As commonly done this time of year, people and organizations post what they thought was the best over the past 12 months. So we asked our most prolific producer DJs what was their favorites of 2023.
To be certain the march of great dance music has been emenating from all parts of the globe. It can be much to keep up with.
That's tough... I can say that I have been listening to mostly South African House, and the labels I have been digging have such good, deep, cerebral yet groovy content.
Though the movement of Amapiano House has continued to capture a large chunk of the Dance Music scene, Afropino’s focus has been on a different part of South Africa. When we asked him recently what his favorite track or album of the year was, he responded, “That’s tough… I can say that I have been listening to mostly South African House, and the labels I have been digging have such good, deep, cerebral yet groovy content.” The music from labels like Stay True Sounds, Seville Records, and Round Robin Recordings has been the tunes with strong rotation in his sets.
3 Thirty 3 (333) by Kates Le Cafe feat. Donald Sheffey!!! I love how it moves and that it makes me close my eyes.
As much as there has been awesome new inspiration to the scene, it also nice to see and hear some timeless tracks that embody the original soulful sound similar to when the music was born in Chicago at The Warehouse.
Ed calls out this track by Kates Le Cafe featuring the silky, soulful vocals of Donald Sheffey–who is an excelent producer DJ as well–on 3 Thirty 3 (333) as his favorite of the year. Ridgley went on to say, “I love how it moves and that it makes me close my eyes.”
We concur that it’s a beautifully crafted track with the smoothness of a Luther Van Dross song. You are gonna want to close your eyes and groove along to the music like Ed.
[The] Track for me is [Jimpster and Crackazat] - Natural Child. They knocked it out of the park on this. Harmony, melody, and vocals [are] fantastic. "I wish I had more moments like this".
Tracey Cooper also highlighted a headier area of Dance Music.
He singled out the September release from the pros of Jimpster and Crackazat called Natural Child. This Deep House collaboration is wonderfully textured and expressive. Tracey went as far as quoting the refrain from the track, “I wish I had more moments like this”.
...it's a tie for the albums from Roisin Murphy [...] and Aluna [...]. They both embody [the] sometimes raw boundery [of music in general] pushing [the] feels, yet sill having the fun that is dance music...
For Stylo, it seems that he couldn’t quite make up his mind. He settled on two women of Dance Music, one who is mounting on somewhat of a return to to the Dance Music scene, and the other newer (but not new) to the scene continuing her splash as a solo artist.
Stylo revealed to our team that it’s, “a tie for the albums [Hit Parade] from Roisin Murphy (of Moloko fame) and [MYCELiUM by] Aluna (formerly of the duo, AlunaGeorge).”
He went on to comment, “They both embody [the] sometimes raw boundery [of music in general] pushing [the] feels, yet sill having the fun that is dance music…”
A secondary mention by Stylo was the re-emergence after 24 years of the duo Everything But The Girl with their album Fuse.
To be sure, this short list of tracks, albums, and artist doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of inspiration for these folks. However, you can be just as sure that they are going to continue to both seek out the best in Dance Music, and add their own creations to the scene, all with gratitude and love.
This article was changed on 12-30-2023 to correct the music that Afropino chose for his favorites in this calendar year.