Episode #26 - Best of 2006

So it's that time of year again. It's time to attempt to choose some of the best tunes of the year for my end of year podcast. It's a tough choice as always as you can probably imagine. There have been so many great tracks that have been released this year as you'll probably already know because you listen to the podcasts. From the soulful house through funky piano tunes and up to the techy-electro house it's hard to pick favourites but I have had a look through my collection and mixed up what I think is a great selection of tunes.

I decided to stick to the funkier house sounds even though I had a load of electro-house tracks to play for you too. Maybe next year I'll have to do two mixes! I have also decided to treat you all to a 128 kbps MP3 file for better clarity. The reason I don't normally do it is because I have over 14,000 downloads per show and the bandwidth costs are pretty high but it's Christmas so what the hell! So here is the tracklisting for the show.

1. Asle - Golden Sun (Haji & Emanuel Mix) - CR2 Records
   Hot Danish DJ and producer Asle Bjorn gave us this outstanding piano track of the year. I don't ever get tired of hearing this tune with it's great piano riff and sultry vocals. Hearing this, drinking a beer and watching the sunset (or rise!) would be a perfect day.
2. Belle - What The Hell (Chus Penn Remix) - Mercury Records
   Belle is a teenage new comer to the music scene but she has one hell of a voice and her folk tune has been remixed to deep house heaven by Spanish Producers DJ Chus and David Penn. Great tribal drums, haunting synths and graceful pianos.
3. Solu Music - Fade (Grant Nelson Big Room Mix) - Hed Kandi
   Otherwise known as the track where the vocals are slightly out of tune! Grant Nelson's remix is the epitome of funky house with it's great keys and strings. As I said, the vocal sounds out of key but that makes it all the more special.
4. High Life - Mercy On Me - Onephatdeeva
   Onephatdeeva give us another stunning vocal tune out of their Oxfordshire studios. A great gospel sounding peak time track which gets the dancefloor rocking.
5. Nelly Furtado - Man Eater (DJ Cruze Funkfinders Mix) - CDR
   Ok, so it's a bit of shameless self promotion but I'm really happy that I managed to actually finish a remix this year! As there were no decent house remixes of this Nelly Furtado classic I took it upon myself to do one myself. The result is a funky house tune which has been downloaded over 20,000 times! Feel free to download the remix here if you haven't got it already. Watch out for some more Funkfinders remixes in the early 2007 as I have some good ones planned.
6. Ben Macklin - Feel Together (Original Mix) - Serial Recordings
   Ben Macklin, aka one half of the Sucker DJs, brought us this monsterous funky house in early 2006. It then subsequently took another 9 months to get a full release with a vocal and some new remixes. The original track is my personal favourite though. A great funky bassline and some massive drums. Lovely!
7. Hard Fi - Hard To Beat (Axwell Remix) - Atlantic Records
   Ok so this actually came out in 2005 but I didn't manage to get hold of it until early 2006 and it was a massive tune for me then. Swedish house mafioso, Axwell, turns this indie tune into a storming dirty house tune. Massive!
8. Mish Mash - Speechless (Soul Avengerz Mix) - Data Records
   Mish Mash brought us this killer disco house tune in 2006 and it got remixed by one of the production teams of the year, Soul Avengerz. Great disco strings and a filthy disco bassline make this a killer track.
9. Inner City Playboys - Jet Setter (Ian Carey Remix) - Loaded Records
   Yet another killer remix from Ian Carey gives us this monster tune which was an Ibiza favourite.
10. Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar 2006 (Raul Rincon Mix) - AATW
    I asked myself whether I could stomach any more versions of Cafe Del Mar and I finally had to concede that this was a wicked mix from one of my favourite producers, Raul Rincon. He takes the classic riff and turns it into a piano stomper.
11. Chris Lake - Changes (Vocal Version) - Apollo Records
    Hot Scottish producer Chris Lake gave us this awesome deeper house tune with an amazing piano breakdown. Some people don't like the vocal mix but I think it works well. Check out the Dirty South remix too for some funky French sounding house music.

So that's it for 2006 then as we move swiftly into 2007. It's been a great year for me and I hope it's been fantastic for you too. Thanks again for the support and love that everyone has given me over the past year. People seem to be loving the podcasts and mixes and they will continue into the new year along with some more Funkfinders productions. Big love to you and all of your friends and family for 2007 and a massive HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope it's a good one!