It’s that time of the year again – The Bangin Beats narrows down the most iconic moments of the year gone by. As we bid adieu to 2013, we look back on the events, surprises, takeovers, (b)romances, chart-toppers and controversies that defined the dance music world this year. If you think we’ve missed out on anything particularly spectacular or scandalous, be sure to leave a comment below!
10. The Year of the Standoffs
The king of rants and undisputed winner of tweet wars, Deadmau5, abdicated his social media throne and launched his own online community this year to focus more on his music, but not without a grand exit. With victims including Madonna, Afrojack, Lady Gaga, Flo Rida, and even DJ Mag, the deadly mouse left no one he disagreed with unscathed this year.
The runner-up for most controversial person of the year goes to Afrojack (who?), who was publicly embarrassed when he was given the persona non grata treatment by Eminem at the MTV Europe Music Awards. But the DJ knew better than to stand up to the real Slim Shady, instead choosing to jocularly let him know what his name was.
9. The Music of Wall Street
EDM became an investment when SFX Entertainment, the “largest producer of live events and entertainment content focused exclusively on electronic music culture”, went public in October with a highly successful IPO, debuting at $13 a share (less than the cost of most concert tickets). SFX, the new owner of Beatport amongst its many acquisitions, focuses both on the club scene and on multi-day festivals both in the USA and Europe, like TomorrowWorld, Mysteryland and Electric Zoo. Upon going public, SFX stated: “We view [electronic music culture] as a global generational movement driven by a rapidly developing community of avid followers among the millennial generation.” Word.
8. The World Domination of Ultra Music Festival
Since 1999, for one annual weekend in March every year, Miami was transformed into the loudest carnival of music and colour in the name of Ultra Music Festival, and it was ULTRA amazing. But in 2013, creators decided to give their fans something more. The festival was expanded to fit over 2 weekends! And since 2007, it’s been spreading its wings all over the world, much to fans’ delight. From Ibiza to Buenos Aires to Seoul, a couple of more locations were decided upon in 2013, including Colombia, Japan and South Africa. You might have felt like you were missing out before, but now with this slow but sure global takeover, you won’t feel the pangs of FOMO ever again. This is one expansionist power we don’t mind being ruled by!
7. Settle Doesn’t Settle
The electronic music bromance of actual English brothers, Guy and Howard Lawrence aka Disclosure, made for some white-outlined gold this year. The record breaking success of their debut album Settle landed them the #1 spot on the U.K. charts and a subsequent 2014 Grammy-award nomination among the likes of well established artists like Calvin Harris and Daft Punk. Disclosuremania is already sweeping the EDM world, and soon they’ll probably be touring packed stadiums and clubs worldwide, having come a long, long way since that one song you heard and loved, Latch.
6. One Last Concert
They came, they raved, they loved, they split up. Audiences around the world suffered mixed emotions when the progressive house holy trinity, Axwell, Angello and Ingrosso, aka Swedish House Mafia, announced that they would be calling it quits in 2012, but also that they would be embarking on one last world tour. Only four years old at the time, the trio had already conquered hearts and charts, and as the mafia made its five-month long romp around the world, the bittersweet feeling was swept away by the goosebumps and the magic of witnessing them live. Of course, the trio went out in style, performing for the last time by both opening and closing UMF this March.
5. Motherf***ing Animals!
In the 20-and-under category, if 2012 was Madeon’s year, 2013 was Martin Garrix’s. Hailing from the Netherlands (no surprise there), the youngest anonymous-turned-artist ever to hit a #1 single on Beatport rose shot to stardom this June with banger Animals. Capturing the attention of drop-addicts across the EDM circuit, the track soon became a festival/club/gig/concert must-play and inspired a bevy of remixes, edits, mashups, you-name-it. The 17-year old may make you feel a little inadequate, but one can’t help but stand in awe when hearing the distinct drop that has come to symbolize 2013 in dance music. The world hasn’t seen a rarity like this since Avicii and his baby Levels back in 2011, making Master (because he’s too young to be a Sir) Garrix one to watch.
4. Debutante TomorrowWorld
People of TomorrowWorld! Little sister to the number one in the EDM festival universe, TomorrowWorld made its way across the Atlantic this September, making the United States the most rave-happy destination on Earth this season. The Book of Wisdom added another successful chapter to its story, featuring acts like the Afroki bromance and Laidback Luke’s superhero brigade, replicating the Belgian adventure flawlessly, totem poles et al. Relive the magic and the madness here.
3. Hardwell is Crowned #1
Putting an end to the clash of the titans between Armin Van Buuren and David Guetta, there was barely any protest when heartthrob Hardwell was crowned the #1 DJ in the world. He’s been steadily rising since the age of 16 and this year, the ‘I Am Hardwell’ star finally caught up with the dream he’s been chasing, joining the hall of fame by being the best in 2013. The king also came clean on the issue of ghost productions year, admitting to ghost producing one of the top 10 tracks on Beatport. While this came as a shock to many, it wasn’t surprising that the track reached one of the top 10 spots. Whether Hardwell was simply admitting to one of the unsaid happenings that are part and parcel of the the EDM world or quite understandably bragging, it was quite a shock worthy revelation.
2. Avicii’s Experiments Expertise
The Walter White of the dance music world, Avicii went from kingpin to underdog and back to kingpin this year, when he experimented with his album True to create his own meth country/rock-dance music empire. The Swedish prodigy left audiences in shock and then awe, with a crossover of genres, blending soul, folk, funk, bluegrass, country and rock with dance music. When you first heard him at Ultra you might have said WTF, but since then the only reactions to his album have been OMG. He’s changed the landscape of dance music, making it more unrestricted and fluid, dismantling boundaries between music lovers. True stuck to its name and made some true fans in the world.
1. EDM fans Get Lucky
The last time that we heard the French electro duo was in 2007, when they released their album Alive. After that, it was almost as if they went underground, surfacing only to compose the score for the film Tron: Legacy, and not much else. But what we should have known and expected was that they were preparing for the perfect moment to amaze us once again. And that happened when Random Access Memories was released unto the world, creating musical euphoria and cementing the elusive electrobots’ position as the kings of dance.
2013 also witnessed the return of trance music pioneers Paul Oakenfold and Andy Blueman. Note: We say ‘return’ and not ‘comeback’ as these legends could never fails us.
Written by: Vedika Berry & Mallika Pal
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