Fanciulli is part of the British dance ratpack taking clubland back from the old guard. Back in 2003 when other bedroom DJs were still taking notes about their heroes, Fanciulli was busy finding a funkier, housier DJ sound of his own, pricking up ears with singles and remixes under the name Skylark (with studio partner Andy Chatterley); as well as setting up his own label Saved Records.

Three years later he’s graduated to the big leagues. This year alone he's busted out two twelve inches and one compilation for UK stable Renaissance, including one of the biggest tunes of the Ibizan summer 'Lucky Heather', which has drawn comparisons to L'il Louis 'French Kiss' for its epic loooooong build. It's just been given a rerub by Dubfire from Deep Dish and features first up in Nic's chart.

Nic is also a member of the Buick Project, who've handed in reworkings of Tiefschwarz and Underworld among others. The project is also a five-piece band complete with a guitarist, a drummer and a lead singer, and they've also just started doing live shows so keep an eye out for them at your local pub on school nights.

Recently, Nic has wrapped up a remix of 'I Try' for Francois Dubois (the deep house alter ego of Funk D'Void) on Urbantorque. His new compilation 'Renaissance presents Nic Fanciulli Vol. 2' is fresh off the presses, and he’s currently working on a mix CD with James Zabiela and getting ready to tour Asia. Big parties are on the horizon including the Twilo doppelganger at Womb in Tokyo on New Year's Eve.

RA pestered Nic for his top ten tracks and, nice soul that he is, he gave up the goods without too much prodding.

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Nic Fanciulli - Lucky Heather (Lucky 13 Dubfire's Parts 1 & 2) [Renaissance]

Nic: "This is the first mix Dubfire's done in his new studio. He approached us to do the single because we weren't going to get anyone to do any remixes. He was going to deliver two mixes in two different styles but he ended up with a thirteen and a half minute mix that is the two mixes sort of fused into one. The first seven minutes is just a barrage of drum rolls and noises with a really clever tech house groove, and the last five or six go into a deep house vibe. The remix is really, really clever and well thought out. [listen]

Dennis Ferrer - Transitions [Defected]

Nic; "Dennis Ferrer is one of the best house producers around at the moment. I love all of his stuff. I play all of his stuff on Ibadan. This record hasn't got any major drops or hands-in-the-air-moments or anything like that, it’s just got a percussive groove that goes on for like seven minutes with this analogue bassline that comes in for a minute and a half. When I play this, people just seem to lose it and not move off the floor which just shows how good he is at keeping a groove. It's similar to old Masters at Work releases in that it's just a drum loop. People used to call these filler records but this is so good that it's a main part of my set. I could loop it and play it for ages and still not get bored."

James Talk - Pass Me The Suntan Lotion [Spoken]

Nic: "This one has a sample or loop in it which makes it sound like it comes from the DFA but the drum pattern is straight up house music. It's also got this killer drop that people just go crazy to. It's very upbeat and very cleverly written. I'm going to be doing a remix of it as well. I met James through James Zabiela. They're both from the same town and just by chance James Talk was sending me a lot of his stuff. He got my AOL/Instant Messenger name and started sending tracks across. I told him I'd like to sign three singles for the label and it all just went from there. He's now become a part of the family. He's also one of the best up-and-coming DJs."

Dominik Eulberg - Blueten Sind Dem Grossen Schillerfalter Fremd (Adam Beyer's Mad Dub Mix) [Traum]

Nic: "I don't really play a lot of Dominik Eulberg's records but I do play all of Adam Beyer's stuff, usually at the end of the night when I play a lot of techno. Adam's stuff at the moment is really on fire. This mix is just a really relentless tinged groove that has very electronic drum patterns. This has this really incredible basslines for just eight bars. Then there's effects and noises. For some reason, his stuff on the floor just works really really well. The crazy thing is that my mum's best friend Eva is also Adam's auntie. Obviously my mum and her have been hanging out since I was a kid and one day she said, 'Oh, my nephew DJs.' And she told me who it was and I was like, "You're joking!". It's kind of crazy because he's someone I've always looked up to over the years."

Edison - Press Repeat [White]

Nic: "This is by my studio partner Andy Chatterley. He's got an album coming out at the end of the year on a label called Post Modern and it's probably one of the most forward thinking albums I've heard for a long time. I can't really explain what it sounds like but it's just a barrage of noises that you could probably reference to the Chemical Brothers if you tried. It's got this bassline that just repeats itself for the whole four and a half minutes that comes in and out like with filters and then drops. By the end of it, it's just so energetic. This has been my biggest record for the last couple of months."

Jimpster - Square Up [Buzzin' Fly]

Nic: "I think, for his sort of music, this has really been Jimpster's year. Every and track remix he's done I've played. Off the back of what he's done I've actually got him to do a remix for me on Saved which is going to come out next year. If I'm starting earlyish this is the first record I put on, guaranteed. The original is just beautiful. He's just on fire at the moment. The mix he's done for me is nothing like this. It's really hard so it's good that he can take his musical styles all over the shop."

Joel Mull - Reminder [Kanzleramt]

Nic: "This is a double A-side single and I like the B-side. It's very slow. It reminds me of something on the first Tyrant CD by Lee Burridge or Craig Richards. It's got that sort of feel to it. It starts off sort of breaky but then goes into 4/4. Then it goes all over the shop. It's also got this amazing string pattern right at the end and this really beautiful arpeggio sound. Joel is normally known for his techno. This could be techno slowed down but it definitely rocks."

Ripperton - Traveller [Connaisseur]

Nic: "This is quite old. It's from 'The Folks & Flakes' EP. I don't play a lot of his stuff but this is really cool house. It's got this really cool funky bassline that comes in after about thirty-two bars and then it just keeps grooving. It has a really cool spooky feel to it, haunting sounds that come in every now and then. Then it goes down to this last sort of drop that has a lot of synths in it, and it just goes crazy. Danny Howells and Ben Watt have been playing this one. It's got the funk."

Martin Buttrich - Well Done [Four:twenty]

Nic: "For me 'Full Clip/Programmer' was one of the tracks of the summer. I got sent this new one about two weeks ago and it's really, really clever. You could say it's minimal but it's really not too minimal. He's a really good producer. It starts really groovy but then this one sound just comes in. Basically it's got one sound in it that just goes crazy. If I did that sort of track it would sound boring but he makes it sound incredible. I think Luciano is doing a remix for them too. It's not that different to the one on Planet E but you can tell he's taken a more German route with this track." [listen]

Cobblestone Jazz - Dump Truck [Wagon Repair]

Nic: "This was my record of the summer because of the sheer brains behind Mathew Jonson in putting it together. It's funk, it's electronic, it's jazz, everything DJs know and love. This is one of those records that every time I put it on, I think, 'What the hell is this?'. Mathew is a don. It doesn't matter who I play the record to, a house DJ or a deep house DJ, everyone is like, 'This is just amazing'. I played it everywhere this summer and it will be a fixture in my set until the end of the year. Mathew has really set the mark with the record. You can hear other people trying to emulate it but there's no formula to this. He's made a ten and half minute record that goes up, down, breaks and does everything."

'Renaissance presents Nic Fanciulli Vol. 2' is out now.