STHoldings Ltd

It’s that time of the year when music related blog’s get their chart heads on and review 2009 with their top albums and singles, we tried something a little similar when S.T. Holdings staff members recently picked their ‘Top 3 Tracks of the Year’: http://www.stholdings.co.uk/2009/12/02/s-t-holdings-staff-charts-2009/

On perusing around the internet at the various charts we have found a mountain of accolades for some of the labels we have been representing, here’s a short run down of some of the finest records this year according to the masses and the music moguls:

HFT009
Joy Orbison
Hyph Mngo

It’s been a meteoric rise to fame for Joy Orbison, a release picked up by Hotflush Recordings (ran by Scuba) and released on his more techno orientated sub-label (HFT), first raved about by Martin Blackdown for his Pitchfork Blog and since then has completely blown up with Joy being tipped for the top in 2010 by the BBC Music Longlist: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8388584.stm

The tune has also been picked up on by the NME who voted the track their 18th (out of 50) ‘Best Tracks of the Year’: http://www.nme.com/list/50-best-tracks-of-2009/159979/page/4

Boomkat follow suit and position the track No.9 out of 100 in the ‘Tracks of the Year’: http://www.boomkat.com/charts.cfm?id=517&gID=10

We await to hear the development of Mr. Orbison’s sound in 2010…..

3024005
Martyn
Great Lengths LP

Martyn’s debut LP was a big success and the internet was flooded with information and hype about the album, his crossover from Drum & Bass to the more techno/house influenced Dubstep sound was great timing and he soon became the figure at the forefront of that particular sound.

It has won alot of ‘awards’ this year across many sites, including no.3 in Resident Advisors ‘Top 20 Albums of 2009′: http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1121

12th in FACT Magazine‘s ‘Top 100 Album’s of 2009′: http://www.factmagazine.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4134&Itemid=103&limit=1&limitstart=5

A mention in the ‘Lost 9 of 2009′ section on Drowned In Sound: http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4138671-lost-9-of-09-2-2562-unbalance?2009

16th in Boomkat‘s ‘Top 100 Album’s of 2009′: http://www.boomkat.com/charts.cfm?id=516&gID=10

Watch out for Martyn’s forthcoming releases coming in 2010, first will be a 2 part remix release, details here: http://www.stholdings.co.uk/2009/11/30/forthcoming-on-3024-martyn-the-remixes/

RAMP022LP
Zomby
One Foot Ahead Of The Other

Ramp Recordings have had a host of big releases this year, notably the Zomby Mini-LP which featured artwork by  Kate Moross taking the 8-bit Nintendo sounds to the extreme and cementing himself as one of the artists at the forefront of electronic music. Songs supported by the likes of Annie Mac, Zane Lowe and Kissy Sell Out on Radio 1.

FACT Magazine voted it No.7 of their ‘Best 40 Albums of 2009′: http://www.factmagazine.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4134&Itemid=103&limit=1&limitstart=6

Boomkat voted it No.3 in their ‘Top 100 Albums of 2009′: http://www.boomkat.com/charts.cfm?id=516&gID=10

More to come from Zomby no doubt in 2010!

DRUNKCD002
Peverelist
Jarvik Mindstate

Peverelist’s debut album finally landed on his own Punch Drunk imprint recently, a producer with relatively few releases to his name but always quality over quantity, a well renowned producer who has worked with Shackleton, Appleblim and has performed remixes for the likes of Pole, along with Martyn he is one of the forerunners of the Techno influenced Dubstep sound.

Resident Advisor made it No.19 in their ‘Best 20 Albums of 2009′ list: http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1121

Boomkat made it No.85 in their ‘Top 100 Albums of 2009′: http://www.boomkat.com/charts.cfm?id=516&gID=10

Expect big things from Punch Drunk in 2010, a Hyetal & Shortstuff 12″ is due for release on 18th January 2010.

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Joker & Ginz
Purple City

Kapsize, the Bristol based label co-run by Joker and Pinch’s Multiverse has been showcasing some huge Joker productions this year, notably ‘Purple City’ by Joker & Ginz. Joker has gone from strength to strength this year and is set to blow big time next year, having headlined the Sonar dubstep stage and undertaken some high profile remix work.

XLR8R voted it amongst their ‘Best of 2009′ list: http://www.xlr8r.com/features/2009/12/bumpin

Pitchfork voted for it amongst their ‘Best 100 Tracks of 2009′: http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7742-the-top-100-tracks-of-2009/5/

Here’s looking forward to 2010.

We’ll leave you for the year with some previews of some releases you can expect to see released in January 2010:

Merry Christmas!

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Martyn’s “Great Lengths” (3024005CD) is rated as the second best album of 2009 by Mixmag

“The Dutchman’s debut was one of those great unclassifiable albums; part dubstep, part techno, part garage, all coming together to create the best underground album since Burial’s ‘Untrue’ ”

Links:
http://3024world.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/martyndnb

http://www.mixmag.net
http://twitter.com/Mixmag

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Ending the brief hiatus that followed the ‘Great Lengths’ LP and accompanying world tour Martyn and 3024 usher in the new decade with a brace of remixes from the deepest recesses of the quasi- house community.

Martyn

First out the gates is 3024-006, helmed by a pair of artists as unique as they are elusive; Zomby and Redshape.

Easily one of the most talked about new producers of the last few years Zomby continues to evolve upwards and out, never settling on a particular style and constantly twisting the technicolour DNA of his output. Those smeared neon fingerprints are all over his reworking of Hear Me’ which lights up clattering percussion and a black hole of a bass drop with layers of sparkling neon crystal SID chip melodies.

Zomby

Tackling ‘Seventy Four’ on the flip side is determinedly enigmatic Techno classicist Redshape. Responsible for a string of unashamedly human releases since 2006, his rich organic sound has recently caught the imagination of a 4×4 scene beginning to look beyond icy [and boring] minimalism for inspiration. A highlight of the forthcoming Fabric 50: Martyn mix CD, the original’s glowering pulse is carefully built on with walls of murky analogue warmth and hissing industrial ambience before reaching a monolithic climax.

Redshape

An integral part of every 3024 release, Erosie once again blesses this release with his inimitable visual style switching up to a monochrome design this time around.

3024006
Martyn
A) Hear Me (Zomby Remix)
B) Seventy Four (Redshape Remix)

The second half of the Great Lengths Remixes package offers 3 more vividly contrasting interpretations of album tracks.

Almost a year on from the release of his debut album “One” and with ‘Saviour of Techno’ plaudits still bouncing off concrete walls, Berghain lynchpin Ben Klock turns in a remix of Is This Insanity that distils everything inspirational about both the club and city he calls home. Spaceape’s cracked vocal is welded to a sort of cavernous piston driven groove while traces of the original’s melody fractured into the briefest of shards fight their way to the surface only to sink back into the percussive smog.

Ben Klock

Located well outside of the heavily scrutinised UK hype centres, Manchester’s rising star Illum Sphere continues to hone his already distinct sound on the flipside’s Brilliant Orange reworking. A clanking off kilter groove rubs up against an extended mutation of the original melody that pushes the track towards a poignant climax, evoking all the ache of reaching for the stars and landing squarely on one’s face.

Illum Sphere

Taking us into extra time is an exclusive to the digital release, Roska‘s ‘Speechless’ version of the dBridge voiced ‘These Words’. A prolific producer and in demand remixer, Roska debuts a new side of his sound that prioritizes space and atmospherics over the dance floor. Stripping the track down to a skittering insect house and minimal percussion focuses full attention on dBridge’s mournful vocal, until muted bass and woodblocks creep into the arrangement and bring proceedings to an uneasy close.

Roska

3024007
Martyn
A) Is This Insanity (Ben Klock Remix)
B) Brilliant Orange (Illum Sphere’s #14 Mix)

C) These Words Ft. dBridge (Roska’s Speechless Remix) – Digital Only

Both releases are due to be released in January 2010. Exclusively distributed by S.T. Holdings.

Links:
http://3024world.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/martyndnb
http://www.erosie.net

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