Dancing Astronaut’s Top 10 Tracks of March 2015
Dancing Astronaut's Top 10 Tracks of March 2015
Looking back on March, Dancing Astronaut breaks down the month’s top 10 tracks. Measured by critical acclaim, airplay, and the editorial staff’s taste-making.
March’s Top 10 spans a handful of genres and includes exciting returns and twists. Efforts include deadmau5 working up a 9-minute long edit, the return of NERO, Tiësto and KSHMR going big, Major Lazer and DJ Snake’s latest gem, Cashmere Cat’s tag-team with Ariana Grande and more.
Editors Note: For 2015, the criteria of Dancing Astronaut‘s top tracks each month is being altered from previous years; more than release dates are being taken into consideration as we all know tracks can dominate airwaves months before they are ever officially released. Our picks are those that topped our world in March 2015.
10. Years & Years - Worship (Original Mix)
With a little bit of soul and a tip to the British mint for club music felt across the board, Years & Years have changed the UK landscape in a big way. With their debut album Communion on the horizon, the BBC-celebrated trio dishes their latest installment of electronic pop for the bigger room and radio airwaves.
Carrying on the infectious vocal play that propelled prior hits “Desire” and “King” into the spotlight, “Worship” dials things back to a melancholic yet equally infectious tip of profound songmanship and easy grooving electronica. It’s taken a while for the commercial scope of electronic music to really hit maturity, Years & Years still sound like that organic peak in accessible yet quality musicality that electronic music has been circling for quite some time.
9. Snails - Funk With Me (ft. Big Gigantic)
SNAILS‘ name is everywhere right now. Following the SnailedIt! Volume 2 mix, many were left to wonder the identity of many tracks premiered during the forty-five minute bass experience. Finally, one of the most anticipated tracks from the mix has been revealed, and its contributors, along with the project’s final form, certainly do not disappoint. Colorado natives Big Gigantic, the live sax and drum slayers that have skyrocketed to fame over the last two years, meet SNAILS halfway for the face-melting saxophone-laced “Funk With Me.” The artists trade off with their sounds respectively, rounding out a production that manages to balance the signature styles of each collaborator shockingly well.
8. Cashmere Cat - Adore (ft. Ariana Grande)
That’s right, Cashmere Cat and Ariana Grande are back at it. The producer and and the pop star linked up quite recently, with the Cat producing and grabbing the feature credit on Ariana’s “Be My Baby” for her 2014 hit album My Everything. Grande now returns the favor as the tables turn, gracing Cashmere Cat’s newest single and treating it as her own from start to finish. As the product of both artists, “Adore” is exactly what you’d expect — rich in quality from both ends, no corners cut: an A-plus effort from two A-plus talents.
7. Tove Lo - Not On Drugs (The Knocks Remix)
Another month, another breathtaking song from The Knocks. This time they take on the anthemic “Not On Drugs,” which appeared on Tove Lo‘s Truth Serum EP last year. The duo set a dramatic tone by looping Tove’s vocals over a rumbling instrumental as they ease their way into the remix’s more uninhibited moments. Gone for the most part are the original’s dramatic sweeps, replaced here by striking keys punctuated by snappy percussion and sparkling synths. When it all comes together, the track becomes far less theatrical and far more euphoric; it’s a serious emotional flip, and it makes the song absolutely irresistible.
6. Tiësto & KSHMR ft. Vassy - Secrets (Original Mix)
Whoever said the big room is dying has not yet listened to Tiësto’s collaboration with budding star KSHMR. The enigmatic producer has let his fiery electro house style speak for itself with little information to his name. Despite his ambiguous nature, KSHMR caught the attention of Musical Freedom mastermind Tiësto to hatch a monstrous main stage banger titled “Secrets.” VASSY — most known for her appearance on David Guetta and Showtek’s 2014 smash “Bad” — earns the vocal part to navigate listeners into a saturated drop of larger-than-life synth roars and detonating kicks. With Ultra approaching, festival-goers should familiarize themselves with “Secrets” as it will undeniably be a principal track amongst main stage acts.
5. NERO - The Thrill (Original Mix)
To say we’ve been waiting patiently for the followup to Nero’s Welcome Reality would be a gross understatement. This month, however, marks an important milestone in the run up to their sophomore LP: the second single from the album. Considering “Satisfy” arrived last May, the release of “The Thrill” has likely signaled the beginning of the official album campaign — especially given the news that the album entered its mastering stage last month.
While “Satisfy” previewed a bit of a newer direction for the trio, “The Thrill” is classic Nero: a rock-infused, bass-savvy ballad. The emphasis, however, has clearly been placed on superior songwriting. Alana Watson’s vocals are as powerful as ever, laid effortlessly atop both the breakdown and chorus.
4. Martin Garrix - Don't Look Down (ft. Usher)
“Don’t Look Down” has all the makings of a crossover record that will bring electronic instrumentals to radio with Usher’s songmanship lacing bridges and the hooks upon its drops. Skewed more towards your modern pop hit, Garrix provides the bedrock for Usher to do what he does best. Even so, the sounds from the breakthrough dance act aren’t the expected big room synths and plunges, but are rather tinged with melodic notes drawn from the trending tropical nature.
3. Justin Jay - You Give Me Butterflies (Original Mix)
Fans of Justin Jay know the Dirtybird talent for his groove-saturated, polished cuts that have skyrocketed him into the top tier of young house talents. On the brink of college graduation, the 21-year-old producer sees a world of open opportunities in front of him, and he intends to keep the thrusters at full capacity with his new EP. On his multi-track effort, Jay delivers stand-out records that establish the indefinite boundaries of this blossoming producer’s creative capacity, and “You Give Me Butterflies” entrances fans in a hypnotic flurry of adolescent nostalgia.
2. Colleen D'Agostino - Stay (Deadmau5 9-minute Drop The Poptart Edit)
Deadmau5′s long-famed “Drop the Poptart” finally saw the light of day as an official edit to his collaboration with Colleen D’Agostino for “Stay.” The radio edit of the pair’s stunning effort appeared last week ahead of the mau5trap singer’s six-track Collide EP but this release is sure to strike a chord with deadmau5 faithfuls. Pure, unadulterated progressive house from one of the industry’s best, Joel makes good on his promises and stretches “Stay” into a 9-minute epic. D’Agostino’s vocals float effortlessly over deadmau5′s signature synthwork, drumming up nostalgia for “Strobe-era” mau5 thanks to “Drop the Poptart’s” pristine sound-engineering and D’Agostino’s evocative top line
1. Major Lazer & DJ Snake - Lean On (ft. MØ)
Diplo is everywhere. From working with Madonna to breaking the Internet with Jack Ü’s new album, the dance titan has his hands in an overabundance of endeavors. His album with Major Lazer was confirmed to be dropping this upcoming April but not before dropping a new collaboration with DJ Snake and MØ titled, “Lean On.”
Major Lazer and DJ Snake threw fans a curve ball with “Lean On.” Most would expect the four producers to create a reggae-infused, trap banger aimed at the upcoming festival season. Instead the team compose a summer-inspired downtempo tune that combines slick vocal cuts of MØ’s comforting lyrics with melodically-infused moombahton beats.