It’s probably fair to say that by now Pete Tong is recognised asthe voice of the global dance scene, hosting the aptly named Essential Mix and his own show on BBC Radio 1 in the UK.

Having been in the driver’s seat of the dance community for 20 years now, the BBC are rolling out the celebrations to honour Tong’s two decades of service, beginning with a listener-voted poll of the top 20 dance songs from 1991 to now.

As you’d expect from such a poll, the top 20 tracks of the last two decades are an interesting bunch, with veterans of the scene like The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers andMassive Attack all ranking highly, while DJ icons like Laurent Garnier, Josh Wink, Sasha and Eric Prydz received deserved nods.

Interestingly enough, it’s only Underworld and Daft Punk that rank with multiple entries in the top 20, with the latter scoring three places and an extra point for Stardust. While it’s a sign of the times that Skream’s (very good) remix of La Roux’s In For The Kill makes the list, no amount of dubstep fandom could keep Energy 52’s Cafe del Mar from top spot. Thus is the power/commitment of trance fans.

Check the whole thing out below and feel free to leave your personal selections and any It’s All Gone Pete Tong jokes in the comments section below.

A Celebration of Pete Tong: Top 20 Tracks – 1991-2011:

1.Energy 52 – Cafe del Mar
2.Underworld – Born Slippy
3.Sasha – Xpander
4.Daft Punk – One More Time
5.Stardust – Music Sounds Better
6.Robin S – Show Me Love
7.Daft Punk – Around the World
8.Prodigy – Smack My Bitch Up
9.Massive Attack – Unfinished Sympathy
10.Eric Prydz- PjanooFind
11.Groove Armada – Superstylin’
12.Laurent Garnier – Man with the Red Face
13.Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl
14.Gat Décor – Passion
15.Josh Wink – Higher State of Consciousness
16.Daft Punk – Da Funk
17.Armand Van Helden – You Don’t Know Me
18.La Roux – In for the Kill (Skream remix)
19.Underworld – Rez / Cowgirl
20.Diss Reaction – Jieehaaa

Future Underground brings together the biggest underground club cuts provided by two of clubland’s hottest figures, Pete Tong and Riva Starr, released in two mixes on dance music’s premier compilation label, Defected.

Future Underground is your guide to the music that will dominate the finest dancefloors for the rest of 2011 and beyond, featuring tracks and remixes from current stars including Maya Jane Coles, Deniz Kurtel, The Japanese Popstars and Reboot, plus past masters such as N.E.R.D (album exclusive), Cajmere, Steve Bug and Santos.

Pete Tong needs little introduction. 2011 is a milestone year for electronic music’s foremost curator. He’s just announced a host of activity for this year, ranging from his Miami Pool Party (with Hawtin, Joris Voorn, Riva Starr and others) to a new Ibiza concept and beyond. His constant touring, production work, remixes, music supervision, film scoring, and a weekly Radio 1 show, all ensure he’s arguably the busiest man in dance.

With an impressive body of work for key dance labels such as Made 2 Play, Get Physical, Dirtybird and Southern Fried; Riva Starr’s diverse but distinctive sound has helped him notch up a fan-base that ranges from Annie Mac to Pete Tong, Carl Cox to DJ Sneak, and Groove Armada to Sven Vath. His remixes include The Gossip, Usher, Plan B, Dennis Ferrer and Estelle. His artist album “If Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade” (Made 2 Play) was released to critical acclaim in 2010, followed neatly by his Miami Defected compilation. He’s the proud owner of Snatch records.

Pete Tong & Riva Starr – Future Underground
Release date: 11th April 2011
Label: Defected Records

Tracklist
CD.1 – Pete Tong
1. Guti & Dubshape – Every Cow Has A Bird
2. Deniz Kurtel featuring Jada – The L Word (12″ Version)
3. Leon – Cause I Love You
4. Savino Martinez – Piano Is Not Over (Dino Lenny Rework)
5. Maya Jane Coles – What They Say
6. Shonky – Les Shonkettes
7. Maximiljan – Ready (Tapesh Remix)
8. Pete Tong – Wardance
9. Tom Flynn – Circus Night
10. Kaiserdisco – Amalfino (2000 And One & DJ Madskillz Remix)
11. Dualton – Formula (Reboot Remix)
12. N.E.R.D – Hypnotise You (Tong & Rogers Mix)
13. Gary Beck – Hands In Mine
14. Tong & Rogers – Headstrong
15. Paco Osuna & Daniel Sanchez – Kawuriel
16. The Japanese Popstars – Song For Lisa (Tong & Rogers Remix)

CD.2 – Riva Starr
1. Cajmere featuring Dajae – Brighter Days (John Made Remix)
2. Sandy Huner & 2000 And One – Tap Deux
3. Riva Starr presents STARR TRAXX – More (KiNK Remix)
4. Tube & Berger – Kreidler Flory (Tapesh Remix)
5. Prince Club – Mr. Freeze
6. Cajmere – Percolator (Riva Starr Remix)
7. Sean Miller – Chic Easy
8. Gary Beck – Get Down
9. Santos – Hold Home
10. Edu Imbernon – Room 423
11. Riva Starr featuring Rettore – Splendidub (Pirupa Remix)
12. Round Table Knights vs. Bauchamp – Calypso (Zombie Disco Squad vs Miman Extended Version)
13. Fausto Messina – Tómelas Frias
14. Caie! & Lagora – Le Cher Rayonnent
15. Rainer Weichhold & Heartik – Coucous (DJ Madskillz Remix)
16. The Wizard Brian Coxx – My Dream (Accapella)
17. Adam Port – Symphony (Leon Remix)
18. Pablo Rez – Reclaim
19. Steve Bug – As It Was
20. Trescem – Turn On The Music (One more TUUUUNE! Re-edit)

Pete Tong & Riva Starr – Future Underground by Defected Records

VOTE NOW

The shortlist of 50 tracks, includes:

Josh Wink – Higher States of Consciousness

Riva Starr – I Was Drunk

FREAKS – CONSCIOUS OF MY CONSCIENCE

RELEASE DATE : VINYL 17.01.11 / DIGITAL 31.01.11

LABEL : REBIRTH RECORDS



Freaks follow up their release, ‘Right Now featuring Robert Owens ” with another exciting single on Rebirth. This time Luke Solomon and Justin Harris team up with Diz aka 012 to reinterpret the Womack & Womack classic !

In the words of Freaks…

“We first started recording this record around 6 years ago. Originally to a live drum track. The track started off as a straight cover, then eventually was stripped down and remixed effectively. Diz used to stay with us quite a bit in London and around the time that we first recorded the vocals we had been listening to a lot of Funkadelic, The Style Council and this. Diz started singing it in the car and we just decided to record it for fun. It just seemed to work so well, probably because Diz really understood the soul of the track and captured it in the delivery of his vocals. We then added some backing vox and stripped that back and ended up with this version. .

The album, “Conscience”, that we took it from, is one of our all time faves “

The one and only Henrik Schwarz also serves up a strong remix and dub with his trademark warm sound, piano, synth and acid bassline ! Magic and epic at the same time…and that’s not to mention the awesome Johnny D remix.

Already tried and tested by Gilles Peterson in the last month and seeing support from Pete Tong for Henrik’s remix……. This is a another monster tune from the Freaks stable.

DJ Reactions:
Adam Beyer ‘BIG! full support’
Francois K ‘Really great!!Will definitely be playing this’
Ame ‘like it! thanks’
Karotte ‘wow!!! perfect for the morning hours!!! love it’
Gregor Tresher ‘Wow! Absolutely stunning. I am a fan. nr 1 in my chart’
Hell ‘great massive monster track’
Agoria ‘on my next top ten, merci! j’adore vraiment’
Laurent Garnier ‘Got this , love this !’
Marco Bailey ‘perfect work !!’

for more reactions and review of track on newsdistribution.be

The pace is gathering around Mason’s secret summer smash ‘You Are Not Alone’ with Pete Tong playing it every week in July on his BBC Radio 1 show

Listen to it at www.soundcloud.com/iason