The Best Songs of 2014

2014 was an interesting year for electronic music. With so much resentment for EDM from critics and DJs alike, it made covering the scene very intriguing. That's not to say that mainstream, "easy" EDM wasn't being produced—something had to keep the lights on—but there was a lot of room for exploration on the production side of things. With that came acceptance for new things from listeners, and truthfully, that's when everyone starts to win. DJs and producers were willing to take it "there," and fans ate it up.

In looking back at 2014, we didn't have any huge crossover records like 2013, which saw radio being dominated by Daft Punk, Disclosure, Avicii, and Zedd. What we did get was a year's worth of impactful sounds from imaginative producers, and we ended up winning on the regular. Here's a look at the best tracks to hit the electronic music scene in 2014.

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Release Date: August 4, 2014
Label: Numbers

"Lemonade" might've been one of the more polarizing tracks to come out in 2014. There's been a big push for the ultra-hyper pop experiments of PC Music (which is executed to perfection in the "Hey QT" single, which was produced by PC Music's A.G. Cook and SOPHIE), and whether it's the earworm-inducing "lemonade le-le-lemonade" vocal or the insane pop aside that this track takes, we can see that camp falling in love... but we can also see why people would hate it.

Release Date: February 24, 2014
Label: Rupture London

The year in drum & bass has been very bright, and while we've seen a lot of promise with the new breed of dnb producers, Digital really stepped it up with a string of releases that effectively showcased that a) he was back like he never left and b) he had a lot of heat up his sleeve. And while some of his tunes were more forward thinking than "Bitter Wind," this one carried the old school aesthetic and emotional vibes that the others didn't. Timeless gem.

Release Date: September 26, 2014
Label: Counter

Sometimes, you can tell how great a song is by the number of remixes that come out of the woodwork. ODESZA's shining In Return standout "Say My Name" was lucky, as it managed to be a great song on its own. Zyra's vocal performance was perfect for the rainbow of musical colors that emits from your speakers while this one is playing. Really beautiful music.

Release Date: November 30, 2014

Label: Other People

Not only did this perfectly encapsulate the best of classic, soulful house music, but it dropped at the absolute right time for many in America.

Release Date: December 17, 2014
Label: Def Jam

When two-thirds of Swedish House Mafia combine forces, the expectation should be for exactly what "Can't Hold Us Down" was, an entertaining journey into big room acid funk. Taking the well-established feel of titanic, metronomic kick-drums familiar to the Swedish House Mafia sound and blending them with a "razors meet lazers"-style feel, the track definitely announced that the duo (sans Steve Angello) meant business. With an artist album on intriguingly now urban-to-EDM label Def Jam Recordings set for 2015, this track kicks off a story to watch with an searing flash of energy.

Release Date: February 10, 2014
Label: Future Classic

"Streamers" is the sound of everything we love about crunk, 8-bit melodies, and the bright future funk of now, wrapped up in an unforgettable soundtrack to a video game we're not even sure will get made. If only we got more from Wave Racer in 2014.

Release Date: March 24, 2014
Label: Boysnoize

Skream recently called "Bang That" a "bridge record"—he was talking about how, while it sat in the 120BPM range, and was kind of techno-y, it still retained a lot of what made his dubstep work. He said it like it bothered him, but it got us going. We doubt we'll hear more tunes like this, but that's kind of the beauty of "Bang That."

Release Date: October 3, 2014
Label: Numbers

You know what the bass music scene needs more of? Truly funky, catchy songs. Redinho is the keeper of the funk, with his fully-filtered vox being just as vital of a part of this Redinho album track as the boom underneath.

Release Date: February 25, 2014
Label: dirtybird

Shiba San's a name that's been popping up a lot this year; official remixes of tracks by Destructo, deadmau5 & Kaskade, and Curses will do that to you. Where'd the buzz come from? We like to think it's from "OKAY," an unforgettably melodic number from the dirtybird BBQ compilation in February that ended up getting a re-release on Ultra Music some nine months later. With a bassline that memorable, you could throw whatever you wanted to at the track (which Shiba did, including random grunts and a weird groan, among other things). Truly a producer to be on the lookout for.

Release Date: February 10, 2014
Label: LuckyMe

While Cashmere Cat spent a lot of 2014 flexing his mainstream muscles (raking up singles with Ludacris and Ariana Grande), he managed to release an awe-inspiring EP for LuckyMe, and the first track "With Me" reminded everyone why they fell in love with his quirky, R&B-laced sound in the first place.

Release Date: August 15, 2014
Label: FFRR

Rising Dutchman Oliver Heldens swaps out an ounce of soul for a pound of electro thus making this vocal house hit an overflowing and futuristic funk-fest. Effects on Becky Hill's vocal sap a bit of it's garage-friendly style, but that allows the track a poppier feel. A unique take on a 2014-familiar trope, this one is a winner and definitely sets Heldens up for a likely huge run as a festival headliner of the future.

Release Date: December 9, 2014

Label: Tiga Non Stop

As if attempting to directly replicate via sound the feeling of fresh sniffed cocaine hitting the listener's cerebral cortex, techno veteran Tiga's smashing "Bugatti" gave ears to every listener's latent aspirations of ever being Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. However, when King Push touched the beat, he came through with force, hitting the track with a level of finessed power that only Tony Montana could love. Oh? This song is about a luxury automobile? Well, aside from loving Tony Montana because of the lifestyle she was able to afford, Elvira Hancock sure appreciated it when he classed up the kind of car he drove, too.

Release Date: March 7, 2014
Label: self-released

While it's hard to consider everything that's called an anthem a true anthem, RL Grime and What So Not definitely dropped one in 2014. The collaboration on paper looked marvelous, and for the trap scene, which has grown way too stagnant way too quickly, these two wrapped those ever-present trap horns around a bombastic beat that was made to send crowds into a frenzy.

Release Date: June 2, 2014
Label: Numbers

When we first heard "Minger," it was one of the biggest beats we'd heard in 2014. Seriously—it felt weighty and massive when first hitting out headphones. As it goes on, the track morphs into a couple of different sounds, riding a wave that takes it into hip-hop, grime, and even breakbeat-y territories. It was one of those cuts that truly "DJ'd itself," keeping things interesting with new sections while still staying on task. A true alarm call for the grime scene that America seems to finally be starting to understand.

Release Date: September 25, 2014
Label: Warp

Let's keep it 100: "Chimes" is possibly the best trap track to drop in 2014, regardless of whether HudMo would call it a trap track. On an EP that had a few underwhelming oldies on it, this was a true breath of fresh air. It's a sound that's so universal, so now, that it can soundtrack an Apple commercial while simultaneously getting R-rated lyrics from Future, Pusha T, and others in its remixed form. HudMo seems to release (at least) one undeniable banger per year, and for 2014, "Chimes" was it.

Release Date: September 4, 2014
Label: Warp

For a while there towards the end of the summer of 2014, the electronic music world waited with baited breath to hear anything from his new album Syro, his first in 13 years, the one that would eventually net him his first Grammy nomination. The anticipation was there, but would the music be up to par? With one listen to "minipops 67 [120.2][source field mix]," any fear or doubt was immediately erased. The Aphex we needed was in the building, and he was just as singular and beautiful as we remembered he'd been. There was always something inspiring about he could always find a way to channel that ghost living within the machine and make it sang. Those who were letting their freak flags fly should rejoice and call for the rewind on this one.

Release Date: October 27, 2014
Label: LuckyMe

Baauer was the best subject for that Red Bull documentary Searching For Sound. One of the most important things about Baauer's sound is that he has no problem taking sounds from other lanes, throwing it into his melting pot, and pulling out a masterpiece. Baauer's on a mission to, in a nutshell, make everyone forget that he's "that Harlem Shake guy," and taking a magnificent vocal from Aluna Francis and pairing it with rappers-of-the-moment Rae Sremmurd (who apparently rapped these bars to Grand Theft Auto V loading screen sounds) over a beat that's all bedroom eyes and bounce. We're shocked this hasn't been impacting radio... yet.

Release Date: April 4, 2014
Label: Blasé Boys Club

Sure, we're definitely still waiting on word regarding Duke's full-length album for Astralwerks. As long as he can knock out singles as huge as "I Got U," which followed perfectly in the footsteps of 2013's standout single "Need U (100%)," he'll be fine. With a need for catchy singles that still satisfy the chinstrokers, the steel drum-laden "I Got U" is the perfect example of Duke's genius.

Release Date: December 8, 2014
Label: Kapsize

Joker's another producer who announced an album, The Mainframe, and had heads wondering if he could deliver. Sure, he's the bass music messiah that introduced the world to his unique sound—Purple WOW—but could lightning strike twice? Well, "Midnight" is one of the more seductive sub-loving tracks to hit in a while. It shows that Joker hasn't lost a step in pushing the purple sound (which has influenced a slew of new school producers). "Midnight" might also be telling those youngings to sit down and let a real master do his thing, but that's just us talking. This one is lush.

Release Date: September 17, 2014
Label: OWSLA / Mad Decent

Skrillex and Diplo partnering with quick-rising pop singer Kiesza on quirky trap-banger "Take U There" isn't so much a great song as it is a microcosm of everything that truly crossed over about EDM in 2014. The song's trap energy feels less Atlanta and more Atlantis, as it's so irrepressibly fun of a song that it could easily be on the soundtrack of The Little Mermaid. But that's why it did so well. EDM is pop and pop is oftentimes buoyant and joyous. Sans gunplay, sex, or molly overdoses (popular trap overtones of 2014), this is a turnt-up twerk anthem for your little sister and grandmother. From the hands and minds of Skrillex and Diplo, it made them pop stars and took them "there," that "there" being another level of mainstream pop awareness.

Release Date: September 15, 2014
Label: Warp

Maybe 2014's best rap performance is Danny Brown's work on Rustie's "Attak?" Important to this whole story is that many may not realize is that Brown's dad was a Detroit DJ fond of dropping UK bass tunes. Thus, he quickly finds his groove here and just brags for three whole minutes. The beat might talk more shit than Brown does here, a filtered and trapped-out symphonic ode to everything EDM loves about the ratchetmania that the sound has allowed the culture to revel in over the the past half-decade.

Release Date: June 23, 2014
Label: Pelican Fly

While technically not a "new" artist (as LidoLido achieved a lot of success as a "good guy" rapper in Norway), 2014 was the breakout year for a Norwegian producer named Lido. With talent oozing out of his synthesizer(s), Lido was quietly getting mainstream credits with longtime friend Cashmere Cat, and building a rep as a master remixer with a string of impressive reworks. It was his debut EP I Love You that put everything on blast, and the hypnotic "Money" was the spastic wet dream that all of these R&B-influenced producers wished they could produce. While there's no real way to stand motionless when this one drops, there's also no reason to do so—if the spirit moves you, and all. This much amazing into three minutes and thirty seven seconds of music is no easy feat, but then again Lido isn't your typical producer.

Release Date: April 20, 2014
Label: Mind of a Genius

Somewhere in the delicate space between "Midnight City" and "F For You" is ZHU's "Faded." Wondering how a producer that existed for much of 2014 without a face was able to make such a significant name? Well, there it is. Soul music's powerful hold over the future of electronic dance music is on full display here, as in dropping just enough smooth funk in the mix, the space between mall-friendly house and Mary J. Blige making UK garage tracks is reached. It's always in imagining an unknown space between two quite known entities where the power truly lies.

Release Date: May 13, 2014

Label: Astralwerks

For Porter Robinson, breaking free from the corny confines of the EDM scene was important for him as an artist. Part of that meant crafting an opus, Worlds, which contained Porter singing a duet with a robot on "Sad Machine." And while so many electronic producers spend much of their time recreating emotion via their electronic sounds, Porter found a way to give the robot a voice, and give that voice emotion. If you didn't shed a tear upon first hearing this track, you're doing it wrong. Wrapping indie sensibilities in soothing electronic washes is no easy feat, but Porter made it look like he wasn't even trying. The electronic music scene depends on Porter, and the next phase, with producers taking real chances, is very much due to the strides Porter made in believing in himself and speaking his dreams into being.

Release Date: May 27, 2014
Label: Pelican Fly

It's always interesting to see what happens when the leaders of a new scene react after producers the world over start honing in on their sound. In 2013, we saw a number of producers, DJs, and electronic music outlets start to pick up on the Jersey club movement, which has roots in Baltimore but ended up turning into its own sound entirely. Nadus hinted at his feelings for where the Jersey club scene was going by posting a track that consisted almost entirely of bedsqueaks, and while many got the joke, he wasn't playing around when it came time to drop Broke City. In the ultimate ode to Jersey (both the state and the style of club), Nadus' "Nxwxrk" is a masterpiece. From the amazing piano in the intro to the rumble in that rhythm to the soul-touching melody that he employed, this one isn't what many expected. It's so Nadus, so future, so "meet me in five years" that it's scary. Pelican Fly picking up on this was a blessing, as instead of trying to get "that" Jersey club sound from Nadus, they let the producer produce, and he churned out an enriching piece of electronic history... for Jersey.