Introducing Project X: Idolator’s Chart-Busting New Column

We here at Idolator are obsessed with charts: Sales charts, best-of charts, even charts that chart other charts. In an attempt to keep track of all the rankings and reports that are compiled on a daily basis, we’re proud to introduce “Project X,” a new bi-weekly column in which Jackin’ Pop editor Michaelangelo Matos will break down charts from every genre imaginable. After the click-through, his first report.

Project X, Pt. 1: Mixmag‘s Top 10 Tracks of 2006

Music-magazine revamping can be a dicey affair–see the takeovers and retrenchments Spin has undergone in the past year, for example. The relaunch of the British dance magazine Mixmag last May, though, seems like an exception: After a decade of being published by Emap, it was bought in 2005 by Development Hell, an independent publisher that also puts out the post-boomer rock mag The Word. The new Mixmag looks and reads sharper than it has in years, probably as a result of editor Andrew Harrison’s stated aim to give the magazine a more mature readership–a shrewd maneuver, especially given that the audience for dance music is growing older. Under Harrison, even the magazine’s “how to take drugs while vacationing on Spanish islands” features have some vim.

The January Mixmag featured a 2006 review, the first year-end roundup under the new management. The big lists consist of albums and remixes (50 each) and tracks (100); the latter’s Top 10 is as follows:

1. Âme, “Rej” (Sonar Kollektiv/Defected) 2. Hot Chip, “Over and Over” (EMI) 3. Gabriel Ananda, “Doppelwhipper” (Platzhirsch) 4. Gnarls Barkley, “Crazy” (Warner Bros.) 5. Lily Allen, “LDN” (EMI) 6. Loco Dice, “Seeing Through Windows” (M_nus) 7. Scissor Sisters, “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin'” (Polydor) 8. Fish Go Deep, “The Cure and the Cause” (Defected) 9. The Gossip, “Standing in the Way of Control” (Backyard) 10. Martin Buttrich, “Full Clip” (Planet E)

For anyone who’s followed dance music for a while, the equal split between “tracks” and “songs” might make it seem like an unintentional parody of a Simon Reynolds article. That seems logical, though, for a magazine striving to reach out to a more general audience while maintaining its subcultural cred. Historically, Mixmag‘s coverage has tended to be pretty middlebrow, a term I intend categorically, not pejoratively; it largely ignored early drum and bass and evinces little patience for the trashy, though it did go pretty la-la for big beat. But straddling the tracks/songs divide is probably as good a definition of Mixmag‘s mission as any, even if I doubt anyone there would put it in those terms.

Four of the tracks are techno instrumentals (“Rej,” “Doppelwhipper,” “Seeing Through Windows,” “Full Clip”), balanced by a vocal house anthem. (Only in dance music–or maybe ska–could an artist with as horrendous a name as Fish Go Deep not be laughed out of the starting gate.) As verse/chorus-driven as “The Cure and the Cause” may be, though, its primary function is the same as its techno brethren: Slotting into a DJ set to raise the energy and momentum to a peak. All five are prized as much for blending in as for standing out. Songs, by contrast, are supposed to announce themselves. “Over and Over,” “Crazy,” “LDN,” “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’,” and “Standing in the Way of Control” all do just that to greater or lesser extent, but we can presume they’re here for their grooves–or for what’s been done with them.

Granted, three of those songs reflect genuine U.K. pop phenomena: “Crazy” is the longest-running British No. 1 since Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” Lily Allen is the most acclaimed newcomer of the year, and the Scissor Sisters are established as a Brit-beloved stadium act. But the latter pair were buoyed at least a little by their remixes–a white-label reworking of “LDN” by Rakkas Crew placed 32nd on Mixmag‘s remixes list, while Erol Alkan’s club version of “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin'” was voted seventh-best remix, sharing its position with the original on the tracks chart.

The other two are more slippery. They’re both certainly danceable, though precisely why anyone would bother moving, or anything else, to the feckless Hot Chip is beyond me. Actually, that’s not quite right, as the first 20 seconds of “Over and Over” are great: Hollowed-out drums and off-kilter bells that promise a slippery, airy groove to come. But I can’t be the only person who thinks that what follows is lead-footed and deflated. I figured its second-place showing had less to do with the original than its many remixes, but with only Switch’s reworking getting a mention on Mixmag‘s remix list (it placed eighth), I’m probably mistaken, which makes me a little depressed.

The exact opposite happened with the Gossip, who I saw in 2000 opening for Sonic Youth and with whom I’d maintained a polite distance ever since. But however unlikely it is that any DJ worth Mixmag‘s ink would slot “Standing in the Way of Control” right after Scissor Sisters and Fish Go Deep, this turns out to be a fantastic way to learn to like it. Despite the magazine write-up’s explicit mention of the “Soulwax Nite Version” that catapulted the song to widespread club play (and finished ninth on the remix list), it’s the album version I put on the playlist by which I evaluated the Top 10; as much as I like the Soulwax mix, the original is every bit as convincing a dance record.

As for the tracks, I was previously unfamiliar with all of them and was happy to make their acquaintance, however belatedly. In Âme’s case, I can’t even feel badly about being late, because Mixmag was too–the 12-inch was released in September 2005, kind of early for a 2006 list, whatever the publication’s lead time. But really, “Rej” is, as Precious once put it, the definition of a track, building slowly, mysterioso minus the cheese, with its pinging, follow-the-bouncing-ball melody and the white-noisy rrrrah! it climaxes with giving the track its dramatic weight. At first I figured it must sound brilliant mixed into a DJ set (it’s already appeared on a couple dozen DJ-mix CDs), but soon enough the recurrent tune lodged into my head at odd moments. My girlfriend needed precisely one listen: “What is this? It’s great.” She had a point; Mixmag did, too.

Project X will take a critical look at a different Top 10 list bi-weekly. Suggestions should be sent to matos@idolator.com.

Âme – Rej [MP3, link expired] The Gossip – Standing in the Way of Control [MP3, link expired] Gabriel Ananda – Doppelwhipper (Live) [MP3, link expired] Mixmag