Kid Cudi, Best Coast & Rostam Batmanglij - All Summer
The other track released this year under the Converse banner, this does exactly what it is said to. A true summer anthem, Cudi's rap blends perfectly into the lo-fi harmonies of the Best Coast singer Bethany's lament with the guitar line held in trademark fashion by Vampire Weekend's superbly names Rostram Batmanglij.
Audiobot - Noize, Bass & Disco
If there were three things that made house beats shout in 2010 it was noise, bass and disco. It goes without saying that this track by Audiobot that jumped seamlessly between the three was a work of art that enabled many a jump between sub-genres in the imaginative set.
Nero - Innocence
The BBC have named Nero in their shortlist for their annual sound of 2011 poll which is somewhat delayed in their reaction to an artist that has been one of the success stories of this year, yet alone next. Churning out remix after remix of pop hits, Nero hit the spot with this production that held the huge atmospherics until it became absolutely necessary to hit that massive massive drop.
Oh Land - Sun Of A Gun
Following in the strong recent tradition of solo female Scandinavian artists, Oh Land is one of the best bets for chart domination in the next year. This single will be re-released before next summer, and will be a huge hit - that much a can guarantee. The quirky, breathy vocal juxtaposes beautifully with the urgency in the beat leaving you constantly on the edge of your seat as you listen.
The Count & Sinden ft. Mystery Jets - After Dark
As already mentioned in a previous post, Blaine's voice is becoming one of the definitive sounds of leftfieeld British pop. Leaving aside his band for this one with super-producers Herve (aka The Count) and Sinden his voices rides astride an almost tropical beat, creating a dizzyingly melodic dancefloor hit.
Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work (The Twelves Remix)
Constantly turning everything they put their hand to into disco-tinged foot-tapping gold, The Twelves work on this took the undeniable sense of rhythm and super-smooth melodies of Two Door Cinema Club's indie hit and turned it from a song (like most of their work) that was a little too urgent and self-conscious into something with such a laid-back groove that it was irresistible.
Zeds Dead - Rude Boy (Union Remix)
Union are another duo whose stock is rising as fast as Ireland's is falling. They have played with absolutely everyone this year (recently playing to nearly 100,000 people in a week as tour support to Faithless) and run student nights at Fabric, named one of the top 10 nights in the country in Mixmag this month. This is the first track that has broke them in the production stakes, twisting Zeds Dead's absolute smash dub beat to the point of exasperation until with a mere minute and a half left they explode into a D&B beat out of absolutely nowhere in a move that is absolutely certain to raise the roof of any club anywhere.
Breakage ft. Erin - Justified
As much as dubstep excites me time and time again with new ways of making you throw your hands in the air, get to the floor and throw yourself into shapes that you never thought were possible outside of Olympic gymnasiums sometimes I can't help but want it to turn more to the direction taken by the Bristol sound of the mid-90s led by the likes of Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky. The thing that these artists understood more than the current generation do is the importance of the vocal in setting the atmosphere, the importance of space and subtlety within music and how to structure a song rather than a 'track'. This track from Breakage's brilliant album understood those principles.
Cassius - I Love U So
For a song released on Ed Banger records, a song by one of the pioneers of the French electro/filter house sound to be so sparse, so laid back was a shock. Cassius seem to have taken the road long travelled by their countrymen Air and this would sit perfectly on their incredible 'Virgin Suicides' soundtrack. An absolute masterpiece that holds simplicity at its core, I've got a feeling that if I was writing this list six months down the line this would appear much higher in the rankings.
Dada Life - Unleash The Fucking Dada (At Dawn We Rage's Unleash The Fucking Fury Edit)
Dada Life have been bubbling away in the background all year with a string of releases and remixes that have been almost, but never quite there. As described once it got to October they unleashed the promise and At Dawn We Rage got involved on the edit to create a hypnotic tech-laden mix of epic proportions.
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