The Attack Mag team have come together to decide on our favourite electronic music of the year so far – we hope you enjoy our selections. Also, keep an eye out for our full round-up at the end of the year!
We’re halfway through the year, so it’s time to round up some of the best dance music releases of the year. “Best” is a tricky term, to be honest, how do you decide whether Overmono‘s chunky, club-ready anthems are “better” than DJ Minx‘s underground heaters, or if the psychedelic jazz stylings of Ron Trent are ‘better’ than the psychedelic jazz stylings of Emma-Jean Thackray?
Music comes down to personal taste, however we choose to describe it, from smokey jazz-tinged deep house to dark dystopian techno, uncompromising underground gems or unashamed festival bangers, here are the Attack Magazine team’s most played tracks of 2022 so far.
Note: tracks are listed in no particular order.
Ron Trent feat. Khruangbin
‘Flos Potentia (Sugar, Cotton, Tabacco)’
This springtime teaser for Ron Trent’s ‘What Do The Stars Say To You‘ album blended layers of percussion, live instrumentation and futurist electronics into a quality slice of tech-jazz-soul. The album is superb too.
Label: Night Time Stories
Panna Cotta
‘Sunrise’ (Marcel Vogel Remix)
One for the Balearic heads, Marcel Vogel’s remix of ‘Sunrise’ is a superbly constructed, throbbing mid-tempo sunshine-houser.
Label: Lumberjacks In Hell
Dam Swindle
‘The Break Up (Emma-Jean Thackray Remix)‘
Dam Swindle enlisted UK jazzer Emma-Jean Thackray to remix their ‘The Break Up’ track, and she recorded a whole new set of vocal and instrumental parts, giving the anthem a new, soulful lease of life.
Label: Heist
Javonntte
‘Abstract Love’
The arrangement on this classy Detroit deep house bouncer from Javonntte is a masterclass in restraint, as he creates motion, tension and release by what sounds like simply riding the mutes on his mixing desk.
Label: MotorCity Wine
Kerri Chandler
‘Into The Night‘
‘Into The Night’ from Kerri Chandler’s ‘Lost & Found EP’ Vol 1 features some wonderfully evocative old school pads and bass together with trademark chunky KC beats.
Label: Kaoz Theory
Session Victim
‘Trying To Make It Home‘
The 5 track ‘Basic Instinct‘ EP from Session Victim was a great collection of dusty, moody, tech-flavoured house jams, from which we’ve picked this dark piano tune ‘Trying To Make It Home’.
Label: Rhythm Section INTL
Fort Romeau
‘The Truth‘
Taken from UK producer Micheal Green’s acclaimed ‘Beings Of Light’ album released back in February, ‘The Truth’ received a superb Ron Trent remix, while the original is one of those simultansouly light yet weighty tracks; a heavy-duty, gossamer-cloud, angel-house kind of a track.
Label: Ghostly International
Bonobo
‘Rosewood‘
Another year, another excellent Bonobo album in the shape of his ‘Fragments’ from January. This track, ‘Rosewood’ is a pretty good encapsulation of the dancefloor-targetted end of the Bonobo sound, somehow synthetic and bucolic at the same time.
Label: Ninja Tune
Sofia Kourtesis feat. Manu Chao
‘Estación Esperanza’
Peruvian producer Sofia Kourtesis’s latest track is a fresh, rich, gently pulsating 4/4 jam which opens with some sampled chanting from a Peruvian protest against homophobia and is all about the melodic percussion, lullaby backing vocals and its dreamy aesthetic.
Label: Ninja Tune
LF System
‘Afraid To Feel‘
Better known as “That disco sample track that slows down and speeds up”, LF System’s ‘Afraid To Feel’ has the potential to be a big festival track this summer.
Label: Warner Records
DJ Minx
‘Do It All Night‘
Crisp, clean and sleek with a haunting chord and vocal combo, DJ Minx’s ‘Do It All Night’ delivers those irresistible Detroit house vibes.
Label: Planet E Communications
AceMo & Lord RAJA
XTC
AceMo and Lord RAJA‘s collaboration here produced a subtle, restrained and unhurried techno track, gently melodic with wonderfully crisp percussion.
Label: Sonic Messengers
DJOKO & Nikita
‘SISOV‘
This acid-flecked, deep house/dub techno hybrid is smooth and dreamy in equal measure.
Label: Berg Audio
Joy Orbison
‘Pinky Ring‘
Garage-ish beats, a tasty slice of wobbly bass and a tiny clipped vocal sample add up to another classy cut from Joy O.
Label: XL Recordings
Floating Points
‘Grammar‘
‘Grammar’s skippy UKG-derived beats quickly develop into a shuffling, percussive rhythm track that blends an acid line, tiny vocal sample, raw, swooping bass and a filtered sample into a fresh new jam that’ll likely blow up many a dance floor.
Label: Ninja Tune
Barry Can’t Swim
‘Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore‘
With extra points for his name and indeed song title, this collection of racing-speed house-breaks and stabs make for a euphoric jump-up house track.
Label: Technicolour
Krystal Klear
‘Mega Chords‘
Is Krystal Klear’s ‘Mega Chords’ A. Cheesy, or B. An absolutely massive festival rinser? We suggest playing it to a summer-sun peak time rave crowd and let us know the answer. (clue: it’s answer B.).
Label: Running Back
DJ Seinfeld
‘Someday (Salute remix)‘
Another potential summer-anthem-in-waiting, salute took DJ Seinfeld‘s customary melancholy aesthetic and turned it inside out, finding the euphoria deep inside.
Label: Ninja Tune
Talaria
‘Scuba‘
Actually released in Dec ’21, but late-year releases often get overlooked in end-of-year round-ups, so we’re including this excellent three-tracker from Scuba, the twinkling synths, metallic arpeggios and epic synth pad combo of the title track the pick for us.
Label: Aus Music
Booka Shade
‘Drago (Anja Schneider Remix)‘
Anja Schneider turns in a glossy, high-tension rework of Booka Shade’s ‘Drago’ built around a simple but highly effective repeating synth riff.
Label: Ritter Butzke Records
ASTRYD
‘Numbing (Machine Woman Rework)‘
Another one from December 2021 that feels more like a 2022 tune, Machine Woman’s deft remix of ASTRYD’s ‘Blind Summit’ matches a collection of rolling, futurist synth parts with a diamond-hard rhythm track.
Label: Dialogue
Rødhåd & JakoJako
‘Lilium‘
Rødhåd and JakoJako’s springtime album ‘In Vere’ was the product of a week-long jam and includes plenty of ambient and electronica alongside heavy-duty modular techno like this.
Label: WSNWG
Overmono
Gunk
‘Gunk’ is another big tune from Overmono, taken from their 5-track ‘Cash Romantics’ EP which contained five very different club moods.
Label: XL Recordings
ARA-U & Radioactive Man
‘Sounds Like Prince‘
Taken from the 4-track ‘Houghton Blues’ EP, ‘Sounds Like Prince’ doesn’t really sound much like Prince, but its 808 beat, acid bass and 80s synth stabs combination works wonders over a decent rig.
Label: No Static Automatic
Posthuman
‘Hack Jammer‘
The ever-reliable Posthuman’s 5-track ‘Hack Jammer’ EP came with three quality remixes while the OG title track is a straight-up acid bomb.
Label: Balkan Vinyl
Nikki Nair
‘Startrack‘
A relentless one-note acid line, a killer future-break, add some fx and what sounds very much like an air raid a siren on the breakdown and you get Nikki Nair‘s ‘Startrack’.
Label: Pretty Weird Records
Saoirse
‘Gentle Romance‘
Saoirse combines driving beats, creative industrial-esque percussion, grinding low end and then a surprisingly melodic lead-line for this excellent club tool.
Label: Trust
Sara Landry & Don Woezik
‘Delirium‘
Taken from Landry and Woezik’s ‘Delirium’ EP, the title track starts off as dark, pounding dystopian techno and then develops into an almost-heavy metal aesthetic – unexpectedly epic.
Label: HEKATE Records
Aleksandir
‘Sacro‘
The first release from Aleksandir since his 2020 album, ’Sacro’ features an undulating cascade of arpeggios, pitter-patter rhythms and all sorts of intricate sound design and programming.
Label: Kudos Records
Whatever The Weather
‘17º‘
Under her “Whatever The Weather” alter-ego, Loraine James once again deftly pulls together parts from various London bass genres into new forms.
Label: Ghostly International