Posted on Dec 31st 2009 by LOVETHYBROTHER.
Ok so here it is… Our top ten electro tracks of 2009
Basically I’m just using electro as a blanket term for all the music you might here playing at the big festivals and the type of music we put on this blog.
The year saw a lot of big changes…. Festivals got a big dose of the squeaky high pitch synth leads of the Dutch house movement and the off-shuffle Dub Step beat started nudging over the 4 to floor club banger. People said the banger was dead…( I still don’t really know what the hell people are talking about…. Any track that makes the crowd lose their mind regardless of genres is a banger no?)…
But if banger is a genre then WARP 1977 has got be the banger of all bangers and all you had to do was see its reception at every big festival in the world to know that these people are holding their noses so high they are missing the very obvious reality of 2009…. which has got to be that no matter how catchy, funky grimy or novel dutch house and Dub Step are the Bloody Beetroots and their particular brand of electro owned
Also electro really made it hard into the mainstream this year…. Boom Boom Pow was probably the top track of the year in terms of club play and record sales and the electro influence was obvious and duly noted by Will.I.am. Lady Gaga continued her relenteless domination of female popdom with a score of heavliy electro injected tracks. Her newest chart topper Bad Romance relies heavily on the same hoover effect that powered Warp to the top of the festival bangers.
What’s also important for electro is simply the development of incredibly good and cheap software and hardware for both DJing and producing. The fact that anyone can now beatmatch and build up a library makes it that much more competitive in the DJing world. Now song selection, personal edits and ingenuity are more important than technical skills and to me that’s a great thing.
VSTs and all the amazing software out there for producing music means that its easier than ever to get into music production and the great thing about that is that these kind of programs lend themselves to the music we like, which means there are going to be more and more young kids who instead of asking for a guitar for christmas and joining a rock band are going to ask for ableton and the MS20 and start making festival bangers…
All in all I’d say its been a big year. I guess the things I’m most worried about is that the big names need to keep it moving. Tiga, Crookers, the Bloody Beetroots and Major Lazer moved the whole scene forward this year but now its time for Justice, Daft Punk and MSTRKRFT to come out and blow the fucking roof off everything in 2010
So without further ado here’s our top ten. Maybe not all are our favourite tracks but in terms of popularity and importance we feel that these are the tracks that defined 2009. (*THIS LIST IS IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER!)
SW blogger Chef Brian has also whipped these up into a mix…. A Nostalgic recap for a big year….Or the perfect introduction for that friend of yours who hasn’t bit the electro bullet yet
SAINTWOODS.COM 2009 TOP TEN TRACKS YEAR END MIX
Bloody Beetroots – Warp 1977
Well to me this was the top track of 2009. It was the most anticipated and hit the hardest at every festival the Beetroots dropped it at. When they spun it out at I Love Techno the entire crowd started chanting along and the video gave me Goosebumps. Sure it relied heavily on the Hoover effect… a sound so unique most tracks sound the same once its employed. But they managed to put their stamp on it in a way that carried it to the very top of the heap. I think these guys are at the front of the pack right now and I expect them to push it even further in 2010.
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THE BLOODY BEETROOTS – WARP 1977 FEAT. STEVE AOKI & BOBERMAN
Auto-Erotique – Gladiator (Steve Aoki x DJ AM Remix)
As soon as this started making the rounds of the festivals you knew there was something incredibly special about the track. When AM passed it became a final testament to one of the greatest DJs in history. We’ll all miss AM but this track we’ll be keeping crowds moving for years to come…Something I’m sure he’d be happy with.
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Auto-Erotique – Gladiator (Steve Aoki x DJ AM Remix)
N.A.S.A.: Gifted ft. Kanye West, Lykke Li and Santogold
Aoki cemented his roll as the don of electro with this banger. With so much cross over appeal it had veteran Djs and sorority girls alike blasting it out — The hardest working man in the game showed he knew how to rock a studio jsut as hard as he could rock a party.
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NASA: Gifted ft. Kanye West, Santogold & Lykke Li (Steve Aoki remix)
Major Lazer – Pon De Floor (Feat. VYBZ Kartel
Diplo and switch turned the game on its head with this track. Everything from the sound to the music video was wonky to the MAX but done so well it got the whole world daggering like Skerrit boy. This was the our top album of the year and probably the most unique and impressive to all of us.
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Major Lazer – Pon de Floor (feat. VYBZ Kartel)
Noob & Brodinski – Peanuts Club
Everybody and their mother took a stab at remixing this track… And with good reason. Big squeaking silly synth leads that get inside your brain and get your feet tap tap tapping. Don’t forget to come check out our Jam with Brodinski if your in Montreal on the 29th of Jan.
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Noob & Brodinski – Peanuts Club
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (A-Trak remix)
A-Trak comes with one his finest remixes to date. This track hijacked a dozen festivals at the begginning of its life and is still a staple. The original was one the sickest indie tracks to drop this year and screamed for a remix that gave it jsut that subtle touch that would allow it to be played out while retaining its magic…. A-Trak just nailed it.
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Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix)
DIM & TAI – Lyposuct (Original)
A huge beast of a track that showcased the grimier side of Dutch House. One of the most anticipated tracks of the year when it dropped…. big massive whiny build-ups with drops that we’re like black holes imploding — just an all out banger.
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DIM & TAI – Lyposuct (Original Mix)
Sonicc – Stickin
The Yin to Lyposuct’s yang this funky festival favourite was the brainchild of 17 year old Sonicc…. This kid is no one hit wonder and has a bunch of new production about to drop in 2010 that should blow.
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Sonicc – Stickin’
La Roux – In For The Kill (Skream’s Let’s Get Ravey Mix)
Dub Step, Dub Step, Dub Step…. Love it or hate it this music is here to stay for the next couple years. Skream was one of the founding fathers and its only fitting that his eery dark take on La Roux’s “In For Khe Kill” makes it into our top ten. Dub Step’s got a track for every occasion… Drop Rusko in a club and even the hater’s will go nuts…. Drop Datsik in the Range with the tinted windows and you are going to want to kill somone… Drop this track while your trying to getting freaky and just try to stop your girl from calling in her girlfriend to join in
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La Roux – In For The Kill (Skream’s Let’s Get Ravey Mix)
Duck Sauce – Anyway
Armand Van Helden and A-Trak team up and murder it. Two all time legends come together to inject the scene with some much needed funky disco infused fire. Its the fact that tracks like this can get dropped the song after warp and get the crowd just as pumped that makes me love this scene so much.
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Duck Sauce – Anyway
