Top 10 Tracks of 2011

It's been a brilliant year for music as already outlined in the Top 10 Albums of 2011 feature. There were some artists who really impressed this year without making it on to that list, there were also ovbiously some amazing tracks featured on the albums of that list. So this short feature is to pay homage to some of the tracks that have racked up the most plays on my iTunes, iPhone and in my DJ sets during the year. Though it is ranked, not a great deal of significance should be taken from the position all tunes are in here on merit and they are all incredibly high quality.

Note: Tracks that were included in the recent 'Dancefloor Tracks of 2011' feature haven't been considered for this for the sake of avoiding repetition.

10. Metronomy - The Bay



9. SBTRKT ft. Little Dragon - Wildfire (Drake remix)



8. Battles ft. Matias Aguayo - Ice Cream



7. Little Dragon - Ritual Union



6. Chase & Status ft. Delilah - Time



5. Rustie - Ultra Thizz



4. Adele - Rolling in the Deep (Jamie XX Shuffle)



3. Jessie Ware & Sampha - Valentine



2. Jamie Woon - Lady Luck



1. James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream

Top 10 Albums of 2011: Summary

2011 has been an incredibly strong year musically. It has also saw a major shift in the way I consume music having spent the majority of my adult life preferring to visit clubs and allow DJs to shape my night. I grew disillusioned to an extent with club nights and DJs in favour of catching live acts and this has reflected on the albums I have listened to. The majority of albums I have heard this year I have actually managed to catch the artist live.

There have been some good albums that could quite feasible made the list Rustie's Glass Swords and Sepalcure's self titled album both suffered from being released late in the year the same applies to Drake's Take Care which for what it's worth was probably the best hip hop album released this year especially after the disappointment of Watch The Throne by Jay-Z and Kanye West. There were other highlights Battles and Wu Lyf both released albums that were more destined for live performance than home listening and both delivered scintillating live performances at the Kazimier. The list of albums I enjoyed is vast Metronomy delivered a great indie pop record, Nicolas Jaar a lovely LP of electronica, Aloe Blacc's LP oozed soul and Balam Acab some haunting future bass music. However, none of the aforementioned albums moved me as much as the below list.

The Real Mikaél's Albums of 2011
10. VA - Fabriclive 57 (Mixed by Jackmaster)
9. Modeselektor - Monkeytown
8. LV & Joshua Idehen - Routes
7. Jamie XX & Gil Scott Heron - We're New Here
6. Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam
5. SBTRKT - SBTRKT
4. Frank Ocean - Nostalgia Ultra
3. James Blake - James Blake
2. The Weeknd - House of Balloons
1. Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting

I hope you have enjoyed reading the feature as much as I have enjoyed putting it together, the year truly was a brilliant year for music.

Top 10 Albums of 2011: #1

Without any further ado the winner is....

1. Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting



I first heard Jamie Woon on a TruThoughts covers compilation album a couple of years back doing a cover of Olive’s You’re Not Alone, it took a while to get from then to the release of a full album but boy was it worth the wait.

The album has easily been the most played album of my year hence the award of album of the year. Lady Luck has also found its way into 90% of my DJ sets this year, also having a crossover appeal with house DJ and king of DC10 Luciano making an edit of it and dropping it in his sets too.

The ethereal feel of Mirrorwriting encapsulates the feeling of being in a big city surrounded by people, yet feeling alone in a subtle and beautiful manner. Night Air begins the journey and sets the tone, with a little help of the genius that is Burial, with his trademark beats and haunting melodies coupled with Woon’s emotive voice. There aren’t enough superlatives to express how good this album is, it glides effortlessly from track to track losing you in the moment and before you know it you are at your final destination (assuming you have it on while travelling). Anyone who has watched the Youtube version of Spirits can bear witness to the talent of Jamie Woon where he plays as a one man band with the use of a sampler and he played a part in the production, writing and obviously vocals of Mirrorwriting, a multi talented exceptional artist.

The only criticism I can offer is that Jamie Woon’s live show left me disappointed on two occasions this year, while the sound of his voice is as good live as it is on the album I found the live performances a little wooden and lacking in personality. However this is an album of the year feature not a live performance of the year feature so Mirrorwriting wins hands down.

10 of the Best: The Melt! Festival 2011 Line Up

After receiving the tickets for my first foray into European festivaldom the excitment is approaching fever pitch, so in order to harness the excitement and also plan for the festival I have decided to collate a quick list of the ten acts or DJs that I hope to catch more than any other. I say hope as once there anything can happen! The ordering isn't really to be taken too much notice of and this isn't a list of hidden gems either (though there are a couple on it) anyway I hope you enjoy reading and if you are going to be at Melt! tweet me @therealmikael.

10. Richie Hawtin

Having left my techno shoes at the door back in 2008, this DJs inclusion may raise a couple of eyebrows. However he is undeniably a showstopper on his day and has a penchant for dropping a crowd pleasing anthem towards the end of his driving sets of electronic techno. I imagine he will be on around 4am which with a German crowd should be one hell of a close to whatever night he plays!

9. Addison Groove

It was a tough decision selecting a Future Garage/UK Funky stalwart from the line up to include, Addison Groove is in my list ahead of Doc Daneeka and Benjamin Damage primarily because of the Jimmy Mack bootleg he has recently made and been hammering, I love a bit of Martha! Addison’s DJ set is one of my most eagerly anticipated DJ sets by far.

8. Rusko

Festivals are about fun right? Well not many people bring the party like Rusko, expect all the dubstep hits and get ready to wobble! The ultimate party dubstep DJ with the energy behind the decks to match, I would be very surprised if a DJ set at the festival goes off as much as this is destined to. Riot.

7. Chase & Status

I have referred to Chase & Status as my generation’s The Prodigy after both the previous times I have been enjoyed their live show (they were easily one of the Bestival highlights), with an abundance of anthems and a variety in sounds all of which are represent the current trends in UK dance music our generation finally has a dance band capable of smashing it up as a festival headliner. With Plan B in Germany also at Melt! A cheeky cameo to perform Pieces and End Credits would certainly make the Chase & Status live show a highlight.

6. The Koletzkis

I remember when Oliver Koletzki was making swashbuckling electro, he appears to have matured his sound and while his house music does have elements of the electro edge in there it is a lot more subtle now. He brings his live show to Melt! And with a massive German following his live performance should attract a big and receptive crowd. I cannot wait to hear the stunning Hypnotized performed live.

5. SBTRKT

SBTRKT is another person who was definitely one of the highlights of Bestival, absolutely destroying the Bollywood tent. I have been eagerly awaiting his new album which drops a couple of weeks before his live show at Melt! The live show from the bits I have caught on radio and TV looks superb and features the soulful tones of the man Sampha and occasionally the stunning voice of Miss Jessie Ware, whom I hope will be in tow at Melt! Little Dragon also features on the album and is at Melt! So who knows a cheeky cameo could be in the offing, SBTRKT is going to explode this year – with Drake picking up on one of his tracks - so I cannot wait to catch him to say I was there at the start!

4. Metronomy

I was late getting onto Metronomy, even then it took me a while to fully appreciate their talents. I am now however a full convert and have been championing a fair few of their tracks at recent Lovely Jobs. They are brilliant live and incredibly good fun pop music with an electronic edge, I really enjoyed their recent Jools Holland performance. Their 2011 album currently gets regular plays and Nights On/Off is one of my most played albums of the last 6 months. I included Metronomy ahead of Everything Everything and The Naked & Famous as I am yet to see them, however the two aforementioned bands are high on the agenda as they too are both excellent live acts.

3. The Streets

It still saddens me to the day that I was slow on the uptake with The Streets, initially unable to see the genius behind Original Pirate Material and as a result missing the initial tour. It is quite criminal that Mike Skinner has eluded my gig career to date so his addition to Melt! was met with great delight. I hope to hear mainly older material although I did quite like the most recent album Computer and Blues. Hearing Blinded By The Light on the main stage of a beautiful festival is certainly going to be a ‘moment’.

2. Pulp

It may be a cliché but Jarvis Cocker has got 'it', what exactly 'it' is, is quite hard to quantify or describe but whatever it is, Jarvis Cocker has it in abundance. Afer witnessing Pulp at Melt! there is a serious chance that I will be witnessing the performance of the most charasmatic front man that I have seen to date. A huge array of hits, this has the potential of being a very special headline performance.

1. Jamie Woon

It was only in January that on this blog I was championing Mr Woon, in the months that have since past his album has surpassed James Blake's in the TRM long player of 2011 stakes. I am so excited for seeing him live, expecting it to be an early evening affair, though with the Berlin heat the only chills will be coming from the haunting melodies of his musical offerings. Lets see if he can surpass Mr Blake on the live stakes too.

TRM Recommends: 3 J's for January

2010 was a fantastic year for music, whittling down all the albums to compile a top ten was extremely difficult. It appears 2011 could be just as, if not more difficult. Three names have jumped out to me opening days of the year and they all have very similar names and are all producing high quality electronic music. Below is a bit of information about each of the 3 J's and a track by each of them.

Starting first with the man who I think is going to end up becoming my favourite artist of the year, despite the fact his album dropping in February I think it's an early contender for album of the year. From what I've heard I certainly hope it gets a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize. James Blake having made a fair few productions and a couple of EP's notably the Kelis sampling anthem of summer 2010 - CMYK, Blake has decided to go deeper and add his own soulful voice in the mix. The track that's really doing it for me is Wilhelms Scream which is hauntingly beautiful.

02 - Wilhelms Scream by indieistanbul

Note: Also worth checking is the BBC Sound of 2011 page for Mr Blake which includes a mesmerising live version of the above track as well as a couple of others and some interviews. The album drops on the 7th February.

Next on the agenda is a man who's DJ Mix for a French boutique was constantly on my iPod over the summer 2010. His band was also without a shadow of a doubt the best thing I seen all summer, well probably all year! Jamie XX has an exciting 2011 in front of him, there is a remix album with Gil Scott Heron about to drop soon from which two tracks have been teased out and they are both extremely strong! I hear he has a solo EP to come out some time in the year too. I would like to see and hope that a Jamie XX/Fantastic Mr Fox collaboration is in the pipe line, which would be mouth watering stuff! The track I've chosen for the blog is something that I just cannot stop playing over and over again is his remix of Adele. The percussion, the vocals and the strings are just arranged so well. It's quite dancey.



Note: Jamie XX recently did a DJ mix for Benji B which is well worth a listen, it includes the above track. It can be found at Pinglewood's blog.

Finally last but by no means least is someone who I have been a bit later getting onto than the two above mentioned artists. He is another with a widely anticipated debut abum dropping in the early part of 2011. Jamie Woon has a distinctive R&B voice laden with soul, not too dissimilar an artist to James Blake. However the smooth soulful vocals are more prominent on Woon's tracks than that of his counterpart yet it is still very much in the realms of the urban soundscape that is what you might call "Post Dubstep". The track I've chosen is actually a remix, as I am a sucker for a Burial remix. If this guy has got Burial's backing he has definitely got mine.



Note. Jamie Woon is playing in Liverpool on the 25th February at The Shipping Forecast.