I NEED SUGAR

And now back to the music...the decade in review continues with the Top 50 tracks of the decade countdown. Here now are tracks 20 through 16. Unfortunately, there was an iTunes blow up here and the list was all but lost. I managed to piece together 1 through 15, but with one of the 16 through 20s missing I've just realized after posting on blip and looking back here that there's now a track repeated. Oh well, if you've been paying attention, you can ignore it or enjoy it again. Update: Scratch that, I missed track 11 and it's an important one, so I'm updating this with the right Naughties 20.

Naughties.20 Metric - Hardwire The first Metric full-length from 2001 (which wasn't officially released until 2007) is a series of smart, sexy, Toronto-centric tunes the likes of which they haven't released since. This is how that leaked album ended in 2001, leaving you wanting for more. The rerelease had a completely different track order in which they dropped the best track from the album.

Naughties.19 Machine Drum - Freshkids featuring Mickey Factz It's artists like Machine Drum that renew my faith in hip hop. Filthy original beats and tight rhymes; no r&b wannabee samplefest here. From 2009.

Naughties.18 Fever Ray - When I Grow Up Feels like the Joy Division of the new millennium, 30 years later. I'm scared and fascinated and just can't get enough. From 2009.

Naughties.17 Underworld - Two Months Off Glory. Glory. Let that synth wash over you. You bring light in. You bring light in. From 2002

Naughties.16 Easy Star All-Stars - Electioneering Sure, there's a pretty decent brit rock version of this track (Radiohead + cowbell!), but this organ heavy reggae version is glorious! From 2006.

This past Friday was the People Downtown's inaugural Tequila Monthly at Tequila Bookworm. After Abdul Smooth played a nice throwback prog set I threw in with this mix before I was mistakingly distracted by a nutter. Next month will be nothing but 2010 vibes. And no damn requests.

Tracklist:
01 The XX - Basic Space (Jamie xx Space Bass Mix) 2009
02 Alix Perez - The Cut Deepens featuring Foreign Beggars 2009
03 Shlomo - Hot Boxing The Cockpit 2009
04 Roots Manuva - Witness (1 Hope) 2001
05 James Holden - Lump 2006
06 Holden & Thompson - Come To Me (Club Mix) 2006
07 Misstress Barbara - Dance Me to the End of Love (H.O.S.H Remix) 2010
08 Analog People in A Digital World - Rose Rouge (Cagedbaby Remix) 2009
09 Faithless - Not Going Home 2010

Listen and download Nathan Lee's 10:30p Tequila live mix set here.

See you next month!

The challenge: Go to iTunes DJ, delete all the songs, change the source to your entire music library, turn off the setting "Play higher rated music more often", hit Refresh. Grab about an hour worth of music, in sequence, and mix the tracks. You can change the order, but you have to use all the songs.

The fun: up until just a few hours ago I hadn't heard 13 of these tracks. Some of them are great. And then there's the podcast about God.

Here's the full track list:
01 Tom Waits - Medley: Jack & Neal - California, Here I Come 1977
02 Stereo MC's - Gringo (Ragged & Ruthless) 2008
03 Edan - Rapperfection 2002
04 Massive Attack - Teardrop featuring Elizabeth Fraser 1998
05 Sonic Youth - Crème Brûlée 1992
06 Bruno Pronsato/Anonymous - The Make Up The Break Up Part 1 2009 / God The Sequel Podcast
07 The Legendary Pink Dots - Small Anthem 1997
08 Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - Tangerine 1965
09 Mali Music - Le Relax 2002
10 Cesaria Evora - Paraiso Di Atlantico 1999
11 Badmarsh & Shri - Get up 2001
12 Client - In It For The Money (Radio Session) 2006
13 The Spinto Band - Needlepoint 2008
14 The Spongetones - She Goes Out With Everybody 1994
15 Big Sugar - AAA Aardvark Hotel 1993
16 Funk La Planet All-Stars - Summertime (DJ Fudge Dub) 2007
17 Simulator - Progression 2002

And here's the download link. Enjoy!

Here's a run down of two other top 2009 music lists. Pitchfork, who seem to be keenly interested in reviving the Beach Boys, and Resident Advisor, who love it when people mumble "house music" over a muffled beat. I took a listen to both sets to see what was what in the world of internet music lovers and have gathered my rankings below in fancy image format. Of course, the last image in the set is the trusty I Need Sugar list, which I hope is a much more varied collection of stellar tracks.

Pitchfork's Top 50 Tracks of 2009

Resident Advisor's Top 50 Tracks of 2009

I Need Sugar's Top 50 Tracks of 2009

Hear the top 10 I Need Sugar tracks at blip.fm.

I've been working so much until this weekend I hadn't touched the mixer since PIBday. A sad state of affairs indeed. Back at it now, I'm going to see if I can kick out a variety of jams before the new year.

I've also compiled my best of 2009 tracks which are being shared daily at blip.fm. But now it's time for a mix. 

When I played the Indian Electronica festival in the summer it was a more uptempo evening with, for my set, a focus on minimal vibes. At the time, however, I started gathering some more downtempo Indian vibes. So, without further ado, here's the Indian Electronica Chill Mix. Enjoy!

Tracklist:
01 Nassim Maalouf - Tarab (Rast) 1998
02 Özgür Sakar aka Misda Oz vs Mercan Dede - Ab-? Beka 2007
03 Don Cherry & Latif Khan - Air Mail 1982
04 Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Mustt Mustt (Remixed By Massive Attack With Jonny Dollar And Booga Bear) 1990
05 Thievery Corporation - Shiva (Govinda Remix) 2006
06 Dead Can Dance - The Snake And The Moon 1996
07 Gaudi + Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Dil Da Rob Muka Ja Mahi 2008
08 Mulatu Astatke / The Heliocentrics - Masengo 2009
09 Leeroy Kesiah - Bounce Floor 2006
10 Thievery Corporation - The Supreme Illusion ? Gunjan 2005
11 The Beatles - Within You, Without You [2009 Mono Mix] 1967
12 Peace Orchestra - Marakesh 1999
13 Tabla Beat Science - Devotional 2000
14 St Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart (A Mix Of Two Halves) 1990
15 Natacha Atlas - Yalla Chant (Transglobal Underground Remix) 2000
16 Sheharzad - Yalla Yalla (Henrik Schwarz Remix) 2009
17 Banco de Gaia - Mafich Arabi 1995
18 Adham Shaikh - Ohm (Transfix Mix) 2006
19 Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Piya Re Piya Re (Remix) 1999
20 The Flashbulb - Delhi Ill 2003

Download the mix here.

This is the first mix I completed using Traktor. June 09, 2009. Made from selections of my 2008 Hallowe'en compilation. Some breaks and minimal collected over the years with tracks from 1995 through 2007.

It's a companion to the almost 2 hour 2008 Hallowe'en mix I put together on June 15 which can be found here. This one's a quick 40 minutes.

In light of the month, it's being resurrected. 2009 Hallowe'en mix coming soon.

Track listing:
01 Photek - The Hidden Camera
02 Luke Vibert - I Hear The Drummer
03 Aphex Twin - Ventolin (Deep Gong Mix)
04 Underworld - Play Pig (Pig & Dan Mix 1)
05 Madonna - Get Together (James Holden Remix)
06 Pan-Pot - Charly featuring Hugh Betcha
07 Radio Slave - Bang Bang featuring Nancy Sinatra

Download here.

So, yeah, we had our launch party on Saturday night. It was a mixed bag of chaos. The good part was it was an eclectic venue that could probably handle more loud and about double the people; there were tasty popsicles; great people; and the shirts kicked my ass.

The rough part was not having a chance to chat to too many of the awesome friends who came out (I didn't even say hi to Nicole or Anita, and that's pretty much all anyone else got out of me) and massive insane technical difficulties which derailed my spinning intentions: while I wanted to get much filthier with the tunes, I couldn't access my main hard drive for the last 3/4 of the night. No playlists meant mad scrambling. It wasn't too bad, but it meant I was completely occupied trying not to have dead air or trainwrecking all over the place. Anyway, I'll make sure that doesn't happen again.

In the meantime Abdul Smooth and I have been working on getting some pics up, with mixes to follow. Here's the Jeremy Wright popsicle porn. And here's a set of pics from the evening.

So, what did you think? How was the patio friendly venue? Do we need more people? I think we need less cover charge and crazier music. Agreed? Let us know your thoughts. We'll be doing it again, and it's going to be even better!

We'll be throwing down some beats in a couple weeks on Saturday June 13th when we launch what will hopefully become a monthly residency in Toronto.

You'll hear a wild selection of beats being mixed up by Abdul Smooth and I Need Sugar blogger Lee Dale (also known via Say Yeah).

Got a track you'd like to hear? Upload your selections here and rate other people's tracks. We'll include the top vibes on People Downtown radio and of course we'll spin the best vibes live.

We'll post more info as it comes, suffice it now to say that this gig is gonna be superfresh!  Free popsicles all night long to welcome the summer vibes, plus a free drink if you pre-purchase a ticket online for just $10.

Click here to buy tickets online: http://peopledowntown.eventbrite.com

Here's the full low-down:

People Downtown presents the launch party for I Need Sugar

Saturday June 13th, 2009 from 9PM - 2AM

@ the Central - 603 Markham St in Toronto, Canada (just south of Bloor st, steps away from the Bathurst subway station)

$10 entrance; (*pre-sale/online tickets include a free drink)

with DJs:

Abdul Smooth (http://www.abdulsmooth.com) + Lee Dale (http://www.ineedsugar.com)

And you can show your love on Facebook on the event page.

Update Jun 4:

We got tees!

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