Electronic Songs That You Don't Know the Name of

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In that location aren't many acronyms every bit controversial as EDM. Across the smoking battlefields of YouTube comment sections, [prestige music outlets](http://www.gq. There aren't many acronyms equally controversial every bit EDM. Across the smoking battlefields of YouTube comment sections, death of EDM, we felt it necessary to remind people that the genre isn't only alive and well—it's fascinating, critically underappreciated, and part of the very foundation of contemporary popular's Deoxyribonucleic acid.

Simply what is information technology? That's the difficulty of constructing a listing of the best EDM songs of all time—anywhere you draw the boundaries is certain to disharmonize with someone's difficult-fought cultural territory. Merely in truth, although "EDM" has been an incredibly useful marketing term, it has never been a physical musical identity. It's more similar a gear shift—a fusion of sentimentality and sonic torque that's transformed electronic music from a niche genre to a global miracle.

We relied on instinct when devising this list—if something walks like EDM, talks like EDM, and bangs like EDM, that's probably what it is, regardless of anyone's artificial loftier vs. low cultural divide. Like information technology or not, in that location'southward a place for all of u.s.a. somewhere out there under the big tent.

101. 2NE1 - "I Am the Best" (2011)

Nobody embraced EDM every bit enthusiastically—and successfully—during its heyday as the K-pop industry. While American pop stars usually smoothed down dance music'southward excess to brand their crossover hits, Grand-pop groups similar 2NE1 did the opposite, pushing the sound to maximalist extremes. Here, CL's bratty chorus shines over the beat's explosion of martial drums and sawtooth synths, an exercise in more is more. —Ezra Marcus

100. Axwell /\ Ingrosso - "I Love You (feat. Child Ink)" (2017)

Sweden's leading purveyors of glucose-coated synthesizer lines add together a trivial bitterness to their sweet symphonies, ripping both the Verve and 808s-era Kanye. You lot don't want to overdo this sort of treat, but information technology feels right in the moment. —Colin Joyce

99. deadmau5 and Kaskade - "I Remember" (2008)

Social media antics aside, deadmau5 is responsible for some of the well-nigh magnetic electronic music ever made. Whether its audition is a massive festival oversupply or a few high schoolers on a joyride, this immortal progressive house anthem wraps around its listeners and lifts them up similar a tractor beam from a hovering UFO.— Ezra Marcus

98. SOPHIE - "Hard" (2014)

SOPHIE has subverted EDM's tropes on her other compositions, but few tracks smack as, well, difficult every bit this alien ode to rubber, leather, PVC, and silicone. —Colin Joyce

97. David Guetta - "Titanium (feat. Sia)" (2011)

In the years after his initial United states chart success with the Akon-featuring "Sexy Bitch," David Guetta started to co-operative out into more popular-friendly realms, before somewhen arriving at "Titanium." It'south probably virtually notable as Sia's star-making turn in front of the microphone, with a steely chorus that makes this an EDM karaoke classic. —David Turner

96. Wiwek and Alvaro - "Boomshakatak (feat. MC Spyder)" (2014)

Wiwek's occasionally atonal and typically off-kilter productions are deliberately terrifying—the hair-raising driblet of "Boomshakatak" still provokes a fight-or-flying sensation every time I hear it. —Colin Joyce

95. Aazar - "Rundat" (2014)

French producer Aazar scrapes all the high-pitched frivolity off a Dutch house riff with steel wool, unearthing a lean, skeletal pulse that stings like a diamond-tipped whip. One of the unsung gems of Mad Decent's deep catalogue.— Ezra Marcus

94. ATB and Dash Berlin - "Apollo Route" (2011)

My trance phase was cursory, simply ane of the songs that's stuck with me is this 2011 team-up between two genre titans. "Apollo Road" is a slow-burning articulation, but so worth wading through to get to that pensive, plinking piano section. Its bubbles build is a brief moment of easily-in the-air bliss, before the rail rips through your body with its hacksaw synths. If there was e'er a song that fabricated me wish I were a fluffies-wearing kandi kid, information technology's this i.— Krystal Rodriguez

93. Alan Walker - "Faded" (2015)

Norwegian producer Alan Walker'south breakout hit feels shockingly singular amid the trap artillery race, despite sharing a title with ane of 2014's biggest EDM hits and having the same chorus every bit another. While The Chainsmokers were riding waveform roller coasters, Walker chose to make something weightless. Drifting pianoforte parts float around Fourth World synth percussion, resulting in what Enigma might throw together afterwards a big huff of helium. —Colin Joyce

92. Above & Beyond - "Tin can't Sleep" (2006)

British trio Above & Beyond's track "Can't Sleep" always floored me no affair where or when I heard it. Despite its speedy 133 BPM, celestial vocals and haunting keys brought the soaring runway downwards to earth. Listen closely to the pining lyrics and it reveals itself as a love song—a elementary, homo sentiment at the core of its breakneck pace. Striking play and tell me you don't feel a shiver creep downwardly your spine. —David Garber

91. Dillon Francis - "Masta Blasta" (2011)

The seasick moombahton of Dillon Francis' "Masta Blasta" helped define the playful, absurdist artful that Mad Decent pioneered in the early on 2010s. The characterization's occasionally moved onto more pop-friendly realms in recent years, simply this boom of chirping synths is a throwback to a time when yous could recognize any Mad Decent song within the first few seconds. —GRRL

90. Usher - "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Honey (feat. Pitbull)" (2010)

Usher and Pitbull'south self-enlightened, proto-EDM smash is a song about how a DJ playing other songs reminds Usher of an former romance. It is also nearly clubs and sex and beingness boozer, but primarily information technology is a song about how each of u.s.a. imbue music with vast amounts of personal significance. Which is something we've all idea about on the dancefloor, correct? As a genre predisposed to sweeping nostalgia, meta-EDM should accept been huge, but sadly Usher wasn't the pied piper he might accept been. —Josh Baines

89. OMI - "Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)" (2015)

Look, you could spend your precious time arguing over what is and what isn't tropical firm. Or y'all could plough this song upward to 11 while driving to the embankment on a sweltering summer's day, before cracking open some common cold ones with the boys or girls. Life's too brusk, and y'all all read that New York magazine story about climatic change, right?— Max Mertens

88. DEV - "Bass Down Low (feat. The Cataracs)" (2010)

Bay Area production duo the Cataracs brought their minimalist hyphy roots to bear on this low-slung vanquish for Californian vocalist DEV, which served in 2010 as a slick transition between bloghouse and EDM aesthetics.— Ezra Marcus

87. Shawn Wasabi and YDG - "Burnt Rice" (2015)

A disembodied voice declares at the summit, "Reality is lemons and the internet'due south my lemonade," which is plumbing equipment for the disorienting alloy of styles at play here. The fleet-fingered California producer draws through lines betwixt footwork, hardstyle, and trap, with the unpretentious approach of someone who grew up on the web, and has every sound within reach. —Colin Joyce

86. Young L - "Loud Pockets (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" (2011)

HudMo has so many era-defining anthems—like the wonky "Cbat" and Macbook advertisement-soundtracking "Chimes" —that information technology near feels wrong to skip them all in favor of a relatively unknown remix. But this rare jewel might be his best work. The Scottish wunderkind turns Young Fifty's minimal postal service-hyphy anthem within out, stuffing information technology with a bright menagerie of crystal synth shards and hyperventilating handclaps. Go dumb to this at a sideshow on Venus. —Ezra Marcus

85. Lido - "Money" (2014)

Drawing on his past as a performing fellow member of Norway'south just gospel choir, Lido drags festival fare into a cathedral on this 2014 rails, warping gilded electronics into major key jubilance that wouldn't sound out of identify on a chiliad chantry. Fittingly he'd later end up working with fellow choirboy Chance the Rapper, but "Money" was his first attempt at making secular vices feel like sacred music. —Colin Joyce

84. Blueish Foundation - "Eyes On Burn down (Zeds Dead Remix)" (2009)

Before they were an EDM household name working with the likes of Pusha T and Weezer's Rivers Cuomo, Zeds Dead were just two guys from Toronto throwing ane of the city's most frenzied weekly bass parties. The duo'southward stuttering dubstep homemade of the Danish dream-popular group's slow-burner "Eyes On Fire" helped them graduate from basement turn-ups to festival main stages. Millions of plays later, information technology'southward still every bit every bit capable of raising eye rates. —Max Mertens

83. Anna Lunoe - "B.D.D. (Bass Drum Dealer)" (2014)

Much similar obscenity, the idea of cool is kinda nebulous and undefinable, just you know it when you see it. And bluntly, I recollect Anna Lunoe'south "B.D.D. (Bass Drum Dealer)" is one of the coolest songs always made. There'due south no artifice. No overly-dramatic driblet. It's just a really, really, actually expert song that offers exactly what it promises—an illicit dose of kicking drum penalisation. —GRRL

82. Cascada - "Everytime We Touch" (2005)

This proto-EDM classic prepared a generation of mid-00s tweens for the festival lifestyle by inciting a zillion grape juice-fueled Bar Mitzvah political party rave-ups.— Ezra Marcus

81. Armin van Buuren - "Drowning (feat. Laura V) (Avicii Remix)" (2011)

Following a string of buzzy originals and remixes for Daft Punk, Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull, and David Guetta, a ascent Avicii fix his sights on another heavyweight: Armin van Buuren. Listening to information technology now is like re-watching the romcoms yous loved as a teenager. It'due south sweet, cheesy, and has definitely aged poorly, but information technology nonetheless leaves you nostalgic for the days when everything seemed simpler.— Krystal Rodriguez

eighty. Clockwork - "Surge (feat. Wynter Gordon)" (2013)

You don't only casually heed to Clockwork's "Surge." Rather, in the words of vocaliser Wynter Gordon, you "feel it all around you." She repeats the phrase over and over until information technology reaches semantic satiation—that's when yous realize that maybe she's talking most something like the dominant spirit of EDM itself. The uplifting electronics supplied by Clockwork (alter ego of RL Grime) help the vocal attain the total immersion information technology advertises.— Kitty

79. Destructo - "Higher" (2013)

Difficult boss Gary Richards' piece of work equally Destructo was often more than reserved than the screechy hedonists the promoter booked to play his festivals, but his 2013 track "Higher" finds him totally off the leash. Wobbly beats build upward, stretching Babel-similar to the EDM gods to a higher place, before tumbling into a sweaty electro maelstrom. Maybe the just lyric was a reminder Richards left to himself, as he pushes the boundaries of his buttoned-upward production manner: "Get higher, baby." —Colin Joyce

78. Brodinski and LOUISAHHH! - "Nobody Rules the Streets" (2012)

Before French producer Brodinski waded into the waters of Atlanta rap, he was making mutated electro from the radioactive runoff of Ed Banger and their bloghouse compatriots. Aided by gothy techno producer LOUISAHHH!, "Nobody Rules the Streets" is one of his well-nigh striking tracks. Crawling basslines and cervix-snapping percussion cast shadows amongst glowing neon, like a tense moment from a Nicholas Winding Refn film. A law siren rings in the distance as the song ends, threatening more than gloom to come. —Colin Joyce

77. Taio Cruz - "Dynamite" (2010)

Written in conjunction with Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Dr. Luke, and Benny Blanco, Cruz'south 2010 smash hit was the only apparent UK have on the whole EDM matter, which, generally speaking, we never gelled with. Similar well-nigh Anglicised versions of American ideas, "Dynamite" is a little tacky, brash, and misguided. Information technology is also fucking brilliant—a rushing, fizzy hit of pure pop excitement, the kind of nursery rhyme-simple song that sticks in your head for years. It might be the merely affair history remembers most Taio Cruz, but hey, that's fine. —Josh Baines

76. The Chainsmokers - "Don't Let Me Down (feat. Daya)" (2016)

It's been overshadowed by the confessional "Closer" and the 80s bombast of their 2017 debut Memories…Do Not Open, but the 'Smokers most dynamic single was really their smash "Don't Let Me Down." With an aid from the immature singer Daya, this song played a pivotal role in shifting the sound of the mainstream towards the heady concoction of trap-lite drums, trampoline synths, and singalong melodies that still dominates terrestrial radio.— Ezra Marcus

75. Avicii - "Silhouettes" (2012)

In the wake of the unexpected smash that "Levels" became, the line in "Silhouettes" almost having "the beaten path before united states" seems to indicate that Avicii'southward not very intent on replicating his stadium-sized hit. Instead, the vocal's low-key, bleary-eyed synth work was an early blueprint for his subsequently attempts at crossover, AOR cocky-assist pop. Information technology'due south the sort of chintzy stuff that you want to reject, but will bring you to tears in the back of an Uber at the terminate of a reckless Thursday night. —Colin Joyce

74. Knife Party - "Internet Friends" (2011)

Nothing sums up early-2010s 9GAG-core humor amend than the phrase "yous blocked me on Facebook, and at present you're going to Dice." Epic bacon dubstep culture at its shameless apex.— Ezra Marcus

73. Zedd - "Clarity" (2012)

I've heard that when you die, the terminal thing yous hear is a choir of angels exalting your ascent to the heavens with the joyous refrain and divine synth lines of "Clarity" past Zedd.— Kitty

72. Major Lazer - "B2GETHER (Mija Remix) (feat. Wild Belle)" (2015)

The original is a bit wearisome and soggy, but Mija lets the gorgeous vocal tune breathe past ramping up the BPM and coating the production in the confectionary glaze that's go her calling card.— Ezra Marcus

71. Keys North Krates - "Dum Dee Dum" (2013)

Few songs encapsulate the boneheaded glory of frat-trap improve than this. With fiddling more a song loop and rowdy 808s, this sounds just every bit massive booming from speaker stacks at a festival as from a Beats Pill at a dorm-room pregame.— Ezra Marcus

seventy. Saint and UNIIQU3 - "Yo (I'm Lit)" (2015)

Because of their skill at fusing bassline bombs with dizzying sample work, Jersey society producers similar Nadus, DJ Sliink, and UNIIQU3 take found favor among EDM'south A-listers in recent years. Tracks like "Yo (I'yard Lit)" bear witness why that brotherhood makes and so much sense. Saint and UNIIQU3's transformation of a vocal take into a chattery percussive part and M-eighty-like kicking-drums make this i feel similar it could level a stadium. It's club music as LRAD.— Colin Joyce

69. CETANA and moistbreezy - "Running" (2016)

Similar its title suggests, this Dim Mak single's an practise in speedy locomotion. Whirling arpeggios set it into frantic move, careening towards a precipice. And so, they speed correct off the border, Wile E. Coyote-like, unaware of the stomach-churning drop below. —Colin Joyce

68. Ellie Goulding - "Lights" (2011)

No drops to exist constitute here—for that yous'll have to peep the Bassnectar remix—but luminescent synth lines and metallic house beats past producer team Biffco helped this one scream from festival stages far and wide. Old after its release, Goulding featured heavily on some proper EDM bangers, but "Lights" remains her greatest flirtation with the dancefloor. It offers the sort of arms-raised, jiff-of-fresh-air moment needed between all the chaos. —Colin Joyce

67. Unicorn Child - "Demand U" (2012)

The assumption that drove Scottish producer Unicorn Kid on his euphoric track "Need U" was that perhaps trance wasn't quite outlandish enough. The track offered a funhouse mirror version of the sound, forth with a goofy anime-inspired video, which combined to puncture some of the hands-in-the-air self-seriousness that often attends trance civilisation. Plenty of songs work with the same high-energy ideas, but Unicorn Child figured out a way to make them lighthearted. —David Turner

66. Flosstradamus - "Rollup (Baauer Remix)" (2012)

When I was in college, I spent a lot of time in my beat-up Chevy Cavalier. Somehow I managed to destroy its stereo piece by piece until the merely thing that worked was the CD player, so I'd fire carefully curated mixes that stayed in rotation until the car'south inevitable death (natural causes). This rim-rattling remix was on mayhap…75% of those CDs. My friends all the same joke well-nigh how the only thing they recollect of when they hear information technology is how shitty my auto was. But this song is a fucking banger and my car was crawly and I'm especially honored that the retentiveness of its wrecked stereo lives on in a perfectly placed cough.— Kitty

65. Bassnectar - "Magical World (feat. Nelly Furtado)" (2010)

I may forget to mention my historical connection to the long-haired wobble lord known as Bassnectar if you were to chat me up during a rooftop fume interruption at a seedy techno rave. But my early experiences banging my 3D glasses-adorned head at hippie-palooza bass festivals similar Campsite Bisco were pivotal to discovering my path, profession, and all around life outlook.

My showtime dubstep love was the artist also known equally Lorin Ashton, and his at present canonical anthems including the Nelly Furtado-featuring "Magical World." That roiling bass do instantly teleports me back to those evil-smelling seas of dreadlocks, totems, and patchouli oil. It hasn't even been a decade since this song dropped, merely 1 of its top YouTube comments sums up my feelings succinctly: "The fucking Nostalgia is too much for me." —David Garber

64. Lorde - "Tennis Courtroom (Diplo'southward Andre Agassi Reebok Pump Remix)" (2014)

This Lorde flip shows Diplo beta-testing the now-standard tactic of transforming a pop star's melodies into a constructed dolphin squeal, which he'd utilize again to world-chirapsia effect on "Where Are Ü At present" the following year.— Ezra Marcus

63. Dimitri Vegas, Martin Garrix, and Like Mike - "Tremor" (2014)

Here, three big-room residents prove their chops not just every bit producers, but as mathematicians. Plugged into the 4/iv beat out, a single repeating melody becomes trance-similar. Elements drop in and out with perfect precision, the drops dividing and multiplying as the rails continues. Information technology'south the EDM formula perfected—a masterclass in amusement park physics and centrifugal force. —GRRL

62. Hardwell - "Spaceman (Carnage Remix)" (2012)

This remix of Hardwell'due south "Spaceman" is a prime example of Carnage doing what he does best—bringing interstellar synths crashing back to earth in a crumpled heap. There isn't a lot else to it. Information technology's only stupid hype. —GRRL

61. Nero - "Promises (Skrillex & Nero Remix)" (2011)

At the height of America's dubstep craze arrived a collaboration between two of the genre's biggest stars: UK'due south Nero, and homegrown ascent star Skrillex. Together, they remixed "Promises," a track off the former's 2011 debut anthology Welcome Reality. With the latter'south touch, the already bass-heavy track becomes a chaotic frenzy of chopped vocals and jagged synths, the musical equivalent of calculation a shot of espresso to a Red Bull.— Krystal Rodriguez

60. Peking Duk - "Loftier (feat. Nicole Millar)" (2014)

If whatever of chillwave'due south tape deck jugglers allowed themselves the full-on comedown nostalgia blitz their fuzzy music oftentimes hinted at, it might sound something like the four minutes of gasping synth parts and wailing sampled vocals that make upwards the Australian duo's "High." There'due south some edgeless lyrics well-nigh all the ways love is similar a drug, for good measure. How novel! If you think you've heard this one earlier, yous have, and it'due south very practiced.— Colin Joyce

59. NGHTMRE and Loudpvck - "Click Clack" (2016)

Have you lot seen what a hydraulic press tin can do to a set of speakers? This is like that, but with sub-bass bursts, hardcore kicks, and synths that could've easily ended upwards on a harsh noise rails. You'll desire to become out of the mode. —Colin Joyce

58. TOKiMONSTA - "Mileena'due south Theme" (2011)

The scuzziest drops have always owed a lot to video game soundtracks, just this song brought it total circle for TOKiMONSTA. Composed for a companion anthology to the 2011 installment of the legendarily violent fighting game Mortal Kombat , this one'south an ominous creeper composed of gory synths and foreboding drum work. It'south a fitting tribute to the titular Mileena, a sai-wielding assassin who occasionally uses her sharp fangs to sever the heads of her enemies.— Colin Joyce

57. Calvin Harris - "Let's Go (feat. Ne-Yo)" (2012)

Yeah, aye, I know, we all at present like Calvin Harris only as much as we like Mood Hut 12"s and new historic period cassettes and deconstructed guild music and Migos, simply honestly this one is up in that location with the best thing's the Scot ever did. Best known for being in a Pepsi ad, "Let's Get" pulls off the trickiest of feats—information technology actually sounds like gulping down a few gallons of fizzy pop. That is to say, it'due south all head-blitz and eventual dissatisfaction, but for a few minutes, information technology sounds like complete heaven. Ne-Yo—who was always better suited to upbeat EDM-infused R&B than IKEA-friendly slow jams—really gives it both barrels, and honestly, no vocal of the era makes me want to appear in a commercial for an evil product quite so much. —Josh Baines

56. Justin Bieber - "Beauty and a Beat (feat. Nicki Minaj)" (2012)

Industry trainspotter types may well exist aware that this Justin Bieber song was originally written for Zedd's 2012 debut Clarity, simply information technology's for the best that it didn't cease up at that place. Title track bated, naught on Clarity ever gets equally silly every bit this: it's stuffed with glitzy rails drops, time to come funk basslines, and Nicki Minaj rhyming "Selena" with "weiner." It'south not the festival destroyer it might have been as a stand-alone Zedd rail, only it does offering the hope of partying "like information technology's 3012," which is arguably more exciting anyway. —Colin Joyce

55. Hundred Waters - "Show Me Honey (Skrillex Remix) (feat. Chance The Rapper, Moses Sumney and Robin Hannibal)" (2016)

Equally the lone indie rock act signed to OWSLA, Hundred Waters have had some unique opportunities for a ring of their stature—similar last twelvemonth'due south remix of their shapeshifting single "Prove Me Honey" by the characterization boss himself. In his hands, the weightless original becomes the foundation for some bright crooning from songwriter Moses Sumney, and a poesy from Chance the Rapper hits like a concentrated dose of vitamin D. The distant boom of some dull-motion boot action is the lone cloud on this sunbeam—might also bask in the warmth while its nonetheless nice out. —Colin Joyce

54. Ducky - "Work" (2016)

Los Angeles producer Ducky offered the antithesis of EDM's escapist fantasia on her 2016 single "Work." It'due south a techno-indebted jacker, juiced upwardly with a stuttered vocal about being busy besides to do annihilation just keep your nose pressed to the belt sander of capitalism. There's no gleaming peaks or shuddering low-end exercises to take you out of the moment—just mill-similar efficiency and precise engineering from 1 of America'due south best young producers. —Colin Joyce

53. La Roux - "In For The Kill (Skrillex Remix)" (2010)

La Roux's 2009 breakout single "In For The Impale" received remixes from both Kanye W and dubstep originator Skream, only for sheer oomphs-per-minute, it's hard to beat Skrillex'due south jackknifed rework. Released a few weeks earlier from his epoch-defining "Scary Monsters And Sprites," the producer adds staticky bass and a claret-curdling shriek, only Elly Jackson's icy vocals cut through the layers of digital racket with striking clarity.— Max Mertens

52. Wolfgang Gartner - "Illmerica" (2010)

A breathless electro smash, combining EDC mainstage energy with nimble gear-modify drops that recall the punk energy of the Ed Banger years. The sound of a furry neon raver kick stomping on your face, forever.— Ezra Marcus

51. Flume - "Never Be Like You lot (feat. Kai)" (2016)

Every major electronic trope from the final 3 years—hobbling hip-hop drums, trance-inspired female vocals, the so-called "Flume drop,"—gets thrown in a blender, and somehow emerges not as a soggy mess just as a puff pastry of frothy pop maximalism.— Ezra Marcus

50. Carnage - "Bricks (feat. Migos)" (2014)

Pushing buzzing rap trends to their logical determination is one of Carnage'due south greatest strengths. Back in 2014, the boisterous EDM producer tapped Migos for bouncy trap banger "Bricks," helping elevate the Atlanta trio only as they were stepping out of the shadow Drake bandage over them by hopping onto their breakout hit, "Versace."

On "Bricks," Migos debuted an even more than adlib-heavy and distorted way than ever before, presaging the sound that would take them to number-one with "Bad and Boujee." Though Carnage would proceed to be an early collaborator with Famous Dex, Lil Yachty, Rich The Kid, and Ugly God, information technology was "Bricks" that demonstrated how EDM and rap could fully comprehend one other.— David Turner

49. QT - "Hey QT" (2014)

Information technology'southward unfortunate that the words "PC Music" make some cringe. Whether or not yous think they created an all-time great gimmick by giving off the appearance they were manufacturing uncanny-valley pop stars in a lab, the prankish collective wielded amazing pop songs beneath the smokescreen of hype. Never was this more apparent than on QT'south 1-off single "Hey QT," which co-masterminds SOPHIE and A.Yard. Cook tried to laissez passer off as an energy drinkable singing to an audition. (They even fabricated a limited amount of promotional beverages.) Pare dorsum all those layers and you've got a Carly Rae Jepsen-league shot of syrup that volition be stuck in your head (and teeth) for months. —Dan Weiss

48. Swedish House Mafia - "Don't You Worry Child (feat. John Martin)" (2012)

The Scandinavian trio's pocket-size cardinal adieu was likewise their finest moment. The teary-eyed moving ridge bye leaned heavily on prog-house'southward capacity for outsized emotion, to build toward a series of drops that felt similar an unabridged arena suddenly erupting into sobs. Its title was a subtle consolation to fans, equally if they were saying, "We don't know what comes side by side, but for now, at least we all have this song."— Colin Joyce

47. Eric Prydz - "Opus (4 Tet Remix)" (2015)

"Subtle" isn't an adjective often used to describe the maximal music of Swedish superstar Eric Prydz. Yet Four Tet'southward unlikely nine-minute remix of "Opus"—which spawned out of simple tweet by the British producer—manages to mellow out the oversupply-pleaser, while serving as a lesson in how to build tension. If they ever make a Nosotros Are Your Friends sequel, considering how much Zac Efron's character loves a ill drop, they should utilise this remix in the trailer— Max Mertens

46. Rusko - "Woo Heave" (2010)

I never had more fun in college than when my friends and I would plug an iPod into a bass amp in a dorm and boom Rusko tunes until security came. On "Woo Boost," as e'er, the British wobble pioneer gives his drops an impish personality, their melodies surfing over bottomless troughs of bass with a flash and a eye finger.— Ezra Marcus

45. Skrillex - "Breathe (Krewella Vocal Edit)" (2011)

It's piece of cake to capeesh Skrillex'southward recent forays into pop production and restrained "futurity bass," but I'll e'er cherish the era of 2010-2012 when his audience seemed to consist of Minecraft YouTubers and aroused BMX teens. Peak Skrill had so much shamelessness, purity, and soul—he was like ZZ Summit except channeling the unhinged id of the cyberspace'south underbelly instead of a Texas dive bar. Case in signal: this Krewella collaboration. Sonny's firing on all cylinders, with his trademark julienned vocal melodies and a snarling drop that moves similar a wingsuit stunt flyer cheating decease in a canyon. Revisiting this stuff after the last few years of tasteful, adult contemporary EDM-lite dominating the popular charts feels like sinking your teeth into an avenue-clogging sirloin later on too many kale smoothies. —Ezra Marcus

44. ZHU - "Faded" (2014)

A fittingly mysterious offer from a producer who began his career intentionally anonymous, "Faded" is EDM refracted through the grayscale lens of French New Moving ridge, 2-step, and James Bond themes. Information technology'southward muted, compared to much of what's on this list—more suited to an early on morning sunrise than a peak-hours fireworks display, which only adds to its surreal bliss. —Colin Joyce

43. Kaskade - "4 AM (Adam K and Soha Mix)" (2008)

Electronic music with indie cred at the end of the 00s was typically brash and loud (think Major Lazer and Justice) or subtle and downcast (Matthew Dear, Burial, Four Tet). But it was non, mostly, uplifting and emotional. These attributes were generally derided by the era's early adopters, until Araabmuzik re-introduced a generation of aloof college kids to the heart-opening pleasures of trance on his 2011 album Electronic Dream. One vocal he sampled almost wholesale on "Streetz This night" is this classic from 2008. The original still reigns supreme—a neon wormhole in the sky, sucking yous upward, up, and away.— Ezra Marcus

42. Mat Zo and Porter Robinson - "Easy" (2013)

British producer Mat Zo excels at a very particular flavor of uplifting, seamless prog-house, love by the kind of hardbody gym rats who carefully catalog every meal they eat. Porter Robinson injects a little soul into the high-definition gloss, courtesy of a heavily manipulated vocal melody with a bittersweet edge. This is "One More Time" for the Beatport set. —Ezra Marcus

41. Baauer - "GoGo!" (2015)

It's unfortunate that Harry Bauer Rodrigues' legacy in wider public consciousness is tied to a fluke meme, because he'due south long been 1 of the best producers excavating the crumbling foundations below trap and bass music. "GoGo!" is one of his nearly destructive efforts—the bassline crawls forth at a bulldozer'southward pace, fierce up whatever's in its path. Bursts of chopped-up vocals spring like flowers from the wreckage, a attestation to the joys of ripping it all up and starting once again. —Colin Joyce

forty. Duck Sauce - "Barbra Streisand" (2010)

While the video for A-Trak and Armand van Helden's "Barbra Streisand" features a who's who of music world cameos—including Kanye, Pharrell, Diplo, Chromeo, and the Roots' Questlove—it never overshadows how outrageously catchy this 2010 disco-house anthem is.

All together now: WOOO, WOOO, WOOO-OH. WOOO, WOOO, WOOO-OH. WOOO, WOOO, WOOO-OH. WOOO, WOOO, WOOO-OH. WOOO, WOOO, WOOO-OH. WOOO, WOOO, WOOO-OH. WOOO, WOOO, WOOO-OH. WOOO, WOOO, WOOO-OH. WOOO, WOOO, WOOO-OH. —Max Mertens

39. Waka Flocka Flame - "Hard in Da Paint (Bellizio Remix) (Crizzly Edit)" (2011)

More than one-half a decade subsequently this foundation-shaking edit of an edit first rumbled onto SoundCloud, it still follows me around. This thing can evidence upwardly anywhere: a low-key house party, quasi-ironically during a set by an otherwise cerebral IDM-ish DJ, the Indy 500 or, of course, at peak time during an EDC set. This remix—like many on this list—uses drops as super weapons, which makes its inescapability all the more unsettling. Have yous ever been stalked past an atomic flop? —Colin Joyce

38. RL Grime and What So Not - "Tell Me" (2014)

Two of trap'due south steeliest stuntmen concluded upward on a collision course in 2014 for this unexpectedly sensitive assemblage of speed demon spinouts and loftier energy leaps. It'd become a glossier, Skrillex-assisted sequel a few years afterwards with "Waiting," but like the best action movies, "Tell Me" balances feats of strength with emotional moments. It'southward an canticle for those who similar the sad parts in The Fast and the Furious series. —Colin Joyce

37. Flosstradamus and DJ Sliink - "Crowd CTRL" (2013)

Flosstradamus weren't patient nothing for the trap virus that spread across the mega-fests in the early 10s, simply they did seem to empathize its dynamics better than just about anyone else. This collaboration with New Bailiwick of jersey's DJ Sliink could function as a tutorial for all the different tricks that other producers working in the field would come to employ. They spring dizzily betwixt a diverseness of air-raid synth sounds, eardrum-busting bass drops, and martial percussion. Listen closely, you lot might larn something. —Colin Joyce

36. Carnage - "I Similar Tuh (feat. iLoveMakonnen)" (2015)

At that place'south a reason this song plays in the trailer for the underrated 2016 Shia LaBeouf vehicle American Dearest [full disclosure: American Honey was produced by VICE'southward Pulse Films] , which is basically iii hours of teens running wild, hooking up, and occasionally selling magazines on a trip through the country's hinterlands. Carnage and Makonnen's big-hearted candy-trap ode to drug-dealing as escapism makes the American dream feel (most) real. —Ezra Marcus

35. TroyBoi - "Afterhours (feat. Diplo & Nina Heaven)" (2015)

In that location's a reason this song is in pretty much every unmarried Apple Music "Trap" playlist, and that's the Diplo feature. Only at that place'due south more to the vocal than an A-list assist. There'south also a masterfully executed Boingy Drib and the druggy magic of its lyrics. Some stroke of genius inspired a perfect coalescence of molly thoughts ("I just wanna trip the light fantastic toe amid the stars") and thotty tweets ("These afterhours got me charged")—the combination of which gives me FOMO for parties that don't fifty-fifty exist.— Kitty

34. Mija and Vindata - "Better" (2016)

Two OWSLA standouts pull from happy hardcore, East Coast society music, and anime soundtracks for this three-minute dopamine injection. Mija'south "fk a genre" productions have become especially expert at evoking euphoria over the final couple of years, and this is ane of her happiest efforts. Cleft a smile, y'all deserve it. —Colin Joyce

33. Farrah Abraham - "The Phone Call that Inverse My Life" (2012)

Five years agone, Teen Mom star Farrah Abraham released My Teenage Dream Ended—an outsider fine art missive virtually heartbreak and pregnancy that is probably one of the about challenging records of our time. The album opens with "The Phone Phone call That Changed My Life," which uses off-key Auto-Tune and dubstep drops non to induce pleasure, but to capture the body horror and feet she experienced when she found out she was carrying. Her inversion of typically upbeat sonic tropes captures the nightmares lurking beneath the surface of everyday American life.— Ezra Marcus

32. Diplo - "Express Yourself (feat. Nicky Da B)" (2012)

Despite the icky purposes it'southward been used for, Nicky Da B and Diplo's 2012 anthem remains a radical ode to claiming space by moving your body around in it. The instrumental all but forces you to trip the light fantastic toe; jackhammering synth lines and a mechanical clap go along time as the tardily, smashing New Orleans rapper Nicky coaches you lot how to "spread your legs, now scout your back, become up and downwardly, and make it clap." —Colin Joyce

31. DJ Serpent and Lil Jon - "Turn Down For What" (2013)

Music is often (if not always) a product, so it stands to reason that i of the most enduring singles of the EDM era—a period of mainstream consumer interest in electronic music—sounds like a goddamn Mountain Dew commercial. Or a Project Runway advertisement. You know that a song'south reached mass-cultural condition when Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum are trying to "sing" along to a chorus that Lil Jon basically screams with all the subtlety of Golden Joe.

In other words, for a cursory moment, it truly felt like "Turn Downward for What" was everywhere, with DJ Snake's squealing-synth drop and Megalodon-sized drums barreling through every level of pop consciousness. I wish information technology never left. —Larry Fitzmaurice

thirty. Krewella - "Relish the Ride" (2013)

Earlier the departure of founding member Kris Trindl led them to reinvent themselves equally a 2-slice, Krewella were masters of the sort of synth-pop-with-a-drop that every major characterization A&R was after for a minute. "Enjoy the Ride" wasn't their about successful single on the charts, but it is their best—soaring on wind-tunnel trance synths, with choruses that seem to be bellowed in zero-thou. Information technology's less directly than 2013's "Alive," but as the championship suggests, the scenic route can exist rewarding, besides.— Colin Joyce

29. Dada Life - "Kickout the Epic Motherfucker" (2012)

These bald Swedish twins make gonzo electro-house for people who love FailArmy nut-shot compilations and wear horse-head masks to festivals. Their most famous song is dumb as rocks and fun equally hell—a heaping spoonful of twice-distilled, actress virgin, 2012-vintage Awesome Sauce. —Ezra Marcus

28. David Guetta - "Without Yous (feat. Usher)" (2011)

Writers spilled gallons of ink on PBR&B in the early 10s, but scarcely any on the far more than prevalent tendency of EDM&B. For several years, Euro superstars like Guetta recruited American singers like Usher, Kelly Rowland, and Akon for pounding anthems that stayed on rotation at mega-clubs from Shanghai to San Diego.

At the time, a lot these songs blended together, only in hindsight a few gems have emerged. This shameless slice of cheese might be the all-time of the bunch, as potent an expression of desire as you're likely to always hear blaring at a corporate team-building retreat. In an interview with MTV News about the collaboration, Usher summed upwards the guileless positivity of the EDM&B moment: "When you see R&B and pop and house, equally well as electronic, come together, that's the reality of what music is."— Ezra Marcus

27. Major Lazer and DJ Snake - "Lean On (feat. MØ)" (2015)

Diplo has spent his developed life traveling the globe, infiltrating musical hotspots, and partying and influencer-ing—all in pursuit of some kind of Lost Ark of bangers. DJ Snake—no slouch himself—helps him climb Everest hither. "Lean On" is the perfect summer jam, with skid & slide voices cut up betwixt spiked-juice verses and pool-grotto harmonies. Fable has it that no one'south ever lived to tell the tale sober. —Dan Weiss

26. The Chainsmokers - "Closer (feat. Halsey)" (2016)

The Chainsmokers' number-one striking with Halsey is probably purest representation of EDM's slow injection into popular's bloodstream (and vice versa). Like a lot of Top twoscore songs over the past one-half-decade, it hinges on compressed synth hits, soaring topline vocals, and the cyclical movements of EDM. Merely The Chainsmokers' whole schtick is taking that formula and using it as a canvass for vaseline-smeared visions of a half-remembered past. Smoothed-down edges and fogged-up lyrics lubricate their songs' glide into universal relatability. "Closer" doubles down on this gambit, shoehorning pointillist details of longing into a romantic Mad Libs narrative that you lot can't assist writing yourself into.— Colin Joyce

25. Dillon Francis and Diplo - "Que Que (feat. Maluca)" (2011)

Moombahton was robbed. The brusk-lived genre fell victim to a glut of copycats and a cringeworthy proper noun, merely for a shining moment, it gave EDM's bombast a rhythmic ability-up. With an help from the singer Maluca, Francis and Diplo manage to make squeaky Dutch synths audio legitimately sultry. This might be the genre's greatest moment.— Ezra Marcus

24. Rustie - "First Mythz" (2015)

The Scottish producer folds upward the history of maximalist electronic music—trance, prog house, EDM, and…OK, by and large trance—into a circuitous, dolphin-shaped origami. Past that, I mean he samples a dolphin. it rules. —Colin Joyce

23. Afrojack - "Take Over Control (feat. Eva Simons)" (2010)

Most of the fourth dimension when Dutch prog-firm crosses over it tends to be pretty formulaic. But Afrojack'due south track hit number-one on Billboard's Trip the light fantastic Charts for six weeks in a row and peaked at 41 on the Hot 100, despite begetting some of the about seasick production the genre's seen. The producer programs his synthesizers and unpredictable drops in boomeranging loops, as Eva Simons offers a circular, dizzy vocal over top. It's adventurous enough that it'll have you lot dry-heaving over the side of Holy Send!—but like, in a practiced way.— Colin Joyce

22. Lil Jon - "Outta Your Mind (feat. LMFAO)" (2010)

Redfoo and Sky Blu take more popular songs than "Outta Your Mind," just none of their hits touch the brick-through-a-window immediacy of what happened when Lil Jon tapped them for a runway for his 2010 anthology, Crunk Stone. Information technology forfeits the group'southward usual goofy Señor Frogs energy to reveal something harder and darker, each trainwreck drop demonstrating a Dionysian conventionalities in partying equally an act of total war. The title isn't just a not bad phrase—it'due south a code to live by.— Ezra Marcus

21. Kid Cudi - "Pursuit Of Happiness (Steve Aoki Remix)" (2009)

Instead of writing 400 words on why Aoki's flip of the rapper's Ratatat-produced, MGMT-assisted 2010 feel-good anthem is one of the brightest jewels in the Dim Mak founder's extensive discography, I'd like to directly your attention to this video of him performing at Mysteryland 2013. Later on playing the eponymous "Aoki Jump," he segues into the remix, conducting the crowd singalong from his elevated perch similar a Pied Piper of EDM. From in that location, block is thrown, champagne is sprayed, and a sea of glow sticks are waved in a synchronized trip the light fantastic. Information technology's six minutes and 13 seconds of unfettered audience joy, and if it doesn't put a smile on your dumb face up, and so I can't help you. —Max Mertens

20. Sleepy Tom and Anna Lunoe - "Pusher" (2015)

"Pusher," the 2015 single from producers Sleepy Tom and Anna Lunoe, is notable purely on the merits of introducing ii impressive talents to the EDM sphere. Sleepy Tom has since gone on to evangelize the satisfying smash Diplo collab "Be Right At that place." Lunoe, meanwhile, has emerged over the past two years every bit ane of the virtually stellar DJs and producers in the big-tent scene full-cease, as evidenced by her exhilarating remix of Flume and Tove Lo'due south "Say Information technology" to the monstrous summer jam "Godzilla."

With Lunoe's perfectly pitched vocals and the song'southward truly wild drib, though, "Pusher" delivers on its own merits, striking a center ground between party-hardy hedonism and zonked-out contemplation. Most moments in EDM are ephemeral, but we'll exist listening to "Pusher" for years.— Larry Fitzmaurice

19. The Bloody Beetroots - "Warp ane.9 (feat. Steve Aoki)" (2009)

The turn of the 2010s represented a meridian both for EDM as a commercial phenomenon and for the more than aggro-leaning side of Steve Aoki's Dim Mak label. "Warp i.9," mayhap the definitive rail from that particularly fruitful catamenia of hook-laden abrasiveness, saw Aoki teaming with the masked Italians the Bloody Beetroots. Compared with standard EDM excess, the Beetroots offered something a little more grayscale, a little more than raw and gothic. When paired with Aoki's smiling energy, the runway stands out like a dose of digital acid within a sea of sweetness.— GRRL

eighteen. Madeon - "Finale" (2012)

Information technology was merely a matter of time earlier an FL Studio whiz finally stumbled upon the neon-lit, heavy-lidded spirit of Phil Collins' solo work. And like a lost cut from that artist's 1985 studio album, No Jacket Required, "Finale" is gleaming, high-drama pop at its finest. Madeon'southward prismatic synth runs and dial-tone arpeggios only add further color to the super-saturated track. The event is then bright that you tin can't look abroad, even if you wanted to.— Colin Joyce

17. Calvin Harris and Rihanna - "We Plant Love" (2011)

It'southward near impossible to pin downwardly Rihanna'south most iconic tune. Is it "Umbrella," the big-tent carol that hung its giant chorus over Pro Tools drums? "Work," the Drake duet that swirled over 2016 like hookah smoke? Or is her most enduring anthem this undeniable Calvin Harris collaboration? Anyone who's adopted a cat to cope with the Trumpocalypse will surely place with the idea of finding love in a hopeless place. That's why "Nosotros Establish Beloved" transcends EDM. It'due south not willing the listener to escape; it's asking them to wait for the calm within the centre of the storm. —Dan Weiss

xvi. REZZ - "Edge" (2016)

REZZ rose to prominence through a deadmau5 co-sign, merely her music's a little more grim than you lot'd expect. "Border," her biggest hit, crawls along at an industrial pace, more Wax Trax! than mau5trap. Its monotonic synth parts and nauseating bass drones render it bleaker than well-nigh anything else in the EDM orbit, and that's the beauty of it. At the time, she warned listeners to "be careful not to get sucked into the completeness plz." But that's a shame, because it'due south a pretty tempting void. —Colin Joyce

15. Porter Robinson and Madeon - "Shelter (Slushii Remix)" (2017)

When we profiled the young Bailiwick of jersey-born producer Slushii, he told u.s. his goal was to make the most "feelsy" music possible. What that means on this remix of Porter Robinson and Madeon's "Shelter"—the original of which already has poignancy to spare—is a Skrillex-indebted combination of pitch-shifted vocals, sparkling synthetic texture, and hyper-kinetic drops. Slushii loves kawaii civilisation (his logo is an adorable anthropomorphic soft drink modeled on a Yu-Gi-Oh card), and hither, his production overflows with the cartoonish physics and exaggerated sentimentality of anime. —Ezra Marcus

fourteen. deadmau5 - "Raise Your Weapon" (2011)

Deadmau5's "Enhance Your Weapon" stands out amidst its uplifting, party-hearty EDM ilk as an emo canticle. "Rippin' my middle was so easy, and then like shooting fish in a barrel," begins vocalist Greta Svabo Bech over brooding piano chords. A iii-act rail, it morphs into the Canadian producer's signature prog-house sound, so builds to a devastating dubstep conclusion wrought with co-writer Skrillex's malfunctioning-machine influence. Despite its downer lyrics, the single became a festival favorite, earning a 2012 Grammy nomination and LED-heavy performance at the ceremony .—Krystal Rodriguez

thirteen. Nero - "Nighttime Skies" (2015)

Lots of EDM acts are loud and fun, simply few are likewise as night, romantic, and stylish every bit Nero. Like the ring'south best work, "Dark Skies" spares none of the bass activeness, simply comes off more like the soundtrack to a Japanese neo-noir than a sloppy festival tent. —Ezra Marcus

Building on the early on 2000s Southern hip-hop pattern established past producers similar Polow da Don and Lex Luger, the bass-heavy, glass-shattering instrumentals on TNGHT'due south self-titled EP bridged the gap between stadium EDM and rap. At that place are weirder songs on Hudson Mohawke and Lunice's joint opus (note the babe coos on "Buggin'"), simply none of them hit harder than "Higher Ground," with its delirious vocal sample, thunderous handclaps, and synthesized tuba blasts. 5 years later, the rest of the music world is yet communicable up. —Max Mertens

xi. Kanye Westward - "Mercy (RL Crud & Salva Remix)" (2012)

An eerily Biblical dancehall sample? Big Sean making cringeworthy ass-related puns? 2 Chainz rapping circles around everybody? When it first saw release as role of the G.O.O.D. Fridays serial, "Mercy" was pretty much everything y'all'd ever want from a Kanye posse cutting. But in the hands of WEDIDIT linchpin RL Grime and fellow Los Angeles beatmaker Salva, information technology transformed into something harder, faster, stronger, and arguably, better. If this remix didn't be, HARD Summer would demand to find a way to invent it.— Max Mertens

ten. Cashmere Cat - "Mirror Maru" (2012)

With his early output, Magnus Baronial Høiberg tried cultivating a more introverted strain of EDM. "When I was making that music, I was thinking more of a daughter or a boy alone in their bedroom listening to it, than a crowd total of people going insane," he told THUMP earlier this yr.

The Norwegian producer'south 2012 single "Mirror Maru" is one of his most successfully pillowy works from that era. Trance-y keys circle around feather-light synth parts, hopscotching kickdrums, and—in a nod to his Jersey club influences—the playful squeak of a bedframe. There's no drop, no high-proceeds synths—just a bed of rippling riffs for you to sink into. No wonder the song concluded up on a video game soundtrack—it's the perfect music for closing the windows and letting the shades down on a bright summer solar day. —Colin Joyce

9. Major Lazer - "Pon De Floor (feat. Vybz Kartel)" (2009)

The all-time moments on Diplo and Switch's 2009 LP equally Major Lazer offered a warped take on dancehall, one that transcended pastiche and potential cries of cultural co-option to create a sound so conflicting and distinctive information technology prepare its own trends. Nowhere is that skill more apparent than on "Pon De Floor," a Caribbean-inspired scorcher co-produced by DJ Mag's favorite Dutchman Afrojack, with brazen come up-ons courtesy of veteran Jamaican MC Vybz Kartel.

The synths whirr like five-alarm burn down sirens, but the single's marching-band drums are the real show-stopper, capable of making even the shyest of fans engage in some reckless living room daggering. Two years afterward its release, the song would get the backbone of Beyoncé's nautical chart-topping empowerment anthem "Run the World (Girls)," cementing its place in the pantheon of EDM-pop crossover classics.— Max Mertens

8. Marshmello - "Alone" (2016)

It is a miracle how full this vocal about emptiness manages to be, its digitized vocals serving as a chirping embodiment of 21st century isolation. There's also the fact that the producer doesn't project a human being image—bucket head aside, Marshmello wears all white and communicates to the world not in interviews, only through Instagram captions. And yet this vocal feels so warm, like a Nintendo 64 melting over a campfire. Singing along, we can all be alone, together.— David Turner

7. Porter Robinson - "Sad Machine" (2014)

The championship of this mail service-apocalyptic duet between Robinson and a piece of vocaloid software—the aforementioned tech that makes Hatsune Miku happen—is pretty literal. Both singers audio like androids, drifting in slow-motion inside an uncaring creation and yearning for something alike to human being contact. The beat out's accordingly weightless, a collage of digitalist synth piece of work swelling inside vast open spaces. It shows function of what makes Robinson then great: he tin can anthropomorphize machines, lending feeling to heaps of metal and silicon. —Colin Joyce

six. Jack Ü - "Where Are Ü Now (feat. Justin Bieber)" (2015)

Where were you when you lot beginning heard "Where Are Ü At present"? I was in the business district of New Orleans at 7:30 in the morning, stumbling through a hangover to notice coffee and breakfast sandwiches before going on a gator tour. The song overwhelmed me (I was hungover), only "Where Are U At present" wasn't only a moment for me.

It was a moment for Diplo, who was emerging out of a quiet period and would continue to rightfully retake his position every bit 1 of pop'southward most potent producers. It was a moment for Skrillex, who finally got his own due as a melodic genius after years of derision both earned and unearned. And it was a moment for pop's King Joffrey, Justin Bieber, who needed a hit like this to distract people from, well, everything else. And guess what? It worked.— Larry Fitzmaurice

five. Justice - "D.A.N.C.East." (2007)

When they blew upward on the bloghouse circuit in the mid-aughts, Gaspar Augé and Xavier de Rosnay were leather-jacketed, distortion-peddling Jesus Christ Superstars for whom nostalgia meant "P.Y.T." and the old-school HBO logo. This monolithic Michael Jackson tribute folded loads of references into its children's choir, disco strings, and harpsichord, along with Ed Banger'south signature walking bass and all sorts of touches that haven't been heard at the VMAs since. No 1 has connected trip the light fantastic music to maximalist stone & roll quite like this.— Dan Weiss

iv. Flux Pavilion - "Bass Cannon" (2011)

There's an argument to be made that filthy dubstep was the last truly original audio, with everything that followed devolving into mere genre synthesis or tweaks on a well-known formula. Call back about it: when they emerged at the end of the aughts, demonic wobbles offered a genuinely shocking break in the continuum of popular music, unleashed from deep within the Ableton matrix by a generation of Monster Energy™-fueled ravers seeking something harder.

Of form, nobody ever did much with the sound other than construct ludicrous drops. Merely when you consider songs like "Bass Cannon," that complaint feels kinda wimpy. Flux Pavilion is a primary of cartoonish dynamics, his wall of bass crushing the nimble marimba riff like an avalanche falling on a teacup.— Ezra Marcus

iii. Britney Spears - "Till the World Ends" (2011)

Did Britney Spears invent EDM? Put aside the outlandishness of the proffer for a minute, and consider the way female person vocalists typically appear inside the context of the genre-cum-marketing-term: painted on with total anonymity, not unlike the bare android faces in the imitation-deep Will Smith sci-fi actioner I, Robot. There's a ton of subtext to be read into this endless trend, well-nigh all of it relating to manufacture-based misogyny—and Spears has certainly been through the wringer when it comes to the myriad ways that the music industry chews up and spits out female artists.

"Till the World Ends," from Spears' 2011 album Femme Fatale, was borne from Spears' latest career phase—managed by a conservatorship that was set following her highly publicized mental wellness struggles in the mid-to-late-2000s. She's sounded similar a ghost in the machine of her own music e'er since, and this item confection—spun to sugary perfection by producers Max Martin, Alexander Kronlund, Ke$ha, and Dr. Luke—is no exception. The "whoa-oh-oh"southward audio like candy-painted drill bits irksome into the track'south cool, metal foundation. It'southward silly, impersonal, and an uncanny presaging of the "Live for today, because tomorrow may never come up" mental attitude that would come to define EDM every bit a whole. In other words, it's just as piece of cake to overthink as information technology is to play over for the eightieth time. —Larry Fitzmaurice

two. Avicii - "Levels" (2011)

Imagine "Levels" in a vacuum. Forget the frats, and the festivals, and every time you heard information technology piped from the speakers at CVS at four in the morning time. Taken on its ain terms, there's something strange about it. The cold fusion of diva vocals and stadium synths leaves a chemical aftertaste, a bolt of android power streaking over the crowds in the Las Vegas desert. It's a mail-human sonic weapon—an alluring, frightening certificate of just how acme "height EDM" could be.— Ezra Marcus

1. Skrillex - "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" (2010)

Recall when people hated Skrillex? Information technology feels similar forever ago, simply in that location was a time in the 2010s when merely mentioning his name would make people (mostly, music critics) get absolutely apeshit. He was perverting the true nature of dubstep! His haircut sucked! He used to be emo! As well, his fans were terrible!

Like well-nigh music criticism, very fiddling of these gripes accept held up years afterward—and the song that started information technology all, "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites," still bangs. Information technology's an otherworldly combination of old-school video game music, gross-sounding basslines, internet detritus, and the wide-eyed optimism of the lap-pop music made by the Postal Service, Lali Puna, and the Notwist in the early 2000s. Listening back today, it reads like a Calvin-peeing windshield decal in the face up of genre purism, and seems to predict today's post-genre pop music landscape.

And tin can yous talk about "Scary Monsters and Overnice Sprites" without mentioning the drop? It's the song that launched a thousand bass faces. It practically fabricated "the drop" a mainstream term—to the point that, afterwards the vocal's release, Skrillex himself couldn't even share his favorite Aphex Twin song without beingness plagued past a thousand people asking, "Where's the drib?"

And with good reason: no other faux-dubstep-era "drop"—the kind anchored around bass so coruscating and abrasive that it knocks the fillings loose from your teeth—has sounded so simultaneously aggressive and melodic. (You could whistle information technology, even.) Over the last five years, both Skrillex's piece of work and overground electronic music at large accept moved far by the blocky brilliance of "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites," just both would sound unquestionably unlike if it never existed. You can't light a powder keg without a match. —Larry Fitzmaurice

This commodity was originally published on THUMP.

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Source: https://www.vice.com/en/article/bjjdgv/the-101-best-edm-songs-best-dance-songs-of-all-time

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