In with the old...

Hi all!

Everybody have a good xmas and new year? I know I did. Now, you may think that, after my mammoth songs and albums lists, I might be all listed out. Well, you would be wrong, because, although the year 2007 is now four days old and looking back on 2006 is starting to look even more retrogressive than it did in December, there are a couple more lists and reviews of the past year that I would like to get out of my system. Care to indulge me?

Well, you've no choice really. Upcoming in this next week will be my views on the best compilations that were released last year, alongside looks at the best reissues, bootlegs and other, less classifiable stuff. Digressing from music for a bit too, I'll be telling you about some of the great television that I watched in 2006. Oh yes, I'm nothing if not thorough and hideously anal.

Today, it's the turn of the best remixes and DJ mixes from 2006. I'm not going to write about all of them, as I feel like I'm suffering from creative exhaustion a little (inasmuch as you can call what I do 'creative'), but there will be mp3s (on the remix list, just click through on the title), and I know that you all like them. Tuck in!

Top 10 Remixes of 2006

1. Bell X1 - Flame (Chicken Lips Mix) (Island)

Okay, for the eagle-eyed, I wrote about this already, over on The Console, and I still stand by what I said, so you're not getting anymore out of me.

2. Dondolo - Dragon (Shit Robot Fire Breathing Remix) (Tiny Sticks) With an elastic bassline that just won't quit, oodles of percussion and those stupid-fresh vocals ("Dragon. Uh-huh. Dragon. Rawrrr!"), Shitbot's take on 'Dragon' was so fucking good that it rendered pondering whether the original is any good irrelevant (for the record, it isn't). Enormous, danceflor-slaying stuff.

3. Tiga - (Far From) Home (DFA Remix) (PIAS) The DFA take Tiga on a sonic adventure that the original didn't even hint at. This is early-ambient-period Eno by way of impLOG's 'Holland Tunnel Dive' and it's as rushy and euphoric as anything else released this year.

4. Sly Mongoose - Snakes And Ladder (Rub 'N' Tug Remix) (Mule Musiq) Some remixers like to take a dry, esoteric approach to source material, often turning dancefloor fodder into headspace music. Not always a bad thing, but Rub 'N' Tug, more than most, like to bring the party. Their take on Japanese funkateers is like a grin set to knowingly gaudy piano house, but the good humour is damn infectious, so it would be churlish not to join in and raise a smile yourself.

5. Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom - Relevee (DFA Remix) (DFA/EMI) Whilst the Carl Craig re-rub is undoubtedly superior, it didn't completely overshadow this sparkling disco take on the austere, minimalist original. Quite how they got from that to this is, to be frank, baffling, but I, for one, am glad they did.

6. Home Video - Penguin (Loving Hand Remix) (Defend)

7. Marit Bergman - No Party (The Field Remix) (BMG)

8. Depeche Mode - The Darkest Star (Holden Remix) (Mute)

9. Hot Chip - Boy From School (Erol Alkan Extended Rework) (EMI)

10. Alex Smoke - Never Want To See You Again (Ada Remix) (Soma)

Top 10 DJ Mixes of 2006

1. Rub 'N' Tug - Better With A Spoonful Of Leather (aNYthing)

Sometimes to make a truly different, unique DJ mix, all you need is one good idea. Rub 'N' Tug decided to take a load of tunes (mostly '80s electro, pop and disco stuff, with a bit of King Crimson thrown in for good measure), chop them up and slow them the fuck down. A hypnotic, deep, but highly enjoyable mix, Better Than A Spoonful Of Leather is as heavy and as heady as they come and may well be nothing more than a comment on the whole re-edit and space disco culture, but fuck is it addictive.

Rub 'N' Tug - The He (mp3)

2. Hey Convict! - Time To Noodle (Drongo) The beardiest of all the beardo mixes that surfaced this year came from these two guys from Australia and encompassed everything from obscure prog to, well, obscure disco, via obscure psychedelia and it was definitely the best, strangest party mix of 2006. If you missed it, you can still get it from Piccadilly Records.

3. Optimo Essential Mix This was always going to be a blinder, as Twitch and Wilkes are probably the most eclectic party-starters around, but it was still a sheer delight to hear Prinzhorn Dance School knocking boots with The Bar-Kays and Hansepferd's 'Nazi rave' sharing air space with Bobby O. They also threw in the likes of The Rapture, Villalobos, Marc Houle, Bumblebee Unlimited and Neu! to name but a few. A truly astonishingly accomplished two hours of fun on the ones-and-twos. You can still download it from Pitchfork.

4. Shit Robot - A Large Room Full Of People An upfront big room mix that builds and builds towards a shattering climax with Shit Robot's own 'Triumph', taking in Wighnomy Brothers' 'Wombat', Lifelike & Kris Menace's 'Discopolis' and a couple of kickarse Trevor Loveys tracks along the way. Get it here.

5. DJ Kicks: Henrik Schwarz (!K7) Brilliantly mellifluous and fluid mix from one of the most soulful men in dance music. It's not often you get warped jazzbo, Moondog rubbing shoulders with Drexciya, James Brown and Rhythm And Sound, but you get it here.

6. Fabric 30: Rub 'N' Tug (Fabric)

7. DJ Kaos & Sal P - Collector Series Pt. 2: Danse Gravite Zero (Faith Recordings)

8. Body Language Vol. 2: Mixed By DJ T (Get Physical)

9. Radio Slave Presents Creature Of The Night (Eskimo)

10. LoveFingers on Beats In Space Go here to download this.

Right, see you lot at the weekend. In the meantime, you could do a lot worse than to go here and download the new CBS Top 100. Excellent EBM, Italo and disco awaits.