Our selection of disco pappin freshness from the past twelve months, is no particular order.
1. Bag Raiders – Shooting Stars
I imagine some lively commenter will point out that Shooting Stars actually first appeared in 2008, and that i’m so behind blah blah… Well, I only discovered this track 2009, and this is my blog, I’ll do as I please.
Shooting Stars is the aural equiv element of love making and makes me feel all kinds of good in what sliver of a heart I have left. Sonic perfection from the Sydney duo.
2. LMFAO
2009 saw the hollywood duo cross from your favourite DJ’s favourite group, to your favourite girl’s favourite group. Thanks to TV placements, Chuckie/Pitbull/Jermaine Dupri/Matt GC remixes I’m In Miami Bitch finally become a hit, whilst creating a catch phrase will almost infinite reusability (I’m in sincity biiiitch! I’m DJ Kronic biiiitch! I’m on twitter biiitch). They ended the year with the release of an incredibly well rounded debut album, that caught a grammy nod for dance album of the year.
3. x&Hell – Jumping The Gun
I’ll tell you like I told Fuego, they will never top this song, ever. This is as good as music gets. From the effortless awesome that is the boy’s Million Dollar Sex Party.
4. Steve Aoki & Dim Mak Records
As an artist, Aoki’s debut single, In The House finally release to much applause and local touring, and the direct cause of the Shots Dance countless times. As a label head, Aoki oversaw releases from MSTRKRFT (Including the Disco 3 closer, Heartbreaker ft. John Legend) and the beggining of Violent Electro courtesy of the Bloody Beetroots sonic brutatility, Warp (on which Aoki also featured)
5. Dutch House
Primarily thanks to DJ Chuckie, Major Lazer and Alavaro, the high pitched synthesized screams coupled with heavy percussion marked the sound of Saturday Nights at the Bedroom Nightclub for the last half of the year. And it rocked. I am led to believe that this sound is dutch house. If there’s an un music genre snob way of correcting me, please do so in the comments.
6. The Million Dollar Mash-Ups
Oh don’t be surprised, you think we would do a list of awesome and not throw our own names in the ring? For Shame.
On a serious note, MDMU is a shining of example of the cross genre hi energy sets we bring to the club, and the fact that so many other DJ’s are putting them to use is a good look =) It all came to a head last week when I played 8 tracks from MDMU within an hour set.
7. Drake
I gotta admit, I was kinda late getting on the Drizzy buzz, but it’s here and it’s not going away. Unthinkable, The record he wrote with Alicia Keys (and ever so slightly features on) is all sorts haunting, melancholic incredible, yet is a generally positive song. Listening to Unthinkable makes feel depressed and i’m not entirely sure why, but it’s a good kinda sad. Yeah, I’m odd.
8. Rihanna
Post Breezy Rihanna is not the same girl from Pon De Replay. Her newfound confidence has manifested itself in the bold high fashion choices The Barbados beauty makes. (I’ve touched on this before). Meanwhile, Rated R dropped, and much like Rhi Rih’s wardrobe, gone are the bright syrupy numbers, replaced with grunge inspired, bold sonic selections. A dark, moody atmosphere embodie’s itself in the Rated R from beginning to end (except perhaps for the Ester Dean penned Rude Boy) culminating in the sublime Will.I.Am joint Photographs. Extra points for listing the writing credits on the back of the album, alongside the tracklist.
However, two of my most trusted music opinion providers strongly disagree, opting to sum up the album in 3 letters: Meh.
All that aside, Rihanna’s place in this list is earned equally from her music and fashion choices.
9. David Guetta & Red One
I don’t wanna really talk about these guys for too much, but let’s be clear: When I first heard I gotta feeling I predicted it would be the biggest song in Australia of 2009. I also foresaw Sexy Bitch coming second. Although I’ve yet to see any official year end charts, It’s to hard to imagine these songs not hovering at the top. Also, Red One’s sound took over radio, with hits from Lady GaGa, Sean Kingston, Sugababes, Lil Jon, Kat Deluna, Cinema Bizzare, Space Cowboy and more.
10. Pitbull
Pitbull’s success over the last year is equal parts the inspiration and further validation of the on-pointness of the Million Dollar Mash ups. Calle Ocho wost the most viewed music video on youtube this year, and Mr 305 kept busy with 3 top 40 singles (Krazy, Hotel Room, Calle Ocho) and remixing almost every track available.
Also:
Without going into too much detail, I really really liked the Space Cowboy album.
