Yeah. I bitch about lists. A lot. The last month of the year is like hell for me as every blog, website and magazine going posts endless lists. I wouldn’t mind so much if the lists were backed up. If we got an explanation as to why No.1 was the obvious choice and why everything else logically feel into step behind it, all nice and neat like a well trained team of huskies and i honestly, sincerely wouldn’t hate them so much. But we don’t tend to get that, so hate them i shall. It just strikes me as an obscure and valiant effort to take one last stab at setting a trend or appearing clued in.

All that said, I do believe it’s important to take a look back at the year and maybe mention some of the people who shone and did something. So here we have it, my number one Irish song of the year. The criteria for entry was pretty simple…the song just had to exist. It didn’t need to be released, it didn’t need to be on vinyl, it didn’t need to do anything other than be within my sphere of experience. Okay, so the tune that won out in the end is released on vinyl but that’s just coincidence i guess. Or not. I don’t know.

There were a lot of people in the mix on this one, so rather than go to all the effort to come up with a top 10 I’m just gonna say what the number one was and then the rest get detailed in no particular order. It’s fun because people won’t know how close they were to winning the (not even a little) coveted prize.

So here you have it, my number one Irish production of the year, the fantastic “Litiv” by Lakker, released on 12″ by Killekill.

The Process : The judgement for me was simple. I had been listening to this and the other tracks that i considered frontrunners. I was trying to listen to them as a producer…what was clear, what was inventive blah blah blah. And, being honest, i was stumped. There was lots of talent in the field, lots of great tracks, lots of solid productions. Then on Wednesday something happened and my mood dropped considerably (as can happen these days). I was tired, i was sore and I put on this track and nothing I have heard this year has rung so true to my mood. The odd sense of forlorn hope this track contains, it’s pained strains and subjugated beat all just made sense and i realised that this tune perfectly summed up my entire year. Those who know will realise that this year has not been nice to me, but in recent months an improvement of my situation has occurred. Where once all hope was lost a fragile and delicate hope now exists. If you don’t get that from this track then i really can’t help you. If you want to argue a different track for the spot then fine…but hey, this is my Tune of the Year and my reasons for picking it are personal, honest and true. The fact that it also manages to be a modern sounding 2-step number without being a Burial clone is a pretty massive plus. Anyway, big ups to Ian McDonnell and Dara Smith, it’s a great tune.

The Rest of the Field: Unless you live your life by the ST Holdings release sheet you gotta stand up and admit we have some talent on this island. Every track below here was close to being my tune of the year, they were just pipped at the post by those two killers, emotion and subjectivity.

SertOne -- Riviera Part 1 and 2 -- this tune probably would have been my number one if i had a better year. Hear that Sert? My anxiety cost you the gold medal and for that i am sorry.

Owsey Remix of Skinny Love by Birdy -- Owsey burst onto my radar this year and proceeded to produce some of the best music on this Isle right now. Ridiculously huge atmospheres abound in his work along with a level of inventiveness that makes me jealous.

Lecs Luther -- Dia Dhuit -- A nice slice of hip-hop from Dublin scene darling Lecs Luther. Was repeatedly played by me this year as it’s one of those tunes that released that you only need 16 bars of interesting music to make a good hip-hop tune…a lot of his contemporaries efforts this year had a bit too much class between the music and the vocal.

Nouveaunoise -- Jah -- A huge slice of largely unashamed and unabashed noise. Vury tasty.

Eomac -- That Boy -- Eomac is starting to show that he belongs right up there with the big boys of the UK scene…next year should be a killer one for him and this track is another one i have played repeatedly this year.

Sina -- Remembrance -- Sina came to my attention relatively late this year but his music had an impact. Expect an interview with this kid soon.

Luska -- Eastern Terror -- Big deep atmospheres and beautiful beat work pretty much sums up Luska’s modus operandi.