2012 Music Dance music fans, newcomers, snobs (me), and curious, this is your stop.
I have many categories for you tonight, folks, and they are
House (5 slots)
Electronica (5)
Trance (vocal) (5)
Trance (instrumental) (5)
Drum & Bass/Dubstep (5)
Remixes (10)
B-sides (5)
Best Albums (10)
Artist of the Year (1)
Record Label of the Year (1)
And not in that particular order!
Also going to sum up the News, bring you guys some deserving shout-outs that for reasons I'll explain could not be considered for any of the above categories, and I'll make mention of albums OUTSIDE of the EDM world you might want to check out that were released in 2012.
So without further fanfare, lets start off the awards with Best in Trance (vocal).
Vocal trance and instrumental trance are different, and unlike Drum & Bass or Electronica, the lack or addition of vocals actually makes a huge difference in some cases, which is why I separated the two sub-genres.
This year, Andrew Bayer teamed up with Molly Bancroft for his first vocal trance foray, and little known Velvetine showed us what he can do when he brings in vocalists. So this year, there were some surprises, and some old hands returned to flex their muscles
5.) Must Be the Love - Arty, Nadia Ali, and BT.
4.) Ashley Wallbridge - Bang the Drum (feat. Audrey Gallagher)
3.) Jaytech - Stranger (feat. Steve Smith)
2.) Andrew Bayer - Keep Your Secrets - feat Molly Bancroft
1.) Velvetine - The Great Divide
Vocal trance is soulful, impactful, and it should have vocals that come from the heart.
It's not about the biggest club thumping repetitive lyrics, but about reaching new heights.
Our next category, we'll just roll on into instrumental trance.
Armin van Buuren again showed the world he knows how to make music, but there was a slight hitch. This year, he made his worst track both in popularity and actual quality to date, We Are Here to Make Some Noise. However, van Buuren is not one to be kept down forever, as he came back in the second half of the year with some good vocal trance, and a single release of his collaboration with Orjan Nilsen, Belter. In other news, Anjunabeats keeps cranking out the instrumental trance as it does every year, finding both good and bad and putting them out there for the public to enjoy or discover. But mega dance superstar Paul van Dyk isn't going to let two large trance labels steam roll over everything else, as his single Dae Yor was huge.
5.) Paul van Dyk - Dae Yor
4.) Mat Zo - Bipolar
3.) Protoculture - Cobalt
2.) Armin van Buuren & Orjan Nilsen – Belter
1.) Norin & Rad - Bloom
I can't really talk a lot about Norin & Rad, but when they make music or remixes, they sure get their shit set on correct.
It's at this point I'd like to throw a shout out to Arty and Mat Zo's hit single, Mozart.
Mozart was released in December of 2011, but didn't maintain popularity until January and February, and into early March. However, the release date was in fact 2011, so no amount of popularity could allow me to include it in this year's running. However, I recommend you folks check it out, because had it been released in 2012, Dae Yor would most likely not be on this list.
And with that, we'll swing on into House music!
Heavy club beats, late nights, excess amounts of liquor, yes folks, the stigmas of modern EDM find their source from the hard core House music clubs, and you know, there's nothing wrong with that!
This year however, we are saddened to bid goodbye to the trio known as Swedish House Mafia, with all 3 musicians going their separate ways. We came, we raved, we loved. But fear not folks, their last hurrah was laden with killer tracks to dance the night away to.
5.) Treasure Fingers & Malente – Au Revue
4.)Dada Life – Kick Out the Epic Motherfucker
3.) AN21 & Max Vangeli – Bombs Over Capitals
2.) Diplo – Express Yourself
1.) Swedish House Mafia – Greyhound TIE Vato Gonzalez – Hangover
Basically I just couldn't get rid of any of those 6 songs, so I had to make a tie somewhere.
I really needed Au Revue on this list because in my own DJ shows, it proved to be one of the most popular and well-recepted tracks, and it became my permanent closer for about 3 months. It was near-perfect track to end on, and I really loved it. As for the other 5, they all proved to accomplish the most important tenant of house music - get the crowd moving.
Moving right along into Electronica, we have some really, really important artists to talk about.
Avicii continues his new found ability to demolish in the studio with the follow up to Levels, Silhouetes. Deadmau5 had singles galore from his new album, and man do they rock! Wolfgang Gartner shows off his talent yet again, and Robbie Rivera makes me happy to be a DJ with his work.
5.) EDX - Sunset Miracles
4.) Robbie Rivera - Turn it Around (feat. Jes)
3.) Wolfgang Gartner - Redline
2.) deadmau5 - The Veldt
1.) Avicii - Silhouettes
Some of these aren't huge club killers, and that's kind of the point. Some of these are more relaxed, but still belong on the dancefloor. Really where the distinction between Electronica and House lies, is in the tone. They can sound the same, but what do they make you feel. Too philosophical? Not on my watch guys, we're right back in it with Drum & Bass!!
Oh, how hard it was to narrow this list down to 5, it really hurt me to do it. So much in the way of good, heavy, loud... makes me giddy. Believe me, these 5 tracks belong here. RAM records and Hospital are the UK's leading Drum & Bass labels, and boy, let me tell you, the talent is off the charts.
5.) ARP-1 - Visions
4.) Metrik - Freefal (feat. Reija Lee)
3.) A.M.C. - Who We Are (feat. Katies Ambition)
2.) Netsky - Come Alive
1.) Seven Lions - Polarize (feat. Shaz Sparks)
Shout outs to Borderline for releasing his first EP this year, and actually giving me legitimate chills down my spine with his track Wise Guy, and NERVO for making me love again with "You're Gonna Love Again"
(continued in comments)
2012 Music Dance music fans, newcomers, snobs (me), and curious, this is your stop.
I have many categories for you tonight, folks, and they are
House (5 slots)
Electronica (5)
Trance (vocal) (5)
Trance (instrumental) (5)
Drum & Bass/Dubstep (5)
Remixes (10)
B-sides (5)
Best Albums (10)
Artist of the Year (1)
Record Label of the Year (1)
And not in that particular order!
Also going to sum up the News, bring you guys some deserving shout-outs that for reasons I'll explain could not be considered for any of the above categories, and I'll make mention of albums OUTSIDE of the EDM world you might want to check out that were released in 2012.
So without further fanfare, lets start off the awards with Best in Trance (vocal).
Vocal trance and instrumental trance are different, and unlike Drum & Bass or Electronica, the lack or addition of vocals actually makes a huge difference in some cases, which is why I separated the two sub-genres.
This year, Andrew Bayer teamed up with Molly Bancroft for his first vocal trance foray, and little known Velvetine showed us what he can do when he brings in vocalists. So this year, there were some surprises, and some old hands returned to flex their muscles
5.) Must Be the Love - Arty, Nadia Ali, and BT.
4.) Ashley Wallbridge - Bang the Drum (feat. Audrey Gallagher)
3.) Jaytech - Stranger (feat. Steve Smith)
2.) Andrew Bayer - Keep Your Secrets - feat Molly Bancroft
1.) Velvetine - The Great Divide
Vocal trance is soulful, impactful, and it should have vocals that come from the heart.
It's not about the biggest club thumping repetitive lyrics, but about reaching new heights.
Our next category, we'll just roll on into instrumental trance.
Armin van Buuren again showed the world he knows how to make music, but there was a slight hitch. This year, he made his worst track both in popularity and actual quality to date, We Are Here to Make Some Noise. However, van Buuren is not one to be kept down forever, as he came back in the second half of the year with some good vocal trance, and a single release of his collaboration with Orjan Nilsen, Belter. In other news, Anjunabeats keeps cranking out the instrumental trance as it does every year, finding both good and bad and putting them out there for the public to enjoy or discover. But mega dance superstar Paul van Dyk isn't going to let two large trance labels steam roll over everything else, as his single Dae Yor was huge.
5.) Paul van Dyk - Dae Yor
4.) Mat Zo - Bipolar
3.) Protoculture - Cobalt
2.) Armin van Buuren & Orjan Nilsen – Belter
1.) Norin & Rad - Bloom
I can't really talk a lot about Norin & Rad, but when they make music or remixes, they sure get their shit set on correct.
It's at this point I'd like to throw a shout out to Arty and Mat Zo's hit single, Mozart.
Mozart was released in December of 2011, but didn't maintain popularity until January and February, and into early March. However, the release date was in fact 2011, so no amount of popularity could allow me to include it in this year's running. However, I recommend you folks check it out, because had it been released in 2012, Dae Yor would most likely not be on this list.
And with that, we'll swing on into House music!
Heavy club beats, late nights, excess amounts of liquor, yes folks, the stigmas of modern EDM find their source from the hard core House music clubs, and you know, there's nothing wrong with that!
This year however, we are saddened to bid goodbye to the trio known as Swedish House Mafia, with all 3 musicians going their separate ways. We came, we raved, we loved. But fear not folks, their last hurrah was laden with killer tracks to dance the night away to.
5.) Treasure Fingers & Malente – Au Revue
4.)Dada Life – Kick Out the Epic Motherfucker
3.) AN21 & Max Vangeli – Bombs Over Capitals
2.) Diplo – Express Yourself
1.) Swedish House Mafia – Greyhound TIE Vato Gonzalez – Hangover
Basically I just couldn't get rid of any of those 6 songs, so I had to make a tie somewhere.
I really needed Au Revue on this list because in my own DJ shows, it proved to be one of the most popular and well-recepted tracks, and it became my permanent closer for about 3 months. It was near-perfect track to end on, and I really loved it. As for the other 5, they all proved to accomplish the most important tenant of house music - get the crowd moving.
Moving right along into Electronica, we have some really, really important artists to talk about.
Avicii continues his new found ability to demolish in the studio with the follow up to Levels, Silhouetes. Deadmau5 had singles galore from his new album, and man do they rock! Wolfgang Gartner shows off his talent yet again, and Robbie Rivera makes me happy to be a DJ with his work.
5.) EDX - Sunset Miracles
4.) Robbie Rivera - Turn it Around (feat. Jes)
3.) Wolfgang Gartner - Redline
2.) deadmau5 - The Veldt
1.) Avicii - Silhouettes
Some of these aren't huge club killers, and that's kind of the point. Some of these are more relaxed, but still belong on the dancefloor. Really where the distinction between Electronica and House lies, is in the tone. They can sound the same, but what do they make you feel. Too philosophical? Not on my watch guys, we're right back in it with Drum & Bass!!
Oh, how hard it was to narrow this list down to 5, it really hurt me to do it. So much in the way of good, heavy, loud... makes me giddy. Believe me, these 5 tracks belong here. RAM records and Hospital are the UK's leading Drum & Bass labels, and boy, let me tell you, the talent is off the charts.
5.) ARP-1 - Visions
4.) Metrik - Freefal (feat. Reija Lee)
3.) A.M.C. - Who We Are (feat. Katies Ambition)
2.) Netsky - Come Alive
1.) Seven Lions - Polarize (feat. Shaz Sparks)
Shout outs to Borderline for releasing his first EP this year, and actually giving me legitimate chills down my spine with his track Wise Guy, and NERVO for making me love again with "You're Gonna Love Again"
(continued in comments)
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