Despite continued falls in vinyl sales and further big-name label folds, dance music continued to stay at least 12 inches - or rather 320 kbps vbr - ahead of the curve, keeping all of us at RA busy, and with plenty to write about.

Let's Get Physical

2005 saw the dance music industry embrace all things German and the much-hyped 'minimal' sound. Perhaps the Eddy Richards' satire ubercoolische summed up best, the somewhat bandwagon tendencies of the "next big thing" attitude, with its "Let's all move to Berlin and make music" T-shirts. However, at least for once, the music, artists and DJs were the big winners.

No more was the minimal invasion more apparent than in the Top 100 DJs poll which saw longtime minimal purveyor, Richie Hawtin and his M_nus roster including Magda and Ricardo Villalobos all figuring prominently.

Despite recent props from Sasha, John Digweed and even Tiesto it was business as usual for Michael Mayer's 7-year old Kompakt label which must have been having a good chuckle at its Cologne headquarters. Previously berated for being too minimal, its family of labels which has long dominated the minimal house and techno scene extended its monopoly with the creation of another sub-label, K2, dedicated to minimal techno.

DJ T.'s Get Physical label and associated artists like M.A.N.D.Y, Booka Shade and Chelonis Jones were big winners receiving heavy play from the likes of Pete Tong and John Digweed; M.A.N.D.Y vs Booka Shade's "Body Language" one of the biggest releases of the year.

Ellen Allien's bPitch Control label found surprise hits with Tomas Andersson's "Washing Up" and Paul Kalkbrenner's "Gehbrunn Gehbrunn" while German producers Dominik Eulberg, Gabriel Ananda and Robert Babicz did their bit for Germany with strong releases and remixes on labels like Traum, Triebstoff and Karmarouge. Scandinavians Lindstrom and Trentemoller also added fuel to the German tanks with their respective 12"s, "I Feel Space" and "Polar Shift", on Playhouse and Poker Flat.

In progressive house, Deep Dish and Bedrock delivered highly-anticipated album ("George Is On") and single ("Santiago") releases respectively. Although the singles from "George Is On" found favour with the Grammy Awards Nominations and more mainstream U.S. dance music charts, for most long-term fans of the Washington D.C. duo, the album as a whole perhaps didn't quite meet the expectations set by 1998's "Junk Science". In contrast, Bedrock's "Santiago" -- their first original 12" since 2002 -- again reaffirmed John Digweed and Nick Muir's commitment to quality not quantity.

Paul van Dyk's "The Politics of Dancing 2" and Tiesto's In Concert tours showed that trance is still very much a big sound despite receiving ongoing flack from much of the industry. Both artists stole the thunder in the DJ popularity stakes in October; Paul van Dyk grabbing the No.1 spot from Tiesto, who was pushed back to No.2.

The Swedish House mafia of Steve Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso, Axwell and Eric Prydz continued to stamp their sound on dance music with a slew of remixes and releases; Eric Prydz, under his Pryda moniker almost making us forget his past "Call On Me" anomaly with the ubiquitous "Aftermath", a big song for many of the top jocks.

2005 was again a big year for remixes and dance music producers with mainstream crossover potential, Sasha and Michael Mayer reworking Depeche Mode's "Precious", M.A.N.D.Y and Steve Angello & Sebastian Ingrosso adding their spin to Royksopp's "49 Percent" and Stuart Price lending a hand to Madonna's "Confessions On A Dance Floor" and The Killer's "Mr. Brightside", amongst others.

Electro house and its associated derivatives combining the raw elements of electro with dirty funk, house and breaks continued to be a big sound with productions from Mylo and Stuart Price as Jacques Lu Cont and Thin White Duke finding their way into the CD folders and record bags of many.

Log In. Download. Play Out.

The dance music industry and public continued to embrace the digital revolution at the expense of the previously-loved wax with Beatport celebrating its one millionth download and the launch of online digital stores like Kompakt MP3 and Desyn Masiello's Magnetic Grooves.

Further dextrous wizardry from the likes of Phil K and James Zabiela on the Pioneer EFX1000 and a seemingly universal embrace of the CDJ1000 MKII's by top jocks and clubs around the globe also saw the Technics 1200s being passed over in many a DJ booth.

Sasha continued to push forward with his Ableton Live performances as part of his Fundacion concept in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo, and while occasional stability issues mean it is still not quite a 100% alternative to traditional DJing, it would seem very very close.

Digital-only releases from Underworld and Tiesto also pointed the way to the future digital distribution of music as the tenth edition of the Amsterdam Dance Event also posed the question, "Are mobile phone companies the record labels of the future?"

Ibiza Is Back

Entrance fees hit the 50 Euro mark but a summer stint on the White Isle still proved to be an inimitable temptation for many clubbers with Space's Opening Party getting the season underway the first weekend of June.

However those lucky enough to be at We love... Sundays at Space on July 17th were witness to the unveiling of the hottest piece of clubbing real estate since the days of Twilo - the new Sunset Terrace.

German-promoted and/or minimal-led parties Monza, Cocoon and DC-10 were big favourites with the punters; Thursday's Monza at Penelope's the biggest winner in its debut season, stealing the crowds from what early in the year had looked liked being an unbeatable residency, Steve Lawler and Sasha's joint Viva/Fundacion night .

Manumission tried to attract more rock-edged punters with its Fischerspooner live shows while island staples Carl Cox @ Space on and Cream @ Amnesia again came, and owned.

So with New Year's Eve and 2006 looming ever closer it's now time to take a look back at the past year in dance music news on RA.

January

January saw the dance community worldwide pull together in aid of the tragic Tsunami that ruined the lives on for so many throughout Asia. Benefit gigs took place around the world, with DJs and artists from all genres donating their time and performance fees.

On the music front John Digweed delivered the twentieth "Fabric" album, in the ground-breaking and highly successful compilation series.

RA columnist Hernan confirmed that he is at the top of his game and the progressive house with the release of his "Renaissance Master Series Volume 2". It has since become one of the highest-selling releases on Renaissance to date.

February

The second month of the year saw the announcement of winners in two dance music awards ceremonies:

Germany’s Groove Magazine named Sven Väth and Richie Hawtin as its favourite national and international DJs, Mathew Johnson as Best Producer and Dominik Eulberg as Best Newcomer.

The first ever Breakspoll Awards debuted at Fabric, crowning Krafty Kuts as the Best DJ and The Plump DJs as Best Producers.

John Digweed's strong start to 2005 continued with the release of his "Choices" album for Azuli Records.

The States experienced their first ever dose of Palookaville action with a 7-date coast-to-coast Fatboy Slim tour.

March

RA made its debut at the infamous Miami Winter Music Conference, hosting two parties: Club Spin with Hernan Cattaneo + Infusion + Bill Patrick on the Tuesday, and a daytime pool party at the Wyndham Resort showcasing the sounds of Tyler Stadius, Steve Porter, Hector Romero, Gabriel & Dresden and Christopher Lawrence.

Danny Howells at BED was once again the standout event of the WMC 2005 in a conference which was slightly marred by some rather less-than-honourable security staff and clubbers with advance tickets not being able to enter venues.

Over on the West Coast of America, Sasha welcomed his good friend and Excession cohort, James Zabiela on his Fundacion LA tour while DJ Sneak dropped his "House Of Om" release.

April

The start of April saw the usual mad rush for Glastonbury tickets with 112,000 tickets selling out in 3 hours pulling in £14,000,000.

The Club World Awards named Crobar, NYC as the worlds best ‘Super Club’, Cielo, NYC as the ‘Best Club’, Tabu, Las Vegas as the ‘Best Lounge’… Notice the trend here? Yes, much like the baseball World Series, this was another case of someone using the term ‘World’ in the George Bush sense.

Electronic mainstay and a man with his finger in a number of pies, Mr C announced the launch of his Superfreq imprint;an output for his weird and wonderful bleeps and twisted basslines – Yay!

May

Jamiroquai announced their sixth album of funk-fuelled madness, "Dynamite" would be out through SonyBMG, while Brisbane boys The Resin Dogs dropped their wicked breaks single "She’s Gone" on London’s Jalapeno Records.

Infusion were forced to cancel several gigs after front man Jamie Stevens was involved in a freak accident leaving him momentarily unconscious at the time, and with a serious back injury for much of the year. Luckily his customary thrust was back in full force at Serbia’s Exit festival later in the year. Infusion finished the year strongly with their ‘Six Feet Above Yesterday’ artist album named in Rolling Stones prestigious Top 50 and an ARIA for Best Dance Release.

Due to headline Glastonbury Pop Princess Kylie Minogue was forced to pull out after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Like the strong Aussie trooper she is, she continues to fight the illness and will no doubt showcase her talents onstage again in the future.

Dutch Trance DJ superstar Tiesto began his In Search Of Sunrise sell-out North America tour with dates from Vegas to Atlantic City.

Steve Lawler announced his new Thursday night Space Ibiza residency, Viva would be featuring Sasha's Fundacion concept in the main room.

June

Richie Hawtin announced a mammoth 52-date tour to promote his ground breaking "DE9: Transitions" album taking in Avalon, much of Europe and the Cocoon's Closing Party at Amnesia in Ibiza, Spain.

In a time when a number of electronic music artists in the Southern Hemisphere are packing their belongings and heading to Europe with the hope of fulfilling their musical aspirations, English DJ/producer Rowan Blades announced plans to relocate to the more forgiving climate of Australia.

Basement Jaxx took centre stage at this year's mud-ridden Glastonbury, replacing Kylie as the Sunday closing act.

July

The Summer Festival Season kicked into gear with Amsterdam's techno festival Awakenings going for an all-Dutch line-up on the main stage and a Stage 4 dedicated to some of the hottest minimal German talent in the form of Dominik Eulberg, Magda, and The Wighnomy Brothers.

Rain didn't keep the punters away from the Petrovardin Fortress at Serbia's Exit Festival, with attendances of 55,000 on all four days; Underworld, Felix da Housecat, Joris Voorn, Carl Cox & Friends, Evil Nine, Danny Howells, Lee Burridge and Sasha all getting the capacity crowd onto their feet.

Elsewhere in the Balkans, Subliminal'sErick Morillo and Motley Crew hellraiser, Tommy Lee had a riotous occasion in Croatiaand fled to Ibiza after the owner of a club, unsatisfied with Lee's performance - demanded his fee back from Tommy Lee.

Breakbeat maestro Adam Freeland teamed up with Skateshoe Company Etnies to design the “Ethic” shoe. Featuring the Marine Parade logo, as used by Freeland on his record label of the same name, on various parts of the shoes, a limited number of 50 pairs were made available for purchase from the Marine Parade website.

August

The King's Cross Goods yard utilized its expansive space for the TDK Cross Central Festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

The Bank Holiday weekend also saw the SW4 Festival take place at Clapham Common in London, confirming its reputation as one of the leading large scale dance events in the UK. The sun and crowds turned out in force to see Sasha, Carl Cox, John Digweed, James Zabiela, Eric Prdyz and many more showcase their talents.

Sonicanimation announced their 'grand finale' headline tour in support of their final album "Eleven". The Australian group played nine dates to farewell their fans, and as one of Australia's most successful electronic artists, their shenanigans will be sorely missed.

September

German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk released their ‘Minimum-Maximim’ Live DVD showcasing their 2004 world tour.

The leading voice in dance music on the airwaves Pete Tong, entered the crowded compilation market with his "Pete Tong's Essential Selection" release featuring tracks and remixes from some of the hottest producers from 2005 including Trentemoller, M.A.N.D.Y and Booka Shade.

After another highly successful Ibiza residency, Jo Mills and legendary promoter Charlie Chester ended their association with Circo Loco at DC10 in Ibiza, packing their bags for Singapore and its stunning club Attica.

Hundreds of thousands of revellers hit the streets again in San Francisco at the second San Francisco Love Parade.

Carl Cox took North America college band style winding his way across the States and Canada in his 20-plus date Road To Voodoo bus tour.

October

Michael Sandison and Marcus Aoin, the duo known famously for their work together as the influential production team Boards of Canada announced the follow up to 1998's "Music Has The Right To Children" album with the ‘The Campfire Headphase’ through Warp Records.

Steve Lawler released his third and final Lights Out compilation on Global Underground featuring his usual sexed-up housey tribal sound.

German trance DJ Paul van Dyk snatched the No.1 spot from Tiesto in dance music's most loved and hated popularity contest, the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs Poll.

November

In a telling sign for vinyl, Beatport recorded their one millionth MP3 download when Rodrigo Lozano from Tacna, Peru, logged on and downloaded Angel Moraes' "Welcome to the Factory" on Hot N Spycy Records.

Six months after submitting their proposals, London venues celebrated the start of 24-hour drinking laws, finally allowing them to take early morning partying to a new level.

Underworld sprung their latest material on fans without any of the usual hype, promotion or press with the digital release of "Lovely Broken Things", followed two weeks later by Underworldlive.com.

December

Distinctive Breaks' impressive Y4K series continued to focus on quality artists with the announcement that their Antipodean buddies Nubreed will step into the Y4K game. The compilation is expected to hit shelves in February 2006.

Eighteen years on from his infamous life-changing holiday to Ibiza with Oakey & co in 1987 Danny Rampling held his final curtain call at a very special night in London with Frankie Knuckles flying in from the States, especially. As we announced earlier this year in an exclusive interview, Danny will be hanging up his headphones to enjoy managing his own restaurants.

London clubbing institution, The End celebrated its 10th Birthday with a week long festival called Explore.