Music

Top 5 Dance Tracks: September

by Ciaran Thompson

Each month, tons of new music from many taste-spanning genres is released into a fast-consuming, unforgiving audience; it can be tough to get a handle on what’s new before it’s on to the next. In an attempt to highlight the standout releases, at the end of each month, AUX staff re-cap the month in Punk, Metal, Indie/Pop/Rock, Hip Hop, Pop, and Dance with the top five releases in each. Consider it your cheat sheet for year-end lists.

Top 5 Dance Tracks:
September

 

Justice – “Audio, Video, Disco”

French duo Justice are officially back. They released the title track and second single from their upcoming album Audio, Video, Disco this month following the debut of first single “Civilization” in that sweet-ass Adidas commercial showing off the talents of athletes and rock stars. The band’s debut LP, simply known as “cross,” was an absolute banging electronic-pop record that led way to various comparisons to dance hero’s Daft Punk and was one of the best releases of 2007. “Audio, Video, Disco” essentially picks up where Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay left off, however this is probably just a tease for what the rest of the album will deliver in terms of tweaking their sound.

Eric Prydz – 2Night (Original Mix)

Youtube is great for keeping up to date with new dance tracks and it’s where I found this one called “2Night” by Swedish DJ/Producer Eric Prydz. Another perk about finding new tracks on the site is the funny comments some electronic music fans tend to leave such as “BEST MUSIC TO STUDY TO!” The opening piano bars make me think Coldplay’s Chris Martin is about to jump in at any second and start complementing someone’s green eyes or offer one of those ‘everything’s going to be alright’ speeches. Luckily, for some, he doesn’t and the beats speak for themselves giving the listener something uplifting.

Wolfgang Gartner – “The Champ”

It’s taken a long time, although not by Dre’s Detox standards, but Wolfgang Gartner’s debut LP entitled Weekend in America was finally released this past month and although we’ve already heard the majority of the tracks on it, there were still a few that hadn’t yet reached my ears. “The Champ” is one of them and, man, I’m glad it did. For those acquainted with the Canadian crowd-loving electro-house DJ’s previous tracks “Illmerica” and “Undertaker”, this is exactly what you wanna hear. Be sure to check out the Bonus Track Version of the record which tacks on “Welcome Back” and “Cognitive Dissonance”, two cuts you shouldn’t ignore.

The Rapture – “Sail Away”

In case you’re wondering who that is on the cover of The Rapture’s latest album In the Grace of Your Love, apparently it’s guitarist/vocalist Luke Jenner’s father. For their first album in five years, the New York City-based band give anxious fans something to dance around to right off the bat with “Sail Away”. The rest of the album contains other dance-punk-y numbers like “How Deep Is Your Love?” (no relation to the Bee Gees’ 1977 song of the same name) that also warrant a few listens.

DJ DLG – “Phoenix Rising (Original Mix)”

One of the things I love about dance music is that despite how much you follow it, or think you follow it, you’re bound to discover something new that you like everyday. I wasn’t quite sure who DJ DLG was prior to listening to “Phoenix Rising”, but after hearing it I was hooked. The track is included in the third chapter of an EP series entitled Evolution and refuses to let the listener ease into the beat nor let them breathe once it gets going.

Surprises, disappointments and albums to watch for next month

Surprise of the month: When I received the news Rihanna was teaming up with Calvin Harris, a DJ/Producer I admire, for the track “We Found Love” I couldn’t help but cringe a little. Rihanna is very talented, but I’m not a fan, and was surprised to find myself warming up to this collaboration. 

Disappointment: I want to like Tiesto. He’s a nice, humble guy, but “Maximal Crazy”, released this month, is by no means a tune I’m going to go back to much less even remember in couple of days. He really IS a nice guy though and is hands-down probably the most renowned DJ in the world. 

Out in October: Justice’s Audio, Video, Disco is expected October 25th.