Because Music are celebrating the completion of Breakbot’s first debut album by sharing a DJ set from the king of funk – it was recorded when he warmed up for Chromeo in Toronto last November.

File under: super funky town.

January has been a fantastic month for new music – here’s a mixtape of what has been on heavy rotation at HBF towers – we’ll be keeping the tracklist secret, just to keep you guessing. Who knows maybe there’s new Daft Punk in here, you never know…..

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The super kind folks at Because music are giving away 12 free tracks today, not only is this exciting there’s a new Breakbot remix of Charlotte Gainbourg’s ‘Heaven Can’t Wait’. As well a music from 2 Bears, Metronomy, Birdy Nam Nam, Mickey Moonlight, Paul Epworth and more.

Charlotte Gainsbourg – Heaven Can Wait (Breakbot Remix)

Download here.

Grab them all below.

http://bit.ly/zJPPEc

Compared to last year 2011 has been a good year for electronic music, we wouldn’t go as far as saying its been vintage, but its been far from a dud.

Globally electronic music seems to be growing which is a good thing, sure there are those who are looking to make a quick buck by jumping onto the dubstep bandwagon, but for us one of the biggest winners has been the continued success of nu-disco.

It’s seen further growth worldwide, and for us, ultimately, has shown the world that organic music can still compete with synthetic wobbles of the current buzz genres.

This is our list of the what we think have been the best albums, singles, remixes and, for the first time, blogs in 2012. You’re not going to see 10 albums of pretentious deep house or artsy indie that we’ve never mentioned. Our list mirrors what we’ve been listening to and have been featuring on HBF.

There’s no running order for any of the lists, because, to be honest, it would be a waste of time and an exercise in futility. The albums, singles, remixes and blogs are all amazing and are all of equal quality. So there. If you think we’re wildly off, or have missed something do let us know. But we’ve trawled through every page of HBF and across the lists and mixtapes we feel we covered every artist or act that deserves to be recognised in 2011.

We’d like to the say a quick thanks to all the artists, readers, friends, fellow bloggers, PR’s, labels, and our internet and design teams who have all helped to make 2011 our most successful year. Without you we wouldn’t be where we are today.

We’re not perfect, but, nor is the world – we do this for the love of music and are very much looking forward to the musical delights of 2012. We’ll be taking a proper break over Christmas, because, we need some time off. The 800 + posts we’ve done over the last 12 months has taken its toll both physically and mentally. So this will probably be the last post of the year. But we’ll be back the first week of January to start this wild ride all over again.

Have a lovely Christmas and New Year and we’ll see you on the other side.

The HBF Team.

Best Albums of 2011:
Siriusmo – Mosaik
Yuksek – Living Life On The Edge of Time
Justice – Audio, Video Disco
SebastiAn – Total
Rafale – Obsessions
Bodi Bill – What!
Monarchy – Around The Sun
DigiKid 84 – Timelapse
M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
The Supermen Lovers – Between The Ages

Best Songs of 2011:
Breakbot – Fantasy Feat Ruckazoid
Monsieur Adi – Fire Fire Fire
Yuksek – On A Train
M83 – Midnight City
SebastiAn – Embody
Siriusmo – Feronominkon
Shook – The Rise And Fall
Flight Facilities – Foreign Language
Peter & The Magician – Twist
Tyson – Fight

Best Remixes of 2011:
Sneaky Soundsystem – Big (Oliver Remix)
Monarchy – You Don’t Want To Dance With Me (Moonlight Matters Remix)
The Whip – Secret Weapon (Alex Metric Remix)
Christa V – Your Heart (Show Your Shoe Remix)
Fenech Soler – Demons (Yuksek Remix)
The Penelopes – Now Now Now (The C90’s Remix)
Lana Del Ray – Blue Jeans (Club Clique)
Sawgood – Not So Funny (Decide Remix)
Shindu – Happy House (Herr Styler Remix)
Chromeo – When The Night Fall (Breakbot Remix)

Best Blogs of 2011:
Electronic Rumors
La.Ga.Sta
Nashville Nights
Sloth Boogie
Too Many SebastiAn’s
Stoney Roads
The Music Ninja
Remix86
Slutty Fringe
Loose Lips

HBF’s Best Of 2011 by Mr HBF

Download here.

Show Your Shoe – Pandi
Noah & The Whale – Life Is Life (Yuskek Remix)
Aeroplane – Superstar (Krays Remix)
Hercules & Love Affair – Painted Eye’s (Moonlight Matters Remix)
RipTide – Sophie
Yuksek – Always On The Run (Peter & The Magician Remix)
Peter & The Magician – Twist
Yuksek – On A Train (Magician Remix)
Mustang – Shooting Love (Fat Club Remix)
Beni – Someone Just Like You (Villa Remix)
Gesaffalstein – Control Movement
Rafale – Everglades (Commuter Remix)
Mumbai Science – Researchers

Best of 2011 Alternate by Mr HBF

Download here.

SebastiAn – Love In Motion
Leno Lovecraft – Cybernetic
Shook – Though The Fire
Noah & The Whale – Life Is Life (Yuksek Remix)
Aeroplane – Superstar (The Krays Remix)
Hercules & Love Affair – Painted Eyes (Moonlight Matters Remix)
RipTide – Sophie
Yuksek – Always On The Run (The Magician Remix)
Peter & The Magician – Love In Rimini
Yuksek – On A Train (The Magician Remix)
Mustang – Shooting Love (Fat Club Remix)
Lykke Li – I Follow Rivers (The Magician Remix)
Kylie Minogue – If You Feel The Love (Monsieur Adi Remix)
Yuksek – Out Of Control
Justice – Horsepower

Kris Menace’s assault on the senses continues with his latest collaboration with Adam Shaw, ‘Starchild’ is a progressive electro track that consists of cacophony of strung-out synths, melancholic tones and chatty claps.

The song builds and builds until it hits about the half way mark and then you’re greeted with refined synths, and pita-patter percussion and an eventual wall of bass and energy. Out now on Beatport and everywhere else December 5, via his own label Compuphonic music.

Buy here.

As a thankyou for his continued support, Binary Records’ Fabian is giving away a free track ‘Jack’ – it’s a fun-time piece of disco house and you can grab it for free. Expect to see him touring near you soon as he has just signed to Bond music group for North America bookings.

Fabian – The Jack by iamFabian

Download here.

And check his latest mixtape too.

Fabian – Prospect Mix 2011 by iamFabian

Download here.

Fabian – Messenger
Small Pyramids – I Want Blood
Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. – Bang Bang Bang (U – Tern’s Disco Dub)
Body Language – Social Studies (Plastic Plates Remix)
Jean Tonique – Dynomite
Dublin Aunts x Calvin Harris – Flash Back (Dublin Aunts Cosmic Disco Departure)
Daft Punk – Face to Face
Fabian – Cardiac Release (Working Title)
Breakbot – Fantasy (Jacques Renault Remix)
Mix Chopin – When I’m With You
Swivel Hips – Cheaters
Geisha Twins – Love Situation (Matt Soda Feel Good Remix)
RogerSeventyTwo – You Take Me Higher
Duck Sauce – Your Nasty
Fabian – The Jack
White Sea – LadyKiller (Gigamesh Remix)
Fabian – Last Flight (Justin Faust Remix)

http://www.facebook.com/iamfabianmusic

It’s no secret that we think that the Woolhouse studios are some of the most talented creative’s in the music industry – so talented – that they’re the creative muscle behind this fair blog. Founded by their head Ninja Emma J, they’re one of the most in-demand design and photography studios in London.

What separates Woolhouse from the rest is the way they fuse live-photography with mind-blowing special effects to produce something that looks truly unique.

Have you see the amazing graffiti Theo Keating did for his new Black Ghosts album? Well, that was done at Woolhouse. Ever seen those big advertising boards in Ibiza? They do them. Do you like the look of the Prodigy? There are the people behind their “smashing bottle” images. Have you seen the amazing design for the HBF T-shirts? Of Course you haven’t they’re not finished yet. But you can see where we’re going; they’re quite a big deal.

Well, not satisfied with handling the big guns of the music world, Woolhouse Studios now wants to start helping up-and-coming artists – appreciating we all need a little help sometimes – as well as trying to give a little something back to the music industry.

They will be dedicating 2 days a month to new up-and-coming artists. During these studio open-days they will be shooting 5 artists a day, providing simple and sleek press shots with the same level of perfection they are known for. These days will include one of Europe’s leading photographers, retouching and makeup artists for female artists…. and all for the price of a cheap flight to ibiza or a night out in London!

To register your interest in these epic open days, please email Emma at info@woolhousestudios.co.uk

http://www.woolhousestudios.co.uk

StarSmith will release his next track on Alan Braxe’s Vulture music on August 22 – listen to it below and fall a little bit in love.

Starsmith – Lesson One by Vulture Music

The excellent Burns is getting in on the mixtape game and his first attempt dropped today – it’s a full-on, wild ride of electro, techno and other musing’s. Listen to it now.

ESM_ MIXTAPE_ JUNE 2011 by THISISBURNS

Tune in next month for the next one. He’s promised one every month. Let see how the European sex dude fairs – might be a plan to allow downloads though.

StarSmith is Fin Dow-Smith the latest DJ and producer to be asked to do a mix for Alan Braxe’s Vulture Music mixtape collection.

Over the last couple years artists from all over the world have been queuing up to get the StarSmith treatment as he has racked up numerous remixes for the top tier of pop music whilst still remaining an exciting prospect for dance music.

The 22-year-old producer has already worked on four number 1 albums including Kylie Minogue’s and Ellie Gouldings’ album where he co-wrote 7 of the tracks and produced pretty all of the album.

He’s been praised by everyone from Mixmag to The Guardian and he is man who is demand. He was persuaded to become a bedroom producers by Frankmusik and with his copy of Logic, a pair of monitors, his midi keyboard and a flair for new-wave pop sensibilities – he is one of the hottest properties around at the moment.

To say he is looking like the next Staurt Price would not be an understatement. All of his remixes seem to have a Thin White Duke quality about them.

STARSMITH EXCLUSIVE MIX for VULTURE MUSIC by Vulture Music

Gentle Roar (Mylo Extended Mix) – Niki & The Dove
Lisztomania (Alex Metric Remix) – Phoenix
Cult Logic – Miike Snow
My House (Stopmakingme Remix) – Hercules And Love Affair
Contact High (Clock Opera Remix) – Architecture In Helsinki
Golden Train – Penguin Prison
Shooting Stars (Siriusmo Remix) – Bag Raiders
Information First – Zoot Woman

And if you want more from Mr StarSmith check out his amazing mixtape for Bacardi and you download it too.

The Second Movement – Bacardi Mixtape by Starsmith

Download here.

Electro chap Burns is giving away his remix of Hurts’ ‘Better Than Love,’ who are a Manchester synth group, for free –  it’s full of trippy synths, acid stabs and techno drums – definitely falls into the anti-synth pop category of music.

Hurts- Better Than Love (Burns’ European Sex Dub) by THISISBURNS

Download here.

Digitalism’ new album is almost upon us and we’ve spied a couple of new tracks, first we have the track ‘Forest Gump’ with vocals from Julian Casablancas of The Strokes’ fame.

Digitalism – Forrest Gump (feat. Julian Casablancas) by RTribouillier

Next up we have a new remix of the the new single with Rory Philipps on the remix duties. And a fine job he has done too.

Digitalism ’2 Hearts’ (Rory Phillips Mix) by Rory Phillips

‘I Love You, Dude’ is due out June 20th via V2/ Cooperative Music.

Soulwax did some amazing remixes for Bryan Ferry’s Roxy Music and the powers that be have allowed this 13 minute remix to be available for download – so what are doing reading this – get downloading.

Soulwax Roxy Mega Mix for Dries Van Noten 2005 by BryanFerry

Download here.

Moonlight Matters has just dropped another fantastic remix and it see’s him exercise his immense remixing talents for Pacific’s ‘Unspoken’.

He creates an infectious cacophony of amazing string’s, bass lines and keys to make probably his most original remix to date. Were going for 80′s synth glam.

For us Moonlight Matters can do no wrong and this is probably his most exciting remix to date, everything he makes is just so original – it’s never in danger of ever being boring.

It’s out today on Alan Braxe’s Vutlture Music and you should probably go and buy it as it’s amazing.

Pacific! feat. El Perro Del Mar – Unspoken (Moonlight Matters remix) by Moonlight Matters

iTunes :  http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/unspoken-remixes-feat-el-perro/id428068037?uo=4

Moda is of course the brain child of Jaymo & Andy George, they’re like a radio version of  the chuckle brothers but on Radio 1, but they are also so much more than that and so is Moda.

Moda is a collective of young, creative minds focused firmly on new music and killer parties. Between them they run events all over Europe, make everything from club-destroying techno to melancholy indie, present radio shows to millions of people at a time, and run the record label that has taken acts like Fenech Soler, Shake Aletti and Monarchy to the ears of the world.

As a little taster of their first ever compilation, here’s a stream of His Majesty Andre’s track ‘Untitled Vinyl’ which is exclusive to this Moda Compilation. which tip-toes the funky indie- house vibe.

His Majesty Andre: Untitled Vinyl by itsmodamusic

Jack Beats have been in fine form recently with remixes for of Florence & The Machine, La Roux, Passion Pit, Big Boi & Diplo – they have propelled themselves into the consciousness of every dancefloor across the globe with the no-holds-barred approach to peak time fodder.

Tomorrow see them release a two track EP which is a completely replayed and re-recorded cover version of the classic John B drum ‘n’ bass track, ‘All Night’ has been one of the most anticipated tracks of 2011 with video snippets appearing on countless websites since Jack Beats first started dropping it into their DJ sets.

Kicking things off with a deceptively ambient intro, all atmospheric beeps, bleeps and teasing snippets of the vocals, no prisoners are taken when the track kicks in with its massive synth build up and the bass and beats combine to make sure fire peak time banger.

With the release of ‘All Night’ and the launch of their own night at London’s iconic Fabric nightclub, they’re about to take things to a whole new level.

We’ve got a lovely freebie for you today, a free Mp3 of ‘Elevator Music’. A banger in every sense of the word and well worth a right click. Grab it while you can.

Jack Beats – Elevator Music by Cheap Thrills Records

Download here.

Be sure to check out the a-side too, even John B has been impressive by there remixing prowess, he said: “I really love what Jack Beats have done with ‘All Night,’ they’ve kept hold of the spirit of the original but have taken it in a whole new direction, totally updating it for 2011.”

The EP will be available on Beatport tomorrow and iTunes and everywhere else from Monday.

http://www.facebook.com/jackbeatsmusic

Alan Braxe’s own imprint Vulture Music are in the midst of an exciting new mix series, similar in a way to our 20-minute-wonders, but obviously way better, they are commissioning a series of mixes that are 20 minutes long.

The mixes made especially for Vulture Music and performed by artists associated with the label. It gives you listeners some great free music to stream, it gives selected blogs the chance for some new content to premier and it gives the artists a chance to go all out. Only the best will do.

Were a little late to the party, but we have secured an exclusive mix, which should be dropping in a couple of weeks, but while you wait we thought we’d catch you up with what has already been made before our exclusive mix drops..

They fully encourage artists to show-off, sample, pitch, filter, rework, drop, edit, cut, paste, spin back and pull out those tunes they love in a way that express who they are and what they are about musically.

The upcoming guests include: Moonlight Matters, Das Glow and Alan Braxe to name a few, which one we’ll be getting is unclear, but we’d love it to be our man Moonlight Matters.

First up we have Santiago and Bushido, who are DJ’s and remixers from Chicago, so you can certainly expect some exquisite cuts of Chicago house, tech house, disco and and of course a few curves balls.

SANTIAGO & BUSHIDO EXCLUSIVE MIX FOR VULTURE MUSIC by Vulture Music

1. Pacific! – Unspoken (Santiago & Bushido rmx) – Vulture Music
2. Electric Soulside – Moon Roller (Santiago & Bushido rmx) – Burn The Fire
3. Chromeo – Hot Mess (Duck Sauce rmx) – Turbo
4. Stars on 45 – 45 (Hatiras and Dave Spoon rmx) – Work
5. Jaswho? – 911 (Santiago & Bushido rmx) – Temple
6. Siriusmo – Feromonikon – Monkeytown Records
7. Aaren San & Miles Dyson – Zooloo (Pleasurekraft rmx) – Kraftek

Next up we have LIFELIKE who is one of the most talented producers in France’s celebrated dance-music scene at the mo. His CV boasts a wealth of hit productions, collaborations and remixes that have cemented his place in dance-music history.

LIFELIKE EXCLUSIVE MIX for VULTURE MUSIC by Vulture Music

1 – Lifelike “HeatWave” – ComputerScience (Promo)
2 – Pacific “Narcissus” – (Original mix) – Vulture Music
3 – Daft Punk “Music” – Virgin/Daftraxx
4- Teenage Bad Girl “Keep Up With You” – Citizen Rec.(Promo)
5 – Lifelike ” Motion” – ComputerScience
6 – Chemical Brothers “Swoon” – Boys Noize remix – Virgin UK
7 – T.B.S (The Bloody Sisters) “Slammin” – Sismic Music
8 – Chaka Khan “I Feel For You” – WEA/Warner

And to finish this mixtape madness we have Visitor, which unfortunately we couldn’t really find out much about, their possibly a duo from france, we have seen their name in Mixmag recently, for the big tunes section – this means they must pretty frickin’ sweet.

VISITOR EXCLUSIVE MIX for VULTURE MUSIC by Vulture Music

1. Los Feeling (Alan Braxe Remix), VISITOR
2. Vesuvia, Palermo Disko Machine
3. This Boy’s in Love (Lifelike Remix), The Presets
4. Invisible Light – Stuart Price US 12″ Mix, Scissor Sisters
5. Gotcha Feelin’ (Lifelike Remix), Jam Xpress
6. The Writer (Alain Braxe Remix), Ellie Goulding
7. Avalon, Roxy Music
8. Love Emulator (Visitor Remix), Lifelike, Yota & Namebrand

The music industry is changing. This is a fact. The days of artist’s living off the royalties from a physical release from 20 years ago is a thing of the past, whether the you like it or not.

The future is fans. For artist’s to survive they need to nurture their fans and connect with them with new and exciting ways. And for once, this is actually happening.

With the birth of smartphones, the Internet and social networks – there is no better time to build up a loyal following who will support you through thick and thin.

With this in mind our design partners Woolhouse Studios are taking fan interaction to the next level, having worked with them on the branding and the look of HBF, we’ve got first hand experience on why they are seen as visionaries in their respected field: They making artists, DJ and bands stand out from the crowd and even blogs as was the case for us.

Their latest brainwave is to start offering bespoke app design for Artists and DJ’s from the underground to the big guns, they’ll do all the hard work, they come up with the designs, they do all the boring coding and even submit the whole thing to Apple on your behalf.

You decide how much you want to sell it for and you’ve got an innovative way to communicate with your fans – and who knows you make even make a few quid in the process.

We are living in a brave new world, where it’s time to throw away the models of old and embrace the new social world on the horizon.

Apps as a new way to help you promote you music is going to be big business in the future and now is the time to pounce.

Apps are an ingenious way to communicate with your fans letting them know when your next gig is, links to your latest releases and as a portal for those all important social networks, the possibilities are quite literally endless  – we have no doubt that bespoke apps will soon be the go to place for fans to get that little bit closer to the artists, labels, DJ’s, or blogs that they revere so much. An interactive app created especially for the music industry.

Their team of web management dudes can easily update the app or if you want to be a bit more and hands-on by the artist themselves. You can have can have complete control using a simple web back-end.

You’ll be able to login and update photos, videos from the comfort of your laptop and start interacting with you fans like you have never done before. And most importantly make some money, something even the brightest minds fail to do in a new digital economy.

And who knows, you might well be seeing HBF on the App store in the coming months, that’s how excited we are about this project. Watch this space.

So if you looking for new and exciting ways to promote yourself, your artist’s, your blog or even your label – then look no further than the Woolhouse Studios.

Each app is tailor made, be it a label, Dj, band, distribution or music blogger, the contents is completely at your request making the app totally unique.

Typical content includes:
Opening page
News
Gig gallery
Photo gallery
Blog
Videos
Music
Store
Bio
Fan wall
Social Media – Twitter / MySpace / Facebook

For more info, including pricing, content and delivery times, contact Emma here http://www.woolhousestudios.co.uk or emma@woolhousestudios.co.uk

Vektorkat is a French producer, other than this we don’t don’t a lot about him – as you’ve probably guessed he makes French electro – similar to the sounds of Toxic Avenger, Irish Steph and Yuksek.

He has new EP out on the 28th of this month through Sismic Music, ‘WYNO’ see’s him unload a 5 track EP with remixes from a plethora of new electro talent – so new in fact we’ve yet to hear of them.

The title track ‘WYNO’ is gritty, jittering, trashy piece of electro – very much on the SebastiAn tip – but more musical – just the sort of track you’d expect Fake Blood or Toxic Avenger to play. Not for the faint hearted.

DaTraxer is on hand to take the track down a grimey french touch route – full of silly synths and cut-up vocals – a less intimidating sound, but don’t let this fool you it’s still pretty unforgiving.

Elite Superstars drags ‘WYNO’ through a rock club, picking up a rough and rugged feel to it – this is one of our favourites – a proper big-room-rave-up.

Fat Phaze provides us with some much-needed auricular rest-bite with his impossibly smooth funk-drenched remix certainly an early favourite of ours.

Pierre & Hughes also decide to shun the ear destroying ethos and decide to re-rub with effects and slower swing altogether.

And the cherry on top comes via Work In Progress – like a computer virus their work has infected the track with a whole new bass hook – it’s squelchy, big and brain shaking. We love it.

And we’ve been given the chance to give away the Work In Progress remix for free – so get clicking.

HBF Rating 7/10

Vektorat – WYNO (Work In Progress Remix)

Download here.

http://www.facebook.com/vektorkat

Mustang really are delivering in 2011, they have just popped a new remix for the secretive duo Monarchy – if you read HBF you’ll have probably twigged that this could be a something special.

We’ve got a little sneak peak for you and its hard to judge until we’ve heard the full track – but it does sound extremely promising, Very summery.

We still think Monarchy has something to do with Stuart Price – but we could be wrong, but this is very unlikely.

Monarchy – I won’t let go (Mustang Remix Preview) by Mustang (Official)

Grab their textured winter mixtape too.

Monarchy Deep Winter Mix by Monarchy

Download here.

And a free track too.

Monarchy – Phoenix Alive (Octans Edit)

Download here.