The Essential Mix of the year for 2008 went to Flying Lotus. I'm sure Steve Ellison deserves it because it's pretty hard to get that kind of recognition. However, to be honest, I haven't even heard the Flying Lotus mix because my favorite Essential Mix of 2008 was John Digweed's live set from Amnesia.

To me this Essential Mix displays to us all a little side of Digweed that we all know and love: peak time madness. There are indeed a few live Digweed sets that have found their way onto the net in the last 10 years that properly portray that middle-of-the-night chaos. Let's see, the first that comes to mind is the 4 year anniversary of Sasha and Digweed at Twilo set that was aired on Kiss 100 in April of 2001 (what a crazy night). The other is Digweed's 4 part Beirut set from Lebanon. But there aren't that many that really give the electronic head in Wisconsin a taste of what a Digweed night is really like, especially if you don't get a chance to see him live. So, it's even rarer when Digweed knows his set is being recorded and still lays down the law.

Digweed starts the set with the new Tom Middleton remix of Bedrock's "Forge", transitions perfectly through Guy J, On Spec and Gianlucca Motta and finally to what I consider a classic Depeche Mode mix. That's the Josh Wink Vocal Interpretation mix of "Freelove". It's a 6 or 7 year old track but I don't think Digweed chose it because he's necessarily in love with it but rather due to the fact that the track mixes flawlessly into Remute's "Condensated". "Condensated" is a seriously high flying tech-house track which only seems to get faster and more intense as it progresses. It's perfect music if you ask me. Digweed then takes us down a level with Christian Smith's superb "Flyertalk" before hammering Amnesia with Timo Maas' "Subtlelite". There's nothing subtle about Timo Maas latest addition. The track is a collage of hammering tech-house, lasers, congo drums and gnawing synths. The sequence between "Condensated", "Flyertalk" and "Subtlelite" is so damn good that it literally makes anyone with an ear for good mixing and track selection want to be instantly on the dancefloor. I can only imagine what Amnesia was like! The rest of the mix takes us downward but definitely does not lose the interest with a new mix of Mistress Barbara's "K-10" and Winona's "Without You".

Every once in awhile Digweed reminds us who's the king of peak time progressive house and this is certainly the case with his live set at Amnesia. The only thing better would've to been there in person. Alas, my Ibiza days are far from over.