It’s been difficult to write a bad review about the biggest musical icons in my life, but unfortunately the latest from Gil Scott-Heron is a huge disappointment.

There hasn’t been an album review in a while and Kieran Hebdan’s new Four Tet LP makes a brilliant first candidate in 2010.

Amsterdam’s Mike Kivits must be considered one of the best in the city’s rich music scene and luckily he is also very busy to maintain this status. His debut on the Eat Concrete label came out last month and it’s his 4th solo album already.

It was only this summer, that I first listened to Dave Huismans’ debut under his 2562 moniker, 2008’s Aerial. As I didn’t want to make that mistake again, I followed all news about its successor and eventually got hold of a promo copy of the new album Unbalance.

Silkie’s debut album on Mala’s Deep Medi label came out at the end of July, which is probably the reason why it didn’t get much attention outside the dubstep scene.

Mary Anne Hobbs’ third compilation on Planet Mu will be out this Monday putting the spotlight on the worldwide scene between “wonky” hip-hop and dubstep.

Following last year’s acid-soaked rave album Where Were U In ‘92?, London’s anonymous producer Zomby keeps on twisting the genres on his latest output.

The debut release on Alpha Pup’s new imprint Leaving Records is an item of interest for followers of the L.A. beat scene and collectors of rare items alike.

The debut album from Los Angeles-based producer Nosaj Thing was among my most anticipated releases this year, let’s see what it does.

Here comes a new album from Deepblak founder Armon Bazile. Actually it’s his debut album for the Aybee moniker. I was lucky to have received a copy minutes before leaving the city, as I was about to travel through the countryside.

Forgive my ignorance, but I’m gonna pretend there was only one track on this new EP from Computer Paul. It’s not that the other tracks are any bad, but they are covered deeply by the shadows of this huge track called Does It? featuring Michelle Amador.

I don’t recall a record this year that was nearly as anticipated as Martyn’s debut longplayer Great Lengths. For those of you who are critical towards dubstep, this could turn out to be the first album in your collection, as it’s the yet best proof for the genre’s versatility.

I think I can already tell the next release of the week! It’s coming from a young London based beatmaker going by the name of Paul White. He hasn’t been on my radar since his guestmix for Mary Anne Hobbs‘ show, but my love for his music grew with every track.

There is no way I could summarize the work of Carlos Niño in just one paragraph. The Los Angeles based producer, arranger, composer and musician is involved in Build an Ark, Ninja Tune’s AmmonContact, The Life Force, What’s The Science? or Hu Vibrational.

Oh, how those Dutch producers keep amazing me. Whether it’s Rednose Distrikt, Meikbar, Benny Sings, Harco Pront, Sotu the Traveller or HayZee, some of the freshest producers are coming from Holland! Many call Rush Hour and Kindred Spirits their home, and champion various types of music.

New York’s Bagpak Records has been on my radar for quite a while, being the home of names Yellowtail, Nubian Mindz or Arch_typ. They were so kind to send me a copy of their upcoming compilation Bagpak Selects Vol. II, which I believe is set for a release in late February.

About a year ago, Mark Pritchard came up with his first Harmonic 313 EP, a tribute to Detroit’s electronic hip-hop (313 being the city’s area code). What first didn’t seem to have the potential for a full album, has grown to become a diverse longplayer, set for release on February 3rd through ever-innovating Warp Records.

It was shortly after Christmas, when the long expected copy of In Search Of Hope finally arrived. While writing this, I noticed how lucky I was, as both LP and CD are currently sold out at Juno Records (Rush Hour still has copies!).

The second album from Moonstarr is finally available in the rest of the world, following the Japanese release earlier this summer. First of all, Instrumentals Forever is not what the title suggests – an instrumental album. If you love(d) Dupont, chances are good you will like the follow-up just as much.

The third installment of Deutsche Grammophon’s Recomposed series comes from techno godfathers Carl Craig and Moritz von Oswald (Basic Channel, Rhythm & Sound). Together the joint forces of Detroit and Berlin put their hands on classical material from Maurice Ravel and Modest Mussorgsky.

Already released on their remix album Seven Ways To Wonder (The Remixes), London’s Reel People have released a 12-inch containing the IG Culture remix of Outta Love with Omar on vocals. It’s different from the rinse that has been played on Worldwide or various other West London sets, but it’s clearly the standout tune and it’s on wax.

There were many rumors about the new Jazzanova album weeks prior to its anticipated release. Six years after their debut In Between, the founders of Berlin’s Sonar Kollektiv would deliver a new album, produced and recorded like it’s the 1960s again. However, not everybody seemed to have welcomed that idea, some forums reacted fairly sceptical about it, pushing Jazzanova next to Amy Winehouse.

It’s been one of my favourite compilations of the year and I’m late on my review duties – but in fact this blog didn’t even exist when everybody else was loving it already. Today we’re talking about Here Comes Treble, the first compilation from Domu’s young TrebleO label. And it’s a great debut, way too fresh to be put in this blog’s classics category!

French label Jazzmin has released a new album from Sleep Walker. Well, one might say it’s not a new album, but a collection of their previous 12-inches – either way, for the first time these tracks are officially available outside of Japan and in a digital format.

Canada’s Public Transit celebrates its 10th anniversary with Next Stop, a compilation available as a free download. The label’s roster is well-represented with founder Moonstarr, LAL, Voice, Think Twice, Arch_Typ, Murr and InsideAmind. Other artists include Karma & Lotus, Incubator, Grahmzilla and Aadm, but the label website does not indicate if these are signings.

Deepblak has been stirring up the scene recently with its though soulful and deep, also dark, futuristic, even industrial sound. Playing a healthy mixture of jazz, techno and hip hop, Aybee gathered his label-mates Erik Rico, Afrikan Sciences, Black Jazz Consortium, o1o, Trinidadian Deep, Blaktroniks, Xaphryn Follicle, Dozie and Mattski to put out the labels first compilation. The first impression? It’s an fantastic compilation, has a very black feeling to it, and it keeps reminding me a lot of Volcov’s Soul in Motion from 2002

For the last couple of years, Orin Walters of Bugz in the Attic has been traveling to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. There he discovered the depths of latin music, its many flavours and in particular the rumba. Many travels later, a friendship with the local scene emerged and led to first collaborations – the most famous being Golpe Tuyo Calinda, a standout broken beat track released under Orin’s Afronaut moniker.

The tracks sound familiar? That’s right, as they’ve been available in different outfits from the Coopr8 MP3 store. First you could get them on the five Cooperation III Samplers, the first two were even out on vinyl. Later this compilation showed up on the same store, under a different name but with most of the tracks, though not all of them.

The Moodyman/Westbeech remixes (BWOOD034) just saw a worldwide release, Japan already gets all the remixes on CD-only album. It includes both IG Culture remixes of Blackeyedsusan (BWOOD025), the Flying Lotus collaboration Visions of Violets (BWOOD029), two remixes from Simbad (BWOOD028 plus an unreleased version) and another from Yam Who.