DJ Chart: Neville Watson

A product of the UK acid scene, Neville Watson has been slaying dancefloors for nearly two decades. Back then, as part of the infamous Checkpoint Charlie setup, he was sharing bills with the likes of Andrew Weatherall, Craig Richards and Laurent Garnier. More recently, he has turned his hand to deeper vibes and the rawer offshoots of traditional house, hitting the road with Bulgaria's KiNK in 2011 armed with an arsenal of synths and drum machines.

Watson ends 2013 by teaming up with Don't Be Afraid again for a new 3-track EP. The latest addition to the DBA Special Edition series, Hot & Heavy mixes the darker elements of techno with mangled basslines and relentless percussion. Club use only kind of stuff.

Here, Watson runs down his ten favourite tracks of the moment, a selection comprised of slept-on hard wax, future tips and housier edits.

Joey Anderson – Press Play [Latency Recordings]
"Joey Anderson is one of the best producers out there right now, bringing understated, off-kilter house and techno that sometimes sounds like it's been recorded on the ocean floor. I could have chosen any of his productions from this year, like Above The Cherry Moon or his remix of Tin Man, but I went for the wonderful weirdness of Press Play, with its keyboard line reminiscent of Amorphous Androgynous."

Robert Hood – Black Technician (UR Mad Mike Remix) [Music Man]
"This passed me by when it first came out, which is a bit weird because there was a time when anything with the UR stamp on it would always get my attention. Mad Mike takes Robert Hood's original and although he drops the tempo down he ratchets the momentum and groove all the way up. This is a killer cut."

DJ Fettburger & DJ Speckgurtel – Deepspecky [Sex Tags UFO]
"Jazzy NY'esque house put through the trippy Norwegian Sex Tags mangle – what comes out the other side is a deep driving house cut that is screaming to be blasted out loud. I really respect where the Sex Tags crew are at, they've just created their own little world oblivious to all the hype that's out there. There needs to be more of that out there, a bit more non conformity."

Headless Ghost – Basik Fire [Clone Royal Oak]
"All three tracks on this 12 from Ripperton's tougher, floor leaning alias are brilliant, but the insistent, bass stabbing futuristic vibe of Basik Fire slays the floor every time. Releases like this, that you can play all three or four tracks from in a set, are pretty rare these days."

OCH – Whalesong [Trelik]
"Todd Terry style drums, vocal stab and rolling bass with whale noises over the top. That's it really – doesn't sound like much on paper but does the damage on the dancefloor."

Femi Kuti – Beng Beng (Ashley Beedle Remix) [Nuphonic]
"This is an oldie that I still love to play, it's a proper E tune, not in an obvious or crass way but in the way that the pads and devastating groove creep up on you and hook you in. It does have a cheeky little extra bar in the break near the end that can catch you out if you're not careful with the mix though. If Ashley Beedle had been producing in the 70s he'd be a household name."

Boo Williams - Anger (Chi Town Dub) [Guidance]
"Boo Williams is hands down my favourite Chicago producer. I love his stuff, from his more slamming output on Relief to the deeper material on Guidance. This is another older track that recently got a re-release. It never fails to get people going despite its deceptively simple construction; drums, fx and a DX100 pumping along."

M Gun – Proxy [Don't Be Afraid]
"Benji Semtek's label have had a stellar year and this release certainly hasn't done anything to harm that. This track and Tritan on the flip are perfect examples of why MGUN is securing a name for himself in the futiure of house and techno."

Mr G – Mr G. EP [Contemporary Scarecrow]
"Colin McBean (aka Mr G) doing what he does best: thumping out ferocious grooves from his MPC. Potent is a perfect example of a producer still at the top of his game with its double kicks and dubby stabs. Peak time business."

Jay Ka - Go With The Flow (Norm Talley Remix) [Phonogramm]
"Proper techno from a vastly underrated talent. A dark driving groove that piles on the pressure without being needlessly aggressive or dull, just a simple groove executed flawlessly. Take heed young techno whippersnappers, this is how it's done."