June DJ Chart: Hobbes (Trouble)

 

1, Feist - I Feel It All, (Original & Diplo mix) (Polydor)
Another great song from the Canadian star destined to grab the limelight in her own right, following the success of 1234 the ace My Moon My Man. Diplo strips the brilliant original back to its essential ingredients, adding some extra weight and a shuffly beat for the floor.

2, Moby - I Love To Move In Here, (Original & Crookers Bass In Here mix) (Mute)
With guest vox by cold Crush Brothers' Grand Master Caz (who co-wrote hip-hop classic Rappers Delight, no less) and a return to the more ravey style of Moby's early work, this lush new tune also has a distinctly Balaeric flavour and is sure to be a festival hit this summer.

3, Underworld - Ring Road, (Original & Fake Blood mix) (underworldlive.com)
Probably the most interesting and unusual track from the recent Oblivion With Bells album, Ring Road, with Karl Hyde's signature chat, laces a wicked break for a sound that's more hip-hop than anything they've done before. Fake Blood nicks some ideas off the Switch/Count/Sinden mob, shredding it up, throwing in some classic rave hooks and adding plenty of b-line bother. Big and boisterous.

4, Black Affair - It's Real, (Original & Playgroup mix) (V2 / Co Op)
This is the second single from ex-Beta Band member and King Biscuit Time brains Steve Mason's new project. It sounds a bit like Eighties electro-pop stars Yazoo and, while the new mixes of their old hits aren't as good as the originals, this just might be.

5, Ghostface Killah - Charlie Brown, (DJ Mehdi remix feat Mapei) (Audio Visual)
This collaboration between French producers and US rappers is totally inspired and has induced spontaneous shape-throwing as well as investigative, rush-the-booth moments on rotation. Mehdi's mix retains the original's mid-tempo pace, around the 115 BPM mark, and chucks in a load of classic samples and sound fx.

6, Annie - I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me, (Original & Get Shakes remix) (Island)
The Scandinavian disco popstrel returns with what's surely her best record since the slightly immortal The Greatest Hit. It's all about Annie's breathy vocals and the gargantuan pop hook. Get Shakes provide perfectly pitched, prime-time beats n fx for the floor.

7, Ok_Ma - Boogle, (Original & Yellowtail rub) (Universal Vibes)
The latest release on Trouble pal Paddy Freeform's label is the biggest so far and already creating a healthy buzz on promo. Featuring MC SL's chat and Nori's crazy vox colouring an excitable b-line, funky keys/brass, carnival beats and urgent synths from Manc producers Younglee and Jake Sax (both ex-D'Nell).

8, Estaw - Break It Down (Broken Zoo)
Apparently NYC act Estaw is 'blowing up big time in the bloggersphere' and, with furious rhymes and slick vox supplied by funk/soul legend Jimmy Castor's son J-Cast, plus his dynamite bag of beats n bass, it's not hard to see why.

9, Jape - I Was A Man, (Phones remix) (Co Op / V2)
It's all about Phones' work here, as he takes this fairly average tune from newcomer Jape (whose last single Floating was infamously covered by The Raconteurs) and spruces it up to mind-melting, dance-floor-destroying proportions, as only he knows how.

10, Dollskabeat - Zodiac Rising (CDR)
Up-and-coming Edinburgh artist Lucy Ross combines elements of rnb, electronica and pop with an interest in dubstep and other contemporary club styles and is the most exciting act to have emerged from the Scottish capital in a looong time. Having introduced her to producer/engineer Ben Seal, I was chuffed to bits to hear the results of their collaboration, Zodiac Rising - for me the best thing she'd done at the time.