We were so close to putting Zhu at the top of our 2014 R&B list. And even though he didn’t make the cut, he did help us distinguish the difference between today’s R&B and electro soul.
Before, the most notable difference the two was whether it was vocal or producer based, respectively. Where as R&B is focused on the soulful voices of today, electro soul generally cuts & chops memorable voices from the past and blends in heavy electro influences. Zhu is really the perfect intersection between the two, but we eventually came to the conclusion that his deep house influence was more fit for electro soul than the more traditional R&B (“traditional” in loose terms).
Also, keep in mind that even the musicians featured here are still electronically influenced in some way. Most music is nowadays. However, they play much more of a balancing act than their counterparts in electro soul. Hear for yourself and let us know your thoughts on today’s soul music and how you define it.
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Nothing is better to dance to right now than this style of electronic music. I thought electro funk sounded fitting as a title, but it’s more commonly known simply as electro and to some extreme electro house and bass music. Though this naming shit is getting outta hand, as necessary as it is.
The sound actually sounds like something between disco-house & bass music, but more experimental than the former and more soulful than the latter. It gets a little strange at times, but that’s exactly what dance music needs right now.
Remixes are more subjective than their original. What I mean is not only is the sound important, but the sound relative to the original as well. How good, how different.
So not everyone is going to like every one of these. Sometimes we’re all just too wrapped up in the original to enjoy it at a new angle and sometimes they’re just not perfectly mastered. Most of these producers haven’t hit big enough to have the resources for that, but it doesn’t mean they don’t know how to put sounds together.
In only two months we’re on our second best of remixes for 2014 (vol 1) and there are too many good ones to count (21). It’s mostly on the electro-house | disco-soul spectrums, but when is it not on here (we love our disco-soul). We also threw in some Ghetto Funk to bring it back.
One thing we’re finding with these 2014 remix lists are the mashups are lacking. I don’t know if my ear is getting uptight or what, but I still can’t find a single damn good mashup in 2014. Well, one of these are technically a mashup, but I bet you can’t spot it.
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Highlighting singles have long dominated on here. We’re coming up on our thousandth post, this will make 999, and we’re slightly shifting from singles towards playlists. We really just no longer have time or the writing prowess to cover every single track we love.
Pop remixes especially have fallen back from the spotlight, but we’ve collected quite a few over the past few months and a playlist of the best seemed like the perfect way to share. We may not have much to say about every single track, but they all have taken their original and slapped a new style (usually better than the original).
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Looking back over this last list for 2013, I’ve realized one major flaw to it. There are no women on here. We’ve had our love for women this year, but this list contains our most obsessed about music with musicians consistently present throughout the year.
Doja Cat was our closest girl, but we only fell for one of hers. She did have a lot of other potentials that fell short because the production wasn’t to the level of that voice. Producers, this girls got talents!
London Grammar probably has the most right to be up here, but I credited their best to their collab with Disclosure and I didn’t fall for ‘Strong’ in time (wish it was still 2013). They’re also two-thirds dude, so that didn’t help them either […]
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Try not to think of EDM or electronic dance music as purely just the dubstep, deadbeat music that the mass majority like to think of it as. Dance music has been filled with electronic sounds for decades and its reach is almost all encompassing. From disco to house this music has come a long way and we’re just at the tipping point of things to come (aren’t we always).
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Electronic is overtaking the industry and has done the same on this blog more & more each year. Our list of electronic music is so massive this year we split it in two.
First up is our best electro soul of 2013 that ranges from funk & jazz to R&B & dubstep (melodic dubstep). We weren’t sure if we wanted to include the remixes from our last list, 2013’s Top Remixes, but there is just as much soul in the remixes as any of the originals. Make sure to play through all 25, it’s got a good ebb and flow to it.
Also, stay tuned for our next list in electro: electronic dance music – and not that bullshit shit.
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For the last two years I’ve tried to theme our best remixes, mashups & covers of the year off other noteworthy remakes of that year. 2011 was “uninspired by Glee” (specifically it’s mashups). 2012 was a tribute to Anna Kendrick and her remixing ways in Pitch Perfect. And finally for 2013 we go with a more genuine pick. Our hat goes off to Willy Wonka and Chipotle’s remake of its most memorable tune with an accompanying video that’s just as wonderful if not more. It really puts the art in advertising this year.
For the last two years we’ve also usually had a mix of remixes, mashups and covers. However, this year the mashups have fallen to nearly nothing, but the covers have flourished. Remixes are still on top for 2013.
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The only thing more difficult than writing is categorizing these damn top 2013 lists. I messed up our last 2013 favorites, the lady vocals, so I thought I would clarify this list for all of us.
A few years back this would have been called, “Indie to R&B,” in fact it was, but the latter has flipped producer-side and is more accurately classified under electronic for us this year.
While this is obviously intended to be centered around indie & pop music, including alternative & folk, genres are hard to pin down, especially to one or even two nowadays. So to give this list a more accurate, less appealing title, the music here is centered around a vocal-bases.
Like rock before it, indie & pop have become rock’s sliding scale contemporaries, putting the singer smack out in front. Which compared to electronic goes back to a composer or producer-bases, like jazz and classical before it.
And yes, there are elements of electronic, jazz & disco on this list, which is why I had to go on this rant in the first place.
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I’ve wanted to make a mix of lady vocals ever since I first heard Birdy’s, and finally 2013 has given us more than enough. So for our first best music list of 2013, we get a mix of beautiful singers with producers who deserve half the credit. From pop to garage and disco to rap, you may not love them all, but you better find at least one.
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