Best Tracks of 2012: 75 – 51

Year End Coverage

* Best Albums of 2012

* Best EPs of 2012

* Best Labels of 2012

* Best Breakthrough Artists of 2012

* Best Tracks of 2012 - 101-76
* Best Tracks of 2012 - 75-51
* Best Tracks of 2012 - 50-26
* Best Tracks of 2012 - 25-1

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Here's 25 more of our favourite tracks of the year. Enjoy!

75 – Jack Sparrow – Good Old Days feat. Ruckspin

Deep Medi shows there’s still life in the old 140 horse yet, with this sultry jazz-inspired number from the Author duo.

74 – Marquis Hawkes – Sealion Woman

Tough, analogue workout accompanied by a showstopping US folk vocal-line. Something special.

73 – Bicep – Vision Of Love

Pitch-perfect piano House from the Northern Irish duo. Literally cannot be overplayed. EP Review.

72 – Jack Dixon – Find Shelter

Polished House number shows Dixon has a few real surprises up his sleeve. Detailed sounds and a strong groove make this one essential. EP Review.

71 – Helix – Honig

Proper Techno workout from one of the year’s most talented breakthroughs. Bright synth streaks and hammering beats sure to murder the dancefloor.

70 – Kuedo – Work, Live & Sleep In Collapsing Space

Destructive future-sounds from one of the scene’s most unique voices. Otherwordly sci-fi soundtracking.

69 – Disclosure – Tenderly

Infectiously bouncy Bass number courtesy of Disclosure, one of the year’s mainstream crossover successes. EP Review.

68 – Daphni – Yes I Know

Caribou’s Dan Snaith offers a soul-injected House workout under his Daphni moniker. Worth the price for the vocal sample alone. Album Review.

67 – Presk – Nobody Makes Me Do

Wonky stepper with a couple of earworm vocals and some seriously polished production skills. EP Review.

66 – u-202 – Straightjacket

Pure strangeness from the L.I.E.S. camp. Takes its time to build into a loping House roller. 

65 – Artifact – Deserted

4am stepper deal in drama with monstrous drops and moody synthwork. EP Review.

64 – Dark Sky – Shades

Epic night stomper from the Dark Sky trio. Powerful grooves and an unstoppable bass bounce. EP Review.

63 – Downliners Sekt – Trim / Tab (part one)

Beautiful dance deconstructions from a White Noise favourite. Vocals, piano chords and haunted beats are consigned to the fragmented clicks and all-consuming vinyl hiss. EP Review.

62 – XI – Squeeze

Tough percussive Garage from Toronto on Orca. Stop-start rhythms and a de-oxygenated vocal cry make this one something special. EP Review.

61 – Swindle – Mischief

140 Jazz madness from the Deep Medi camp. Totally unique, genre-defying stuff.

60 – Boddika – Acid Jackson

A red-hot slice of future Acid from the man who probably sleeps tucked up next to his 303.

59 – Airhead – Wait

A track that polarized opinions, here at White Noise we loved Airhead’s Karen O collage. Atmospheric and emotive. EP Review.

58 – Akkord – The Drums

The most atmospheric of the shadowy Manchester group’s releases so far. Fantastic vocals and rugged beat patterns. EP Review.

57 – Mosca – Eva Mendes

Unstoppable Jersey House track from one of the scene’s most dependable producers. Guaranteed to get any club moving.

56 – No Fixed Abode – Indian Street Slang

Leftfield electronic tune from our favourite of the LHF collective. Cross-cultural, cross-genre, totally brilliant. Album Review and EP Review.

55 – NY Stomp – The NY House Trak

Gerd, one of the House scene’s worst-kept secrets, put out one of the genre’s most irresistible, no-nonsense stompers this year under his NY Stomp alias. Perfectly judged vocal snips and a great synthline make this one a surefire weapon at any party.

54 – Bondax – Baby I Got That

Poppy Bass/ Disco hybrid from the impossibly young duo. If any song gave us summer in four short minutes, this was it.

53 – Last Magpie – (Who Knows) Where The Love Goes

Chilled House number that we couldn’t stop playing over the last few months. Addictive vocal, lush chords, punchy beats and a deep ambient hiss kept this one on repeat long after the summer had gone.

52 – Boddika & Joy Orbison – Swims

Ubiquitous acid number from two of the scene’s biggest stars. Superb vocal and the best cowbell solo you’ve ever heard. EP Review. (Dun Dun was a close second).

51 – Dean Blunt – track 2 feat inga copeland

The Hype Williams duo stepped out from the cloud of weed smoke for this nakedly beautiful warped-Pop track. A simple piano loop and a dusty drum machine was all that was needed to create a career highlight.

Jack Dixon – E / Find Shelter

Label: Hotflush

It’s good to know people can turn things around. Although Jack Dixon has been knocking around the scene for a year or so, his releases never really offered enough dance drive to truly hit home. At the same time, the releases of the once-lethal Hotflush haven’t been up to their usual standard (especially those of label-head Scuba, whose former inability to put out a bad record has been quite dramatically turned on its head in 2012). But with his Hotflush debut, Dixon absolutely smashes it, issuing the label's most raw and vital release in months in the form of two gorgeous slices of bassy house.

 

EP Clips

Dixon proves his finger is right on the pulse of the current scene, elegantly fusing the detailed atmospherics of the post-dubstep world with the bounciest of house beats in E, all augmented by a bouncing bassline. Here Dixon cranks up the tension like a pro, all euphoric rising synthlines and a restless soundfield that offers more clever detail the harder you listen. Quite a feat while still remaining a dancefloor knock-out. All that said, the A-side only serves to wet the taste-buds for the scorching highlight that is Find Shelter on the B. The stomping beat is swung wide this time, twinned with an unstoppably catchy synthline. But listen out; the beat is accented by clipped horns and a perfectly jarring locked loop, the vocal is subtly rewound and looped throughout the track, and it’s hard to miss the fantastic false drop, replete with panting breath samples. Find Shelter is that rare track that will dominate the dancefloor while giving the headphone-listener more than enough meat to chew on, and explicitly states that Dixon is truly a force to be reckoned with.

8/10

October Roundup 2012

Here are White Noise's top tunes of October, mostly in a handy Youtube playlist. Unfortunately a few of our top picks weren't available on the 'tube, so I've put up some alternative links at the bottom. This playlist gets darker as it goes on, so don't sleep on the devastating second half.

Enjoy!

Tracklist:

Daphni - Yes I Know

Maxxi Soundsystem feat. Name One - Regrets We Have No Use For

Andrés - Hart Plaza

Last Magpie - Hypno

U - Eah

Pangaea - Game

Elsewhere - Trippin'
Eats Everything - Trubble

Juju & Jordash - Track David Would Play

Vessel - Court of Lions

Jam City - ...Now We Relate
Dawn Day Night - Big Booty Girls
Swindle - Mischief

Here are some clips of our other favourite releases from this month:

Jack Dixon - E

 

Presk - Nobody Makes Me Do


Breach & Midland - 101 (/Somewhere)

 

Jets (Jimmy Edgar and Travis Stewart) - Lock Lock Key

Artifact - Turtle Flight (clip here)