Jonesy's top 10 songs of 2012

So the Queen's still alive, we did ruddy well at the Olympics, and the world didn't end. That's a good year all in all right?

And 2012 for me is one of the best year's in a long time musically, particularly for good ol' dance music. After spending far too much time mulling it over, here are my top 10 favourite songs of 2012.

Honourable Mentions:

Fun – we are young

Calvin and Example – we’ll be coming back

Porter Robinson – language

Labrinth and Emile Sande - Beneath your beautiful

Rihanna – where have you been

James Arthur – Impossible (I voted for him alright!)

Will.i.am ft Britney Spears – Scream & Shout

DJ Fresh - Hot right now
Monsta - Holdin' On (Skrillex & Nero remix)

TOP 10

10) One Direction – Live While We’re Young 

I love One Direction. There, I said it. 

What I love about One Direction, and this song in particular, is that when it comes on in a club, NO other song fills me with such an instant sensation of childish joy. Maybe it’s because I like to pretend they’re singing the song to me; maybe it’s because I want to assassinate Niall (the ugly one) and join the band as the wiser, been-around-the-block member. But who gives a – this song makes me smile uncontrollably.

Furthermore, I bet “Who’s your favourite member of 1D?” is up there in the most popular questions of 2012 list – just below “is it wrong to fancy Tom Daley?”. The answer is no to the latter, and Harry to the former, with Zayn in a close second.

9) David Guetta – Titanium

Awh David Guetta. How we love to hate / hate to love you.

Here we have a perfect example of the ‘DJ who used to be cool till he got famous’. But the thing is, he’s never REALLY been cool has he… Have you SEEN him in his music videos? With his disturbing biceps and greasy French hair, even when DJing he looks like someone’s pissed Uncle at a wedding has invaded the decks for a laugh.

But even if his productions all sound very similar these days (emotional female vocal building to a fist-pumping instrumental ‘chorus’), you can’t deny the guy has an ear for a good tune. 

Titanium has been massively over-played, but that aside it’s a brilliant song that deserved to reach the top spot. Sia is in full heart-wrenching, what-the-fuck-is-that-lyric mode, and personally I related to the lyrics and fist-pumped vigorously. On the dancefloor too!

8) Sebastian Ingrosso and Alesso - Lose my mind (Calling)

It’s not often a cherished instrumental dance track has a vocal added that actually improves the original. Bodyrox – Yeah Yeah was a rare case, but who remembers Perfect Exceeder? Me neither.

HOWEVER, that said, the original ‘The Calling’ was one of my favourite tracks of 2011 – a soaring, epic, big-room song that was almost perfect. So imagine my delight when Ryan Tedder (who occasionally bums Leona Lewis) added a vocal that fit so well, it’s hard to hear the original now without singing along.

TIP: when this song kicks in, the correct way to dance is just punch the air emphatically with your fist. And gurn.

7) Calvin Harris & Florence – Sweet Nothing

So Calvin Harris has had an okay year right? His album ‘18 months’ is more of a greatest hits, and he managed to elevate Florence to her first, and second, number 1 singles in the UK.

Everyone loves ‘Spectrum’, as do I, but there was something about ‘Sweet Nothing’ that resonated better with me. Lyrically & vocally, I think its brilliant, and the production sounds that bit different to Calvin’s standard releases that it makes it a tad more special to my ears.

6) Knife Party – Bonfire

And so, # 6 in the chart is Knife Party’s big song of the summer – Bonfire. To be honest, I could exchange it for any track from their Rage Valley EP which is amazing from start to finish, but this is the stand out moment and the one that enjoyed the most commercial success.

Mixing super-angry filthy dubstep production with almost Caribbean raga vibes, this track ebbs and flows perfectly.

And who doesn’t love screaming “B-B-B-B-B-BONFIRE!”.

5) Skrillex – Bangarang

So at some point in 2012, not only did Skrillex embrace his emo-goth-lesbian appearance, but so did Ellie Goulding! Lesbionest (see what I did there), it was only a matter of time before Ellie freed herself from his dubstep powers, but it was a fun relationship to take the piss out of for a while.

And whilst this track is getting on a bit now, for me – it’s the perfectly balanced dubstep song.

Skrillex himself is sometimes guilty of veering too far into the crazy unstructured world of hardcore dubstep, with some songs sounding like your blind nan is just bashing some pots and pans around the kitchen - we've all witnessed it. I prefer vaguely melodic, structured, angry dubstep and Bangarang is a bloody brilliant showcase of just that.

With lyrics that no-one really knows (or cares), it’s got an awesome build, and a crazy-awesome production that has yet to bore me 12 months later. I saw him at Creamfields 2012, and squeaky annoying American voice aside, the atmosphere in that dangerously over-capacity tent was something I’ll never forget.

4) Knife Party – Internet Friends

When Pendulum announced they were going on a hiatus, I was pretty devastated. My inner Drum n Bass chav has always adored Pendulum. So it was with equal parts excitement and trepidation that I listened to Knife Party for the first time – the ‘side project’ of Rob Swire and the other one…

Move aside trepidation. Knife Party have more than matched the quality of Pendulum and have taken their sound in a whole new direction. Whisper it quietly, but I think Knife Party have been a hugely influential force in music in 2012. Listen carefully and you can hear some of their signature sounds creeping into other producers’ work all over the place.

And still, 12 months later, the absolute pinnacle of their short career so far is undoubtedly the cult favourite ‘Internet Friends’. An incomparable, almost indescribable assault on the ear drums that taps into something we’ve all done – Facebook stalking. I'm practically qualified in the art.

At Shakedown 2012, I was on top of my mate’s shoulders facing back at 6,000 people in the Supercharged Arena as the immortal line was uttered: “You blocked me on facebook, and now you’re going to die”. That is a memory and a moment I will never forget.

Knife Party have created a brutal, devastating genre so violent that everything that’s come before sound a bit tame by comparison. If they can continue to produce songs even half as good as Internet Friends, maybe just maybe we’ll allow them to delay the inevitable reunion of Pendulum that little bit longer…

3) Swedish House Mafia - Don’t you worry child

Quite honestly, at some point over the past month, every one of my top 3 tracks has been # 1 on my list only to be shifted around. 

If 2012 is really the SHM’s last ever year as a collective, they’ve gone out on the highest of highs. And finally, after consistently  releasing brilliant house tracks, they were finally rewarded with a UK # 1 single for their final ever song. And WHAT a song it is.

On the surface, it’s a hugely over-dramatic vocal with a generic progressive riff. But after a few listens, you start to appreciate the genius of the Swedes. It’s a lyric that in some way, everyone can relate to. Everyone’s been down in the dumps and felt like shit at some point in their life. And if you are at that point, and this song comes on, and some almost-godly vocal screams at you “Don’t you worry, don’t you word child”, suddenly – through the power of dance – everything suddenly seems okay.

Out of any other song on this list, this is the one that I’ve related to the most, that has actually moved me and meant more to me. Whether I’m listening to it at home on my own, or at 4am as the lights are about to come up and I’m raving hard, there’s always a big part of me struggling not to well up.

Beautiful

2) Rudimental – feel the love

Rudimental were responsible for what is undoubtedly the song of the summer 2012. A ridiculously feel-good Drum n Bass track with a beautiful brass section, one of my favourite vocals ever from the brilliant John Newman, and a song that is universally adored by pretty much everyone.

It’s extra special for me as we used it as the theme for our Shakedown Festival 2012 highlights video. And it’s a video that always manages to bring a tear to my eye, brilliantly capturing the atmosphere on the day and making years of hard work completely worthwhile.

It was also the chosen midnight tune at my New Year’s Ever house party, and everyone joined the ‘circle of rave’ for the happiest start to a new year I can ever remember.

Rest assured, you’ll be hearing Feel the Love at NYE parties for years and years to come, and rightfully so. For my money, it’s one of the greatest dance songs EVER, and certainly in my top 10 dance tracks of all time.

And so, drum roll please, for my # 1 track...

1) Swedish House Mafia – Greyhound

An instrumental dance track as my number 1, who’d have thunk it?

In my opinion, Greyhound is a absolute master class of electronic dance music production.

The intro, how it builds and swells and then holds its breath before THAT hook kicks in. So simple, so tough, but so so fucking cool. Layers keep building and building, always edged with that Knife Party guttural warble that I’ve come to love.

THEN, oh then, the most epic euphoric breakdown imaginable. A hook from heaven that makes you want to just hold everyone, EVERYONE you can see. But before you have a chance to declare your love for your nearest and dearest, it builds again. For me, the second build is one of the best builds in a dance track EVER. When it finally hits, it knocks you like a fucking sledgehammer and doesn’t hold up.

No song this year has made me dance this hard. No song has made me love music more than this in 2012.

On 14^th July 2012 at the Milton Keynes Bowl, Swedish House Mafia played their last ever UK gig to 70,000 people. I was there with my best mates in the world, and Greyhound was their first song. I have never, in my life, seen so many people erupt in unison to a single track as I did that day. Their almost 3 hour set is already the stuff of legend, and one that gave me probably the single best day of my life.

We came. We Raved. We loved.

x x x