Night Vision's 20 Favourite Tracks of 2015
As we wrap up another terrific year filled with great music and great memories, it’s that time again when we like to look back upon the year that was and celebrate the songs that defined it for us. To put this list together, each member of the Night Vision crew put forth their own personal picks and collectively we listened, discussed, and eventually devised an ordered list to share with you all. We have included a small write up for each pick of the top 10 of our list, explaining exactly why each of these tunes holds a very special place in our hearts. We hope that when re-listening you also get the goosebumps from recounting all of your memories and dance floor moments of 2015. You can listen to each track individually as you skim down the list, or you can listen to the whole thing front to back with this YouTube playlist we put together:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLN2zhqHgLIWpMLTNPD8hzEkV1yStRdEjp
20. Psychemagik – Mink & Shoes (feat. Navid Izadi)
Label: Psychemagik
19. Jimmy Edgar - Let Me Tell U
Label: Ultramajic
18. Detroit Swindle - Alright (We'll Be)
Label: Heist Recordings
17. Escape - Just Escape (Justin Martin Remix)
Label: Aus Music
16. Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons - Vermillion (&ME Remix)
Label: Crosstown Rebels
15. Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra - Too Much Information (Laolu Remix) [Edit]
Label: Innervisions
14. George Fitzgerald - Call It Love (If You Want To) [feat. Lawrence Hart]
Label: Double Six Records
13. Stephan Bodzin – Singularity
Label: Life and Death
12. Catz 'n Dogz - Get It Right (feat. Tanika)
Label: Pets Recordings
11. Tame Impala - Let It Happen
Label: Modular Recordings
10. Frankey & Sandrino – Acamar
Label: Innervisions
Coming in at #10 is a stunning, psychedelic journey that nearly defines the vibes of desert festivals like Burning Man, where it made many appearances this year including Trevor Oslo’s Thumper set. This is our choice cut from a fantastic year of releases from Dixon and Âme’s Innervisions label. Epic 2 minute interludes like the one found here are a staple for the label, and they really make us rethink where the climax of a song really should sit.
9. Bob Moses - Tearing Me Up
Label: Domino
2015 took our love of Bob Moses to a whole new level with the release of their debut full-length album Days Gone By. The whole thing is fantastic, but ‘Tearing Me Up’ stood out as the track to remember for us. With appearances at major festivals like Coachella already confirmed, 2016 is set to be huge for the Brooklyn-based Canadian duo. Don’t pass up an opportunity to catch their live show, which features live vocals and guitar alongside warm bassline vibes that cannot be matched anywhere else.
8. Sade - Pearls (Timo Jahns Remix)
Label: Poesie Musik
This beautiful deep house reinterpretation of an already legendary emotional classic took it to even greater depths. It became the anthem of our festival season, especially at Zion Noiz and Astral Harvest, where it was played out by DMT and Fathoms respectively. If you ever heard one of us belting out “This is why I’m dying…”, it was because of this remix.
7. Hot Chip - Need You Now
Label: Domino
Hot Chip continued to amaze us in 2015 with another stellar album Why Make Sense? The breathtaking house ballad ‘Need You Now’ really shone through as the highlight for us when Amtrac played it during his Fractal Forest set at Shambhala this year. He timed it perfectly as the rays of sunlight started to sneak between the tree branches and initiate the euphoric Monday morning vibes.
6. Billy Kenny - I Eat Beats (Ardalan Remix)
Label: This Ain’t Bristol
Ardalan’s Billy Kenny remix was one of the biggest dancefloor bombs of the year. When we first heard it at our show with Ardy and Justin Martin in May, it was the big talk of the night. It's definitely the most remarkable synth design work to come out of the dirtybird crew in 2015, and continued to devastate clubs and festivals all year long.
5. Bicep – Just
Label: Aus Music
Already crowned the best track of the year by Mixmag, this one really bumped Bicep into the top tiers of glossy refinement and perfection in production alongside masters like Dusky and Maceo Plex. It’s quite difficult to describe what exactly is so infectious about the rhythmic arp melody that drives the song, but the steadily building atmospheric synths and the simple-yet-effective vocal sample put everyone on the dancefloor into a bewildered daze.
4. Fatima Yamaha - Whats A Girl To Do (DJ Haus 4/4 Edit)
Label: Hot Haus Recs
Amsterdam label Dekmantel were really onto something when they decided to re-release Fatima Yamaha' masterpiece in 2015. Perhaps ahead of its time, it went by relatively unnoticed when it was originally released (on vinyl only) in 2004. In 2015 however, it still sounds as fresh as ever. The original version received many epic set-closing plays from Justin Martin, Annie Mac, and Catz ‘n Dogz before it really took off this summer when DJ Haus made a sped up house edit that could work in any club setting. He kept the emotional interlude the way it was originally intended though. And that Scarlett Johansson sample from Lost In Translation still brings tears to our eyes every time we hear it.
3. Maribou State – Wallflower
Label: Counter Records
Maribou State’s lovely debut album Portraits took us all by storm this year. They’ve have a very unique sound for many years now, but really came into perfect form with this one. They brought so many gorgeous sounds together, from layers of vinyl crackle to Bonobo-esque symphony progressions, and it all worked impeccably. Vintage live drums and instrumentation tied it all together alongside their signature vocal effects. The whole album was a stellar journey through influences ranging from folk to soul to trip hop. It was so difficult to pick a favourite, but ‘Wallflower’ prevailed for us at the end of the year as the standout.
2. Jamie xx - Loud Places (feat. Romy)
Label: Young Turks
It’s tough to deny that Jamie xx released the best electronic album of the 2015 with In Colour. It’s even harder to find a single music connoisseur who didn’t love it. And ‘Loud Places’ truly stands the test of time. It will be a real classic in years to come. Romy from The xx’s original vocals make a remarkable pairing alongside a breathtaking Idris Muhammad sample. Seriously every element of the song, from the dazzling bell and bottle percussions to the intimate piano chords, they all fit perfectly. Although it probably wasn’t made for the dancefloor, Fathoms and Sahib demonstrated at our last Cha Island party just how great of a night cap this track really is.
1. Serge Devant & Damiano feat. Camille Safiya - Fearing Love
Label: Emerald City
Jamie Jones and Lee Foss launched their new vocal-driven sister label Emerald City with our track of the year, ‘Fearing Love’. And for good reason. Lee Foss admitted in a Thump interview earlier this year that it is always the biggest track in his sets. The sub bassline in this one is so monstrous that it's no wonder why it takes the dancefloor by storm every time. After taking 2 years off from producing due to a snowboarding accident, Serge Devant aimed to reinvent himself with this beastly track. Camille Safiya’s magnificent vocal performance is timed perfectly with all of the other elements, be it the quick guitar strums, the tension-building strings, or the spacey echoing synths- They all shine through exactly when they’re needed.
Written by Trevor Oslo