Radioshow MaxBisi
MaxBisi - Back2TheBass - Episode 047 (Yearmix 2015) (12.30.2015) original

This is a special episode of my show #Back2TheBass with my favorite 18 tracks of 2015. Around 80 minutes, no talking, just music. Enjoy.

If you wanna know more why I chose a certain track, here you have a more detailed description:

1. Amersy - GO [Rufune]
   THE Miami Music Week 2015 track for me. It has so much energy, I love it when Steve dropped as the first track of live broadcast at Ultra. Amersy had a great year in general, other tracks that I digged were his LMHYS Remix (finally out!), Vavilon with Shapov and Air. And of course I loved his energetic set during ADE at the Code Red Label Night.

2. Shapov - Runic [Axtone]
   Apropos Shapov. He had simply a fantastic year – he really produced banger after banger this year.I chose representatively Runic here because I’d digged it before when it leaked under the title “If World Was Different”. But I could’ve also taken Disco Tufle, Party People, Vavilon, Everybody, Dream About It or his Paradigm Remix. It’s great that Axwell is giving him the platform to expose his special sound design I felt in love with this year.

3. Gemellini - Cavenda [Sosumi]
   It was a great second year for Sosumi Records, the label of my favorite producer Kryder. Especially this EP where you can also find Cavenda on was amazing. That track really caught my attention when I heard it first on Kryteria. That dark first drop with the vocal chops and second layer in the second drop – mindblowing! Absolutely beautiful housy track.

4. Tannergaard - Sundance (Original Mix / Kryteria Blaze Edit) [Sosumi]
   But wait, there’s more! With no doubt, this was my personal Summer track 2015. I simply love the synth that simply spreads summervibes. I will never forget how I sang “miau-miau, miau-miau-miau-miau-miau” to that synth. I also loved Kryder’s vocal version which he secretly gave away in a comment under a facebook post hence I played it in the mix.

5. Will K – Here Comes The Sun (Original Mix / Tom Staar Remix) [Armada Trice]
   It was THE year of Will K. The young Australian (younger than me!) released on label like Sosumi or Code Red. And also on Armada Trice with “Here Comes The Sun”. I love the vocal, it fits so great! And also Tom Staar’s version is absolutely fantastic and shows another, more emotional face of this track. But I decided to take the Original mainly because I saw Knife Party dropping the track twice this year live and every time it was a special and very emotional moment.

6. Kid Massive & Sevag - Andorra [Get Down]
   This might be a little surprise. It was released on Kid Massive’s label “Get Down” and I simply love the wicked housy, groovy sound of it. That sax in the drop fits absolutely amazing together with the drums without being too much that typical “deep house sax” (I hope you know what I mean, for example “Klingande - Jubel”, it’s so annoying there!). I played it several times on my phone this year and everytime I danced my ass off to this groove (of course when nobody was watching, haha). So please more of this, Kid Massive & Sevag!

7. Xaver - After All [AVANT/GARDE]
   It was also a great second year for AVANT/GARDE – their website looks massive!! After All was my favorite of this label this year because it really got me moving, I’m really feeling the drums in the drop together with the fun synth. I can really imagine to drop that in the club and see all people on the floor dancing!

8. Deniz Koyu feat. Amba Shephard - The Way Out [Protocol]
   Also I liked most of the Protocol releases this year, the label by Nicky Romero. “The Way Out” caught my attention in Nicky’s Ultra set where it was the “stand-out-track” for me. That perfect vocal by Amba Shephard together with this melodic emotional drop really takes me to the sky. I also wanna focus on the mixdown here because it’s absolutely perfect: You can hear the bassline clearly and the choir in the second part of the drop fits perfectly!! That track really shows what kind of beast Deniz Koyu in the studio is. I could have also taken “Harmony” by Stadiumx and Nicky, but unfortunately the vocal destroyed the track for me – it was way more emotional with the Runaway acapella, just how they used to drop it live.

9. Third Party feat. Daniel Gidlund - Collide [Release]
   And here we go with the Top 10. On number 10, there’s “Collide”. Third Party had an absolutely fantastic year – I truly loved every single release by them this year – on both Release Records and the Power/Nation EP on Size. I took “Collide” mainly due to two reasons: first, the SNARE! When I first heard the preview that was the thought that went through my head: THAT SNARE IS FUCKING AMAZING! And I guess that’s also what makes the drop that energetic. Also that track was released during my writing of my bachelor thesis so it really helped me go through this tough time of hours and days working scientifically.

10. Kryder, Tom Staar & The Wulf - De Puta Madre [SPRS (Spinnin)]
    That took a while to get released (I guess mainly because of the sample) – I heard it first on Kryder’s Essential Mix (which is also my favorite Set/Mix this year – I can’t count how often I listened to that one). For me it’s the most creative track of the year. It takes a lot of courage to play an instrumental / a synth like that in the drop. But those three really made it sound good. I also love the vocal sample and the melody at the end of that drop that goes directly into the drum fill.

11. L'Tric - This Feeling (Kryder Remix) [Neon / Positiva / Virgin]
    Another one from Kryder’s Essential Mix. That one also has a short story. I had to work on Sunday after the Essential Mix was aired, so I couldn’t listen to it live, but I recorded it. The work that I had to do allowed listening to the mix at work. Because I already knew the original and knew that Kryder’s gonna premiere his Remix on this mix, I was very hyped. So at the end of the mix I slowly hear the vocal sample (“Got this feeling that I”, “Got this feeling that I”) and start getting really excited how it’s gonna drop. And BOOM! FUCK YES KRISS, THAT’S HOW IT’S DONE!! That was my reaction. Btw that’s also the reason why I’m writing this all here – to let you know how I reacted to certain track when I heard them for the first time – it’s a unique feeling / reaction you’ll never get twice. So groovy, so energetic. Also loved the second, melodic layer on the second drop. My absolute favorite track of Kryder this year.

12. Gregor Salto, Wesley Monteiro & Anibel Fortes feat. Melissa Fortes - Madalena (Kavido Remix) [Moganga]
    That is probably even a bigger surprise than “Andorra”. It came out on Gregor Salto’s label as part of a compilation. Long ass title but outstanding track. Some of you may know that I’m looking for fresh new music almost every day, which also means that I have to through a lot of shit music every day. That track showed me again why I’m taking this effort. I found it totally by accident… If I hadn’t looked for it, I would have never found it. Who’s Kavido you might ask. I don’t know but who cares if the track is my hidden banger of the year!! It really has this Axtone 2010 groove / bassline / feeling that gets my ass moving. I also love the wicked second layer on the second drop. Thank god I found this one. I couldn’t stop raping the replay button once I found it.

13. Jebu - Consequences [Refune]
    My personal festival track of the year and it took a long while to release it. First, Steve Angello dropped it at Ultra, after that both Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman and Alesso dropped it at the Electric Love Festival I attended in summer – and every time I totally freaked out. So fucking energetic. You already think you can’t top the first drop and the Australian kid layers another melody to lose your mind totally. That really shows how good Jebu’s productions are and also that he really knows what he’s doing. Also loving the fact that one simply word can build up a whole track (Consequences… Consequences.. dun-dun, Consequences.. dun-dun..). Jebu was already with “Tension” in my yearmix last year so great that he made it again.

14. Michael Brun & Still Young - Check This Out [Size]
    Also Size had a great year when it’s about releases, I loved the majority of them. “Check This Out” really stood out for me with this energetic first drop and emotional second one where I truly can feel the melody. When Marcus Schossow dropped it at the Code Red Label Night, I totally lost it (ask Sabrina, she can prove it haha)! Michael Brun had a great year in general, also with his Kid Coconut label. My favorite track was “Mermaid of Bahia” – so groovy and danceable.

15. Steve Angello feat. The Presets – Remember [Size]
    Finally, after two years of announcing, at least Part 1 of Steve Angello’s highly-anticipated album “Wild Youth” was released. And to be honest, I love every single one of it so far. Each track sounds different and you can really hear that he took time to produce them. “Remember” really got stuck in my head because of both very emotional drops and the vocal “from now you’re on your own” which should mark the end of his work together with Axwell and Ingrosso as SHM. That’s also why it is that high. I totally lost my mind when I heard the released version for the first time. “Indie dance music without being too much commercial and still sounding good? How is that possible??” That was my first reaction. Can’t wait for Part 2 in January 2016.

16. Ansolo feat. Too Many Zooz - To Life [Universal-Island]
    Spot 1 and 2 are reserved for a true musical genius. If I don’t take them into account then “To Life” is my absolutely favorite track this year. God I could write pages about it, but it has several reasons. First, the idea. Ansolo describes in one episode of Kryteria in detail, how he produced the track. He saw those musicians on the subway and he liked their music and especially instruments so much that he invited them to study, where they created something OUT OF THIS WORLD. Simply everything is perfect about this track. Especially the layers of the instruments – every 15 seconds is another instrument and another melody added to the mix – and it sounds so well together. And have I mentioned to breakdown already? He slows it down to 60 BPM to build it all over again and get me even more excited. And have I mentioned the groovy-tribal energy of this track already? Not either? Well now you know that this track is perfect and that Ansolo totally deserved to play the mainstage at Ultra. Also I will never forget how Arno Cost dropped the track during a gig in Graz and Marcus Schössow came on stage with the CO2-cannon, haha. Do you know what I love most about this kid? That as Ansel Elgort he is a pretty famous actor in the US. BUT in comparison to Paris Hilton or Pauly D (OH GOD), he didn’t use his fame to build up his career as a DJ but really worked his ass off in the studio. You can hear the results. That really makes me believe in an a bit fairer world in this business. There are rumors that another collab with Tom Staar (after “Totem”) is in the making, so I really can’t wait what this kid has in store for 2016.

17. Pryda - Bussen [Pryda]
    So as I’ve already mentioned, there’s one musician that is a genius in this scene. And this is without a doubt Eric Prydz. 2015 was (release-wise of course) his strongest year while releasing over 30 tracks – and that’s a lot considering the fact that the average track length is 7-8 minutes. He celebrated the ten-year-anniversary of his alias Pryda in style this year, releasing three EPs of ten years of Pryda Music. The fucking dream is real. I hope that you understand that is to be set above all. I truly couldn’t stop listening to all the track of the EPs once they were released. For some reason I listened to the first and third more than the second. Anyway, representative for the third EP I choose “Bussen”. It starts off very progressively and gets harder with the second drop – I truly love this arrangement. Can’t stop headbanging when the second drop kicks in. But I could have also taken “Border Control” (true progressive bomb) or “The Truth” (melodic anthem).

18. Pryda – Loving You [Pryda]
    My absolute favorite this year though was “Loving You” from the first EP. I heard it first in his first Beats One Mix and instantly felt in love. Especially with the progression of how every 15 seconds kick, hi-hat, snare and vocal sample kick in. I’m still loving you, I’m still loving you,… absolutely perfect. I could have also taken the track “Opus”, which is also out of this world with his 3 min 45 sec buildup into the drop, but I didn’t want to have too many Prydz tracks in my list. I’m happy with this list.

HONORARY MENTIONS
I wanted to mention two more producers that had great track throughout the year but didn’t make it in my list.

Corey James
It was absolutely a great year for Corey. He had many releases on different labels like Size, Sosumi, Protocol, Code Red and many more. I guess that my favorite was “Migori” on Code Red but that was released too late to be representative for the whole year. I met him during ADE and he’s really cool and down-to-earth. I found it so cool that he thanked me for the support haha^^. Also good to know that Will K is moving from Australia to the UK shortly, so it will be very interesting what they will come up with in 2016.

Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman
Their set at Mach1 in Nuremberg was one of my favorite ones of the whole year. So energetic and yet so emotional, especially their last track “Born At Night” which was premiered there. Also here my favorite track “Running” was released too late to be representative for the whole year. But I’m really looking forward to their new Label “BUCE” and can’t wait what they will release there in 2016.