The playlist we’ve been working on for a year is ready for your ears and body to enjoy. This has been a good year for house music all around. Duck Sauce has returned after years of hiatus, Tchami released his debut album, Disclosure and CamelPhat gave us new albums to enjoy, and there were way too many EPs and Singles to mention that kept us going. House music kept us going through this exceptionally difficult year, and this is the best it had to offer.
20. Redfield - Pictures
Way back in January, Redfield started the year strong with the release of the Pictures EP. The title track is overall our favourite and definitely deserves its place in our list. This is the second year in a row that we see Redfield on our list, with Axwell’s remix of his track Don’t Worry taking the #1 position last year.
19. Diplo, SIDEPIECE - On My Mind
Back in our yearly list is Diplo. While we’re huge fans of his music, his songs didn’t make the cut in our yearly list since 2016. This time is different, with not just one, but two songs on our list. His collaboration with SIDEPIECE has definitely been on our minds for the majority of the year. Special shoutout goes out to Purple Disco Machine’s remix, but we had to pick one and we decided to stick with the original.
18. Hot Since 82, Rudimental - Be Strong
Hot Since 82 has blessed us with his Recovery album in October, and Be Strong is our favourite title from the album. His collaboration with Rudimental is the greatest thing to come out of Yorkshire since Yorkshire Tea.
17. Claptone, Mylo - Drop the Pressure
Claptone makes his debut on our yearly list by re-imagining Mylo’s classic from way back in 2004. In his own words: “I’ve always had a weak spot for music that has a real physical impact - when you put it on, it urges you to move. Dare I say that ‚Drop The Pressure’ is a perfect example of a house track that you simply can’t resist: too funky not to trigger a physical reaction.”
16. CAZZETTE - Let It Be
We feel like this track from the Swedish duo CAZZETTE didn’t get the love it deserves during the year, but it won our hearts for sure. After peaking in early 2010s with more mainstream sound, the duo went in a more underground direction in the last year, and we’re big fans of that decision.
15. Technasia, Green Velvet - Suga (David Penn Remix)
Our #15 pick of the year goes to David Penn’s groovy rework of Technasia’s Suga released back in 2015. While not entirely different than the original, the remix gave it a fresh groove that we absolutely love.
14. Tchami, Marlena Shaw - Faith
While Tchami has been on our radar since 2013 when he released an excellent remix of Janet Jackson’s track Go Deep. Since then he has released plenty of singles and a few EPs, but his first full album came out in October. There are plenty of tracks from Year Zero that we’ve enjoyed (especially All On Me, Born Again and Buenos Aires), but our favourite is a rework of a 50 year old track named Faith by a jazz and blues diva Marlena Shaw.
13. Wongo, Mia Milla - Real Love
Wongo and Mia Milla are probably the least known artists on our list, but their collaboration on the song Real Love always kept us moving. Mia Milla’s voice is wonderful, and so is the instrumental behind it.
12. Diplo, Wax Motif - Love To The World
Diplo’s second track on our list is his wonderful collaboration with Wax Motif in which they are spreading out Love to the World by sampling a song from the R&B/funk band L.T.D. released way back in 1976. Groovy rhythm with soulful vocals gave us the perfect vibe for chilling out during quarantine.
11. Chris Lake, Armand van Helden - The Answer (feat. Arthur Baker & Victor Simonelli)
Accidental encounter at a pool party between the two house icons brought us an excellent EP titled The Answer. Sampling soulful anti-war vocals from the song titled Why Can’t We See (by Blind Truth, released in 1991), this song kept us going and has a simple, but wonderful video to compliment it. Overall this has been a pretty successful year for both Chris and Armand, and this isn’t the only song from them on our list this year.
10. Disclosure - Watch Your Step
In the middle of our list is a collaboration between the English duo Disclosure and one of our favourite vocals on the scene Kelis, released on Disclosure’s third album named ENERGY. We simply can’t get enough of the super positive energy coming from this track.
9. CamelPhat, Au/Ra - Panic Room
Au/Ra released a song about experiencing anxiety in 2018, and CamelPhat followed it up with a beautiful house beat and released it on his Dark Matter album. There’s not a single thing we don’t like from this song, our favourite by from CamelPhat so far. And with Au/Ra being just 16 when this song originally came out, we have no doubt there’s a bright future ahead of her.
8. Bob Moses, ZHU - Desire (Solomun Remix)
ZHU is no stranger to our yearly lists, and his collaboration with Bob Moses is no exception. While we absolutely love the original, Solomun’s light touch makes it even more beautiful to our ears. Give it a listen and you’ll definitely enjoy it too.
7. PAX, Gorgon City - Alive
Another chill track on our list is a collaboration between PAX and Gorgon City. Monster bassline and wonderful vocals give us goosebumps every time we play it, which gave it such a high place in our list.
6. Kaytranada, Kali Uchis - 10%
Kaytranada’s Bubba album gave him three Grammy nominations: for best new artist, best dance/electronic album, and best dance track for the song on our list. While we’re waiting to find out whether or not he’ll win in one of these categories, we’re hoping to be invited to parties like the one in this song’s video again in 2021. Kaytranada has developed his own unique sound over the years, and Kali’s vocals just make everything even better, making their collaboration near perfection.
5. Matroda - Forget It
We’re huge simps for Matroda, no question about it. He’s no stranger to our yearly lists, winning #9 in 2015 with the remix of California together with Chris Lake, winning #2 with his track Caliente (Na Na Na) in 2018, and appearing at #17 last year with his song Guest List. However, this future house masterpiece is quite unique in his discography. If we had to sum it up in one word, we would sum it up as mesmerising.
4. Josement - All Night Alone (Chris Lake Edit)
Chris Lake’s edit of Josement’s All Night Alone brings him near the top of our list. Blast this song on the radio during late night drives and you’ll discover that you never felt so good. There’s no doubt we’re going to be grooving to this masterpiece for years to come.
3. Torren Foot, Tinie Tempah, L Devine - More Life (John Summit Remix)
What a year has it been for John Summit! He went from being relatively unknown in the scene to having millions of monthy listeners on Spotify, in no small part thanks to his single Deep End, which became the longest-running #1 track on Beatport of the year. His remix of already excellent Torren Foot’s track More Life is simply powerful, making it all the way to our #3 of the year.
2. Duck Sauce (A-Trak & Armand van Helden) - Mesmerize
This year we’ve seen A-Track and Armand van Helden teaming up once again after a six year long hiatus. They gave us five new tracks, out of which we have to choose Mesmerize is our favourite because it’s… well, mesmerising. We don’t have a “weirdest video of the year” award, but if we did, there’s no doubt Duck Sauce would win it each year they release one.
1. Chocolate Puma, Mike Cervello - You Are My Life
On the very top of our list is the collaboration between Chocolate Puma and Mike Cervello that we’ve been obsessed with since April. It just made us feel better every time we heard, which in and of itself earned it our #1 spot as the best song of 2020.