Best of 2024 – the top ten compilations
Time to light the Fuse
1. Various Artists – 30yrs Fuse Compilation (Fuse Imprint Belgium)
For more than a quarter of a century, Fuse has thrived on timeless music and pioneering artists, both local and international, all of which have helped make it Belgium’s longest-running dancefloor. To celebrate this legacy, Fuse releases a 30-track compilation of techno’s finest from around the globe. Each track represents a year, starting with Jeff Mills’ iconic ‘Step to Enchantment’ from 1993. The compilation features legends like Planetary Assault Systems, DVS1, Steffi, Rodhad, Donato Dozzy and DJ Nobu, all of which sound superb as well as showcasing the evolution of techno. Fuse also highlights its vibrant local scene, proving Brussels’ enduring influence as this milestone honours past guests and new partygoers alike across a mighty seven slabs of vinyl.
2. Various Artists – Exit 1004 (Exit Records)
Exit Records wraps up its 100 series with EXIT100 Pt. Four, featuring an eclectic line-up of cutting-edge beats, drum & bass, techno and experimental tracks. Curated by label boss dBridge, it embodies Exit’s forward-thinking ethos that brings together some of the most inventive names in the scene. From Tasha & Cadans’ ‘Soft Grimness’ to Freedom Engine’s atmospheric ‘Welcome to the Pharmacy,’ each track showcases a unique approach to the electronic dance scene. This final instalment perfectly represents Exit’s progressive sound and vision, celebrating a legacy while firmly looking to the future.
3. The Orb – Orboretum: The Orb Collection (Cooking Vinyl)
A limited-edition retrospective that spans the career of The Orb, charting their decades-long journey across a four-LP set. Beautifully packaged in an octagonal sleeve that unfolds into a massive flower, each disc is pressed in a unique colourigreen, lilac, orange, and blue, reflecting the four seasons that inspired the collection’s structure. With tracks carefully selected by Paterson himself, the compilation delves into their storied output, mixing iconic cuts from recent albums Abolition of the Royal Familia and Prism with rarities and fresh takes on classics. This set isn’t merely a nostalgic trip through The Orb’s golden years, though, it’s a “director’s cut,” as Paterson puts it, one that reframes their vast catalogue to reveal new pathways and connections between works that span decades. Discs A and B highlight their collaborations with Universal, while discs C and D turn the spotlight on their independent ventures with labels like Cooking Vinyl, Kompakt, and Liquid Sound Design. With sleeve notes by Kris Needs and each track handpicked by Paterson, Orboretum is a masterclass in electronic evolution, blending roots with recent highlights. For die-hard fans and newcomers alike, the four-LP set is an ode to the timeless, boundary-pushing ethos that has kept The Orb relevant for over 30 years. The collection is also available as a two-CD set with a 24-page booklet, ensuring everyone can find their own slice of ambient heaven.
4. Various Artists – Gonzo Goa II: Party Music 86-93 (Sound Migration Germany)
Continuing the research project started last year, Sound Metaphors, Transmigration and historian Ray Castle present an in-depth analysis of the dancefloor scene in Goa during the 80s and early 90s, before trance became a mainstream genre. This tropical underground haven thrived on unique aesthetics, with dedicated collectors and DJs curating the finest “special goa music” from the era’s emerging electronic tracks. This compilation features impactful new beat, proto-techno, early progressive, trance, industrial, EBM and house music tracks, accompanied by event photographs in a double LP gatefold with a poster and liner notes by Ray Castle. Re-mastered in Berlin, it’s an essential addition to any record collection.
5. Laurent Garnier/Various – Fabric Presents Laurent Garnier (Fabric)
Fabric Presents Laurent Garnier is a masterful 4xLP compilation showcasing the legendary French DJ’s unparalleled taste in picking deep techno and house tracks. With over 35 years of experience, Garnier elevates the dancefloor like no other, and this collection reflects his exceptional taste and influence in the genre. The compilation features standout tracks such as Deon Cole’s infectious ‘Where The Freaks At’, the atmospheric ‘Aftermath’ by Culoe De Song, and Anane’s reimagined ‘Walking On Thin Ice’. Each side offers a seamless flow of energy, including highlights like Sammy Virji & Flowdan’s ‘Shella Verse’ and the dynamic ‘Urban Snare Cypher’ by Equiknoxx. Normally, a set from Laurent is a balanced look into the history of the genre while being balanced with new music he enjoys. This set focuses all on new music, showing Laurent is in touch with top-notch techno as always.
6. Various Artists – 20 Years of Shogun Audio (Shogun Audio)
Shogun Audio is a towering drum & bass behemoth whose presence in the scene has very much shaped its sound over the last two decades. To mark this fine milestone, the label has assembled the ultimate collector’s piece in the four of this 4 x 12″ vinyl box set plus a 20 Years Of Shogun Audio book housed in a bespoke presentation box. The tunes take in ten remixes of Shogun’s best tunes and 10 forward-thinking new cuts. Plenty of key associates such as Friction, DJ Marky, Monrroe, Emily Makis, Lens, GLXY, Sustance, SP:MC and many more all feature in what is a real slice of drum & bass history.
7. Gilles Peterson – Timeless Jazz Classics Vol 1 (Music On Vinyl)
Influential DJ, producer, and Acid Jazz and Talkin’ Loud founder Gilles Peterson has curated his jazz favourites from the iconic Dutch jazz label Timeless. The selection includes Pharoah Sanders’ cosmic ‘Moonchild’, Carter Jefferson’s vocal jazz on ‘Why’, Tom Grant’s danceable ‘No Me Esqueca’, and Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers’ ‘In Case You Missed It’. While Peterson compiled a Japan-only CD in 2015, this version adds previously unreleased gems like ‘Mode For Joe’ by Cedar Walton Trio and ‘Gibraltar (Alternate Take)’ by Kirk Lightsey Trio feat. Freddie Hubbard, making it essential for collectors.
8. Tony Thorpe – Postpunk Theory Alpha (Musique Pour La Danse Holland)
Renowned for his seminal work with acts such as The Moody Boys, 400 Blows, and The KLF, the incomparable Tony Thorpe compiles this astutely curated, meticulous collection of 16 rare and sought-after post-punk era cuts that the maestro would regularly spin at parties, making them his personal pile of niche gems. Featuring tracks from Public Image Ltd, Mark Stewart and The Maffia, Basement 5, 23 Skidoo, and African Headcharge, to name but a small handful, Post Punk Theory arrives spread out across 2xLP and includes a 40-page fanzine booklet written by Juno Daily’s own Matt Anniss with photographs by Simon Pyke and Ian Brodie. An unadulterated true post-punk time capsule for both lifers and studious newcomers alike.
Music From Memory totally recall and compile this next instalment in their popular multi-artist compilation series, Virtual Dreams. This time centring on Ambient Explorations In The House And Techno Age, Japan 1993-1999, this second edition in the series follows on from the first released in 2020, and continues to shine a light on the house and techno-adjacent music that helped redefine the definition of ambient music during the 1990s. While the first focused on Europe, we venture far further East here, primarily riffing on the many ambient flows and sequential somnaumblisms eminent from the J-shaped isle from the time, including the trans-missive floater, ‘Phoenix At Desert’ by Akio and the pulse-tidal electro phaseout, Web’s ‘The Cycle Of Seasons’.
10. Various Artists – Best of 2024 (The Disco Express)
The Disco Express’s semi-regular vinyl outings mine the prolific label’s extensive catalogue of digital-only EPs, offering up the strongest and most popular cuts. Here they deliver the label’s official ‘best of’ selection for 2024, an album-length excursion with seven sizzling tracks on offer. There’s naturally plenty to set the pulse racing and get the feet moving, from the Sylvester-style vocals and chunky disco-house grooves of Art of Tones’ ‘The Magic Count’ and the expansive, jazz-flecked disco/deep house fusion of Moodena’s rework of Mayrag’s ‘Poison For Us’, to the Hi-NRG-tinged 21st century electrofunk flex of Luksek’s ‘Break For Dancers’ and the slow-motion soulfulness of Rayowa’s superb ‘In The Sunshine’.