Top 100 Tracks Of 2017: 50-26

Continuation of the list started Tuesday: from 100-76, which also includes my disclaimer/preamble. The second quarter of the list can be found here: from 75-51. Soundcloud playlist here and at the bottom.

#50: Biscits - M Night (Boy 8-Bit Remix)
(As featured on EFYE) The already exceptional original gets a great update from the brilliant Boy 8-Bit. As always, he's able to inject a great raw groove that combines jungle atmosphere with a techno twist. It is playful as it is powerful, crunching and crackling alongside its sublime synths. It feels like Boy 8-Bit at his best, working with a lighthearted sample and ingenious progression.

#49: Joe Goddard - Lose Your Love (Full Length Version)
While the radio edit (which you'll find in the Soundcloud playlist) was released last year, the full length version only came to light with the album. And this expanded edit is exactly what I love about Joe Goddard. It's expansive disco house vibes are beyond beautiful, with wells of warm organic instrumentation. The additional guitar becomes a love guru, gently caressing this uber cool creation. There is no act I want to see more than Joe, and I expect his live set up to be one of the best around.

#48: CID - Believer (ft. CeeLo Green)
(As featured on EFYE) When I first heard this I was so sure that it'd blow up and become one of the biggest songs of the summer, if not the year. I'm not sure that's happened (35k plays on Soundcloud, 1.3 million on Spotify), but in my eyes and ears it is still one of the best to come out this year. CeeLo's voice is just as alluring six months later, and the production still shines with a wild glory. The piano, and additional island feels that arise in the second half are just so beautiful. Part of the reason some of these tracks make this list is that I've never had the opportunity to hear them on a big system, and I hope that it may help that happen; I can still only imagine the impact this one would have.

#47: Bryan West x R.O - Nightfall
Another technically 2016 release, but because it came after I released last year's countdown here we are. I can still vividly remember my first real encounter with this track. I was riding the subway and had to pick my jaw off the floor, when its superb story stunned me. I had to listen again and again, cranking the volume up with each repetition. There's just so much to like about this track: literally every sound, each subsequent section and the fantastic flow into each. It's big, beautiful and just oh so intoxicating.

#46: Krafty Kuts x Dynamite MC - Rev It Up (ft. Riya)
There has never been a time this track has come on and I've not been instantly lifted. It rivals any track on this list, or perhaps ever, in terms of fun energy. Krafty Kuts has built a brilliant bed for Dynamite and Riya to work their magic on. So many lines from Dynamite hit me hard, even if they're a bit silly. My personal favourite "After the party, I'll eat your pizza." And there's no ignoring the "pick it up, pick it up, pick it up, like engine number 9 we're revved up," call back. It may be the only cut from All 4 Corners on this list, but if you like this I can highly recommend checking out the rest of the album.

Top 100 Tracks of 2016: 33 - 1

Continuation of the list started Wednesday: From 100 - 67, which also includes my disclaimer/preamble. The middle third of the list can be found here: From 66 - 34.
Soundcloud playlist can be found at the bottom.

#33: Maduk - Got Me Thinking ft. Veela
(As featured on EFYE) From those first strides of warm synths, and the accompanying bass grooves, the track picks up and continually gets steamier. It almost feels like a real band could play this, although they'd have to be operating at an incredibly high rate of speed. And boy would I love to see it played live. From Veela's strong yet ethereal vocals, through the endless groove, fabulous drum fills and playful progression, this track has everything. It gets me going and makes me hella happy.

#32: LDRU ft. Paige IV - Keeping Score (Cut Snake Remix)
(As featured on EFYE) When I wrote about the remixes of "Keeping Score," I called Oski's my favourite, since then I've changed my mind. Cut Snake have absolutely crushed and perfected the original (which too is brilliant). The foundation laid out by LDRU and Paige IV is beautiful, but the additional piano and fluid movement Cut Snake have injected is simply sublime. It's become the kind of all night party track that takes listeners through the gamut of emotions. It's smart, groovy and enchanting.

#31: A.G. Cook - Superstar
This track is built for lists like this, it literally has everything: beautiful vocals and lyrics, brilliant production, all wrapped together in an epic 5 minute journey of emotions. It's no secret how I feel about PC Music and their aesthetic, so clearly I'm a fan of the sounds their leader A.G. has used in this track, despite not being your typical PC Music track. Leaning more heavily on piano, live instrumentation, and Cook's voice, this track is an ode to true musicianship, that often seems absent in electronic music. Its beauty will have you reaching for the sky, hoping to grab a ride into the cosmos.

#30: Courts - Feel My Love
Right from the groovy pickup, Courts have crafted an absolutely captivating track. While it's a true electronic dance track, it (like many of the others on this list) features a ton of live instrumentation. That live element is so incredibly powerful, it's infectious from the fingers to the toes, and the head to the heart. It's one of the most fun tracks in this list, it has me grabbing for my air guitar and hairbrush microphone just to be a part of the band. It's impossible not to feel the love Courts are sharing.

#29: Stormzy - Scary (Slumberjack Edit)
(As featured on EFYE) This Slumberjack production is light years away from their other track on this list. Where "Open Fire" is kind and insightful, "Scary" is merciless and blunt. It absolutely hammers away at your senses, in the best way possible. It takes Stormzy's grime original and turns it into one of the most fire bangers of the year. It's diabolic is its delivery, leaving you stunned, stupefied and floored.

#28: Vera - Eeva (Sketch)
The beautiful tranquility of the flowing water in the opening, lays the foundation of this fresh and fully alive future bass track. It's at once like nothing I've ever heard before yet also so familiar. What would seem to be a cacophony of sounds couldn't be further from the fact. Vera is able to incorporate so much into one track, crafting unbelievable harmonies. Imagine Lido, Cashmere Cat, Ryan Hemsworth and Tennyson all worked together on a track, even then it might not match "Eeva."

Rihanna ft. Drake - Work (Hi Tom Remix)

Just over a month since fellow Rytmeklubben member, DJ Karaoke, dropped two remixes of Rihanna's mumbling masterpiece "Work," Hi Tom adds a second version of track, this time featuring some steel-pans. Find his first version here and Karaoke's versions here, for instant free download. More club friendly and summer ready, Hi Tom's new version, features tuned up vocals and the usual Hi Tom/Rytmeklubben influences and instrumentation. But of course the main feature and most appealing, at least in my book (as I wait for warm weather), is the tropical feel of the steel-pans. I can't be positive but it seems like a strange coincidence that I was directed to this video of Keishaun Julien performing "Work" on the steel-pans, last Monday. Whether Hi Tom sampled this video, was influenced by it or it's mere coincidence, the resulting new version is yet another in a slew of great remixes of "Work" from both the Rytmeklubben crew and the world of producers at large. Enjoy the video below and support the artists behind the music.
SUPPORT HI TOM: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER
SUPPORT DJ KARAOKE: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER
SUPPORT RYTMEKLUBBEN: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER

San Holo - Can't Forget You (ft. The Nicholas)

The Norwegian music scene has gained tremendous worldwide attention in the past year thanks in large part to the rise of Kygo, Rytmeklubben, Cashmere Cat, Lido and San Holo, who first broke into public consciousness with his "Don't Touch The Classics" remixes, especially when his "Next Episode" remix was featured in TWRK's fifth installment. Holo's inimitable style and sound have catapulted him and his continually growing library into countless mixes and a worldwide tour. SH has his own label, bitbird, but he's also released tonnes of free music, a 3 track EP on Monstercat, an OWSLA single, big names remix credits for Tchami and Porter Robinson, and now he's picked up his very own Spinnin' release: His last release, a collab with Father Dude, was also on Spinnin', and as you might expect with Spinnin', it has marked a move to a slightly more poppy, easily consumable sound and feel for the heavenly, chiptune inspired producer. Both "IMISSU" and "Can't Forget You" lean on sparkling vocals and less on heavily tuned drops or glitchy builds, and what I feel is almost a stripped down, rather confined version of the San Holo I've come to know and love. My only hope is that, because of Spinnin's huge reach, more and more people get into San Holo and he floods us with new music; nothing wrong with that.

SCORE
Composition 2/3
Dynamics 2/2
Improvisation/Progression 2/3
Melody/Harmony 2/3
Originality 1/2
Sonic Quality 2/2
Lyrics 2/3
Vocals 2/2
TOTAL 15/20

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Best Mixes Of 2015

One of my favourite things about electronic music is the prominence of mixes and the curating that comes along with being a DJ. There are so many different kinds of mixes, some that are heavily pre-produced and others that are created organically, on the spot, both are valuable and can serve different purposes at different times. I love listening to them any time I'm doing anything, whether it be at working, working out, travelling, playing video games, washing the dishes or doing yard work. Over the years I've become a fan of a variety of different programs, podcasts, annual festival promo mixes or just whatever live set I can find. After the break, I'll be posting a large number of my favourite mixes from a variety of places. But to whet your appetite, check out this one from Alison Wonderland at The Mixmag Lab in Los Angeles.

Her set at the Hoxton was definitely one of the best I saw all year, the most energetic and intense DJing, that's for sure. I always feel like the more into the music the DJ is the more the crowd gets into it, Alison get top marks for this. Always really appreciate DJs not sticking to one genre or sound, especially when more than an hour long.