In a poetic bit of coincidence, I had exactly 24 dance music Spotify likes from last year, so naturally this year’s edition must be a Top 24 of ’24 list. Well, it’s two lists actually, since the tracks fall nicely into two halves. (Bonus discovery: each half can fit perfectly on a single CD, in true “mix tape” fashion.)
Part 1 – Oceanic Nostalgia
The first part is almost entirely melodic deep house. For reasons I can’t quite explain, more than half have an aquatic vibe, hence the name of the list. Some have oceanic album art (Purple Disco Machine, Shiver, Chris Luno), some evoke a “deep sea” sound (Shiver, “HRSN”), some have a beachy sound (“Don’t Say”), some immediately take me back to Anjunadeep in Albania (“HRSN”), and the finale hits all of those notes at once.
Part 2 – Volcanic Dance
Tinlicker and Purple Disco Machine, two of my absolute favorites, released new albums last year, so it should be no surprise that they make up a quarter of this list. “Blowfish” was my track of the year and is an atomic weapon to be dropped at the beginning or middle of a high-energy set, so there was no better choice as the intro here. “All My Life” is a perfect joyful finisher and is a matching bookend with the Balearic remix, which is the intro to the first part.
Part 3 – Twilight
Okay, I lied earlier: there is a tiny third act so that I could have room for a couple of honorable mentions. The first song is not from last year – in fact, it’s not even from this millennium – and most people will know it from The Beach soundtrack (again with the ocean theme!). The artist Paul Spencer (aka Dario G) passed away last year, so the inclusion of his best-known work feels very fitting. After that, we close with a gorgeous piece of acoustic piano pop from Tony Anderson to take us home.