The ten best EDM songs of 2013 | Backbeat | Denver | Denver Westword | The Leading Independent News Source in Denver, Colorado
Navigation

The ten best EDM songs of 2013

Although there were a ton of great EDM albums this past year, and we've already given you a rundown of our ten favorites, there were even more songs. These are the tunes that grabbed us the most this year. You'll notice that a few also appear on our best albums...
Share this:

Although there were a ton of great EDM albums this past year, and we've already given you a rundown of our ten favorites, there were even more songs. These are the tunes that grabbed us the most this year. You'll notice that a few also appear on our best albums list, and for good reason -- they anchored those records and helped propel them. There are plenty of others, though, that were praiseworthy as stand alone affairs. Here's our picks for the ten best EDM songs of 2013.

See also: The ten best EDM albums of 2013

10. Machinedrum - "Gunshotta" Throwing some R&B onto a dance track is a stretch, but Machinedrum pulled it off nicely. The drums make this dance track, well, danceable, but the vocals really carry the weight of the whole song. It's got that dance club vocal that comes in strong, then the soulful "too many times" occasionally dropping at the perfect moment. It's deep, and it resonates.

9. Fedde Le Grand - "Rockin n Rollin" This monster of a track comes straight from the Sensation phenomenon Fedde Le Grand. It's made for big rooms with big crowds getting loud as fuck, and the "rockin... n rollin" distorted vocal draws you in. Then, you have the gradual buildup up rolling keys into the crescendo: An anthem of epic proportions. The crashing drums two-thirds of the way through the song start the insanity over, and then, as predicted, the hard bass comes in and you lose your mind.

8. Flume - "Holdin' On' ft. Freddie Gibbs Who the fuck is Flume? A brilliant hip-hop turned EDM star, that's who. Bringing Freddie Gibbs in on the track, Flume put together a rollin' banger that makes any car ride enjoyable. Oh yea! It also fits perfect in any set because it's not one of those annoying big room bangers that you hear all the time. It has soul. It has feeling. It has emotion. You feel the struggle of holdin' onto something through the whole thing, and then, just like Keyser Soze, it's gone.

7. Bassnectar & ill.Gates - "Expanded" This track is reminiscent of that Bassnectar sound from the Cozza Frenzy days. Not that everything in between wasn't great, but this one with ill.Gates really brings it all full circle. It's slow in the beginning, but then brings that ratatat drum to get the sweat pouring. The melody has got to be all ill.Gates, because the bass is classic Bassnectar. All in all, this song will have you head banging hard as hell and then two-stepping in the middle. It's Bassnectar and ill.Gates at their finest.

Touch Sensitive - "Pizza Guy" The '80s were great years to influence music, as evidenced by this Touch Sensitive track. The synthesizer is repetitive throughout the track, but the clap-along beat makes this song perfect for just about anything. It's also great that it's not fast, which means you can play it to any crowd and get the mood set just right.

5. Martin Garrix - "Animals" "Animals" is one of those tracks that has it all; it has a peaceful side, a dark side, a great hook, an epic build and a deep drop. Basically, Martin Garrix created a track that fits the essence of a complete banger. You heard this at every festival and you heard this in every club. In 2013, it was an anthem.

4. Glitch Mob - "Can't Kill Us" Three years in the making, the genre-defining Glitch Mob dropped a new track and album that shot straight to the top of the iTunes charts. "Can't Kill Us" doesn't stray far from the Glitch Mob of three years ago, but it does keep them at the forefront of a musical revolution. The glitch is alive and well, and where some have tried to mimic the act's sound, Glitch Mob remains to be the best of the best in its genre.

3. Daft Punk - "Get Lucky" Daft Punk waited years to drop a summer track that would get remixed by every big name in the game, and fortunately, it's really good. Throwing Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams didn't hurt the chances, but even if the act just used the "We're up all night to get lucky" hook, the track still would've still reigned supreme.

2. Disclosure - "White Noise" The sexy vocals from AlunaGeorge are just sultry enough to get you going, and then this little tambourine comes in all subtle like, and, well, you're gone. You're long gone down the house music rabbit hole that Disclosure dug for you. Hopefully you have somebody to dance with while you're at it, otherwise you're going to be that person in the club who ends up on Vine with a hash tag #DancingByYourself.

1. Avicii - "Addicted to You" What did Avicii do other than "Le7els?" He dropped an amazing concept album. Whether or not you like the EDM prodigy, you have to respect this talented producer out of Sweden. On True, Avicii's debut album, he merged every genre you would never think to mix, and in that, created new genres in and of themselves. On "Addicted to You," Audra Mae's contralto vocals hit the spot, and then comes the masterful beat.

• BACKBEAT'S GREATEST HITS • - The fifty best rap lyrics of all time - The ten biggest concert buzzkills - Five more concert buzzkills - From Phish to Floyd, the ten best light shows




KEEP WESTWORD FREE... Since we started Westword, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.