Macaroni and cheese, Outkast (come back!), gin and juice, Will Smith and Jazzy Jeff circa the ‘90s – these are but a few pairings that lift the spirit. With the recent news of Daft Punk inking a deal with Columbia Records, it behooves us to show that living in a collaborative world can make music elevate. What would your favorite collaborative track sound like without the other DJ’s counterpart? As distasteful as removing cheese from the macaroni.
Here’s our favorite trendsetting DJ collaborators; from the past and current dance music scene. On the 2’s! – compiled by Garbielle Nicole Pharms & Sarah Polonsky ?
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20. Dada Life
Ever since these Swedish electro house troublemakers released The Rules of Dada last year, dance music has never been the same. Olle Corneer and Stefan Engblom of Dada Life created their latest album based on their Dada Life Philosophy (or nonsense). Their shows are highlighted with banana suit donning and partygoers that aim at ‘arriving beautiful and leaving ugly’ and covered in champagne. Hit tracks based off of some of the rules include, “Kick Out The Epic Motherf*cker”, “Happy Violence,” and “So High So Young,” just to name a few.[videoembed size=”full_width” alignment=”center”][/videoembed]
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19. Deep Dish
Ali “Dubfire” Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi of Deep Dish came into the house music scene in 1992. They are currently on hiatus, but have left an impression on the dance music scene through a series of mixes, such as Global Underground and their eclectic array of remixes. Anyone who can manage to make an alt rock track danceable, such as their acclaimed Coldplay’s “Clocks” remix deserves some props.[videoembed size=”full_width” alignment=”center”][/videoembed]
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18. Flosstradamus
Josh Young (J2K) and Curt Cameruci (Autobot) has had our hearts since 2011’s “Luuk Out Gurl.” Their new, trap-laced tracks have only increased our appreciation of their creative growth as producers. Thanks to Flosstradamus we now know it’s our cue to twerk when we hear those trap drums and this phrase: “Damn, son. Where’d you find this?” -
17. Orbital
The British dance scene has always been ahead of the curve. For example, Phil and Paul Hartnoll, brothers and DJ/producers of Orbital, created techno and electro music based off of their interest in punk rock and electronica. Sets by Orbital are quite the spectacle due to the duo’s ability to mix and sequence their tracks LIVE. They even played the rock music oriented Woodstock Festival in 1994, and they’re still dropping music like last year’s album Wonky.[videoembed size=”full_width” alignment=”center”][/videoembed]
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16. Groove Armada
London based Groove Armada, consisting of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay, formed in the mid-1990s. Their formation took place during the height of the big beat style. Pinned in the mid-‘90s as well, the term references electronic based music classified by its distinctly heavy breakbeats, synthy loops and, distorted bass lines. “I see you baby/Shakin’ that ass (replaced with “thang” for censorship issues in certain countries),” lyrics from one their most popular singles aptly entitled “I See You Baby,” rocked the charts and club speakers in 1999.[videoembed size=”full_width” alignment=”center”][/videoembed]
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15. Feenixpawl
House DJ/producers Aden Forte and Josh Soon of Feenixpawl are known for their unique remixes of popular pop and dance tracks. Last year, their collaborative track with Ivan Gough and Georgi Kay, “In My Mind,” made #1 on Beatport and this year is nominated for a Grammy.[videoembed size=”full_width” alignment=”center”][/videoembed]
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14. Chromeo
They won us over with “Needy Girl” and “Hot Mess.” Chromeo, composed of Dave 1 and P-Thugg, combine funk and electro to create retro inspired tracks that you can both roller skate and dance to. Their remix of Boys Noize’s “What You Want,” has an infectious disco rhythm and vocoded vocals reminiscent to Zapp & Roger’s “Computer Love.” -
13. LMFAO
Whether you love ‘em or hate ‘em, Red Foo and SkyBlu of LMFAO have you shufflin’ at parties and clubs to this day. We are truly hoping their hiatus will lift by the end of today, but until then, we still have “”Sexy and I Know It” and “Shots” to keep us occupied.[videoembed size=”full_width” alignment=”center”][/videoembed]
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12. Layo & Bushwacka!
Layo Paskin and Matthew “Bushwacka” Benjamin record and produce together as Layo & Bushawacka! Though they formed in 1988, they didn’t release their debut album, Low Life, until 1999. Breakbeat became a key component in dance music in the ‘80s. These guys were among the pioneers to incorporate breaks into their various tech house and house tracks.[videoembed size=”full_width” alignment=”center”][/videoembed]
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11. The Knocks
We told you before and we’ll tell you again: pay attention to Ben ‘B-Roc’ Ruttner and James ‘JPatt’ Patterson, aka, The Knocks. Allow them to explain… -
10. Knife Party
Pendulum members, Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen, there isn’t a technique or sound that intimidates their current project, Knife Party. Moombahton was the tool of choice for “Sleaze,” while they incorporated dubstep on “Rage Valley.” The dramatic intro, heavy synths, compression and sub bass of their latest electro house track, “Power Glove,” illustrates their breakthrough production skills. -
9. Benoit & Sergio
The pair met at club in Washington D.C. in 2008, then shot to EDM fame internationally by 2010 thanks to their unconventional approach to creating music as heard on “Walk and Talk.” Their latest two-track “Bridge So Far” EP marks the duo’s first release on the mighty Hot Creations label.[videoembed size=”full_width” alignment=”center”][/videoembed]
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8. Duck Sauce
In 2009, A-Trak and Armand Van Helden sought out to produce disco house tracks as a joint partnership under the name Duck Sauce. Upon its release in 2010, “Barbara Streisand,” the heavily sampled (“Gotta Go Home” by Boney M.) track with the contagious title track hookline dominated the clubs and radio airwaves worldwide. The track even won the 2011 International Dance Music Award for “Best Underground Dance Track.”[videoembed size=”full_width” alignment=”center”][/videoembed]
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7. Stafford Brothers
The EDM producer-DJ brothers have been ranked number one in their native Australia since 2010. With a reality TV series following the lives of Matt and Chris Stafford on FOX8, along with their recent signage to Cash Money, watch out for a lot of noise from the talented young duo that sampled Tom Scholz’s “More Than a Feeling” in 2009, which took off like a rocket.[videoembed size=”full_width” alignment=”center”][/videoembed]
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6. Dog Blood
Renowned Berlin based producer, Boys Noize and fellow mega producer, Skrillex, thought it would be a great idea to form Dog Blood. VIBE couldn’t agreed more. Last year, they formed their electro house/techno side project and released Next Order / Middle Finger EP. They will perform together at this year’s Ultra Music Festival.[videoembed size=”full_width” alignment=”center”][/videoembed]
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5. The Chemical Brothers
Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, are also among the list of artists that were at the forefront of the big beat movement in the ‘90s. They weren’t limited to only creating techno music. A fusion of psychedelic electronica and trip-hop, as heard on “Hey Boy Hey Girl,” set TCB apart from other dance music artists right down to this day.[videoembed size=”full_width” alignment=”center”][/videoembed]
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4. Infected Mushroom
Fifteen years ago, producers Erez “Eisen” and Amit “Duvdev” Duvdevani came together out of a mutual love for dance music and formed the psytrance/electronica group, Infected Mushroom. The result was an army of diehard fans and enthusiasts dying to get high off of their synthesized bases and drum beats, giving great success to the release of the duo’s most recent albums, Army of Mushrooms and Friends on Mushrooms Vol.1.[videoembed size=”full_width” alignment=”center”][/videoembed]
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3. Justice
Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay make up the French duo that can be classified as eletroclash, electro house, electronic rock and many other subgenres that fail to do them ‘justice’. Their debut album, †, quickly garnered critical acclaim, including a Grammy nomination in 2007. Last year’s stellar performance at Ultra Music Festival 2012 was the “it” topic of conversation in the dance community. Take a glimpse of some Justice candy below.[videoembed size=”full_width” alignment=”center”][/videoembed]
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2. Art Department
Longtime Canadian buddies, techno/house stalwart Kenny Glasgow and and No.19 label owner, Jonny White are one of the only tag-teams to revolutionize underground dance music that don’t hale from Europe. Look out for the release of ‘Social Experiment 003’ (No.19 Music / February 18).[videoembed size=”full_width” alignment=”center”][/videoembed]
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1. Daft Punk
Do these guys really need an explanation? If so, come out from under your rock and refer here. French house producers Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk are the definition of dance music.[videoembed size=”full_width” alignment=”center”][/videoembed]