Happy new year everyone - this is the first issue of Karco's Picks of the Year! Of course, I'll also be featuring my picks of the month as well.

For those of you who don't know what's going on, at the end of every month and year I go through the tracks submitted in that time, pick my favorites, and put them in a front-paged news post. I don't mean at all to imply that these are the best tracks submitted - just my favorites. What's more, these couldn't be the best - I'm heavily biased towards Trance and related electronic genres while selecting tracks as it's my area of expertise, and I have to be careful I don't select something that may not meet high standards for its genre. I also may have missed a deserving track entirely, so it's inaccurate to suggest that these submissions below are the best tracks out of everything submitted. Regardless, you can be assured that this is quality music, as each track meets my personal standards for composition, character, and overall execution, and is by an artist who has proven himself time and time again.

Thanks to those of you who made suggestions or helped find these artists, and to you readers, please support these deserving artists by showing some kind of support - reviewing, leaving a comment or PM, anything, they deserve it! Sorry for the shorter descriptions at the end though, I ran short for time and I like to post at the same time as when the Weekly Best are chosen. ;) So first, right at the top where everyone can see them, my picks of 2008:

_______________________Karco's Picks of 2008_______________________

Karco's Pick of 2008: Kindred (Super Metroid) by zirconmusic [Video Game]
A massive remix! I originally had second thoughts about putting this one up to Pick of the Year, since as a remix it doesn't feature original composition. But after listening to the original version from Super Metroid itself I was convinced once again. Not only have zirconmusic and Jillian (the vocalist) blown the original out of the water - they made it theirs. Both of these people have proven themselves to be on par with professionals with a track they made in a short 48 hour session - kudos to them for the effort and the outcome!

2nd Pick of 2008: xKore - View by xKore [Trance]
xKore himself joined NG in early 08, and though he took a while to settle on one account, it's now the home to some of the best Trance productions Newgrounds has seen - possibly to date. Though View is his oldest track submitted on that account, uploaded back in July, it stands up to the other picks of the year quite well. Chilling piano, atmosphere, and voice cuts characterize the track, and overall it's quite memorable! Nice job xKore. :D

3rd Pick of 2008: More Than Words (OriginalMix) by Pulstate [Trance]
Pulstate is already recognized here as a veteran producer and has had multiple productions, originals and remixes, signed to various labels. So it's probably no surprise to most of you that he has a track up on Picks of the Year. :) Though lacking drive somewhat in the compositional area, the heavy drums and powerful bass give this track all the character it needs, and the mix is also quite strong (though sound quality suffers from a low-quality 96 kbps bitrate). Easily his best of the year, though definitely not his best of all time - if you liked this track, the next step is to look him up on Beatport, iTunes, and MySpace for more productions!

Karco's Honorable Mention of 2008: Instrumental #4 (Karco Remix) by Karco [Trance]
Now who was expecting this one?

I do realize it seems egotistical of me to plug my own track like this, and so I've dropped it down to Honorable Mention instead of placing it among the other picks of the year. There are reasons behind this though: first of all, professionals do pick some of their favorite tracks to feature from time to time, in their own personal charts. For example, "Artist A's Top 10 Chart on Beatport". And it's rare to see an artist put a chart together without including a production or two of their own. As an artist making my own kind of "chart," I'm only doing the same. As a critic - and I realize this argument only makes my ego seem even more inflated - I also know this track meets my standards about as well as xKore's track View does, or Pulstate's track More Than Words. Perhaps I can't criticise my own productions like someone else can, but at the same time, there is the saying, "You are your own best critic," which I go by during each step of production. I'm sure this is going to cause some controversy, but I'm pretty sure the people I respect will understand, or at least want to stir up a good debate, while the rest of you get to listen to what is, in my honest opinion, good music. :D

(You can pretend all that praise from the introduction doesn't apply to this track, or you don't have to, whatever you prefer. D:)

____________________Karco's Picks of December____________________

Note: Because I can't favorite my own track, the last slot in my personal Top 4 will go to the Pick of December.

Karco's Pick of December: xKore - I Love Youby xKore [House]
xKore tries out a new style, and succeeds! :D Call it beginners' luck, or listening to too much music, or pure skill, but somehow xKore pulls it off, and as an experiment no less. This track frightened me when I heard it for the first time - it was much more professional-sounding to me than anything else I'd heard from him. Nice job and congrats on Weekly Best!

2nd Pick of December: -One Wish-by Mrmilkcarton [Trance]
Unfortunately Mrmilkcarton's taking a break from Trance, but at least he left us with this nice nugget. The track starts off with a powerful mix and draws to a full stop as Mrmilkcarton goes for the piano solo again, just like he did for Your Eyes - a nice choice - and finishes off with a lonely yet driving melody - quite a memorable track.

3rd Pick of December: We Got The--_--goa Remixby ZENON [Trance]
ZENON always seems to deliver with his goa tracks and he makes Pick of the Month once again with this track that goes all-out for energy and power.

4th Pick of December: Pulstate - Deceptive [OM]by Pulstate [Trance]
Another quality production by Pulstate! Though lacking in compositional power, he delivers in every other sense with a track brimming with character. Great execution!