Undeniably, 2005 turned out to be a real success story for Richie Hawtin. We also appreciate his unique talent. The DE9 series has always aimed at exploring the unknown and learning about the unexplored. Richie Hawtin is carrying out that premise to its fullest when, from various bits and pieces of hundreds of tracks, samples and scratches of sounds, he creates 28 pieces comprising his “Transitions”. Even though individual tracks may draw on a number of sources, sometimes ten or more, the result is always pure, uniform, unique, amazing.
I will not shy away from calling Alex Menzies an artist. “Incommunicado” by the Glasgow producer is a truly emotional, subtle and personal message, full of subtle tech and sometimes ambient sounds and moving, simple melodies. Gently, we are led into his electronic music world, in its purest and introspective form.
A totally different genre of music can be heard on the album by well-known Benoit Franquett. He has always been a true wizard of moods and master of melodies. “Zero Gold” is a unique blend of beautiful tracks, drawn on the landscapes of deep and melancholic sounds. Even though labeled as “dance”, his music inspires reflection in a moment of silence.

2005 was a good year for Steve Porter. Formerly of Massachusetts, currently of New York, Steve has debuted with “Homegrown”, an album full of unique, stylish dance music, which you will never have enough of. Synthlines with that amazing 70-ties sounds morph with carefully and skillfully drafted beeps and bleeps, mesmerize and force you to move and shake it.

Finally, the debut album by Alex Under, which is worthy of every praise. Spanish producer put together a record with a blessed combination of minimal tech and deeper sounds, which sometimes verge on psychedelic. Vibrating rhythms hypnotize and at the same time can work magic on dancefloors. [MS]

• Alex Smoke - Incommunicado
• Pole Folder - Zero Gold
• Steve Porter - Homegrown
• Alex Under - Dispositivos De Mi Granja

While last year we had had problems with choosing at least one exceptional release for the number one, this time the difficulty was to pick the one from several really extraordinary albums. Because each of the five is a brilliant piece. Danny and Desyn recorded superb house compilations: Howells went to more classic sound, whereas Masiello hit a fresh and slightly electroey note – the one he, among others, made so popular.

Minimal Eulberg was undoubtedly a discovery of 2004, when he released the artist album “Flora & Fauna” and this year he showed that also as a DJ he can compete with the biggest names on the scene.

The magician of mixing – Jonathan Lisle – finally got the chance to present his skills on an official compilation and he fully took advantage of it, recording a very ambitious piece that will surely stand the test of time. Fortier won for two reasons – with editing tracks he managed to create extremely cohesive 3 CDs and the music he chose won him loads of new fans.[LN]

• Jonathan Lisle - OS_0.2
• Danny Howells - Global Underground #27 Miami
• Desyn Masiello - Balance 008
• Dominik Eulberg - Kreucht & Fleucht

The domination of minimal and techy sounds can be perfectly seen in this category, where a hit of many dancefloors became a winner. However “Pele Bloss” doesn’t fit the common definition of a hit – it’s not light, bright and easy approachable. On the contrary! It’s dark, uncompromising and in the first place – original.

Also, we finally have our fellow countrymen in the summary. 3Channels take the scene by storm, and such tracks like “We Are All A Little Bit” make us believe that their minds are full of great ideas that will make us proud many a time.

“Gazebo” and “Marionette” are perfect examples that the word minimal more and more often refers only to the rhythmic section, because the melody is far from being frugal. Last but not least “Rej” is a genre-crossing hybrid that reaches the hall of fame of stunning techy sambas.[LN]

• Fairmont - Gazebo
• Mathew Jonson - Marionette
• Innervisions presents Ame - Rej
• 3 Channels – We Are All A Little Bit

Making a good remix is undeniably an art and the artists’ task is the more difficult, the better the original production. Here, we have decided to give two thumbs up to the work of the talented PJ Davy. The young Englishman has turned Manuel Sofia’s original bass lines into stinging tech blade, combined the melody with amazing electro sounds and perfectly balanced individual parts to achieve a unique, killer electro-tech tune. Exceptional work of an exceptional talent.
The first runner up is Chilean producer Lucien Nicolet aka Luciano with his remix of a tune by Argyris Theolis, whose “Love Dose” with haunted vocals by Valeria, demanding her “dose” Lucien has turned into a trap throbbing with vibrating bass lines and over-steered acid synths.

The only song in our classification is sung by Karin Dreifer. I still remember the fantastic video of the original track with her legs bleeding milk. The prodigal talent of Anders Trentemoller has turned the tune into a real gem of a remix. He starts slowly with mood building electric bleeps, tosses in some atmospheric synths, and captivating beats until a fantastic tech finalé, and always remembers to afford the vocal its breathing space.

Next runner up is the funky tune of Freeform Five which has been turned by the Schwarz brothers into a dancefloor bandit with a captivating, pulsating rhythm, full of amazing electro-acid sounds.

Finally, we have decided to recognize the work of Walter Ercolino, who has turned the tech house with just a hint of tribal track by Natalia Data into a real tribal banger and a killer of a tune. [MS]

• Argy - Love Dose (Luciano Remix)
• Royksopp - What Else Is There (Trentemoller Remix)
• Freeform Five - Electromagnetic (Tiefschwarz Dub)
• Natalia Data – The VIP (Ercolino Dub)

There was absolutely no hesitation and doubt while choosing the winner of this category, because what Hawtin did on “Transitions” was totally unique and brilliant. The minimal regions were also marvelously explored by Mathew Jonson, under whose name a big part of the year went through. “Marionette”, “Dirt Road And a Boat From Soundwave” (together with The Mole), “Gemini EP”, “Return of The Zombie Bikers” and “7.19 FM David EP” are releases which show that Hawtin’s fellow countryman did not rest on his laurels after an exquisite 2004.

On the other hand we have Habersham who climbed the top this year. Tracks such as “Dryspell” and “Mehs”, „Cloudbreak” (with Phil K) or remixes of “Parallel Realities” by Charles & Kling and Trafik’s “Surrender” (with Blake Potter) put Damon among artist that surprise with construction and constantly search for their own unique sound.

The variety of sounds Francois Chabloz is able to create can be perfectly seen on his two artists albums: “Dubs, Edits & Whiskey-Coke” (as Chab) and “5 Wishes & More” (as Moogwai). A guy that theoretically worked least from the five was James Holden but that doesn’t change the fact that the fruits of his efforts are always mindblowing. “Come To Me” and the remix of Andre Kraml’s “Safari” almost reached their categories and “The Lump” included on Damian Lazarus’ “Suck My Deck” compilation only confirmed us in the conviction that this summary couldn’t do without the head honcho of Border Community. [LN]

• Habersham
• James Holden
• Mathew Jonson
• Chab