Hello and welcome to the finale of Electronic Track of the Year: 2024. Earlier this month, Kath and I invited you to select your favourite electronic tracks from a shortlist built from the winners/Top 3s of the Electronic Track of the Week/Month contests held in 2024. 9 of us deliberated and curated our votes in order to find our definitive favourite electronica of the year, in what was a very strong year. Over today and tomorrow evening I shall be presenting the Top 10 with no information about which tracks just missed the Top 10 until I post the final rundown to build a Davina McCall type dramatic suspense... without delay, here is what starts us off at number 10 ~

 

Floating Points “Fast Forward” (Biggest fans: blacksquare 03, Doctor Blind 06)

 

Hitting the dance floor hard, we start with this club banger from Sam Shepherd, aka Floating Points. “Fast Forward” marks the zenith of recent album Cascade - a return to club-ready tracks from the Mancunian who has a PhD in neuroscience and composes with jazz legends and the London Symphony Orchestra, but deep down pines for the sweaty communion of the club. This track marks the epicentre (around the 2h mark) in their epic five hour Boiler Room set, blasting straight into LFO's s Disco Synch Mix of Björk's “Hyperballad”. My sleeve liner notes for this album confirm that this track is also a collaboration with Dan Snaith (Caribou), who complements the track providing some hard hitting drum kicks that propel and lift the track surging under its dreamy synths, not unlike the second stage of a firing rocket system as it fights to depart the Earth's gravitational field.

Fantastic start *.* Still on my personal chart after 18 weeks

Izzy Camina “Seraphim” (Biggest fans: jimwatts 02, kath, awardinary 06)

Don't spit on the grave of everything we built in a past life

 

Isadora (Izzy Camina) cites Jersey Club, UKG, and post punk among her extensive influences and spent her formative years drifting between the harsh city experiences of London, New York, Berlin, and Paris and the peaceful, soft and lush rural embrace of Wales. This rich tapestry of influences has given her music a unique feel of staring into the future through the lens of the past with 2024's “Seraphim” a powerful example of that, drawing as it does from dark industrial electronica and mixing it with the rapidity and joyful mayhem of French techno, over which she lays her lyrics chronicling her experiences with new age spiritualism* and burgeoning love. *Seraphim are celestial beings that appear in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic literature and are the highest-ranking celestial beings in the hierarchy of angels but “Seraphim”'s light burns all too briefly, clocking in at just 2:28.

Loving these write-ups Dr B! 'Seraphim' deserved so much better in BJSC :cry:

Loving these write-ups Dr B! 'Seraphim' deserved so much better in BJSC :cry:

 

Thanks kath x

 

B.D.B “CHROMA 002 L.A.V.A” (Biggest fans: RabbitFurCoat *01* , danuary 07)

Making me feel

 

The first #1 to drop out now, and it's RabbitFurCoat's favourite electronic track from the list. I'm pleased to say that everyone's favourite is represented here in the Top 10. 2024 has been a tough year for Bicep, with Matt McBriar, one half of the duo - childhood friends who bonded over their shared love of dance music - taking time out over the summer to recover from brain surgery on a “large and pretty rare” brain tumour. Nonetheless they remained prolific this year with a series of 7 singles released under their ambitious 'Chroma' banner/project, as well as giving a number of festival appearances in the UK, Europe and America. “L.A.V.A” is one of the harder, club bangers they released this year and was a collaboration with UK techno artist Benjamin Damage (under the name B.D.B.) and features the distinctive vocals of frequent associate Clara La San over an urgent thumping beat.

Ela Minus “Broken” (Biggest fans: jimwatts *01* , blacksquare 05)

I'll keep writing melodies, to sing away the gloom that we have succumbed to...

 

Colombian singer/songwriter and producer Gabriela Caldas (aka Ela Minus) triumphently returned in January 2025 with DÍA - her second studio album, and follow-up to 2020s acts of rebellion. The second single to be released ahead of the album last year was the euphoric “Broken” which places at #7 in our 2024 list. The themes of the album (utilising the club's healing energy as a way of navigating her personal traumas) are set out here on “Broken” which immediately follows opener “Abrir Monte” ('splitting mountains'), with lyrics that describe her feelings of being lost, alone and broken, a vulnerability and despair that is juxstaposed against the ebuilent feel and boundless optimism of its melody. It reminds me so much of the feel of early-mid 90s Björk and I'm very pleased to see it represented in the Top 10, as it was jimwatts' #1 in the list.

ascendant vierge & TDJ “Illusion” (Biggest fans: blacksquare *01* , danuary 03)

And we lie to ourselves, we spend all our time in illusions

 

The collaboration of Canadian trance queen Geneviève Ryan-Martel (aka TDJ) and Brussels-based duo Mathilde Fernandez and DJ/producer Paul Seul (ascendant vierge) brought about one of the biggest underground dance hits of the year: “Illusion”. With the most recent ascendant vierge singles (“À l'infini” clocks in at an ever faster 160BPM) pitched firmly in the camp of late 90s/early 2000s vocal eurodance/trance, and that specific genre (as well as many others from the ghosts of dance music's past) benefitting from a recent nostalgia fuelled resurgence in the 2020s, the addition of TDJ was almost fated. Her recent trance influenced mixtapes SPF INFINI provided a perfect jump-off point to collaborate, and the result is a 158 BPM-frenzied melancholic ode to being trapped inside of a dream. This was blacksquare's #1 and it even won BJSC for them in July last year. This featured on our first monthly poll for June 2024 but did not win it!

 

That about wraps things up for today, me or Kath will be back tomorrow with the Top 5 - if you're good xx

Neliönoir domination <3

 

Fab to see BICEP make it in as well. The CHROMA era was so consistent, I couldn't choose a fave so I based mine on which I played the most, and that to my surprise was HELIUM. In hindsight, I do think L.A.V.A or Bi83 were the strongest oops

Kelly Lee Owens “Love You Got” (Biggest fans: uhsting *01*, Doctor Blind 03)

Wanting pure euphoria

 

Welsh DJ Kelly Lee Owens took an unexpected sharp left turn in 2024 towards the more pop-influenced Dreamstate - a very different soundscape to its immediate predecessor but one that retained all of the identifiable quirks that has made her music such a joy to experience. The lead single “Love You Got” (placing here at #5 - and uhsting's favourite on the list) emphasises that well with her vocals and lyrics showcased front of stage, however despite being more catchy than anything she has released before, it manages to avoid the obvious clichés that a lot of dance-pop utilises and instead allows the music to build and shift around her powerful vocal as it repeats its titular refrain, as though a mantra. Her grandmother Jeanette (who she was incredibly close to and named another of my favourite Lee Owens singles after) always believed in and supported her and would be so proud of what she has achieved.

Floating Points “Key103” (Biggest fans: Brer *01*, uhsting 02)

 

At 4 we find the second and highest entry for Floating Points, the favourite of Brer: “Key103”. Named after a - now sadly defunct - local Manchester 90s radio station that Shepherd reminisces helped introduce them to an eclectic range of new and exciting music discoveries. It continues the relentless pace set out at the start of Cascade opening with its pounding kick drum and trancey synths. The track doesn't relinquish this energy throughout its over seven minute runtime, as new elements are introduced and not a single second wasted making it yet another example of the compelling production and blistering energy that is in offer on Shepherd's most recent album. The nostalgic nod to Manchester's rich music history is his way of paying homage to the city where he fell in love with and first studied music, and this is carried over to the name of the radio edit serviced for the single: The 'A56 edit' - the number of a thoroughfare that runs straight through Manchester.

Boo “Hyper Feminine” (Biggest fans: Doctor Blind *01*, kath, blacksquare 02)

shut your mouth and get into it

 

Teesside artist Boo has been on my radar for a few years now, releasing a number of low-key singles in 2023 which mixed together ambient trance with breakbeats such as the melancholic “Emotional Freedom Technique” from early '23, but it was last year when they were to break out with debut EP Winged Victory - named after the Winged Victory of Samothrace - gaining wider attention and leading to a slot playing out for Radio 1 in Ibiza last summer. Winged Victory feels aptly named: after a period of feeling dejected and broken Boo came out fighting for victory with the second single from the EP, the wonderful “Hyper Feminine” - which takes her trademark propulsive breakbeats at 144 BPM and mixes them against a backdrop of a beautiful looped string section that sounds like a sample of Thomas Newman's “Ghosts” (used in Reflekt's amazing “Need to Feel Loved“) and her own sensual chanting vocal. Boo described the track as a “middle finger up to everyone and everything that's stood in my way and slammed doors in my face”. It was my #1 of the year and I so pleased to say with the Troika of support from kath, blacksquare and myself, it made the Top 3! She is playing Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go to Ghetec b2b with Angelita on 22 February - surely big things to come in 2025!

Peggy Gou “1+1=11” (Biggest fans: kath, danuary *01*, awardinary 02)

 

Returning to her roots with “1+1=11” - which is accompanied by a music video featuring the artist Olafur Eliasson - Peggy Gou makes it to runners-up honours on our list and is the top pick for both kath and danuary. The South Korean DJ has in her downtime between gigs been putting out stylish and bouncey house tracks since the late 2010s with varying degrees of limited commercial success; the 2018 single “It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)” and 2021 single “I Go” both made the 6Music playlist in the UK - which was my initial exposure to her music. However, that was all to be eclipsed when the pitch-bent ATB “9PM..” guitar sound was employed brilliantly on the unbelievably catchy “(It Goes Like) Nanana” in summer 2023, which went on to make the UK Top 5 that August. “1+1=11” was the fourth single to be released ahead of her debut I Hear You and serves as the victory lap that closes that album. This was the favourite on the list for kath and danuary but despite also picking up a silver from awardinary (and a few smaller votes) it hasn't quite done enough to be #1 Electronic Track of 2024.

Just missing out:

 

11. Overmono feat. Ruthven “Gem Lingo (ovr now)”

12. Pretty Girl “All Away”

13. BICEP “CHROMA 001 HELIUM”

14. Justice & Tame Impala “One Night/All Night”

15. DJ Cinéma Quartier Latin “XTC”

16. TSHA and Rose Gray “Girls”

17. Fred again.., Lil Yachty & Overmono “stayinit”

18. yunè pinku “Half Alive”

=19. Jamie xx feat. The Avalanches “All You Children”

=19. Anna Prior “Fall Back”

 

and here is the number 1 for 2024 ~

 

Vitesse X “Eternal” (Biggest fans: awardinary *01*, jimwatts 03)

 

NYC producer Jordan Stern (Vitesse X) emerged from the pandemic on George Clanton's 100% Electronica label fusing together elements of dream pop, atmospheric breaks and drum & bass sounds. A lot of the tracks from her critically acclaimed 2022 debut Us Ephemeral employed several touchstones of early 1990s UK dance music, and it was no surprise to me when she revealed that she was heavily influenced by 90s UK groups such as Opus III and Orbital. Returning last year with This Infinite Jordan moved towards more guitar-driven indie/alternative soundscapes, which reflected her early music foray in alternative bands pre-2020 and her great love and warmth towards the more guitar-driven genres such as shoegaze. The opener and brightest single from that album “Eternal” bridges the gaps between her first two albums and embraces Jordan's recent nostalgia for guitar driven music, and takes the #1 here for 2024 with awardinary awarding it (ahem) top marks. “Eternal” was described by Jordan:

“Eternal is about the struggle to achieve a ‘sentimental life’ amidst so much greed, destruction and uncertainty in the world. It’s about feeling trapped in a rat race that you never signed up for, longing for life’s basic joys. It’s also about choosing to let go, despite every fiber of your being wanting to stay enraged and grief-stricken. Transcending the ego to achieve a sense of universal presence and unity.”

 

Congrats Jordan and thanks all for taking part! Stand-by for our first Electronic Track of the Month poll for 2025.

Great winner, thanks Dr B for the commentaries and hosting of this!

awardinary awarding it (ahem) top marks.

:lol: I couldn't not award it top marks after it gave me my highest performing BJSC entry to date last year! Zanmatony are still grateful for this! :heart:

 

I must admit I am a little gobsmacked at the result as I was silently following the countdown and as it got to the Top 2 I convinced myself that Peggy was going to win with TSHA & Rose Gray runners up! But in fact the latter was way down the scoreboard! :o

 

Thank you Doctor Blind for running this great event!

 

Bring on the 2025 rates! :D