10 house tracks that saved 2016

Last week we unveiled our top 100 tracks of 2016, calling on Mixmag staff and contributors to pull together a comprehensive list charting all corners of the electronic music scene from politically-charged art pop to slamming techno.

Music has been the brightest spark keeping us feeling positive this year. While it’s been fun to lose ourselves in ferocious kick drums or jungle breaks, the most therapeutic genre has been the warm sound of house music. House is a feeling, don’t you know? With that in mind, we’ve decided to pick out 10 key house releases that lifted our spirits this past 12 months on dancefloors and through headphones. Check them out below.

Very little is known about Bruce Trail other than he’s Canadian and he released a hotly tipped four-tracker this year via Lone’s new Magic Wire imprint. All four of the tracks were a house delight, showing off intricate instrumentals and dreamlike interludes. Our pick of the bunch and number 13 in our Top 100 tunes of the year list is ‘Bridgework’, a quite simply beautiful track. It chops and changes so seamlessly and has enough good vibes to send you straight to the stars. A very promising introduction to the Bruce Trail sound.

Enzo Siragusa has had a brilliant year. His Fuse party and label has registered another mammoth twelve months with parties at Amnesia in Ibiza all summer and several worldwide shindigs. The label has released some straight fire as well and the biggest track comes from the boss himself. ‘Flexin’ has been teased in Enzo’s set all year and the big, dwarfing bass channels a similar winning formula as ‘Desire’ which dropped at the end of 2015. Another monster from Siragusa and a good indication of what’s to come in 2017.

When PAN announced an EP featuring experimental producer Beatrice Dillon remixing a track by industrial noisenik Helm we were expecting to be blown away by the results, but not quite in the manner which transpired. Dillon is revered for her boundary pushing output that warps sound in compelling and far-flung directions, but her remix of Helm’s ambient source material finds her at her most functional with soaring chords taking centre stage. It’s a cut tailor made for the NTS resident’s club sets: pacey, danceable, while still retaining gripping quirks at its foundations that set the track apart as among 2016’s most spellbinding house releases.

The production duo known as L.M.Y.E. responsible for producing ‘Manhattan’ may be anonymous, but Shanti Celeste’s name is all over the remix on the flip. An off-kilter bassline stars, bouncing prominently while noodly strings flitter and distinctly Shanti-esque pads swell in the background, reaching a crux with a gorgeous breakdown, before surging ahead again with rolling hi-hats setting off at a canter. Bristol is a hotbed for producers bringing unique twists to dance music, and this combination of spacey and clipped sounds is a prime example of its residents' ingenious capability.

In terms of the most ubiquitous dancefloor bangers of 2016, ‘Better’ was right up the top, and with good reason. Across the world’s finest dancefloors, from basement clubs to thousands-strong festival stages, this sent punters into raptures wherever it was dropped. That brief silent pause before the brass blasts in full whack at around the two minute mark induces uninhibited jubilance in crowds every single time. Even listening at home it never fails to plaster a beaming grin on our face, hitting a rare sweetspot between being primed to lose yourself to in the dance, and to piece yourself back together with the next day.

Detroit’s finest Omar S is a fan favourite, the guy is the epitome of cool. He rolls into any venue he’s booked to play with a Motor City swagger and nine times out of ten he absolutely nails it. This year he released a new album, aptly titled ‘The Best’ via his own FXHE label and he further cemented himself as one of house music’s brightest and most assured talents. The album is of course a side-winding exercise in all aspects of house but our favourite track was ‘Heard Chew Single’ and it’s easy to see why. Clicky, scattered percussion, soothing piano riffs and a sultry set of vocals that uplift with every breath. Yes Omar.

Powder has risen to prominence in 2016 with her unconventional spin on house production. ‘Afrorgan’ from her Born Free EP of the same name is a really special track that underlines why so many people are taking notice of the young Japanese artist. It’s not a hard-hitting cut, but it imprints itself strongly on the soul, inviting listeners into an immersive and uniquely threaded combination of textures. A trembling xylophone melody and steady percussive foundation gently soothe the ears, while laser gun-like synths and samples spanning bubbling water and a sound akin to a sharp intake of breath through pursed lips flutter at intervals, forging a charmingly idiosyncratic soundscape that is unlike any other release we’ve heard this year.

Back in May, Project Pablo released a track that would soundtrack the best bits of everyone’s summer. While 2016 hasn’t been great to the people of the world, the music has been and if anything was going to conjure happiness and a bit of sunshine it was the slo-mo, vibes-drenched ‘Closer’ by the Canadian artist. What starts as a bubbling bassline reveals a set of literally, gorgeous riffs and twinkling bells to boot. Everything about it is kind of perfect in a really pleasant way. It’s Project Pablo’s biggest song to date and we can see why everyone’s gone mad for it. We heard it on the main stage at Dekmantel Festival this summer as the sun was shining down, we don’t even know who played it but that’s besides the point. This song took the focus away from that and we danced, boy did we dance. A dreamer of a track.

Ron Wilson’s 777 Recordings has picked up steam as a cult favourite and tastemaking imprint. ‘Untitled B’, released through sublabel LLL, sums up its credentials, coming from an obscure Croatian producer called SZCH and taking position as one of 2016’s finest house releases. It heavily samples 80s Mancunian soul group 52nd Street, immersing Diane Charlemagne’s sweetly sung vocal in a lo-fi cloud and constructing a sparkling house arrangement around the edges to form an emotionally resonant, uplifting track that channels summery vibes to a T.

There are lots of different ways to run a record label. There’s the in-your-face method where you push a huge amount of music, very quickly or there’s the sit back and let things stew way of thinking. In Giegling’s case, they’ve opted for less-is-more and it’s paid off. The German label has always been cryptic and careful with its releases and more-often-than-not, the vinyl releases sell-out instantly with almost no promotion at all. Discogs is alight with Giegling records fetching sometimes triple their original value. Of course the music is good therefore the hype is justified, but Traumprinz aka DJ Metatron aka Prince of Denmark is the label’s hottest export. His own remix of ‘2Bad’ under the Metatron alias was featured in his ‘This Is It’ mix earlier in the year and when the floaty, serene and actually touching cut came out on vinyl, it of course sold-out very quickly. It’s a testament to the label’s growing popularity and also the power that Traumprinz holds as king of the underground.