It has been a truly vintage year both in terms of events and new music. In a city where one can go to something amazing literally every night of the week and where every man and his mum are DJs or performers of some sort a comprehensive summing up would take days to read let alone write. Here therefore are just my personal highlights of 2010.
2010 saw the return of some of UK hip hop's veterans. Skitz dropped his first full length LP since the seminal 'Countryman' and it was every bit as good. In fact I'd say overall it's a better album. The ever-excellent TY came out with an eye opener of a new album on BBE. 'Special Kind Of Fool' was the title and although not as accessible as some of his other albums I think it might actually be my favourite. Richy Pitch completes the trio of UK hip hop albums in this round-up. He came back from a sabbatical in Ghana with the astounding 'Ye Fre Me Richy Pitch' that mixed his hip hop and dancehall sensibilities with the best of Ghana's highlife and hiplife music.
It wasn't just UK veterans coming back either. The man often cited as the godfather of rap music, Gil Scott Heron, came back from obscurity with a very powerful album on XL. The lead single, 'Me and The Devil', was easily one of the musical highlights of 2010.
Dubstep showed no signs of slowing down its world takeover in 2010. Whilst the UK went nuts for the Magnetic Man album which I thought was pretty forgettable (Katy B's voice particularly grating with me), the architects of the style – Horsepower – dropped their long-awaited album and reminded everyone why they're the daddies. Surprisingly one of the best dubstep albums this year was 'The Sound of Dubstep Vol. 2' from Ministry of Sound! Perhaps the biggest news in dubstep though was that Rinse FM got itself an FM license. A well deserved legitimising of a station that has shaped the soundscape of London music.
Roots Manuva kept us waiting for new material but some of his best tunes were given a new lease of life by Wrongtom's fantastic digi-dub remixes on 'Duppy Writer' LP. 2010 was a great year for Wrongtom, the album aside he seems to be DJing on every good line-up too.
Which brings me neatly on to events. Method Man at Matter has to go down as one of the highlights of the year for me. A consummate showman, Mr. Meth made the massive space his own with ease and went crowd surfing more than once. Whilst on the subject of hip hop, The Doctor's Orders had a great year too. Shows from Saigon, DJ Babu, Just Blaze and the Alchemist, Black Milk, and Keith Murray all count as stand-out moments of 2010. On a reggae tip Prince Fatty's album launch at Hootananny was cracking, as was Gentleman's Dub Club at the Barfly.
The Urban Nerds continued to put on great raves, their Halloween roadblock at XOYO was wicked. We Fear Silence smashed it this year too with a whole host of quality events at Cable. Soundcrash continued to put on the biggest names on the most interesting line-ups. DJ Krush, and Four Tet were both outstanding. But Vagabondz were my favourite promoters this year. They put on some killer nights at Jamm, the amazing S.O.M.E at The Den and this before I even mention Outlook Festival in Crotia, which was amazing. Last weekend's reunion party at the Coronet was brilliant too and a welcome reminder of the warmth of late summer.
Speaking of festivals, Secret Garden Party was bigger than it's ever been before and despite a noticable increase in the number of more meatheaded attendees it was still the highlight of the UK festival circuit. Which is more than can be said for the Big Chill. Being taken over by new management has effectively put the nail in the coffin of what was once one of my absolute favourite festies.
When I look back on 2010, however, there will be three things that stand out above everything else. Firstly, Girl Unit. His releases 'IRL' and 'Wut' are my singles of the year. I love his sparse sounds and he's a great DJ too. Secondly 'Footwork' music from Chicago as championed by one of my favourite labels – Planet Mu. I think footwork is set to be massively influential on dance music as a whole. Lastly is the one person who I could include in my artist, album, and live show highlights of 2010 – Nneka. Her 'Concrete Jungle' album is brilliant but it doesn't prepare you for just how amazing she is live. I think she is one of the most important artists for years and hope to see a lot more of her in 2011.
Click here to see all London DJ music.
Click here for things to do in London.
Return to Spoonfed's London Clubbing homepage.
Add an event
Frieze Art Fair to launch new section for young galleries in 2012
Frieze have today announced details for the 2012 edition, their tenth art fair in London. Taking place...