My year in electronic dance music 2022: January

Hi, my name is Carson Warnes and I'm from London. I'm neither a DJ nor a producer, just a music fan. Full Leopard is my way of documenting the singles, albums, mixes, and radio shows I've been enjoying (at home, mainly).

Radio show: SACRED POOLS W/ FASO 

Sacred Pools is a monthly NTS show hosted on a rotational basis by DJ October, Faso, and the always-excellent excellent Toshiki Ohta. The first great show of the year.

EP: DJ Python - Club Sentimientos Vol 2

With relatively few new releases at this time of year, this one has my full attention. 'Angel' is ambling, groovy, and infectious, and the rest of the EP is equally rewarding.

Rediscovering: John Roberts - Glass Eighths

This blog is not just about new music. A standout release from 2010.

Single: Andy Rantzen - Green Man 

Ambient roller.

Radio show: ONY

Bleak, ambient, January music.

Radio show: MINT CONDITION W/ RANDY ELLIS & MARC FRED

Soul.

Single: Valentino Mora - Hydrosphere

Superb deep tech.

Single: St. Concrete - Am Treptower Park

Urgent, foot-tapping dub techno.

Radio show: KASRA V W/ AL WOOTTON

You can rely on Kasra to bring the party vibes.

Radio show: THEO PARRISH - 6 HOUR MIX

This was recorded last November but I didn't listen to it until this month. It's Theo Parrish, enough said.

Rediscovering: Ron Trent - Altered States

A classic from 1990.

Albums: Soichi, Soshi, Shinichi and Shinichiro too?

Three Japanese artists with excellent discographies all released stellar long-players this month:

Soichi Terada - Asakusa Light

Soshi Takeda - Another Time

Shinichi Atobe - Love Of Plastic

Shinichiro Yokota's Ultimate Yokota 1991-2019 is also worth checking out when you're next in the mood for Japanese artists whose first name begins with the letter 'S'.

Podcast: RA.816 Bradley Zero

I used to love RA’s podcasts but I stopped listening to them several years ago, probably because that point in time saw the start of the online mix era, and there were so many other compilations I was drawn to. Having said that many of the more recent contributions have appeared in other ‘best of the month’ articles and on Instagram so I haven't totally abandoned this series. Bradley Zero's contribution is fantastic. Recorded live on New Year’s Day in Australia, the background crowd noise and perfect tempo put this straight into my own ‘favourite mixes’ playlist. Furthermore, Zero sounds like he's a diamond geezer. He's well-spoken, polite, a great selector, record label head, and a local hero in Peckham by all accounts.

Radio show: Breaka - 28 January 2022

Rinse FM does Friday nights right.

Rediscovering: Luke Slater - Freek Funk

Luke Slater has more aliases than you've had hot dinners so it feels unusual to come across a release in his own name. This is an incredible album produced in 1997.

Single: Roska - Ice Cold

I don't know why but I've never been that into bass music. I mean sure, I'm always drawn to new Hessle Audio or Livity Sound material but I feel like it's a genre I should spend some time getting properly acquainted with this year. 

Suprise gangsta inclusion: Too Short - Just Another Day

Surprising because I've paid even less attention to hip-hop than I have bass music. Another genre for me to explore.

Rediscovering: Flayer - Wanna Get Back Your Love (Mix 1) / Samo DJ - Flyer Edit

I hear one of these versions most months :)

If you’ve been reading, thank you, that's it for this month. I hope you found some music to enjoy that you may otherwise have missed! Here's the link to a Spotify playlist (updated regularly) featuring many of tracks on this blog: Full Leopard: My year in electronic dance music 2022

A quick comment about the whole Spotify, YouTube etc. debate:

I've been buying music since I was 10 years old. At first, it was vinyl and cassette tapes, then CDs, and then I went back to vinyl. When digital emerged as the predominant way of consuming music I was initially reluctant to embrace it, insisting music be listened to in a physical format, but eventually I gave in. So what? Well, I'm fully aware that Spotify, YouTube etc. are tech companies, not music ones, and that the paltry payments they give most artists is both grossly unfair and represents a very real, existential threat to the culture I value so highly. I applaud the brave stance taken by the likes of Illian Tape and Skee Mask, so it feels hypocritical to post links to playlists such as the one above. What I will say is that Spotify is a cheap and convenient way to collect and categorise my music and it suits my current lifestyle. I also subscribe and listen (way, way more than Spotify) to NTS Radio, which is even cheaper: subscribing is voluntary but £2.99 is a frankly ridiculous small amount of money for what I get in return.