Discovered/Rediscovered Classics 2010

The internet together with a bunch of dedicated fans have made it all the more easier to discover music that either you were too young for; simply passed you by; or you were deafened in hearing anything of note by listening to absolute shite for a certain period of your life.

Blogging about music and the increasing use of USB turntables enable record pickers and collectors to share great music on the internet, much of it potentially out of print and forgotten; or it's that rare and expensive that it is out of reach to most of us (we are all aware that the illegal downloading for all music is also available and a larger issue that I won't be commenting on here). This is also in addition to almost every track in the world being on youtube in one way or another so we can try before we buy it (albeit in admittely terrible quality). Also thousands of online mixes are now widely available on the internet from professional big name DJs to bedroom bloggers. Websites have even surfaced to compile tracklistings for each mix, with happy contributors helping to plug any gaps that may appear. The ease to share so much music over the web only feeds the demand of the majority of music fans who want know about as much as possible for the genres they are interested in. They demand new music to be easily available for them whilst many also expect music from the past to be accessible in one way or another.

Whilst I was compiling my albums and tracks of the year, I thought it a shame that a list detailing what older music I enjoyed but only discovered in 2010 would not be shared. The tracks of the year took me a while and at one point I thought that I really couldn't be arsed sharing what I had unearthed from various blogs, DJs and lets not forget, poor old record shops. So below is a list of my twenty 'discovered/rediscovered classics' in 2010 (in no particular order). Enjoy.

1. George Morel-Let's Groove

I posted up this track a few months ago. An absolute stormer. Part of Strictly Rhythm's renaissance of 2010.

2. The Modern Lovers-I'm Straight

Jonathan Richman may be familiar to fans of Farrelly Brothers movies, however he's been around forever, first off in the hugely influential The Modern Lovers. 'I'm Straight' acts as a rejection of many artists/young people use and lifestyle of drugs in the early 70s and it's a beautiful sparse track that has led to many imitators over the last 40 years or so.

3. Toney Lee-Love So Deep (Instrumental)

This surfaced on a recent Resident Advisor podcast from Space Dimension Controller; however I've had it since the summer and it's a wonderful edgy track, quite scary that it came out in 1983. A classic instrumental.

4. The Wedding Present-Spangle

First heard a cover of this track about ten years ago whilst enjoying the EMO of Jimmy Eat World. I finally sourced the original and it's not suprisingly far better. Actually the whole album is excellent, very underrated when compared to Bizzaro or George Best.

5. Romanthony-The Wanderer (Temple Vox Remix)

Just like with Stricly Rhythm, other early 90s U.S house has also become popular again with DJs and fans alike. This beauty from Romanthony has been doing the rounds all year, especially the edgier deeper versions. However my favourite was this vocal heavy version, less designed for the dancefloor.

6.  Cyber People-Void Vision (Slow Version)

Whilst planning for our first Binary event, I was searching far and wide for 80s electro/digital/analogue tracks and found this beauty. The slow version is amazing, unfortunately the A side less so.

7. Bedhead-Bedside Table

Bedhead were a low key 90s act, noted for their sparse arrangements and distinct lack of distortion (when it was often the norm). This is an excellent track of their debut album WhatFunLifeWas.

8. Lowell-No Matter

Was always going to be an Italo track in here after the amount I've listened to over the past 12 months. I love the vocal on this tune.

9, Anthony 'Shake' Shakir-Get a Feeling

According to many 'Shake' finally got his exposure to a wider audience with the mammoth 3 CD retrospective set entitled 'Frictionalism'. Whilst many of the tracks on here transcended many genres, I loved the upfront 90s house sound of 'Get A Feeling'. A absolute banger.

10. Galaxie 500-When Will You Come Home?

Galaxie shortlived career in the late 80s and early 90s was reissued and remastered this year with plently of approval from media leeches such as Pitchfork. On Fire got 10.0, usually reserved for people like Kanye West. The lead singer Dean Wareham is embarking on a solo tour next month playing the songs of Galaxie 500. Definitely worth checking out.

11. Katie Kissoon-You're the One (You're My Number One)

The term 'boogie' usually sends shivers down my spine about the impending shitstorm heading for my ears. However there are exceptions, such as this midtempo boogie-funk track from Katie Kissoon. Even managed to play this on New Years!

12. Marcel King-Reach for Love

A gentleman sadly not with us anymore. This was released in the mid 80s, ten years previous he was the very young looking vocalist for Mancunian soul collective Sweet Sensation most known for their hit 'Sad Sweet Dreamer'. He re-emerged with 'Reach for Love' on local label Factory before sliding back into obscurity. Shame we couldn't get more of the man before he passed away in the mid 90s aged just 38.

13. Low-Sleep at the Bottom

For a band as prolific as Low, it was no surprise that in 2004 they released a 3CD B-Sides and Rarities box set full of hidden gems, fantastic cover verisions and reworks of some their own tracks. 'Sleep at the Bottom' as an eerie quality reminscent of early Verve. Why it took me till 2010 to get hold of this box sets god only knows. It really is truly special.

14. Pepe Bradock-Intriguing Feathered Creature

Every track I hear from Pepe Bradock is nothing short of amazing. Usually each track/release is different from what he has done before however many aspects tie each of them together. On 'Intriguing Feathered Creature', the usual stomp, multi-layered beats are there together with his own eclectic style/improvisation away from the norm.

15. Recloose-Soul Clap 2000

Recloose has over the last few years moved away from the sounds of where he started out on Planet E. Whilst his outlook may have changed, the quality has for the most part remained. This autumn, it was pleasing to hear Rush Hour issue a compliation showcasing his Early Works. 'Soul Clap 2000' is my highlight from the album which is a great start if you want to check out his now hard to find early 12" releases.

16. Jago-I'm Going to Go

Another 80s masterpiece full of a simple but effective bass line and deep synths. Another great Italo track, but wonderfully deeeep.

17. Mission to Burma-Outlaw

Upon reforming a few years back, Matador decided to remaster and re-release the best of Mission to Burma's great work of the early 80s. After only hearing snippets, it was briefly catching them at ATP that I thought I'd make a concerted effort to listen to their music and it started (and ended-I got sidetracked) with Signals, Calls and Marches. The influences on all sorts is all their to see, the choppy guitars and brutalism of 'Outlaw' is my highlight.

18. Roy Ayers-Chicago

One of my favourite tracks of the 80s. I actually caught hold of this one about 4 years ago, but then forgot about it and then rediscovered it again this summer. It's funky feel with stinging slap bass really hits the spot every time.

19. Refused-Liberation Frequency

Refused were another one of those bands that were repackaged andremastered this year. Their big hit 'New Noise' was doing the rounds when 'emo' had some meaning before piles of shite such as Finch, The Used etc took it over and layered it with tattoos and bullshit. It was always an excellent record, but the re-release is now almost downright essential and the live record is as about as close as you'll ever get to see them live, which I'm sure was always a special treat.

20. Chez Damier & Stacey Pullen-Forever Mix 2

Finally more early 90s house this time in the shape of old warhorses, Chez Damier and Stacey Pullen. Just how deep this track is quite unbelievable and it's no real surprise that it finds itself more relevant than ever today.