- 1. Cornish Waters - Walking (Brownswood Recordings)
- I'm sure convention dictates you probably shouldn't start any mix with a track that's already used as an album opener... But when it's this good why bother over thinking things.
- 2. FLYamSAM - The Offbeat (Ghostly International)
- The Offbeat is the first of many Flying Lotus efforts populating Infinity City. This collaboration with Samiyam is lifted from a free Ghostly International compilation, released in conjunction with Adult Swim. It's actually still available for download. Well worth your bandwidth.
- 3. Rustie - Just for Kicks (Stuffrecords)
- Rustie, Hudson Mohawke, Flying Lotus, (interestingly all scooped up by Warp Records now). It's been a breakout year for global future roots producers, 'Wonky' if you must. Rustie has added his own distinct take on this ludicrously exciting movement. Here delivering some dance floor decimating, full tilt beats combined with militant trainer fetishising from Buddy Leezle and Cerebral Vortex. Brootle.
- 4. Hud Mo - Ooops! (Wireblock)
- This one deserves one of Ras G's sirens! Hud Mo (Hudson Mohawke) drops the RnB boot to end them all. Oh my!
- 5. Prefuse 73 - The Class Of 73 Bells (Feat. School Of Seven Bells) (Warp Records)
- This hypnotising collaboration with Ghostly International's School of Seven Bells is taken from Scott Herren's excellent 'Preparations' LP and proves that despite all the hype swirling around other artists Prefuse is still relevent.
- 6. Milez Benjiman - Hold Your Head High (Tru-Thoughts)
- Along with Hint, Little Dragon and Flying Lotus's 'Los Angeles' I think this got the most plays this summer. Highly enjoyable and dripping with future funk from Brighton's ever present Tru-Thoughts.
- 7. eDIT - Night Shift (Feat. Abstract Rude) (Alpha Pup)
- Glitch Mobster supreme! With nothing more than a Trigger Finger and a Mac Book pro i wouldn't put it past eDIT to be able to level buildings. Taken from his second LP, his style is tighter and harder than his Planet Mu debut. Which all bodes well for The Glitch Mob LP in 2009.
- 8. Carlos Y Gaby - Hot Heavy Heat (Dimlite’s Hot Air & Thick Plastic Remix) (Alpha Pup)
- Just fucking amazing. Dimitri Grimm produces the best remix I've heard in years. I say remix, it's all about Dimlite here. Neck snapping, scuzzy and loose yet premeditated and menacing. *sets off another Ras G siren*
- 9. eDIT - The Game Is Not Over (Feat. J-Dilla, Phat Kat & Dabrye) (Alpha Pup)
- "LA make the world go round" Another lazer sharp eDIT cut. This time taking Dabrye's 'Game Over' featuring the much missed J-Dilla and giving it a Glitch Mob work out. I only took snippets of this but I recommend you to check out the full track. Download only, from Alpha Pup.
- 10. JDSY - Else2 (Ghostly International)
- Another Ghostly gem. This time from new signing JDSY. Again, I only really pinched a loop from this so it doesn't do his sound justice, in fact it's quite removed from the original. Like many Ghostly artists in recent years JDSY fuses indie/alternative with electronica to great effect.
- 11. DJ Kentaro - One Hand Blizzard (Ninja Tune)
- I'm all for Ninja Tunes new direction. Bold signings such as The Bug, Ghislain Poirier, Zero DB, King Cannibal, Daedelus and Qemists will hopefully safe guard their future and enable Ninja to finally scrub itself clean of that most stubborn of stains, trip-hop. Having said all that, there is something intrinsically classic Ninja at the heart of the DJ Kentaro album, and for that reason it's one of my favorite Ninja albums of recent years.
- 12. Tipper - Jibber Jabber (Tipper Music)
- Tipper's an odd one. Having not really paid him much attention since the heady days of Nu Skool Breaks he goes and drops two excellent albums in one year. Madness. Anyway, this is a great steroid booster for the Anti-pop track.
- 13. Anti-pop Consortium - Dead In Motion (Warp Records)
- We miss you, come back!! Whilst the solo efforts of Beans (Warp), High Priest and M Sayyid (As Airborne Audio on Ninja Tune) have been respectable, nothing beats APC. Plus this track has got the legendary 'glitch' from Herbie Hancock's Nobu!
- 14. Flying Lotus - Beginners Falafel (Warp Records)
- Mmm, falafel... From 'Los Angeles' arguably the album of the year, depending on which end of year blog round ups you read.
- 15. Spacek - Dollar (Sound In Color)
- Post Dilla it's hard to retain objectivity when listening to his output. But without a doubt this track typifies why he's deserved of the accolades and respect. He may not have changed my life, but this mix would be light by about 18 tracks had he not been around.
- 16. Telefon Tel Aviv - 8 Track Project Cut (Hefty)
- The precision and fluidity of Telefon Tel Aviv's beats have always impressed me. I'm a huge fan of their productions. So much of it appeals to my perfectionist tendencies as I can imagine them both pouring over every last glitch, bleep and parp. That said, it's probably just one filter in Ableton, mercilessly applied to the opening 8 bars of Blue Monday. ;) Beyond the beats it's the songsmanship. Some of their work is really quite moving, which is more than can be said of a lot of their contemporaries. New LP in 2009!
- 17. Headset - Back Before (Feat. nonGENETIC) (Plug Research)
- Headset is a collaborative project headed up by Allen Avanessian, the man behind Plug Research with help from DNTEL. The album is a bit of a treasure chest, and this is just one of many highlights. Featuring the Shadow Huntaz nonGENETIC.
- 18. TAKE - Make Believe (Dimlite’s Unbelievable Re-Make) (Eat Concrete)
- Thomas Wilson aka TAKE is without a doubt one of the unsung hero's of the L.A. scene. Whilst the spotlight seems permanently fixed on the likes of Flying Lotus,Gaslamp Killer, Daedelus etc., TAKE has been releasing succession of excellent records. Not least on a certain label from Holland that shall remain nameless... :) Here Mr Grimm, does a brilliant turn on the remix.
- 19. Harmonic 313 - Word Problems (Warp Records)
- Mark Pritchard puts on his Dilla cap and breaks out the Speak N Spell for this cracking track.
- 20. Flying Lotus - Spicy Sammich (Warp Records)
- Taken from Fly Lo's first Warp release, the brilliant Reset EP. 'Spicy Sammich' was one of two tracks (the other being 'Tea Leaf Dancers') that got blogs going nuts for the impending LP on Warp.
- 21. Dabrye - Game Over (Feat. J-Dilla & Phat Kat) (Flying Lotus Remix) (Ghostly International)
- Dabrye was it could be argued, Dilla heir apparent until Fly Lo started dropping heat. Here the two combine. The result is a pretty dark track by both producers standards. A testament to the talents of all involved.
- 22. Saul Williams - Black Stacey (Deadbeat Remix) (~scape)
- Cue Ras G siren No. 3! Not much else left to say really. It just is what it is, for want of a better word(s), shit hot. Almost pips Dimlite for best remix in Infinity City.
- 23. Dimlite - When Devices Off (Sonar Kollektiv)
- Speak of the devil. A lovely track from 'Runbox Weathers' And about the only track that worked well with the behemoth of 'Black Stacey'. Dimlite's new LP will be dropping in 2009, not to mention a collaborative effort with Prefuse 73!
- 24. Omid - World From My Mouth (Feat. Ellay Khule) (Astro Lab)
- Massively overlooked producer. Omid released an awesome LP 'Monolith' on Mush Records a few years back. Since then he's released another part of the Afterwords series on Alpha Pup, and this nifty track on Frances Astro Lab.
- 25. Forss - Atomised (Sonar Kollektiv)
- Now content heading up the excellent Soundcloud website, Forss once made music! His one and only LP 'Soulhack' gets constant plays here in Vectorland and still sounds as fresh as the day if first melted my brain, even though it's 5 years old now!
- 26. Caribou - Melody Day (Feat. Luke LaLonde, Adem & One Little Plane) (Four Tet Remix) (Merge)
- To call it a remix is misleading, This is essentially a cover of Caribou's excellent 'Melody Day'. It's something of a posse cut for this particular musical clique and the end result is suitably sublime.
