Well I guess 2011 is coming to an end and holy shit it was a big year for EDM, from Austrailia to the Netherlands to the United States dance music took over. We saw dance music come to the United States really for the first time ever with Identity Festival. We saw David Guetta produce an electronic album that is all over the radio. We saw the rise of several new DJ’s like Tim Mason, Alesso, Nicky Romero and the Bingo Players. So for the next week we are gonna post some of our favorite tracks of the year in no particular order, because honestly how can you rank them?
The first volume is going to include songs from the winter/early spring time which saw tracks like Tiesto and Hardwell’s Zero 76, Tim Mason’s The Moment, and Avicii’s Remix of Armin Van Buuren’s Drowning drop.
First up is Avicii’s Remix of Armin Van Buuren’s Drowning which is now one of my favorite songs of all time. Avicii takes Laura V’s beautiful vocals and adds to them with a terrific drop that still gives me the chills.
Armin Van Buuren Featuring Laura V.-Drowning (Avicii Remix)
A track that I could not wait for back in early 2011 had to be Tiesto and Hardwell’s Zero 76. The song offered a simple but catchy build up, then it drops into just a monster dance song that is impossible not to move to.
Tiesto and Hardwell-Zero 76 (Original Mix)
In 2011 the best dubstep song ever was released, Bass Cannon by Flux Pavilion. The sample’s awesome, and the drop absolutely forces you to fist pump. enjoy
Flux Pavilion-Bass Cannon (Original Mix)
One Look by Axwell and David Tort Featuring Gosha was a huge club hit in early 2011. It offers great vocals, a euphoric build up and when it drops it offers some serious big room synths. enjoy.
Axwell and David Tort-One Look feat. Gosha (Axwell vs. Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike) (Remix)
After seeing Tiesto in early March of 2011 he played two songs that I absolutely had to have one being Tim Mason’s The Moment, and the other was Blessed by Avicii. The Moment is still such a club banger, it offers a build up with awesome snares, drops with a heavy bass line and great synths. It also features a really interesting transitional part of the song which then drops into a heavier more fun drop! I might have listened to the preview of blessed a few to many times to be honest. It had to of been my favorite song of spring semester, it featured beautiful vocals by Shermanology, and just dropped into a fist pumping piano line. Oh ya and Tiesto played these songs back to back, everything was looking brighter.
Tim Mason-The Moment (Original Mix)
Tom Hangs Featuring Shermanology-Blessed (Avicii Edit)
Well if there was a third song from that night that I needed was Tiesto and Marcel Wood’s Don’t Ditch. It features a great build up with a fun piano line and a great synth line, which when it drops goes so hard, add in the killer bass line and you have one of the biggest tracks from 2011. However I never thought this song got the acclaim it deserved!
Tiesto and Marcel Woods-Don’t Ditch (Original Mix)
Maybe the biggest track of Ultra Music Festival last year was Coming Home Dirty South Remix. It featured the vocals from Skylar Gray, which have been used in a ton of remixes for rap songs. The song has a fun drop with vocals that everyone knows making it an instant hit at almost any party,
Skylar Gray-Coming Home (Dirty South Remix)
Kaskade had a year to remember by headlining Identity Festival and becoming one of the premier DJ’s in the game. Move For First Aid, was a mash-up Kaskade made back in March which I still play constantly, and is a staple of my set. He matches Michael Wood’s First Aid against Kaskade and Deadmau5′s Move For Me. Together they make one epic track.
Steve Forte Rio aka Tiesto produced the song Slumber. It featured unreal vocals by Lindsey Rey, along with uplifting synths and a great bass line.
Steve Forte Rio Featuring Lindsey Ray-Slumber (Original Mix)
The first I had heard of Alesso was the Heiress of Valentina which featured some of the most beautiful vocals of the year in my opinion. It features your typical Alesso synths, and a bass line to boot. enjoy.
Dune-Heiress Of Valentina (Alesso Remix)
One of the best preview videos that I have ever seen was Hardwell’s Encoded. The song itself was awesome as well, it featured a fun beeping intro into super heavy pump your fist synths adds a bass line, and like Harwell usually does he uses a second drop then goes back into the original one again. enjoy!
Hardwell-Encoded (Original Mix)
-ELB
