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The obvious choice. With „Request Line“, Skream has not only singlehandedly bridged the gap between dubstep and grime, but also gained recognition from other electronic music scenes. And this guy sits on loads of brilliant material which is still waiting to be released. (Still worth checking out: Skream mix and interview from August on Blackdown’s<\/a> blog.)<\/p>\n 2. Jammer: \u201cMerkle Man\u201d (White)\/Bear Man: \u201cDrinking Bear\u201d (White)<\/strong> – Good to see that grime MCs don\u2019t take themselves too serious anymore. (I\u2019ve got the whole \u201cmurking\/merkle\u201d business now – but what the hell do \u201cneckle\u201d and \u201cseckle\u201d mean? Can anybody fill me in, please?)<\/p>\n 3. Kano: \u201cThey Don\u2019t Dance No More (4\u00d74 Remix)\u201d (679)<\/strong> – Whatever the haters may say, this is an awesome dancefloor remix. It’s uplifting, it’s bumpy, it’s the best 4×4 tune of the year.<\/p>\n 4. Distance: \u201cEmpire\u201d (Hotflush)<\/strong> – Outstanding „breakstep“ track. (Most of the Toasty releases have also to be mentioned, especially „Guesswork“.)<\/p>\n 5. Rossi B & Luca feat. N.A.S.T.Y.: \u201cRun 4 Cover\u201d (More 2 Da Floor)<\/strong> – Not just another remake of Damian Marley\u2019s \u201cWelcome To Jamrock\u201d, but a goddamn heavy yardie-style banger. (Although the N.A.S.T.Y. boys\u2019 one-dimensional gun lyrics (\u201dWhen it comes to knives, here we have many, When it comes to guns, here we have many\u2026\u201d) are be a bit annoying.)<\/p>\n 6. Dexplicit: \u201cBullacake\u201d (More 2 Da Floor)<\/strong> – Another producer who has left his mark in 2005, creating devastating riddims like Fire Camp\u2019s \u201cNo\u201d or the remix of Akala\u2019s \u201cRoll Wid\u2019 Us\u201d. Shows his stylistic versatility on this massive 4\u00d74 bassline anthem.<\/p>\n 7. Ruff Sqwad: „Underground“ (Ruff Sqwad)<\/strong> – Let them show you how they do it in the underground…<\/p>\n 8. DJ Narrows: \u201cHardcore (Take Me Higher)\u201d (Storming Productions)<\/strong> – Forget about the a-side (\u201dKick Daan Ya Door\u201d), which is basically the same uninspired \u201cacid garage\u201d stuff Narrows already came up with years ago. But \u201cHardcore (Take Me Higher)\u201d truely lives up to its name: A great \u2018ardkore jam sounding like from waaay back in the day and destroying any dancefloor. (Also on the old school tip and banging: \u201cTake Me\u201d by Dubchild, on Storming Productions as well.)<\/p>\n 9. Recloose: „Dust“ (Peacefrog)<\/strong> – There’s a whole world outside of the post-garage continuum, and someplace in the southern hemisphere (to be precise, in New Zealand) there lives a young man from Detroit who created this fuuunky, fuuunky piece of afrobeat. It has a bumping bass drum, a funky guitar lick, hypnotizing horn stabs and everybody’s favourite vocalist Joe Dukie (of „Fat Freddy’s Drop“ fame) on the microphone. What else could you want?<\/p>\n 10. Shy FX & T-Power: \u201cSheets\u201d (Digital Soundboy)<\/strong> – Maybe you\u2019ll think I\u2019m completely nuts, but anyone who has the guts to turn a cheesy little slow jam like \u201cBetween The Sheets\u201d into a drum’n’bass monster gets my both thumbs up! And yes, I own the Isley Brother\u2019s original recording as well as Biggie\u2019s \u201cBig Poppa\u201d. You know what I\u2019ll close my NYE set with this year\u2026<\/p>\n If you’re looking for extensive reviews of the year in grime and dubstep, you are (once again) strongly recommended to head over to Martin „Blackdown“ Clark’s<\/a> site. Until the end of the year Martin has opened up the sacred webspace of his blog to artists and fellow bloggers from both scenes for their first-hand accounts of the last twelve month. New reviews are being posted daily (the participant’s list already includes Plasticman<\/a>, Burial, Skepta and Kode 9). <\/p>\n