Welcome to the Clubhopping Top 10, a monthly list of recent dance tracks that have caught us by the ears and feet (not necessarily in that order), with embeds so you can hear them for yourself. We took last month off but are raring back with a new batch of goodies, from all over the dance spectrum, from veterans like Photek to new jacks like Blawan.
Benoit & Sergio — “Principles” (DFA) DC’s finest amble back into the spotlight by doing what they do best: woozy synth swells, metallic-processed crooning, a groove that’s both easy and insistent.
Blawan — “Getting Me Down” (white label) Brandy’s “I Wanna Be Down” vivisected into a heaving, rolling bumpasaur that’s been bewitching fans since at least February, when 2562 included it on his XLR8R Podcast. It came and went as a white-label 12-inch (in 2011! Clearly, you can’t kill a classic format), but let’s hope for a real one sooner rather than later.
Bok Bok — “Charisma Theme” (Night Slugs) It takes a couple minutes to settle into its groove, but once it does, the opening cut of Bok Bok’s superb five-track Southside EP sets forth its electro-handclaps, 303s, and sub-bass in a giddy flurry.
Capracara — “Silvia Solar” (Unknown to the Unknown) Simple-as-pie house with a fanfare-like synth riff and programmed percussion that takes your mind’s ear back to an earlier club-music moment, without pinpointing it at a given date the way so much permaretro dance music does.
Com Truise — “Flightwave” (Ghostly International) The whole ’80s-night-drive-soundtrack-synth thing is getting a little out of hand — the world doesn’t really need that many more Jan Hammers, honest. But this New Jersey new jack does it well.
Crowdpleaser ft. Wamian Kaid — “Nenekri” (Turbo) A tête-à-tête between a Swiss graphic designer/house producer and a Burkino Faso vocalist: Afrobeat-house fusion that’s seamless on all sides.
The Crystal Ark — “Touch” (DFA) Bells vs. cowbell, falsetto vs. bass, song vs. track: FITE!
Mount Kimbie — “Carbonated (Peter van Hoesen Remix)” (Honest Jon’s) Good as Mount Kimbie’s original was (it’s my favorite track on last year’s Crooks and Lovers), PVH’s treatment of it as straight techno with a lot of sunlight coming through is more of an event.
Photek ft. Linche — “Sleepwalking (FaltyDL Remix)” (Photek) Photek made his name as a very technical drum & bass producer but eventually went back to house music. FaltyDL is a New Yorker with a lot of tricks up his sleeve. The two meet here for a remix that shuffles, booms, and sways all at once.
Skream — “Hats Off” (Disfigured Dubz) Want a real throwback? This dubstep pioneer goes all the way to early-’90s breakbeat hardcore, chopping up Loleatta Holloway’s rave-era-ubiquitous “You got me burning up!” vocal sample along with the kinetic breakbeats, record-spinning-to-a-stop noises, and manic 303. Regressive as all hell, and it feels so good.