2010 has been a phenomenal year for David Kennedy, the 24 year old Englishman also known as Ramadanman and Pearson Sound. While he might not have released any albums it seemed every week there was a new project of some form out that he was involved in. The Ramadanman EP, his longest release to date was released in April and captures the essence of his music perfectly- bold and experimental yet strongly rooted in the dance floor. This year Kennedy has released tracks under his two aliases for Swamp 81, Aus, Monkeytown as well as Hessle Audio, a label he helped to develop. No surprise then that his productions are regularly played in by DJs as diverse as Ricardo Villalobos and Apparat. Ramadanman has also had a successful year as a DJ with blinding sets at Outlook, Bestival and Freerotation. Such is his spinning skills that he has been asked to compile Fabrics 56th mix which should be out in March next year.

A man of many BPMs Kennedy has been probing house and jungle for possibilities and creating some of 2010’s best dance music in the process. His long standing friendship with Laurie Appleblim in particular has yielded some very interesting results at much lower tempos than he is used to. Even in the deep bowels of house he keeps the swing and swagger of the UK bass scene and propels the tracks forward with unpredictable beats and rhythms without losing the listener on the way. David Kennedys tribal percussions have also inspired newer artists like Joe and Shortstuff to experiment with erratic rhythms and bizarre bass.

This mix features some of Ramadanmans best moments, past and present, and begins with 2007s The Woon, a dramatic rework of Jamie Woon’s Wayfaring Stranger. Current dancefloor anthem Blanked and the juke inspired Foot Work transform what people have come to expect from dubstep and his housier moments are represented on his collaborations with Appleblim. Suitably Jamie Woon reappears to close the set with Ramadanmans refix of Night Air, possibly the remix of the year.

Tracklisting:

Ramadanman- The Woon (2ND Drop)
Pearson Sound- Gambeta (Soul Jazz)
Ramadanman- Pitter (Monkey Town)
Pearson Sound- PLSN (Hessle Audio)
Jahcoozi- Barefoot Dub (Ramadanman Refix Instramental) (BPitch Control)
Pearson Sound- Blanked (Hessle Audio)
Ramadanman- Work Them (Swamp 81)
Ramadanman & Appleblim- Sous le Sable (Aus)
Beat Pharmacy feat Ramadanman- Piece of Mind (Ramadanman Refix)
dBridge- ZX81 (Ramadanman Refix) (Fat City)
Ramadanman- Void 23 (Aus)
Jamie Woon- Night Air (Ramadanman Refix)

The wonderfully surreal cat picture above is used with kind permission from the Californian born Brooklyn based artist Casey Weldon. You can check out more of his fantasic art here: http://www.caseyweldon.com/