Thursday 31 December 2015

Top Ten Dance Songs 2015

You know this is the real reason why you come here: for 2015's iteration of the annual chart of the finest tunes. Yo DJ pump this party, as they say:

10. Love's Got Me High by SCALES

9. King by Years & Years

8. How Deep Is Your Love by Calvin Harris & Disciples

7. Go by The Chemical Brothers

6. Don't Be So Shy by Imany feat. Filatov & Karas

5. Ocean Drive by Duke Dumont

4. About You by Sebastian Weikum

3. Foolish Dreams by Frozen Plasma

2. Opus by Eric Prydz

Like last year, 2015 has been a pig of a year and, if truth be told, that held true for dance music as well. I was distraught, distraught, that once again trance music generally has disappeared up its arse. Long-term readers know this is my electronic genre of choice so to have it disappoint two years on the trot is a bad thing.

All I can do is thank the disco heavens that the house music renaissance has continued. In fact, so overground and mainstream it's become that the superstar DJ establishment are eyeing it up. Step forward Mr Calvin Harris. You can't avoid concluding that How Deep Is Your Love is one of this year's highlights, even if it's one of the most cynical pieces ever to grace the end-of-year chart. Authenticity is a load of old hooey, but it's as if Calvin set out to record a deep house monster simply because it's the in-sound. The only thing that surprises is how inveterate bandwagon jumpers like Tiƫsto have yet to clamber aboard. When they do, you know that's when the sub-genre has passed its peak.

I was also disappointed by the return of The Prodigy this year, and their lack of presence here says everything you need to know about my thoughts regarding their efforts. Yesteryear is instead ably represented by The Chemical Brothers - their Go rocks a very on-trend 80s vibe. I couldn't afford to miss the grotesquely popular King by Years & Years either. That hook caught many an earworm over the course of the last 12 months. There's no avoiding the two entries near the top either. 2015 was the year I properly got into EBM, or Electronic Body Music. I've always had a thing for goths with synths but, weirdly, Frozen Plasma's Foolish Dreams grabbed me because it sounds, well, lovely. And flying the flag for progressive is Eric Prydz with Opus, a ridiculously simple track that makes you wonder why it hasn't been done before.

Number one then. Who can it be? Well, I'm cheating a bit. It's a rework of Sia's 2014 mega hit that manages to improve on it in every respect and come over all housey and 80s. How could it not be the All That Is Solid song of the year?



2 comments:

Matt said...

Still think the Four Tet remix of Opus is better.

Phil said...

Cheers for the pointer, but I'm not so keen.