Good bye 2010! Hallelujah 2011.

I whittled away the excess noise from the past year and am left with 20 bare bones boogies. A hodge-podge of delicious dance delectables all picked by moi for you.

Check out my previous mixes for 2008 and 2009.

Order of play:

1. Sound of Freedom By Gary Pine & Dollarman is a great warm up for your winter body. With an album coined ‘Made in Jamaica’, production by Sly & Robbie and mixed by Bob Sinclair you cannot go wrong. Magic made in Caribbean heaven. Take a vacation. Be yourself. Live life and be free. Love yourself a little reggae.

2. I like honey in my tea, mixed in plain yogurt and it’s also good on toast. Bees are our saviors and we should be singing our praises to them. Not in a crazy bee like trance but in a Baduism sort of way. Honey (remix via Ron Trent) by Erykah Badu from the album New Amerykah, Pt. 1 is a light upbeat ditty with 1970’s Philly undertones. Shake your hips and your shoulders in sweet Afromania.

3. Grow Up (Def Starr Remix) by Swick from the album The Dopeness. Best kind of laid back dance-mall cheese ever. Growing up is for sissies. Remain young always- no matter how much plastic surgery it takes. I kid.

4. This is when the mix starts to turn. Like a U-turn going 180 km per hour on the Autobahn. Kids by Sleigh bells from the album Treats is this way crazy hilarious M.I.A-esque punchy get in your face with an up and down air guitar type of song. This is a female DMX on steroids. If you need to wake up and you’re out of coffee there’s always this.

5. Don your All Star high tops and do the limbo -real low down. My personal favorite track starts off so funky that you know deep down in that special place that it can only get more so. Shake it Shake it Shake it like a Dynamite. I particularly love the Boogie funk version feat. Sebastian & DJ Git Hyper from the EP titled Dynamite. Kraak & Smaak’s memorable pop song transcends the use of ‘pop’ because it literally explodes big bursts of juicy beats. Scratches and wiggles and crunches and clapping and cowbells all intertwined in retro synth. Early NYC hip-hop and post-disco slam gyrating all in one burning ball of buzz. That’s the only way I can describe it. Here’s an artistic video of the other pretty tasty Sebastian remix.

6. This song is just plain funny and catchy too.  Like, who comes up with a song that just says ‘Barbara Streisand’ over and over again? (In a good way it’s not constant or anything). Maybe it’s an ode to New York?? Someone help me out here please. Is it just ironic??? From the artist Duck Sauce, Barbara Streisand is a refreshingly happy and giddy song. It’s playful and makes you want to be silly. Shouldn’t dancing make us feel good and sometimes silly? NYC music genius peeps cameos *** video check it check it out. Peace.

7. We’re ready when you are by The Krays featuring Ebony Bones (who it totally interesting) and remixed by DJ Mehdi (visit his uber cool french blog) is a creamy screamy disco boogie perfect for some Halloween type shenanigans. “Turn out the light cause we’re not scared”. No waiting around people. Costume, check. 40 ouncer, check. Empty bag for candy, check. That’s it. Funky.

8. Yes! I love that I love this song. I broke up with The Black Eyed Peas when they sold out but then I realized it was my problem, not theirs. There is not doubt about it these guys are super talented pop musicians. Boom Boom Wow (original video) I prefer the DJ will.i.am Megamix. It’s a super duper catchy western techtronic mass of pumping bass. Daft Punk styles. Fergie sounds so dope. The Peas are rapping to this new beat that I cannot get out of my head. They even brought in that voice synthesizer thing that generally cheapens music -really it should have died with Cher– yet it’s still good! Really good. It’s almost a perfect song. I would say 9.999999/10. Love you guys! Holla!

9. This is for the die hard house fan so if you are somewhat on the fence about fast hard electric beats maybe you should refrain—although if you have gotten this far you probably would appreciate this bit. I mean, come on, everyone loves a good Kylie here and there. The Beata Cue remix version of Kylie Minogue’s Get Outta My Way is pretty good- the original is great too. Kylie loves to dance while lying down and her back-up dancers look like a cross between Jay Manuel and Mark Wahlberg exemplifying hard core sassiness. Ice queen extraordinaire. Pumping fists while performing a double axle. That kind of stuff.

10. 1988 Girls (Digikid84 remix) by Futurecop!. This song is rad in more ways than one. Even the artwork is the raddest of all artworks. Ode to Jem. If you were a female born anywhere in the world between 1976 and 1984 then you will most likely know who I am talking about. Jem and the holograms were the epitome of rocker girl cool. Fast contemporary poetic lyrics so fresh and so clean. A look back to our favorite decade! The 80’s! It did have some redeemable qualities. Like the word radical and zippers and Velcro. And hot pink.

11. Lover in me by Moullinex from the album coined Disco Texas is I will admit it—a little frantic. But once in a while frantic can be melodic. Hence the name Moullinex…I mean that sounds soothing no? Like Rolodex or Rolex. Yep. 20 carat gold bullrings. deee-ance.

12. This is another favorite. A Jack in the Box kind of song. I first heard this track while on the dance floor of an old hall in the middle of nowhere dressed as Strawberry Shortcake. The dj was a cyborg in a gas mask. You never forget moments like those. We Speak No Americano (feat. DCUP) by Yolanda be Cool is a house beat Broadway musical of peppy piano mixed with a 1950’s era Italian gino singing that he doesn’t speak American. It’s pretty old school and real cool. Video here. The original 1950’s song + video here.

13. Don’t you Agree? Fatboy slim and David Byrne doin’ it from the album Here Lies Love- the whole album is pretty good but this track is a must have for any [closet case] disco fan. Diva Roisin Murphy singing from her soul. Praise you!

14. Here we go with a little softy for my disco angel. Lights go dim and break out the glow in the dark body paint. Maybe it’s just me liking these cheesy synth sensations. The cheesier it gets the better! I hope I am not deterring you. What I am trying to say is that I like the new wave of dance music videos.  This one is particularly ridiculous or this one. Parody is where we stand right now. Of course we can’t yet make fun of our own current fashions. Btw, this is Grum and I am particularly referring to the song Turn it up from the album Heartbeats. It’s hot.

15. Einmal in der Woche schreien is by a German artist named Siriusmo.  This one is mellow and rough scratchy yet it evokes a melodic softness that can sing through the heaps of electric wrath that clog up digital arteries. Mind you~ these are simply my favorites so if anyone has any to add please do so in a comment as this is but a list in a list in a list. Creepy must-watch video.

16. Divisive by We Have Band (who I have featured previously). This is a group that manages to be consistent in putting out good stuff. This is a London cocktail party song reminiscent of the Chemical brothers and Duran Duran. It’s also a song guys that feel they can’t dance feel okay dancing to it. Or gals. It’s a head dancer. A neck roller. Let’s roller skate through the office. Why the heck not?!

17. They Don’t want it by the smooth and oh so cool Electric Wire Hustle from the compilation album Brownswood Bubblers Vol.5. This song is by far some of the best groovy ‘Newtown Motown’ out there today. Here’s a live video version.

18. The mix is slowing down tempo with 1977. In 2010, Thom Yorke (way wacky website) was asked in an interview what he was listening to and he said Ana Tijoux. I don’t normally spy but I had to check it out. Right off bat I decided she must be from a very dangerous gang in Northern Mexico and her weapon is a beat up cordless microphone. (She’s actually from Santiago, Chile). This is drive-by music. You can drive-by on your bike though. Phew! I know.

19. Why does the wind? “uhh, the wind..what?” Seriously, I am a huge fan of Tracey Thorn. Her voice is beautiful and melancholic.  This song is a down beat electronic masterpiece. The Morgan Geist remix is slightly more amp but equally as good as the original. Subtle tech. Music for a long train journey the day after. Foggy window breather. Faint phone number.

20. Just when you thought it was all over there was one more. Dark Days (Teen Daze Remix) from the totally talented Canadians cuties You Say Party! We Say Die! (YSPWSD) is a great chill down song perfect for this northern dark time of year. The lead singer Becky is a riot, a true individual with mounds of style and pep and a pretty sturdy voice too. I have seen them live up close and personal at Homegrown Skates in NS. Check out their other albums!  The original song and video.

G’night folks I’m beat.