2012 was a huge year for dance music industry worldwide. EDM has risen to the greatest levels particularly in the US and slowly gaining recognition in other parts of the world including India. We saw some big releases over the year, more & more festivals coming up especially dedicated to this sphere of music and lot of young producers also coming into the game. As 2012 comes to an end, we at Bangin Beats present to you 15 biggest tracks of the year 2012 picked by our team members and through a poll we ran on our website asking people to vote for their favorite tracks. So, here are the results and with no surprise Swedish House Mafia’s #DYWC takes the number one spot in our countdown receiving the maximum number of votes. Scroll down for the entire countdown (1-15) of 2012′s biggest EDM tracks. We also present you a very special end of year mix of our top 15 #bangin tracks which you can listen to or download for free. The link to which u can find at the bottom of the post.

The Swedish House Mafia was 2008′s breakout electronic act, but they’ve recently scored a huge pop hit this year with their latest single, Don’t You Worry Child. This song is an occasional stroke of genius.

We hope that the Mafia’s new found success will cause them to re-think this whole “break up” thing. They’ve recently become one of the few EDM artists to have scored a massive pop hit without selling out. Perhaps it was the group’s intention to go out on their highest note? If that was indeed their plan, then we applaud you, Swedish House Mafia. “Don’t You Worry Child” truly is a high note, not only for you, but the genre’s venture into the mainstream as well.
Youtube | iTunes

This melodic heavy festive banger by the swedes, Alesso & Sebastian Ingrosso was released on Refune Records as an instrumental back in 2011. After gaining immense support and love, the track was released again in March 2012 as a vocal mix pertaining the magical voice of none other than Ryan Tedder, the front-man of renowned band One-Republic. The vocals took the track to a whole new level, it was “The Anthem” for the entire summer and is one of the best collaboration we’ve seen this year.

Youtube | Beatport

Dutch superstar “Hardwell” continues to amaze us . His infectious track ‘Apollo’, featuring Amba Shepherd has been undoubtedly a “Massive” track of 2012. Big room elements appear here and there throughout the song but with a twinge of glitch that makes the track more unique than expected. Shepherd’s vocals, though short-lived, have a strong appearance, ringing out in breathy lullabies across the break. Hardwell claims he was going for something “fans could actually feel,” closer in theme to “Three Triangles,”– something listeners could connect to.

Youtube | Beatport

What really makes this track so great, is the progression throughout the track. Alesso & Dirty South combine many different elements taking the track from a slow paced sing along, to a house anthem, connecting each listener in a different way. Let’s not forget the great vocals by Ruben Haze. They really add that special touch. This is also the follow up to Alesso – Years which hit the #1 spot on the beatport charts after its release.

Youtube | Beatport

Two of the games BIGGEST names, Sebastian Ingrosso and Tommy Trash have collaborated and created a completely killer track ‘Reload’. In ‘Reload’ these two titans join forces to showcase a dynamic blend of styles, utilizing their ample studio experience to its fullest as they break new ground. At once muscular and melodic, the fusion of these two producers’ talents is fresh, exciting and nothing short of exceptional. While the galloping drums and pulsing, distorted bassline ensure that energy is kept at fever pitch throughout, the emotive melody is able to build to its climax in a wave of soaring synths.
Youtube | Beatport

Great progressive jam right here. In My Mind’ is the product of 4 Australians artists, Ivan Gough, duo Feenixpawl (Aden Forte and Josh Soon) & vocalist Georgi Kay. Axwell’s mix of ‘In My Mind’ has definitely become one of the best anthems for the EDM genre in 2012. The official video for the song was released and it went in the direction we expected. It is full of beautiful women with all smiles on throughout the video.
Youtube | Beatport

“People are really going to like ‘Ladi Dadi’ “, Steve Aoki says of his pop skewing offering with the American songstress. “Dubstep is a major influence in my production lately”, he continues. Gordon had a #1 hit in Australia with “Dirty Talk” in 2011 and performed on our shores on New Year’s Eve 2011/12. Arguably, no other producer has done more to raise the international profile of Los Angeles in underground electronic music circles than Steve Aoki. Tommy Trash remixed the track amazingly bringing his signature progression and riffs into it perfectly blending with the vocals of Wynter Gordon. 2012 was blessed with such an amazing track.
Youtube | Beatport

Deadmau5, one of the best producers out in the game enlightened us with “The Veldt” this year, a soothing melodic progressive track layered with flawless vocals by Chris James based on the short story of the same name by Ray Bradbury. Don’t think many of you out there would know this, but Joel had uploaded an instrumental of Veldt on his soundcloud page prior to it’s release and out of nowhere Chris James created his vocal version of it, shared it with deadmau5 & Bam! Joel liked it and we got ourselves a hit. Adding to it, Tommy Trash created a hell of a remix of Veldt, a more club/festival friendly version of the original and was seen to be played by many DJs over the year in their sets. In total, “The Veldt EP” was one of the must have releases of 2012.

Youtube | Beatport

With a UK chart hit under his belt and a slew of big name remixes, Otto Knows is yet another young Swedish DJ to enter the big-leagues. “You can hear I used a kick drum that was really fat and left it pretty high in the mix. I always EQ my kicks and might make a custom kick by using the top end from one kick sample and the low from another” quoted by Otto Jettman. After releasing his original mix “Boss,” Jonas Törn has received high praise among his Swedish counterparts, but has maintained his enigmatic status among the rest of the world. Now however, TORN has come out swinging with an incredibly distinct Refune Records remix to Otto Knows’ viral sensation “Million Voices.” The maestro’s sensational style is comparable to that of Wolfgang Gartner’s, but with a funky twist.
Youtube | Beatport

Afrojack continues to demonstrate his incredible versatility for creating EDM, he has created bombs in almost every conceivable subgenre. He stands alone in his ability to jump from progressive house to Dirty Dutch, and its perhaps one of the reasons his live sets are so epic. This track is his second collaboration with Shermanology, and it is a huge banger from 2012. The lyrics are excellent, and the high-falutent synth line throughout the track sweetens the track into a highly catchy anthem.
Youtube | Beatport

Dada Life, the swedish duo known for bringing big phat bass in their tracks and they didn’t fail to do that in their banger “Feed The Dada” which was released in August 2012. This track helped Dada Life gain recognition worldwide, and now they are definitely one of biggest EDM acts in the world. 2012 was definitely a big year for the duo as they also released their debut album “Rules Of Dada“. Do watch the official video to it if u haven’t – depicting all the craziness & fun the duo are famous about.
Youtube | Beatport

Deniz Koyu, the Turkish DJ has made his mark in this booming dance music industry. Following up to his 2011 hit “Tung”, he released “Bong” in 2012 which was supported by DJs like Tiesto, Fedde Le Grand and more. Then, he came up with “Follow You” in September alongside the pop princess Wynter Gordon creating a dance hit that saw everyone one of us partying to and sing-a-long at the same time. Deniz Koyu is definitely the producer to look out for in 2013.
Youtube | Beatport

Avicii, who took the world by storm with his massive hit “Levels” in 2011 that certainly contributed in changing the dance music scenario all around, came up with another vocal accompanied track “Silhouettes” featuring the voice of Salem Al Fakir in 2012. Avicii grabbed his eyes on Syn Cole, a young Estonian DJ who successfully remixed “Silhouettes” by bringing the likeable big room festival sound to it keeping the vocals & the original melodic work intact. Premiering it at Creamfields and naming the remix after it, the track got immense support and raged the Beatport charts during its release. This was definitely one of the most played out tracks by DJs in the year of 2012.

Youtube | Beatport

Porter Robinson, The 20-year old young American DJ has been in the limelight for the better half of 2012 since the release of “Language” in April 2012 on the renowned label of “Ministry of Sound”. Bringing his own new sound to this track, he perfectly mastered the track with distorted breakdowns, symphonies, mesmerizing vocals and a melody that is so catchy that it just can’t get out of one’s head. Porter Robinson was for sure the breakthrough DJ of 2012.
Youtube | Beatport

Skrillex came out with original version of “Breakin’ A Sweat” along with the band “The Doors” in late 2011. Following up Zedd released a remix of the same in Feb 2012 bringing his signature complextro sound to this Dubstep production. Zedd enhanced the flare of the original melody brilliantly keeping the vocals intact at the same time, mixing the track to perfection. It might be 8 months since the track was out, but it still sounds fresh whenever you play it out loud.
Youtube | Beatport

Listen to the complete 1-hour mix of the countdown here :

Beatport Mix

Free Download | External Link

We thank everyone who voted in our poll to help us choose the top 15 tracks of 2012. We look forward to some more #bangin releases in 2013.
Till then, we wish our readers a very Happy New Year.

- The Bangin Beats Team