Re-visiting Seattlest's Best of 2005

The middle of the year is approaching, so we think it's fair to give you an update on the folks we listed as creating some of the best tracks to come out of the area last year. For those of you who missed out the first time, here's a second chance to hear what the Pac NW is putting out into the world.

Suntzu Sound - Tickles
SunTzu Sound is building on their momentum in 2006. Their first record is continuing to receive praise in print and with inclusion in some very well-respected collections. They've solicited a number of remixes as well (all very hush-hush), and those should be coming out over the next few months. The biggest news for this crew is that they're following up their gigs in Miami with an appearance on the Real Detroit stage at this year's edition of Movement: Detroit's Electronic Music Festival (and yes, they fully appreciate the irony).

Ghislain Poirier feat. DJ Collage - Mic Diplomat
Seattlest totally called it on this one (and no, we won't get hurt patting ourselves on the back). Electronic Arts, the video game behemoth, has licensed this track for inclusion in this year's Playstation and XBox editions of NBA Live 07, a series that's always sold well. That should get both Collage and Poirier some very helpful exposure. That should come in handy since Collage also has an album in the can. Copies should be available soon once distribution is figured out. For now, you can listen to some of his new material on his MySpace page.

Lost Boys - Love Boot
It's hard to go to any house event in town without having a Lost Boys member in attendance. They're damn near omnipresent, but thankfully they're nice guys so you don't mind too much. They've also kept up a relentless schedule of DJing, even outside their Last Supper Club residency. No news on any new releases yet, but if you catch them out you're likely to hear a work in progress.

Caro - Heavy Wheel
Randy Jones is still the man. His DJ sets never disappoint, his label is respected, and his production skills are in demand. The Jon McMillion show featured the former two aspects, with Randy opening for the night's surprisingly good debut set from Orac signee McMillion. As for the last, Randy's Caro guise was recently tapped to remix Juan Maclean's "Love is in the Air," due for release on the hipster-favorite DFA label.

Foscil feat. Specs One - Massive Moves
Foscil is still doing dates in support of last year's eponymous album, most recently at the Baltic Room's F.O.B.. Specs One is holding onto his title as Seattle's hip-hop elder statesman with his latest release, Return of the Artist, which has been well-received (and is pretty easy to buy, since he seems to always have a stack under his arms when you see him).

Not Boyfriend Material - Flammable
We just heard this track again recently at Mat Anderson's recent Flammable appearance. It still kills, and that's compared to the other stellar tracks that Anderson played that night, a welcome treat since he hasn't been playing out much lately. "Flammable" finally sees official release as Uniting Souls Music's third release, along with the tracks "Traffic Dodgin" and "My Dickey," all of which can be downloaded from MySpace.