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The first full uninterrupted year post pandemic saw us enjoy gigging and clubbing again and I was thankful to get to see a lot more live music than I had the previous few years with The Killers, Anne-Marie & Manic Street Preachers all providing memorable sets. The range of music released was perhaps wider than ever with the blurring of house and hip hop not letting up, indeed there was a reported revival of sorts with house identified as having a rebirth. Whilst this was largely spearhead by big name pop acts in the charts, for the primary product - the album, LP, Playlist - it was the hip hop that artistically made the most noise with great albums by Black Thought, Kendrick Lemar and Nas (again) whilst Pusha-T, Little Simz and Drake made vital contributions as well. This got me thinking back to Black Thoughts comments to Complex in 2017 about the crossroads that hip hop and its culture are at: are we now starting to see a subtle change in direction? With the huge social change see...

Following the  first part of my 2021 review, below is a breakdown of my ten favourite albums of the year as well as a quick overview of songs which I enjoyed: Favourite 10 Albums of the Year 1. Blank & Jones -   Relax Edition 13 At the forefront of the late-90s rise in trance, the German duo of Piet Blank & Jaspa Jones turned to ambient thereafter with the release of their Relax series. This is the latest, a double album of chillout, tasteful funky house and balearic beats and a much needed tonic for lockdown despondency in 2021 - my choice for best album of 2021. 2. St. Vincent -   Daddy's Home A concept album about her father's return from prison, this album's real treat though is how Annie Clark recalls the atmosphere of early seventies downtown New York, the sleaze, the dirt, the funk. A melting pot of Lou Reed, Bowie, Steely Dan even Beatles (on the psychedelic Sun King-esque Live The Dream). 3. Cleo Sol -   Mother The singer in the mysterious...

New Releases Yousef & CamelPhat -   April label: Knee Deep In Sound   genre: Progressive House verdict: Two of Liverpool's most forward looking artists in dance today, trance house producer Yousef and well known duo CamelPhat team up for this samba tinged bit of progressive bliss which is suitably balearic and warmer than their recent efforts. The sound of an Indian summer. rating: ★★ ★★ ✩ Disclosure -   Seduction label: Disclosure  genre: Deep House verdict: After conquering the world by expanding their original garage house sound, Disclosure go back to their roots. This is their 3rd single in as many weeks and the pick of the bunch. A simple but effective piece and their own take on deep house. rating: ★★ ★★ ✩ Joel Corry & Jax Jones (feat. Charli XCX & Saweetie) -  OUT OUT label: Perfect Havoc Limited   genre: Dance Pop verdict: Another slice of contemporary dance pop built around a pulsating but predictable beat, the sought that was...

Coupling a jittery piano line with an insistent chorus, Get Get Down is the dance anthem the sadly departed Paul Johnson will be best remembered for and a track that encapsulated the spirit of the man himself.       Released in 1999, at a time where disparate forms of dance music - four to the floor, speed garage, big beat - were slowly merging into one, Get Get Down is one of those timeless dance tracks that defies categorisation.        Born Paul Leighton Johnson in 1971, a career in a music production beckoned after being inspired by the illustrious line of DJs that came from Chicago to international prominence that included Frankie Knuckles and Farley "Jackmaster" Funk. Born with an innate desire to get on with th ings, he was self-taught, arranging and playing at his first gig aged just 13. As he told 5Mag in 2006: “I was breakdancing at the time, that was my thing, then I went to my first party and saw the DJ mixing and wanted to do that. I was ...