20. Congorock - Babylon
Built around a hypnotic, ear-popping riff straight from the off, rave horns come in around the minute mark before that huge Warp-esque drop ten seconds later which just builds and builds until the pressure drops. That riff has an undeniable groove that marks this above your average noise led banger.
19. Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks
Sometimes a band appears out of nowhere with a debut single that is just so perfectly formed that you almost urge them to call it a day instantly and leave us with this as their defining legacy. A simple shuffling beat, bouncy Brian Wilson bassline line, chillwave surfy guitars, muffled vocals that sound like they have been recorded through an intercom, whistling. Whistling, like handclaps and cowbells, is always good. It sounds like early MGMT, like Empire Of The Sun, like Peter, Bjorn & John. It could fit amongst the most playful moments of Blur, or Beck. In fact it could fit in with almost every great pop song ever.
18. Katy B ft. Ms Dynamite - Lights On (Skream Remix)
Katy B has probably been the breakthrough artist of the year and the defining voice of 2010. Taking the underground sounds of dubstep and funky and pushing them into the mainstream like never before and it was a toss up between this and the Benga produced 'On A Mission' for her entry into this years top 100. Her sweet vocal juxtaposes perfectly with comeback queen Ms Dynamite's more aggressive take and Skream's production on the remix is as dark and atmospheric as ever, the elastic, bouncing bass line untouchable.
17. The Chemical Brothers - Swoon (Lindstrom & Prins Thomas Remix)
The best song that The Chemical Brothers have released for years, 'Swoon' is a hazy, sun-soaked tale of romantic bliss. In the hands of Lindstrom & Prins Thomas it becomes a nine-minute stretched out disco odyssey that has that amazing power to feel like a three minute pop song. Everything disco needs is present, squelching slap bass, organs, piano and handclaps. It's sensuality is key, you won't need to remember to fall in love with this.
16. Janelle Monae ft. Big Boi - Tightrope
It is no surprise that Monae has such tight links to Outkast, her conceptual, sci-fi obsessed R&B shares so many ideas with the early ideas of the duo and her approach to eschewing the usual record company designed route that all female stars must follow aligns her with another star with close Outkast links, Erykah Badu. 'Tightrope' is about poise and balance, about the self-confidence Monae has to carry off her outlandish vision. She blends the rat-a-tat delivery that her mentor Big Boi has made his trademark with seamless transitions into classic soul-diva wails. The tongue-in-cheek rhymes are delivered with outstanding ease, within seconds she couples 'alligators' with 'rattlesnakers' (I know that shouldn't work, but believe me it does) and 'another flavour' with 'Terminator'. This is the best R&B track since Amerie's '1 Thing'.
15. Professor Green - Monster (T.E.E.D. Remix)
It's those Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs again, this time taking a fairly innocuous hit from Professor Green and turning into a dancefloor smash. Green had made his breakthrough by releasing a string of singles that were heavily reliant on ubiquitous samples (and Lily Allen) and Monster was his attempt to stand on his own two feet. It missed the boat, showing that the Brit-rap thing was all a little turgid and out of ideas (the video basically comes across as a sketch-show parody of an early Enimem hit). To take such a dull track and turn into the absolute behemoth that this is shows just how good TEED are.
14. Doctor P - Sweet Shop
Opening like a old-skool rave track, Doctor P begs us to take it higher before unleashing the mother of all screeching, industrial wobbles. While Katy B and Magnetic Man were disturbing the charts this became the dubstep hit of the summer for all those rudeboys riding around all summer in their hot hatches, looking for the filthiest, dirtiest track they could find to disturb all the pensioners on the sidewalks. It's not clever, but it is BIG.
13. Magnetic Man - I Need Air (Digital Soundboy Remix)
For all the production genius of Magnetic Man it may be a little controversial to think that their best moment of this year was actually a remix of one of their songs. The album is outstanding, the legacy it will have on UK bass culture without doubt but to me this remix by Digital Soundboy just added something extra.
12. Big Boi ft. Cutty - Shutterbug
Much as Janelle Monae's track was the best R&B track for years, in my opinion this was the best hip-hop track for years. It has the invention that the genre has forgotten in its quest for the ultimate unit-shifting ring tone hook. It's an electro bass club anthem, a genre-hopping funk jam. It has Big Boi switching pace and tone effortlessly, the requisite old-school references, honeyed backing vocals and an appearance from Andre 3000. In short it has everything.
11. Rusko ft. Amber Coffman - Hold On (Sub Focus Remix)
Last years don of dubstep, Rusko, released his debut album this to year to huge critical acclaim. The inspired decision to feature Dirty Projector's Amber Coffman on vocals meant this became a genre-transcending classic. Sub Focus' D&B beat cuts between the soaring atmospherics, the breakdown becomes a huge build of old-skool rave and the drop screams with Rusko's trademarks.
Showing posts with label Ms Dynamite. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ms Dynamite. Show all posts
Monday, 27 December 2010
Thursday, 23 December 2010
SONGS OF 2010 - NUMBERS 21-30
Crystal Fighters - In The Summer (Tek-One Remix)
The Spanish band's blend of traditional Basque folk instruments with drum loops, heavy synths, and lifting vocals has made them one fo the most interesting bands to break out of Europe in the past few years. This remix of their hyper-manic pop tech gem by Tek-One begins with throbbing bass before the drum break switches the whole thing into a huge wobbling mess in the best way possible.
Darwin Deez - Radar Detector
Looking at things purely for the indie dancefloor this is probably the track of the year in that sense. The work of a mysterious, enigmatic New Yorker, 'Radar Detector' was as cheerful and bouncy as it gets that sounds like a lost Strokes session from around the time of their first album.
Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill (aka Ring Ring)
The voice is almost child-like, sounding like it was recorded in a cardboard box somewhere in the corner of a studio yet manages to be so sweet, classic girl-group pop. The delivery is almost rapping yet with an air of such self-confidence, singing over a Funkadelic sample in the manner of all those classic 1980s rap artists. This is why Sleigh Bells are such a special band, they are unclassifiable. Indie-rock, girl-pop, hip-hop, funk samples, rave motifs, everything is contained within the fuzz and feedback.
DJ Zinc & Ms Dynamite - Wile Out
Teh title of the years best comeback must surely go to Ms Dynamite. Completely forgotten since her 2002 Brit & MOBO award winning debut she returned to claim the crown as the go-to girl for UK bass culture. Zinc is another artist who had his commercial peak in the garage days of ten years ago but he has always been bubbling away as one of the most innovative producers in the background, constantly evolving his sound to stay at the top the the tree. This is the sound of his patented crack house and was one of the most special moments in music this year.
Carte Blanche - Gare Du Nord
Another of this years trend of producers collaborating, Carte Blanche is DJ Medhi & Riton. Their name means having the freedom to do what you please and this track is the sonic encapsulation of such. As should be expected from Ed Banger artists this is about as French as it gets and when the French make electro they always get it right.
Flux Pavilion - Haunt You
We've already spoke about how Flux Pavilion has been one of our favourite producers of the year and after he turned up at Embargo last Tuesday and asked to play a few records I can only hold him in the highest regard. This screaming, haunting track is my personal favourite.
Gorillaz ft. Daley - Doncomatic (Joker Remix)
Each Gorillaz project always brings out some incredible guest vocalists, sometimes discovering one along the way. The stand out moment of their album this year was the incredible 'Doncomatic' largely due to the stunning vocal performance from Daley. Here Joker gets involved and drops the bass, increasing the tension while never losing the power of that vocal. This my friends, is how to remix.
Marina & The Diamonds - I Am Not A Robot (Doorly Remix)
Doorly produced my number one track of last year with his remix of Temper Trap's 'Sweet Disposition' and he places high again this year with a more, yet just as powerful mix of Marina. Like the Joker remix above, Doorly shows that sometimes you have to keep the power of the vocal intact and build a remix around it, that often its the space inbetween the beats that is as important. Oh and to let the drum beat drop...
Afrojack ft. Eva Simons - Take Over Control (Adam F Remix)
Afrojack's most commercial moment of this year was not really to my liking in its original form, a little too reminicent of big room cheesy house from a few years ago. Fortunately Adam F stepped up and drove it back underground with a screeching dub beat that made it so much more powerful.
Skrillex - Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites
After touring with Deadmau5 all year (and seemingly influencing the sound parts of his new album, '4+4=12'), Skrillex suddenly had a huge breakthrough in the latter part of this year, at one point holding 8 of the top 10 on Beatport. His inimitable style is pure filth from the very first second to last and on a loud system this track just has to be heard to be believed.
The Spanish band's blend of traditional Basque folk instruments with drum loops, heavy synths, and lifting vocals has made them one fo the most interesting bands to break out of Europe in the past few years. This remix of their hyper-manic pop tech gem by Tek-One begins with throbbing bass before the drum break switches the whole thing into a huge wobbling mess in the best way possible.
Darwin Deez - Radar Detector
Looking at things purely for the indie dancefloor this is probably the track of the year in that sense. The work of a mysterious, enigmatic New Yorker, 'Radar Detector' was as cheerful and bouncy as it gets that sounds like a lost Strokes session from around the time of their first album.
Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill (aka Ring Ring)
The voice is almost child-like, sounding like it was recorded in a cardboard box somewhere in the corner of a studio yet manages to be so sweet, classic girl-group pop. The delivery is almost rapping yet with an air of such self-confidence, singing over a Funkadelic sample in the manner of all those classic 1980s rap artists. This is why Sleigh Bells are such a special band, they are unclassifiable. Indie-rock, girl-pop, hip-hop, funk samples, rave motifs, everything is contained within the fuzz and feedback.
DJ Zinc & Ms Dynamite - Wile Out
Teh title of the years best comeback must surely go to Ms Dynamite. Completely forgotten since her 2002 Brit & MOBO award winning debut she returned to claim the crown as the go-to girl for UK bass culture. Zinc is another artist who had his commercial peak in the garage days of ten years ago but he has always been bubbling away as one of the most innovative producers in the background, constantly evolving his sound to stay at the top the the tree. This is the sound of his patented crack house and was one of the most special moments in music this year.
Carte Blanche - Gare Du Nord
Another of this years trend of producers collaborating, Carte Blanche is DJ Medhi & Riton. Their name means having the freedom to do what you please and this track is the sonic encapsulation of such. As should be expected from Ed Banger artists this is about as French as it gets and when the French make electro they always get it right.
Flux Pavilion - Haunt You
We've already spoke about how Flux Pavilion has been one of our favourite producers of the year and after he turned up at Embargo last Tuesday and asked to play a few records I can only hold him in the highest regard. This screaming, haunting track is my personal favourite.
Gorillaz ft. Daley - Doncomatic (Joker Remix)
Each Gorillaz project always brings out some incredible guest vocalists, sometimes discovering one along the way. The stand out moment of their album this year was the incredible 'Doncomatic' largely due to the stunning vocal performance from Daley. Here Joker gets involved and drops the bass, increasing the tension while never losing the power of that vocal. This my friends, is how to remix.
Marina & The Diamonds - I Am Not A Robot (Doorly Remix)
Doorly produced my number one track of last year with his remix of Temper Trap's 'Sweet Disposition' and he places high again this year with a more, yet just as powerful mix of Marina. Like the Joker remix above, Doorly shows that sometimes you have to keep the power of the vocal intact and build a remix around it, that often its the space inbetween the beats that is as important. Oh and to let the drum beat drop...
Afrojack ft. Eva Simons - Take Over Control (Adam F Remix)
Afrojack's most commercial moment of this year was not really to my liking in its original form, a little too reminicent of big room cheesy house from a few years ago. Fortunately Adam F stepped up and drove it back underground with a screeching dub beat that made it so much more powerful.
Skrillex - Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites
After touring with Deadmau5 all year (and seemingly influencing the sound parts of his new album, '4+4=12'), Skrillex suddenly had a huge breakthrough in the latter part of this year, at one point holding 8 of the top 10 on Beatport. His inimitable style is pure filth from the very first second to last and on a loud system this track just has to be heard to be believed.
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