Aaaaaaaand…relax! Well that was certainly emotional. Commiserations to those who didn’t make the cut…and to the victors; the spoils (of being ranked in a webzine’s end of year list). As you may have noticed we were big on albums this year, so that was our favourite category. It’s more of a highlight of music that moved us emotionally this year, as opposed to just making us move (on the dancefloor). That’s not to say there haven’t been some rocking dancefloor tunes in 2015, but it does feel like the year of the songwriter. To us anyway.

So as those in attendance gather their thing and are bustled out by security, grab another chance to get lost in some amazing talent that really shines in 2015.. ‘Nuff respect.

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The electronic rumors Awards 2015: BEST SONG – electronic rumors’ top 20 songs of 2015

Winner: Kate Boy – Midnight Sun

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The electronic rumors Awards 2015: HALL OF FAME

Inductee: Frankie Knuckles

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The electronic rumors Awards 2015: BEST ALBUM – electronic rumors’ top 20 albums of 20145

Winner: Vanbot – Perfect Storm

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The electronic rumors Awards 2015: READER’S CHOICE

Winner: Le Matos (Feat. Pawws) – No Tomorrow

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The electronic rumors Awards 2015: BEST VIDEO

Winners: Little Boots – No Pressure

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The electronic rumors Awards 2015 : BEST REMIX – electronic rumors’ top 20 reMixes of 2015

Winner: Chvrches – Leave A Trace (Goldroom reMix)

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The electronic rumors Awards 2015: ELECTRONIC RUMORS’ 2015

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The electronic rumors Awards 2015

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That’s your lot. Time to get outta’ here! See y’all in 2016!

Peace!

Here’s the big one! Although Best Album is our favourite category, Best Song is arguably the most important so we’ve saved the best for last. There were some mighty fine song that make the long-list for Best Song 2015, over seventy in fact, that we had to slim down to a top twenty and a winner.

This is always the category that we are most unsure about, not necessarily the top spots, but the rest of the list tends to have us second guessing ourselves. Should we have included something, left something out; but this year we are pretty happy that the list represents, as it should, our faves of the year.

The award goes to an utterly amazing slice of majestic ElectroPop. Midnight Sun by Kate Boy. After the EPs and singles Midnight Sun was out first taste of what to expect from their début album and man did it raise the bar on expectations. A massive anthemic tune with just the right amount of all the elements we love about Kate Boy, from the percussive synths to the “oh-oh”s, all use perfectly in a track that will make the hairs on your arm stand up.

01: Kate Boy – Midnight Sun

♫ Kate Boy – Midnight Sun

…and the rest of the list:

02: Avec Sans – Resonate

♫ Avec Sans – Resonate

03: Tear Council – Anywhere

♫ Tear Council – Anywhere

04: MiGHty mOUse – Ghetto Heaven

♫ MiGHty mOUse – Ghetto Heaven

05: Cardboard Foxes – Forever

♫ Cardboard Foxes – Forever

06: Ronika – Step To My Beat

♫ Ronika – Step To My Beat

07: Hot Natured – Off World Lover

♫ Hot Natured – Off World Lover

08: Let Em Riot – The Manual

♫ Let Em Riot – The Manual

09: Rex The Dog – Sicko

♫ Rex The Dog – Sicko

10: Curxes – What You Want

♫ Curxes – What You Want

11: Little Boots – No Pressure

♫ Little Boots – No Pressure

12: Bicep – Just

♫ Bicep – Just

13: Le Matos (Feat. Pawws) – No Tomorrow

♫ Le Matos (Feat. Pawws) – No Tomorrow

14: This Soft Machine – On & On

♫ This Soft Machine – On & On

15: Du Tonc – Animals

♫ Du Tonc – Animals

16: PJU & Earl Grey – Call Me Up

♫ PJU & Earl Grey – Call Me Up

17: Tensnake – Keep On Talking

♫ Tensnake – Keep On Talking

18: Dots Per Inch – Sayin’ Something

♫ Dots Per Inch – Sayin’ Something

18: Get A Room! – Agony & Pain

♫ Get A Room! – Agony & Pain

20: Leo Kalyan – Get You Love

♫ Leo Kalyan – Get You Love

As always, you should definitely pick up some of this music, it all comes highly recommended and most can be purchased here:

Follow @electronicrumor

They don’t call him ‘The Godfather of House’ for nothing. The late, definitely great, Francis Nicolls (that’s Mr. Frankie Knuckles to you!) played a key role in the emergence of House Music in Chicago and birthed almost everything that we love in electronic dance music.

Resident DJ at Chicago’s The Warehouse (from where House Music derived it’s name) from 1977 onwards Frankie mixed up his own edits of Disco, Euro synth tracks and obscure Soul records to the sound of a vintage drum machine (he bought from Derrick May) and that’s it! You basically have House right there. The sound would grow to be recreated in a studio environment but all the elements were laid in Knuckle’s legendary DJ mixes.

No doubt a massive influence of both his contemporaries like Larry Levan, and those, like Derrick May and Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk who followed in his footsteps (and adding their own twist), Knuckles remained a dominant figure in House Music and was a highly sought after DJ and reMixed until his tragic passing in 2014.

It’s very possible that Frankie Knuckles was our first introduction to ‘proper’ dance music as well. We remember seeing his name on a whole heap of SynthPop and 80s hits either as producer or reMixer (he worked with Pet Shop Boys for example) well before we knew what House Music actually was with unmistakable more dancefloor oriented productions.

Frankie Knuckles is perhaps best remembered for his releases with seminal House vocalist and producer Jamie Principle. The duo released a selection of 12”s written by Principle that laid the groundwork for what Dance music has sounded like for the last three decades. Next time you’re at a festival and go mental to the unexpected dropping of The Source and Candi Staton’s You Got The Love, that’s Frankie and Jamie, pay a little respect.

♫ Frankie Knuckles & Jamie Principle – Your Love

♫ Frankie Knuckles & Jamie Principle – Baby Wants To Ride

♫ Frankie Knuckles & Satoshi Tomiie – Tears

♫ Frankie Knuckles – The Whistle Song

Buy Frankie Knuckles’ music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

So. Many. Good. Albums. Released. This Year. Seriously, we were tempted to make a bigger list as there’s records we had to cut that we loved. Ordering the top ten was largely an ethical nightmare. LPs are, we feel, the best way to listen to music, an artist can show off their complete repertoire, than just trying to grab your attention. They already have your attention and can then take you on a journey through their musical vision.

The top ten of this list represent around 13 hours (approximating) of near perfect music. We can’t even begin to express how good these records are. We have never been at a loss for whole records that excite us this year. Just amazing.

The top slot was pretty much decided much earlier in the year, back in April in fact. On the condition that nothing came along that was even more stunning (and records came VERY close). Vanbot’s sophomore release, Perfect Storm, was a shoe-in for number one from the first moment we hit Play. A varied album that draws from a whole host of influences and wrap it up in Vanbot’s icy ScandiPop, Perfect Storm matches this musical eclecticism with some deeply emotional songs. We have been completely enchanted by this album for most of the year and it’s never been far away from our ears. Read our review here.

01: Vanbot – Perfect Storm (Lisch Recordings)

♫ Vanbot – Trooper

…and the rest of the list:

02: Kate Boy – One (Fiction Records)

♫ Kate Boy – Self Control

03: Chvrches – Every Open Eye (Glassnote/Goodbye Records)

♫ Chvrches – Leave A Trace

04: Tove Styrke – Kiddo (RCA)

♫ Tove Styrke – Even If I’m Loud It Doesn’t Mean I’m Talking to You

05: Computer Magic – Davos (Tugboat Records)

♫ Computer Magic – Fuzz

06: Little Boots – Working Girl (On Repeat Records/Dim Mak Records)

♫ Little Boots – Get Things Done

07: Karin Park – Apocalypse Pop (State Of The Eye Recordings)

♫ Karin Park – Look What You’ve Done

08: Marina And The Diamonds – FROOT (Elektra)

♫ Marina And The Diamonds – FROOT

09: Julio Bashmore – Knockin’ Boots (Broadwalk Records)

♫ Julio Bashmore – She Ain’t

10: John Carpenter – Lost Themes (Sacred Bones Records)

♫ John Carpenter – Vortex

11: Róisín Murphy – Hairless Toys (Play It Again Sam)

♫ Róisín Murphy – Evil Eyes

12: Kid Kasio – Sit And Wait (Self Released)

♫ Kid Kasio – The Kodo Song

13: Chad Valley – Entirely New Blue (Cascine)

♫ Chad Valley – Arms Away

14: Le Matos – Chronicles Of The Wasteland/Turbo Kid OST (Death Waltz Recordings)

♫ Le Matos (Feat. Pawws) – No Tomorrow

15: Purity Ring – Another Eternity (4AD)

♫ Purity Ring – Begin Again

16: Monarchy – Abnocto (Hacan Sound)

♫ Monarchy – Living Without You

17: Miguel Campbell – Night Drive Without You (Outcross Records)

♫ Miguel Campbell – Collision

18: The Egyptian Lover – 1984 (Egyptian Empire Records)

♫ The Egyptian Lover – Killin’ It

19: Real Lies – Real Life (Marathon Artists)

♫ Real Lies – Seven Sisters

20: Grimes – Art Angels (4AD)

♫ Grimes – Flesh Without Blood/Life In The Vivid Dream

As always, you should definitely pick up some of this music, it all comes highly recommended and most can be purchased here:

Follow @electronicrumor

As predicted the increasingly vaguely named Reader’s Choice award is getting harder and harder to work out. So let’s just all pretend that Readers Choice is an appropriate name for this award and move on with our lives.

We’re not going to do a poll, that’s far too much like hard work, and people’s changing consumption habits alongside artists changing presentation habits have made it more and more difficult to ascertain what was actually popular this year. So we have invented a super secret and quite crappy formula based on click throughs, post views, retweets and some other bullshit.

So without further ado, here is the winner of the Reader’s Choice award. It’s Le Matos and Pawws excellent No Tomorrow. The tune is taken from Le Matos’ soundtrack to retro B-movie Turbo Kid. We’re not at all surprised that this was the most popular song we posted this year, it’s a lovely slice of nostalgic ElectroPop that’s like a dream coming out of the speakers.

01: Le Matos (Feat. Pawws) – No Tomorrow

♫ Le Matos (Feat. Pawws) – No Tomorrow

…and the rest of the list:

02: datA (Feat. Benny Sings) – Don’t Sing

♫ datA (Feat. Benny Sings) – Don’t Sing

03: Anoraak – Odds Are Good

♫ Anoraak – Odds Are Good

04: Lemon. – You Know Too Much

♫ Lemon. – You Know Too Much

05: Chromatics – I Can Never Be Myself When You’re Around

♫ Chromatics – I Can Never Be Myself When You’re Around

06: Miami Nights 1984 – Accelerated

♫ Miami Nights 1984 – Accelerated

07: Zimmer X Pallace (Feat. Aria Lanelle) – Saturday Love

♫ Zimmer X Pallace (Feat. Aria Lanelle) – Saturday Love

08: LACES – Love Me Sober

♫ LACES – Love Me Sober

09: TVÅ – Always Be

♫ TVÅ – Always Be

10: Dirty Vegas – Save A Prayer (Duran Duran Cover)

♫ Dirty Vegas – Save A Prayer (Duran Duran Cover)

As always, you should definitely pick up some of this music, it all comes highly recommended and most can be purchased here:

Follow @electronicrumor

This year’s Best Video winner is just fun. Honestly, there’s weren’t that many contenders for the crown. Video seems to be becoming less and less of a priority for artists but there are a few that come out and prove there’s still mileage in video’s yet, and you don’t need a massive budget to create something eye catching, just a good idea; as this year’s Best Video shows.

Little Boots’ No Pressure video is simple, in keeping with Boot’s DIY outlook, but executed with class and revolves around a simple, but engaging idea. If you haven’t got the money for flashy special effects, just make something fun. The track is amazing, and the video, directed by Simeon Whitby-Grubb and Charles J. Gibson, works it’s way around both the music and Boot’s power-suit style.

Buy Little Boots’ music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

It’s our first award! As usual we’ll crack on the Best reMix.The winner really snuck up at the last minute to claim this prize.

Of all the awards this year this list was the toughest to compile. Usually we have around fifty tracks on the long list, but this year we pretty much just had these twenty, and while you might think that makes things simpler, we do like a pool to choose from. In terms of reMixes, this year was quite…samey. That’s not to say there wasn’t some absolutely storming reMixes around, just take a look at the list below.

The winner was only released less than a couple of weeks ago, swooping in at the eleventh hour to snatch the top spot. Goldroom reMixing Chvrches. How were we never going to love this. C’mon, two of our favourite acts around today? It was a forgone conclusion really. Although it could have turned out shit, luckily, and not surprisingly, it didn’t. It turned out amazing as Josh takes one of Chvrches second album’s most anthemic tracks and turns it into a chilled Disco-fuelled floorfiller that’s borderline big-room.

01: Chvrches – Leave A Trace (Goldroom reMix)

♫ Chvrches – Leave A Trace (Goldroom reMix)

…and the rest of the list:

02: Karin Park & Pandora Drive – Hurricane (Maya Jane Coles reMix)

♫ Karin Park & Pandora Drive – Hurricane (Maya Jane Coles reMix)

03: Holy Models – Lessons (MiGHty mOUse reMix)

♫ Holy Models – Lessons (MiGHty mOUse reMix)

04: Jaga Jazzist – Oban (Todd Terje reMix)

♫ Jaga Jazzist – Oban (Todd Terje reMix)

05: Pixies – Monkey Gone To Heaven (Du Tonc Rework)

♫ Pixies – Monkey Gone To Heaven (Du Tonc Rework)

06: Nimmo – Dilute This (Maya Jane Coles reMix)

♫ Nimmo – Dilute This (Maya Jane Coles reMix)

07: Hot Chip – Huarache Lights (Soulwax reMix)

♫ Hot Chip – Huarache Lights (Soulwax reMix)

08: Ben Macklin (Feat. Emma Brammer) – Think Of Me (AIMES reMix)

♫ Ben Macklin (Feat. Emma Brammer) – Think Of Me (AIMES reMix)

09: Tensnake – Holding Back (My Love) (Tiger & Woods reMix)

♫ Tensnake – Holding Back (My Love) (Tiger & Woods reMix)

10: Ilya Santana – Instrumental Odyssey (Phunktastike reMix)

♫ Ilya Santana – Instrumental Odyssey (Phunktastike reMix)

11: Kill Me Softly (Feat. Sam Obernik) – Blue Lights (Duett reMix)

♫ Kill Me Softly (Feat. Sam Obernik) – Blue Lights (Duett reMix)

12: LoFrames – In Love With You (The Paradise Cover) (Aashton reMix)

♫ LoFrames – In Love With You (The Paradise Cover) (Aashton reMix)

13: Jolie Cherie (Feat. Valli) – Où Tu Veux (JBAG reMix)

♫ Jolie Cherie (Feat. Valli) – Où Tu Veux (JBAG reMix)

14: Public Service Broadcasting – Go! (Russ Chimes reMix)

♫ Public Service Broadcasting – Go! (Russ Chimes reMix)

15: Auxiliary Tha Masterfader – Disco Machine (AIMES reMix)

♫ Auxiliary Tha Masterfader – Disco Machine (AIMES reMix)

16: Róisín Murphy – Exploitation (GotSome reMix)

♫ Róisín Murphy – Exploitation (GotSome reMix)

17: David Harks – Tripping Ghosts (LoFrames reMix)

♫ David Harks – Tripping Ghosts (LoFrames reMix)

18: Prides – Higher Love (Fred Falke reMix)

♫ Prides – Higher Love (Fred Falke reMix)

19: Marina And The Diamonds – FROOT (St. Lucia reMix)

♫ Marina And The Diamonds – FROOT (St. Lucia reMix)

20: BANKS – Beggin’ For Thread (Aeroplane reMix)

♫ BANKS – Beggin’ For Thread (Aeroplane reMix)

As always, you should definitely pick up some of this music, it all comes highly recommended and most can be purchased here:

Follow @electronicrumor

Easy now! Before we crack on with the awards let’s take some time out to tip the cap to electronic rumors family. The loveliest, most talented (and woefully not eligible for the awards) bunch around.

It’s been a  bit of a weird year for the label. We haven’t released quite as much as we wanted to. A few pant-wettingly exciting projects got delayed due to unforeseen circumstances with was both frustrating and disappointing. However, on the bright side, that means 2016 is going to be mental. Watch this space for some absolutely killer releases coming up.

We kicked off 2015 by welcoming a new member for the Crew. Manchester’s Techniques had previously released on French tastemakers Kitsuné Music but came our way to drop their last single, the deep and funky Don’t You Want To Love?. We kept thing Manchester flavoured for the single with a variety of robotic reMixes from Weeva, The Sanfernando Sound and Kid Machine.

♫ Techniques – Don’t You Want To Love?

♫ Techniques – Don’t You Want To Love? (The Sanfernando Sound reMix)

BeatLoaf kept things enigmatic with the Romantic single. A Detroit Techno washed Tech-House monster with a slow mechanical build that finally unleashes a juggernaut groove that owes as much to B-Boy Electro as it does House.

♫ BeatLoaf (Feat. Lomen) – Romantic

♫ BeatLoaf – Without You

We’d been wanting to release something with musical maestro Ali Jamieson for a while so it was particularly exciting to get our hands of the glorious Coffee Stain. Featuring London based soul single Raff; Coffee Stain is a masterclass in intricate Disco sounds. We added a little House, Italo and SynthWave flavour with reMixes from Black Magic Disco, Ben Macklin and Tommy ‘86.

♫ Ali Jamieson (Feat. Raff) – Coffee Stain

♫ Ali Jamieson (Feat. Raff) – Coffee Stain (Black Magic Disco reMix)

We rounded out the year with the début EP from newcomers Hippo Disco. This trio of Scots living in East Asia produce some rule-breaking, left-field Disco and House tracks. This sample laden four tracks of sweet abrasive grooves was released as a free download at the start of this month. The Bound EP has already been raising eyebrows.

♫ Hippo Disco – Raw

♫ Hippo Disco (Feat. Tiny Moon) – I Want More

It was another year of being completely humbled by the kind of talent that we get to work with. We love you all.

2016 should be a big one with the first few months seeing the releases of tunes we’ve been mentally excited about for what seems like ages. Hold onto your hats!

As always, you should definitely pick up some of this music, it all comes highly recommended and most can be purchased here:

Follow @electronicrumor

Drum roll please! A hush descends over those in attendance as the lights dim. The music industry, both those lucky enough to be here and those watching around the globe, wait with baited breath to either be validated, or dismissed like yesterday’s one-hit-wonder.

It’s the most important date on the music industry calendar. The electronic rumors Award.

In keeping with the last couple of ears, 2015 was an incredible year for albums, once more proving those who call the album ‘dead’ well and truly wrong. Even single obsessed dance music genres produced some killer long-players this year. The last few years really have felt like a resurgence of the angle that singles are teasers and promo for full length releases; and this is a good thing.

In fact, this year’s albums list was a breeze, it was the singles and remixes that were tough to compile, further showing a push toward LPs.

As ever, we probably missed a shit-load of stuff and we’ll probably remember some tune we loved ten minutes after the announcement, the old memory isn’t what it once was, but it’s too late now ; but fuck it, let’s crack on….

Make sure you’re sitting down and have a stiff drink. This’ll be one hell of a ride!