Features
The Top 100 Tracks Of 2016
The records that defined another excellent year for dance music
Dance music has continued its popular ascendency this year, with dance events dominating much of the international music calendar. The top 100 tunes of 2016 reflects the surging numbers attending festivals and clubs across the globe through the domination of tracks primed for hand-raising dancefloor moments that have featured prominently in the sets of the year’s most hyped selectors and struck an emotionally engaging chord. For the most part, these are the records that have soundtracked the memories, from hugging your friends at the main stage of Dekmantel to pumping your fist among a throng of bodies in the vast rooms of Warehouse Project.
That said, it’s by no means one-dimensional. 2016 has seen comebacks we thought were dead in the water, scene mainstays try their hand at wildly new styles, remixes of classic tunes from cutting-edge figures, politically charged electronica and much more besides in another compelling 12 months for electronic music, all of which are represented in the chart.
And the number one? There was only ever going to be one winner. Read on below for the full list.
Listen to the top tracks of 2016 Spotify playlist here
100 Truncate 'Wave 1' (Truncate)
99 DJ Metatron '2 The Sky' (Metatron's What If There Is No End And No Beginning mix) (Giegling)
98 Off feat Sven Vath 'Electrica Salsa' (Roman Flugel remix) (Cocoon)
97 Palms Trax 'High Point On Low Ground' (Dekmantel)
96 The Black Madonna 'He Is The Voice I Hear' (We Still Believe)
95 Kidnap Kid 'Moments' (Birds That Fly)
94 Baltra 'Fadeaway' (Craigie Knowles)
93 Maor Levi & Ilan Bluestone 'Dynamic' (Anjunabeats)
92 Calibre feat DJ Marky 'Amen Tune' (Signature Recordings)
91 Noisia 'Collider' (Vision)
90 Born Dirty 'Check Your Bell' (Dirtybird)
89 Kaytranada 'Bullets' (XL Recordings)
88 Tiga 'Blondes Have More Fun' (The Black Madonna Immaterial Girl remix) (Counter Records)
87 WXT 'Bat Walk Mix' (Beating Heart Project Limited)
86 Bakermat 'Teach Me' (Sony/Be Yourself)
85 Roman Flugel '9 Years' (DJ Koze remix) (Pampa)
84 DVA 'Worst' (Sinjin Hawke remix) (Hyperdub)
83 Jesse Perez 'What Your Say About My Momma' (Edible)
82 Way Out West 'Tuesday Maybe' (Anjunadeep)
81 Sasha 'Track 10' Last Night On Earth
80 Beating Heart 'The Work' (Rudimental remix) (Beating Heart Project Limited)
79 Christine And The Queens 'Tilted' (Because)
78 Dom & Roland feat Robert Manos 'Sirens Song' (Metalheadz)
77 Fango 'Rectum' (Degustibus Music)
76 Kanye West 'Real Friends' (Good Music)
75 Phonique 'Grass Is Greener' (Ladies And Gentlemen)
74 Palms Trax 'Paws' (Dekmantel)
73 Audion 'Mouth To Mouth' (Scuba Remix) (Ghostly International)
72 Artefakt 'Mirage' (Delsin)
71 Solid Stone feat Jennifer Rene 'Heart Call' (Coldharbour Recordings)
70 Disclosure 'Boss' (Island)
69 Thylacine 'Train' (Intuitive Records)
68 Bryan Ferry 'One Night Stand' (PBR Streetgang remix) (BMG)
67 David August 'J.B.Y' (Counter Records)
66 Skrillex 'Stranger' (Skrillex mix with Tennyson & White Sea) (Big Beat)
65 Bad Company 'Nomad' (Ram Records)
64 Flume 'Never Be Like You' (Disclosure Remix) (Future Classic)
63 Rufus Du Sol 'Innerbloom' (Sasha remix) (Last Night On Earth)
62 Mall Grab 'I've Always Liked Grime' (Unkown To The Unkown)
61 Icarus feat Aurora 'Home' (Parlophone)
60 Jack Master 'Bang The Box' (Slam Remix) (Soma)
59 Sir Spyro feat Killa P, Lady Chann 'Topper Ted' (Deep Medi Musik)
58 Mr. Oizo feat Skrillex 'End Of The World' (Ed Banger Records)
57 Paul Woolford 'Mother & Child' (Hotflush)
56 Mark Seven 'The Fatal Flaw In Disco' (World Building)
55 Emanuel Satie 'Come As You Are' Saved Records
54 Pangaea 'Rotor Soap' (Hessle Audio)
53 LSB feat DRS & Tyler Daley 'Missing You' (Soul:R)
52 Kornél Kovács 'Josey's Tune' (Studio Barnhus)
51 Mall Grab 'Can't' (Church)
50 Midland 'Blush' (Graded)
49 Skream 'You Know Right?' (Crosstown Rebels)
48 Todd Terje 'Snooze 4 Love' (Dixon remix) (Olsen Records)
47 OC & Verde 'Masaai' (Knee Deep In Sound)
46 Marquis Hawke feat Jocelyn Browne 'I'm So Glad' (Paul Woolford rework) (Houndstooth)
45 Peggy Gou 'Gou Talk' (Ninja Tune/Technicolour)
44 Juan Atkins & Moritz Von Oswald Present Borderland 'Lightyears' (Tresor)
43 Theo Kottis 'It Wasn't Meant To Be' (Moda Black)
42 Project Pablo 'Closer' (Sounds Of Beaubien Ouest)
41 Danny Daze 'Swim' (Kompakt Extra)
40 Danny Daze 'Pop' (Omnidisc)
39 Deniro 'Painting 1' (Tape Records)
38 Mood Hut 'Better' (Mood Hut)
37 Leon Vynehall 'Blush' (Running Back)
36 Vaal 'Wander To Hell (Locked Groove remix) (Afterlife)
35 Adesse Versions 'That's What Friends Are For' (Numbers)
34 L.M.Y.E 'Manhattan' (Shanti Celeste remix) (Idle Hands)
33 MssingNo 'Fones' (XL Recordings)
32 Patti LaBelle 'Music Is My Way Of Life' (Joey Negro Funk In The Music Mix) (Z Records)
31 808 State 'In Yer Face' (Bicep remix) (Feel My Bicep)
30 Steven Julien 'XL' (Apron Records)
29 Green Velvet 'Flash' (Eats Everything remix) (Relief)
28 PBR Streetgang '12.32' (Futureboogie)
27 Dusky 'Ingrid Is A Hybrid' (Polydor Records
26 Seb Zito 'Burnaby' (FUSE London)
25 Harvey Sutherland 'Bravado' (Clarity Recordings)
24 Shura 'Touch' (Four Tet remix) (Polydor)
23 A Sagittariun 'Concrete Walls' (Elastic Dreams)
22 Kornel Kovacs 'BB' (Studio Barnhus)
21 Makaton 'Defiler'(Makaton Repeat Offender Remix) (RSB)
20 The Avalanches 'If I Was A Folkstar' (XL Recordings/Module Recordings)
19 Pearson Sound 'XLB' (Pearson Sound)
18 Red Rack'em 'Wonky Bassline Disco Banger' (Bergerac)
17 Skepta 'Man' (Boy Better Know)
16 ‘Freak Like Me' (DJ Deeon vs Lee Walker remix) (Defected)
Drone Bomb Me - by ANOHNI from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.
15 Anohni 'Drone Bomb Me' (Secretly Canadian)
14 Justice 'Safe And Sound' (ED BANGER RECORDS)
13 Bruce Trail 'Bridgework' (Magic Wire)
12 Dele Sosimi & Afrobeat Orchestra 'Too Much Information' (Laolu remix) (Innervisions)
11 Denis Sulta 'Nein Fortiate' (Sulta Selects)
10 Avalon Emerson 'The Frontier' (Whities)
From a throbbing techno beat comes a soaring synth line. A contender for feels-laden warehouse banger of the year, this kick-started Avalon's 2016 ascendancy.
9 Blaze 'Lovelee Dae' (Bicep remix) (Feel My Bicep)
Building on the 2013 20/20 Vision remix, Bicep turned in an emotional banger that caused goosepimples from Dour to Circo Loco.
8 Jessy Lanza 'It Means I Love You' (Hyperdub)
With an up-tempo Nozinja sample and the lyric 'Look into my eyes boy, you know it means I love you', this pearl works as well at a footwork dance as it does in the bedroom.
7 Omar-S 'Heard Chew Single' (FXHE)
The Detroit magus combined an immersive, at times almost martial drum workout with a catchy yet heartfelt lyric for a tune it's impossible to play just once.
6 Isaac Tichauer 'Higher Level' (Bicep remix) (Loft)
Bicep have a special gift for creating remixes that seem at once vintage, futuristic and timeless. This loved-up raveathon was their finest work this year.
5 Floorplan 'Tell You No Lie' (M-Plant)
This break-neck disco-house number sample Brainstorm's 1977 'Lovin' Is Really My Game' and showcased Robert and Lyric Hood's uniquely, urgently spiritual sound.
4 Kolsch 'Grey' (Kompakt Extra)
Brass-powered, melodic super-weapon from the behatted Danish genius, this was precision-tooled to cause maximum devastation on a grand festival scale.
3 Lindstrom 'Closing Shot' (Smalltown Supersound/Feedility Recordings)
Hypnotic, infectious Scandi disco tech with an 80s noir vibe, by rights this should have been as big as ‘Inspector Norse’.
2 Lapsley 'Operator' (DJ Koze extended disco version) (XL Recordings)
Koze's extended mix of Lapsley's muscular disco album cut blew the doors off Dekmantel, Dimensions - and everywhere.
1 Midland 'Final Credits' (Regraded)
Was there a headline DJ in 2016 who didn't close at least one set with this? An anthem from Croatia to Ibiza, this vital combination of epic lovelorn vocal, backing an urgent groove and 70s Blaxploitation swagger, was a big finish for everyone from Ben UFO to The Black Madonna. Midland's masterpiece premiered on Mixmag's SoundCloud back in May, ruled the summer and beyond and looks set to get even bigger with a forthcoming re-release on Classic.
