almost think it normal that he makes truly exquisite productions such as "Fabric 36". Villalobos should basically always be in some top 10 as producer of the year, or for album of the year or even remix of the year. We like to think that other producers, like Brodinski and the Crookers, need more attention than Villalobos and that is the sole reason why he was excluded from our top ten.
Well, that was it. No more posts from us this year, we will return as of February. Enjoy the crazy parties (Soulwaxmas!) that are coming up these days and do try to keep yourself in one piece.
