Miami Nights

With the year coming to a close, I look back at all the fun times I had this year. Most of my time was spent at the clubs - come on I wouldn’t be writing for this blog if it wasn’t that way- and what I remember most vividly of course is the music. So I present you my list of the songs that kept me body shaking in 2006. Of course, this list reflects my opinion and musical taste, so don’t if you don’t see the song you love, well tough luck.

10. Kelis “Bossy” I swore this bitch couldn’t make a more infectious track than “Milkshake,” but 2006 brought "Bossy” making my summer all about “diamonds on ma neck, diamonds on ma grill.” Even better is the Prince-fied remix that DJs started to play later on.

9. The Knife “Like a Pen” Icy electro beats and awkwardly sung vocals make for good music. The Knife got my attention first with “Heartbeats,” which I easily declared the “most emo song ever” (razorblade shout-out included). After I thought I had them figured out, they released Silent Shout this year, which is electronica on Bjork-level proportions. Yes, that’s a good thing.

8. Snowden “Black Eyes” (Le Castle Vania Remix) Here begins my series of songs that I like the remix ten times better than the original. Le Castle Vania gives the song the booty-shake factor it was missing, making it a dance floor-ready hit.

7. MSTRKRFT “Easy Love"/Wolfmother “Woman” (MSTRKRFT Remix)/Metric “Monster Hospital” (MSTRKRFT Remix)/Annie “Heartbeat” (MSTRKRFT Remix) I was so disappointed when the Canadian duo didn’t show up to Miami during Bang weekend to get the place shaking at Revolver, but I will always remember the soundtrack they provided for me in 2006. Be it their solo work or three monstrous remixes that easily surpassed their original mixes (except for “Heartbeat").

6. Justice “We Are Your Friends"/"Waters of Nazareth” 2006 seemed to be the break out year for Ed Banger Records, the Parisian-label that is redefining what is considered dance music. Justice went on to win Best Music Video for “We Are Your Friends” at the MTV European Music Awards, much to the dismay of Kanye West, and “Waters of Nazareth” continues the momentum by laying down sleazy, electro beats. Ed Banger promises a bunch of full-length albums from their artists, including Justice, in 2007. The anticipation is killing me.

5. The Sounds “Tony the Beat” I really don’t know what I like about this song so much, it’s not like it’s an amazing piece of music. But the Sounds make it pretty clear when they half-sing, half-shout “This song is not for you lovers,” meaning it’s just a damn good party-hard song. Maybe it’s the cheesy synths or my nostalgia for Blondie/new wave songs, but this track is the shit.

4. Cansei De Ser Sexy (aka CSS) "Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above” I’ll admit I know none of the lyrics except for the title, so I usually just sing “blah, blah, blah, blah… Let’s make love and listen to Death From Above.” But when you are drunk, does it really matter? The Brazilian group shows a lot of versatility on their debut, so I expect to hear more from them in 2007.

3. Hot Chip “Over and Over” Like the title alludes to, the song’s lyrics are repetitive and just when you are about to get tired, it breaks into a dirty-word spelling bee. Need I say more?

2. Uffie “Pop the Glock"/"Ready to Uff"/"Hot Chick” White girl rapping over techno beats? Sounds like an M.I.A. knock-off, but Miami-girl-via-Paris Uffie was able to avoid the M.I.A. tag by not getting too political and just rapping what she knows about. Her songs are borderline campy but suprisingly always work. When she first hit the clubs with “Pop the Glock,” I presumed that was the last we’d hear from her. But then came “Ready to Uff” and “Hot Chick,” two songs that are just as catchy and probably better dance tracks than her debut. Another Ed Banger artist that we’ve been promised will release a full-length in 2007.

1. Bloc Party “Helicopter” (Weird Science Remix featuring Peaches) You don’t understand, I absolutely HATED the original song, so when Steve Aoki and Blake Miller took this horrendous rock ditty and added “Peach to the mix” it turned out to be the BEST dance track of the year. I’m still listening to it non-stop and I still can’t get over how orgasm-inducing Peaches’ vocals are.

There are still a lot of tracks I would have like to have added to the list, but I tried to keep at 10. Disagree with me? You favorite track didn’t make the list? Well, leave some comment love and we can argue about it.