Best Tracks of 2015 - Part 3

Our last two instalments lined up some of the very best tunes of the last year, but now we’ve got the absolute crème – White Noise’s twenty favourite tunes of the year.

20. Denis Sulta – It’s Only Real [Numbers]

Glasgow’s Denis Sulta’s two releases on Dixon Avenue Basement Jams marked him out as a serious new talent, and this single-sided outing on Numbers showed that he could pull of an anthem too. It’s Only Real is deceptively simple, essentially an unchanging drum loop and one showstopping melody, but it tears apart dancefloors like little else.

19. Pender Street Steppers – The Glass City [Mood Hut]

Scene favourites Pender Street Steppers offered a perfect distillation of their sound with this year’s The Glass City, an ultra-chilled confection of gentle percussion, fluttering melody and a broad bass swagger.

18. Bicep – Just [Aus]

Honestly, we didn’t expect to see Bicep on this list again. After the trend for balls-to-the-wall 90s diva house faded, we rather thought the Northern Irish duo would disappear along with it. But we’ll be the first to admit where we were wrong. Bicep turned out the winning Just in 2015 and rightly dominated dancefloors. While earlier Bicep tracks were instant-gratification affairs, Just is sinuous and subtle, its earworm synthline calling out like a siren til the soaring scifi keys reach boiling point.

17. Khotin – Sorry Sequence [Normals Welcome]

We expected great things from Dan White on his split EP with Khotin, and we got them, but we never thought he would get so dramatically upstaged. Sorry Sequence is a stunner, raw yet melancholy with its stainproof rhythm, cycling melody and corrosive acid flex.

16. Soichi Terada – Sun Showered [Rush Hour]

It was hard to pick a single tune from Hunee’s superbly curated compilation of Soichi Terada’s forgotten house gems, but Sun Showered hits the sweet spot of rhythmic drama, colourful melody and flat-out optimism that makes all his tracks so winning.

15. Merle – Mimi Likes 2 Dance [Stripped & Chewed]

Chicago outpost Stripped & Chewed did a stellar job reissuing this lost beauty from ’99. Merwyn Sanders even reworked the original lead single, with a new vocal line and cleaner production (and a change of title as a nod to his wife). With its catchy pop vox, funky backbone and urgent synth sweeps, this cut adds a pinch of joy to any set.

14. Whispers Beirut – Away [Unreleased]

Still officially unreleased, this collaboration between Baba Stiltz and Petrodollar caught us off-guard with its simplicity and its melancholy. A yearning synth rules the track’s first half, before a slack hip hop beat picks up the pace. Sometimes less is so much more.

13. Hidden Spheres – Waiting [Distant Hawaii]

If you’re going to open a sub-label just for one release, it better be a good one. Lobster Theremin heeded this rule when they opened Distant Hawaii for a single summer release by Mancunian Hidden Spheres. Opener Waiting was the most sublimely chilled house track we heard all year, a breeze of warm melodies wafting over a textured drum workout.

12. Palms Trax – Sumo Acid Crew [Dekmantel]

Two years after Equation, Palms Trax went one better with this elegant slice of acid. Here the 303 is far from its alienating roots, burbling beside warm Chicago pads and harmonising with a soaring synth climax.

11. Harvey Sutherland – Bermuda [MCDE]

It’s easy to see why Motor City Drum Ensemble snatched up this synth-maestro for his own label – in 2015 Sutherland brought the funk like no other. Bermuda is an absolute masterclass in songwriting, from its virtuosic opening to its astonishing climax which crams in more melodies than we would’ve ever considered coherent. But Sutherland pulls it off with flair. More please.

10. Florist – Final Bounce [All Caps]

After a long gestation period on Soundcloud, one of the Vancouver scene’s best releases showed up unexpectedly on the Glaswegian All Caps imprint. The Phenomena EP was a winner, the feather in its cap Final Bounce, a spare slice of house with aquatic vibes and a soulful choir that rises magnificently from the mist.

9. Haydn – Booty Meat [Junk Yard Connections]

Buried on the B2 of a V/A release from Sweden’s underlooked Junk Yard Connections imprint, Haydn’s Booty Meat is the definition of a secret weapon. The unusual combination of gentle keys and a racy vocal line keeps dancers on their toes, and when that mighty rhythm kicks back in after the dubby breakdown everyone on the ‘floor will drop to make it clap.

8. Raw M.T. – Untitled [Mörk]

After he wowed us with the brittle techno of Walkman Is Dead a couple of years back, Italian producer Raw M.T. was back with a vengeance this year. In the middle of a superb EP on Lobster Theremin offshoot Mörk was Untitled, a humid house killer with exotic vocals and a malevolent bassline. Intoxicating stuff.

7. Nebraska – Emotional Rescue [Mister Saturday Night]

White Noise’s favourite party-starter of 2015 came from the reliable MSN stable courtesy of Nebraska. On the diverse Stand Your Ground EP a disco killer nestled on the B2, a shot of euphoria served over filtering brass and earworm vocals.

6. Route 8 – The Sunrise In Her Eyes [Lobster Theremin]

We’ve got a bit of a fetish for melancholy deep house heavy on the ambience, and few producers bring the feels as magically as Hungarian talent Route 8. The opener to This Raw Feeling is as dreamy as its title suggests, warm pads caressing the ear like a gentle tide, a quickened pulse and hopeful chimes leading us deeper down the rabbit hole.

5. Fatima Yamaha – What’s A Girl To Do [Dekmantel]

Okay, so maybe everyone’s sick of hearing about this tune by now. But if we leave aside the bittersweet melody, searing synth lead and solemn bassline, we’re left with a hopeful story.

Keeping up with the lightning-paced electronic music world can lead us to treat tracks as disposable tools, each EP skimmed for parts, forgotten by the month’s end. The fact that a house tune from 2004 caused such a stir in 2015 proves that longevity and beauty can triumph over disposability. We are capable of treasuring our beloved music like the art it is.

4. Dude Energy – Renee Running [Animals Dancing]

Not content just issuing a fine album under his Suzanne Kraft moniker this year, Californian wizard Diego Herrera also dropped one of our favourite club tunes of the year as Dude Energy. Combining impressive bass weight, razor snares and a mesmerising melody that sounds plucked from a gypsy songbook, this tune was a shot in the arm of samey dancefloors throughout the year.

3. Leon Vynehall – Midnight On Rainbow Road [Rush Hour]

From the very start, Leon Vynehall has had a way of evoking complex emotions with his music that few artists can parallel. His only release this year was a solitary tune on Gerd Janson’s lovely Musik For Autobahns 2, and, though beatless, it's one of his greatest compositions to date. A glittering melody flutters through a rain-streaked landscape, accompanied by skipping snares, traffic sounds and a heaving ambient wash. It’s music to get lost in, and you won’t want to be found.

2. Fit Siegel – Carmine [Fit]

Detroit’s Aaron Siegel doesn’t put out much music, but when he does it’s practically buy-on-sight. This year’s Carmine was an immensely emotive slice of house that takes you places that little music can reach. A delicate construction of gossamer synthwork, filtered snares rattling through the scales and a taut electro rhythm, this was the tearjerker to rule every 5am dancefloor in 2015.

1. DJ Sotofett – Nondo [Honest Jon’s]

Sex Tags head DJ Sotofett has risen to underground legend status over the last few years, and it’s not hard to see why. With an excellent label and mix series, an adventurous DJing style and a penchant for explorative, breakbeat-fuelled remixes, Sotofett (and his crew) stand as rather unique figures in an often homogeneous scene.

Yet one of the reasons why Sotofett’s releases are so successful is how adeptly he adapts and works with a stream of varied collaborators. This is the story of White Noise’s favourite tune of 2015. On a superb album chock full of ace collaborative efforts, the standout tune had Sotofett jamming with Karolin Tampere on drum machines and synths while Maimouna Haugen offered hushed, sinuous vocals. With a seductive synth motif and spare afrobeat percussion it’s a simple piece, but all the deadlier for it. It’s easy to feel jaded by the 4/4 scene if you don’t keep searching for something different. Sotofett always provides.

*** 

That’s all for 2015, we’ll be back soon with fresh coverage for the new year. Hope you enjoyed the roundups, check out all our Best Of articles below:

Best Albums 2015

Best Tracks Part 1

Best Tracks Part 2

Guest Mix

WN resident DJ Moth has cooked up a new mix that goes from Lebanese funk to low-slung house via filter disco and shuffling 90s garage. Here's the tracklist, exclusively on White Noise. Check it out:

Tracklist:

Ziad Rahbani – Abu Ali

Paxton Fettel – Afloat On A Sea of Nothing

Nebraska – Emotional Rescue

DJ Nature – Everyone

Paradise Box – Reel Nitty Gritty

Haydn – Booty Meat

Dude Energy – Renee Running

Mount Liberation Unlimited – Clinton Space Funk

Amadou & Mariam – Ce N’est Pas Bon (JD Twitch Edit)

Palms Trax – Sumo Acid Crew

Andronicus – Make You Whole

Ian Pooley – Welcome To The Tunnel

Mall Grab – Glock

DJ Sotofett – Nondo

Fatima Yamaha – What’s A Girl To Do

Roger West – End House

Acid Arab - Samira

April Roundup

This month we felt the first breath of summer so there are a lot breezy moodsetters and funked-out jams from the likes of Omega Supreme and Mood Hut, including the long-awaited returns of Andrés, Sound Stream and the Pender Street Steppers. Adesse Versions on Numbers takes us to peak-time territory, and we finish on the rough style of Ekman, 1080p's Surfing and Shed (as PCK), via some ultra-melodic house from Makam and Christian Loffler. So there's really something to suit all comers, so get listening.

Tracklist:

Ishmael - Time & Time Again

Midnight Runners - Cold Intimacy

Andrés - Believin'

Haydn - Booty Meat

Sound Stream - Bass Affairs

Local Artist - Feelings

Pender Street Steppers - The Glass City

Palms Trax - Sumo Acid Crew

The Cyclist - Hot House

Adesse Versions - Pride

Gonno - Obscurant (Inna Loft Mix by Call Super)

Makam - A Night at Trouw

Christian Loffler - York

Marquis Hawkes - Raw Materials

Massiande - The Future (Is Now)

DJ QU - Loveboxx

Mix Mup - Skip Intro

Surfing - bbc

Ekman - GMMDI (Breaker 1 2 Remix)

PCK - Amen Garage

Tapes Meets The Drums Of Wareika Hill Sounds - Datura Mystic

Palms Trax - In Gold

Label: Dekmantel

There’s some kind of alchemy at play in the music of Palms Trax, aka Berlin-based Jay Donaldson. The ingredients seem simple: a hefty arsenal of textured percussion coupled with a slightly unhealthy love of full-on, Nu-Groove referencing melody. You can hear similar elements in the tracks of any number of contemporary house producers. Yet something about each of Donaldson’s emissions just feels a cut above, like all the other house producers plumbing this vein are doing it ever so slightly wrong.

To follow up from 2013’s world-beating Equation EP, whose title track was our favourite tune of that year, is no easy task. Yet on last year’s Forever white-label we saw that Palms Trax has a lot left to give, and now with his return on Dekmantel, it seems he can somehow get even better. Donaldson’s approach to house is soft, gauzy, and packed with melodies that refuse to stay in the high-end, their emotive strains reaching even the rhythm section.

The mood on In Gold is euphoric but decidedly dreamy, as the title track gets underway with feathered synths and a chunky kick-snare combo. There’s always an inviting new melody around the corner, in satisfying contrast to the glut of monochromatic techno which dominates the Berlin scene. People Of Tusk treads a marginally darker path, neon synthwork flashes past like driving through a tunnel at night, while an acid-tinged bassline keeps one foot firmly on the ‘floor. Donaldson’s ability to compel the listener with his musicality while always staying club-focused is a rare skill; many producers play with technicolour new-age synths but few produce music this propulsive.

The B-side is often where moodier, ambient cuts hide on an EP, but Sumo Acid Crew completes the hat-trick as a surprisingly energetic closer. We hear a reprise of Equation’s memorable synths, as brushed snares and a knot of intricate melodies build to glorious lift-off around the three-minute mark. The alchemy of Palms Trax’s music is not the simple transmutation of common metals, because his basic ingredients are very fine, his sounds carefully wrought. But it certainly seems the case that everything he puts out is pure gold.

8/10

Best Tracks of 2013: 25-1

After yesterday’s ramble on the nature of year-end lists, we’ll keep this one short and to the point. For all that such lists are worth, here are White Noise’s 25 favourite tracks of 2013.

25: The Mole – Lockdown Party (DJ Sprinkles Crossfaderama) [EP Review]

 

DJ Sprinkles had a fantastic year, scoring one of the year’s best mixes as well as a brilliant remix package – and the legendary academic / DJ also found time to knock out one of the year’s very best tracks. If you play this out in a set Sprinkles does the work for you: leaning on the EQs, filters and crossfader, splicing in samples here and there, and on the dancefloors this one brought dancers together like no other.

24: A Made Up Sound – Ahead [EP Review]

AMUS’ unhinged Ahead is an unsettling track. It’s not the lurking threat of the looped vocals or the splintered beats, but rather the track’s utter disregard for dance music convention which makes for such a jarring listen. But from the broken remains of melodic hooks and a 4/4 AMUS builds something brave and new, amazing and perplexing the listener in equal measure.

23: Romare – Hey Now (When I Give You All My Lovin’) [EP Review]

 

At just over two minutes, the closer to Romare’s second EP is by a long way the shortest track on this list, and could easily be considered a jazzy outro to the more substantial meat on the release. Yet something about that Nina Simone sample and the languid piano gives this track an edge, making for a soupy soul number which is more than just an interlude. When the seedy trumpet bursts through the track’s second half the effect is unparalleled, edging us towards the repeat button every time.

22: HNNY – Mys [EP Review]

Scandinavian retroist HNNY doesn’t receive a whole lot of praise in music press. Perhaps his tracks lean too heavily on nostalgia, and here on Mys the beat pattern is more than a little functional. But to disregard him would be to ignore the beautiful simplicity of his music: it may not wear cutting-edge techniques but it has soul in spades. Mys is a glorious track, sensuous vocal cries looped over a thundering bass bounce, perfect for an ear-catching opener or a mid-set slow jam.

21: Innershades – That Girl [EP Review]

Our favourite new producer of 2013 burst out of nowhere on That Girl, a Dancemania-indebted track with menacing synths and a mighty kick-drum. The tracks’ simple structure and rough muscle made it a dancefloor bomb every time, showing just how much can be done with a few perfectly-tuned elements.

20: Chesus – Special [EP Review]

Editing a disco track into a filtered house cut is the oldest trick in the book – but perhaps the reason so many producers give it a shot is because when done well, the blend of euphoric soul and house muscle has an effect like little else. The addictive vocal of Special is honey to the ears, while those glorious strings feel like a spiritual successor to New For U.

19: FCL – It’s You (San Soda’s Panorama Bar Acca Version)

It’s practically just a vocal, yet it’s not surprising that FCL’s It’s You attracted so much attention over the last year. In a year of industrial sounds and lofi aesthetics this track provided a dose of grace and soul, perfect to open a set or mix over more tougher jams.

18: Jessy Lanza – Keep Moving [LP Review]

Jessy Lanza’s debut on Hyperdub was one of the year’s best pop records, and the disco-indebted Keep Moving was an essential highlight. Lanza’s hook’s are urgent and catchy, while the combination of guitar licks, synth stabs and an elastic bassline make for a seductive package indeed.

17: June – Face This (Deep House Mix)

In terms of nostalgic house exercises, this low-slung workout had it all: the looped ‘house’ vocal, the meandering bass bounce, the delectable acid line. House music at its best, pure and simple.

16: Florian Kupfer – Feelin

The relatively unknown Kupfer gave L.I.E.S. its first anthem on Feelin, an addictive vocal sugar-coating lush synthwork, clattering drums and a a meaty bassline.

15: Nils Frahm – Says

 

Since my friend described listening to this track as ‘like discovering a new world in an underwater ice cave using sonar’ I haven’t really been able to think about it any other way. On Frahm’s triumphant Spaces LP, Says stood out for its majesty and subtlety, fragile piano notes accompanying a glistening arpeggio. The track’s slow build is utterly consuming: by the time you get to that late-game key change you’ll already be lost.

14: Roly Porter – Cloud [LP Review]

The grand opening to Roly Porter’s cosmic exploration was a powerful force: vocals looped beyond humanity, alloyed to a stammering beat pattern and the glacial movement of string figures beyond.

13: Paul Woolford – Untitled [EP Review]

Paul Woolford owned this year. Under his Special Request guise he released the hardcore revival’s most brilliant record, and then on this one-off for Hotflush he issued a worthy successor to 2006's smash Erotic Discourse. The honeyed vocals and anthemic piano line might prove cheesy in other contexts, but married to Woolford’s brawny drums they’re just perfect. One of the few Ibiza anthems that genuinely deserved play beyond the island’s borders.

12: Murat Tepeli – Forever (Prosumer’s Hold Me Touch Me Remix)

 

Everything came together perfectly on Prosumer’s remix of long-time collaborator Murat Tepeli. The piano line is positively venomous, while the soaring vocal and tight beat patterns open the door to the dark side of euphoria.

11: Pev – Livity [EP Review]

If there’s one producer who released more great tracks than any other this year, Pev was he. Across two collaborative EPs and a solo outing, the Bristolian was on finer form than ever, and the combination of the manic, queasy bassline and those jangling keys on Livity is utterly unforgettable.

10: Floorplan – Never Grow Old [LP Review]

The relationship between religion and dance music in Robert Hood’s music is the subject of frequent discourse, partly of its rarity – yet he’s on to something: the ability of the two to allow a person to transcend the physical, to make a group unite and rejoice, is a striking similarity. Nowhere is Hood more likely to make you believe than on Never Grow Old, an Aretha-sampling beast stitching that achingly soulful vocal onto an adamantine 4/4 skeleton.

9: Special Request – Mindwash [LP Review]

Paul Woolford’s attitude towards jungle and hardcore is striking because of his ability to modernise these sounds rather than just ape them. Mindwash is an unhinged trip whose maniacal bassline never sits still, sounding remarkably current even over a field of breaks ripped right out of a 90s textbook.

8: Damiano von Erckert – Hollywood [LP Review]

 

The ava label-head’s debut solo album was a glorious journey through the sounds of the past, and it was his pitch-perfect disco number that got us most excited. Perhaps Hollywood could have been made fifteen years ago, but it sounds as brilliant now as it would have back then. Georgia Anne Muldrow gives a phenomenal vocal performance over Erckert’s production dripping with funk: a utterly timeless collaboration.

7: Levon Vincent - ???

Levon took us back with this one: never had he sounded so urgent and floor-focused, conjuring the year’s most distinctive bassline and treating it with his gritty warehouse stylings and a game-changing synth to close.

6: DJ Rashad – Let It Go [EP Review]

Rashad ascended to footwork royalty this year thanks to a series of country- and genre-spanning releases, but even on his ace album he couldn’t quite top Let It Go. The vulnerability on display is almost unheard of in juke’s macho culture, as delicate strings falter under a desperate vocal plea. Yet even when he gets all emotional, Rashad never forgets his roots, and the stammering breaks added a vital urgency to the heart-tugging vocal cuts.

5: Omar S – The Shit Baby [LP Review]

Another year, and Detroit’s unstoppable Omar S still plays no one’s game but his own. This grammatically-challenged cut was as simple as Omar gets: the percussion is all groove: skipping snares, a solid kick and a descending bassline. But the inclusion of D. Taylor’s improvised piano takes this track into the stratosphere, offering a euphoric lead sure to get the crowd beaming as well as dancing.

4: Sophie – Bipp [EP Review]

I can make you feel better! The kind of track that makes a dance journalist use an exclamation mark is rare indeed, but it’s impossible to not get excited listening to Sophie’s second excellent release. Bipp is a breed of inverted pop, its saccharine vocal tied unexpectedly to pops, fizzes and jittery, drumless synths. On paper it sounds terrible, but a single listen would reassure any listener: Bipp is one of the year’s most brilliant, bizarre tracks, and is absolutely impossible to stop listening to.

3: Tessela – Hackney Parrot [EP Review]

If this was a list of the year’s ‘biggest’ tracks, Hackney Parrot would have no competition for the top spot. There are few tunes that make dancers stop in their tracks, but time and again Hackney Parrot destroyed dancefloors, its monstrous drop driving dancers into a frenzy. The stuttering breaks, the syrup-thick synth notes, that abrupt vocal hook: the ‘parrot is pure gold, and it’s going to be tough for Tessela to top.

2: Oneohtrix Point Never – Chrome Country

When I first heard this track I was walking through an airport. The infinite escalators, miles of plate glass and silenced urgency of travellers made for a stunning mental music video, and the song evoked a reverie of the essential beauty of human interaction even in our involved, over-stimulated age. Coming at the end of Daniel Lopatin’s brilliant new album, Chrome Country is a hymn for the digital age, its synthetic choirs frayed by electronic processing, its blissful strings and keys sometimes drowned by a swooning ambient wash. The track’s conclusion introduces a majestic organ – never before has Lopatin’s music sounded so optimistic, so downright heavenly. But we’re right there with him.

1: Palms Trax – Equation [EP Review]

At its best, house music is very simple. Granted, there are many producers who toy with complex rhythmic and melodic structures to great effect, but the old adage ‘gotta have house music’ was extolling something accessible, something universal. Palms Trax’ Equation wears its influences on its sleeve: eschewing the current lofi trend for the polished new-age sound of the Burrell Brothers and Nu Groove. Yet Equation easily transcends its retro trappings: its perfect counterpoint of soaring synths and rolling bassline inviting everyone, young and old, cool and lame, to get on the ‘floor and throw some shapes. No track in 2013 made us want to get up and dance as much as Equation, and for that simple reason, it tops our list.

Best of 2013:

* Best Labels of 2013

* Best EPs of 2013
* Best Tracks: 85-26
* Best Tracks: 25-1

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