The top 100 tunes of 2015

2015 is done.

It's December and it's time to look over the legacy left by another year in dance music.

Here are the top 100 tunes released in '15 as chosen by Mixmag staff and contributors. As ever, it's a celebration of all corners of dance music, so you'll find house and techno heroes, irrefutable r'n'b acts, a healthy dose of grime and plenty of thunder from the rest of the 'bass music' world, some legends who refuse to quit innovating and a few surprises, too (Bieber, we're looking at you).

So here you have it. The most important list of the year. Get stuck in.

100 wAFF 'Connected'

99 Art Department 'Catch U By Surprise (Guy Gerber remix)'

98 Fit Siegel 'Carmine'

97 Boom Jinx & Meredith Call 'Bring Me Back Around'

96 Tazer x Tink 'Wet Dollars (Melé Remix)'

95 Colleen D'agostino feat DeadMau5 'Stay (Drop the Poptart Edit)'

94 Roman Flügel 'Sliced Africa'

93 Julio Bashmore 'She Aint'

92 Ross 248 'JJ Got Bio'

91 Lotic 'Heterocetera'

90 Iglew 'Urban Myth'

89 O B Ignitt & Omar S 'Fellow Me'

88 LSB 'Walking Blues'

87 Bakermat 'Teach Me (MK remix)'

86 José Padilla 'So Many Colours'

85 Voldkoder 'Sensation'

84 Pep & Rash 'Rumours'

83 Deniro 'Organezized'

82 Mr Beatnick 'Obsidian Morning'

81 Paul Woolford 'MDMA'

80 Alix Perez 'Losing You'

79 Stormzy 'Know Me From'

78 Lindström feat Grace Hall 'Home Tonight'

77 Dante Klein 'Ertesuppe (Club Mix)'

76 Lane 8 'Diamonds'

75 Moresound feat Fracture 'Dead and Bury'

74 Groove Armada 'Call Me'

73 Leftfield 'Universal Everything'

72 Nomine 'Blind Man'

71 Pearson Sound 'Thaw Cycle'

70 Shanti Celeste 'Nu4him'

69 Mak & Pasteman 'Oh Baby'

68 Hot Since 82 'Damage'

67 Maceo Plex 'Conjure Dreams'

66 George Fitzgerald 'Full Circle'

65 Kink 'Pocket Piano (Breakbeat Mix)'

64 Demdike Stare 'Patchwork'

63 Kamixlo 'Paleta'

62 Zenker Brothers 'TSV WB'

61 Bicep & Hammer 'Dahlia'

60 Sabb 'One Of Us (Dennis Ferrer remix)'

59 Claude VonStroke 'Barrump'

58 Tame Impala 'Let it Happen (Soulwax remix)'

57 Delia Gonzalez 'In Remembrance IV'

56 Fjaak 'Oben'

55 Bjarki 'I Wanna Go Bang'

54 Disclosure feat Gregory Porter 'Holding On'

53 Claude VonStroke and Jesse Rose 'Bare Mountain'

52 Session Victim 'Summer Games'

51 Joe 'Thinkin About'

50 Kollektive Turmstrasse 'Sorry I Am Late'

49 Archie Hamilton 'Mind Blank'

48 Deadbeat 'Berghain Drum Jack (2015 Edit)'

47 The Chemical Brothers 'Sometimes I Feel So Deserted (Carl Craig remix)'

46 Rustie 'Big Catzz'

45 David Zowie 'House Every Weekend'

44 Maxxi Soundsystem 'Medicine'

43 Gregory Porter 'Liquid Spirit (Claptone remix)'

42 Howling 'Signs (Rødhåd remix)'

41 St Germain 'Real Blues'

40 DJ Spinn & DJ Rashad feat Danny Brown 'Dubby'

39 Roman Flügel 'Teenage Engineering'

38 Hudson Mohawke 'Ryderz'

37 Jamie xx feat Romy 'Loud Places'

36 Marquis Hawkes 'Sweet'

35 KDA 'Rumble (Toddla T remix)'

34 Kölsch 'DerDieDas'

33 Ivy Lab 'Twenty Questions'

32 Melé 'Ambience'

31 Adesse Versions 'Pride'

30 Julio Bashmore 'Holding On'

29 Pender Street Steppers 'The Glass City'

28 Tale Of Us 'Silent Space'

27 Eats Everything feat Tiga vs Audion 'Dancing (Again!)'

26 Tale Of Us & Mind Against 'Astral'

25 Dusky 'Skin Deep'

24 Julio Bashmore 'Simple Love'

23 Elderbrook 'How Many Times (andhim remix)'

22 CHVRCHES 'Leave A Trace (Four Tet remix)'

21 Jonas Rathsman 'Wolfsbane'

20 Kowton 'Glock & Roll'

19 Major Lazer feat Mo & Dj Snake 'Lean On'

18 Fatima Yamaha 'What's A Girl To Do (DJ Haus 4/4 edit)'

17 Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons 'Vermillion'

16 Kornel Kovacs 'Pantalon'

15 DRS feat LSB & Tyler Daley 'The View'

14 The Chemical Brothers 'Go (Claude VonStroke remix)'

13 Hot Since 82 'Veins'

12 Disclosure 'Bang That'

11 Special Request 'Amnesia'

10 Novelist x Mumdance '1 Sec'

Has there been a better grime collab than this? This 'roid-induced riddim was signed to one of dance's most influential labels at the start of 2015. It's been a rave anthem ever since.

9 Frankey & Sandrino 'Acamar'

Starting its life as a sneaky DC10 weapon, by the end of summer, this was the biggest release on Innervisions in many a moon and a constant staple in Dixon's sets.

8 DJ Koze 'XTC'

Koze swapped his usual melancholic eccentricities for a slab of deep, slow-building house. When the "many people are experimenting with ecstasy" sample drops, it's clear tunes like this are a big reason why.

7 Jack Ü feat Justin Bieber 'Where Are Ü Now'

Sure, it's all sugary vocals and squitty vocal cuts, but DJs from Four Tet to EZ have banged it out and embraced the Bieb. Hard to argue...

6 Skepta 'Shutdown'

Grime veteran Skepta owned '15 with 'Shutdown', a triumphant banger laden with hooks and London verve. It make it into the UK Top 40, while Skeppy performed with Drake and sold out Brixton Academy in three hours.

5 Kelela 'Rewind'

The first cut from her 'Hallucinogen EP', 'Rewind' was co-produced with Nugget and Kingdom is a perfect example of what she does best: glistening vocals from production that nods to the 90s while being fresh as fuck.

4 Jamie xx 'I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)'

Along with 'Loud Places', also from 2015 album 'In Colour', this slinky, superior tropical collab with Young Thug & Popcaan is proof of just why Jamie xx matters.

3 Format:B 'Chunky'

A huge Ibiza anthem for Annie Mac et al, 'Chunky' even hit the Top 40 in November. A slow-building club hit, it's six minutes of percussive tech with cowbells and a groove, and this year's answer to 'The Whistler'.

2 Eric Prydz 'Opus (Four Tet remix)'

Massive for UK and Ibiza closing floors alike, Four Tet created the biggest remix of 2015; this deft, ever-extending take on Eric Prydz is the most epic track of the year.

1 Bicep 'Just'

Huge for Special Request, Pete Tong , and pretty much any DJ with great taste, this was the track that proved Bicep could take it to the next level. A subtle, gently building Detroit-ish house jam with just the right dose of bleepy melody, it was the addition of a smart vocal riff ("We're just the same"), taken from a Bicep studio session, that sealed the deal. Our Track of the Year 2015 is an absolute masterpiece in techy, brooding restraint.

Load the next article