Over the next seven days, SalaciousSound will publish a series comprised of dozens of articles chronicling the best electronic music that 2010 had to offer, across all genres.

You can view the whole series by clicking the category link above ’2010 in Review Series’, and you can also view every post ever written on SalaciousSound about the artists mentioned herein by clicking on the artists’ links at the bottom of the post.

If you like this type of music, you should also try clicking the genre tags at the top of the post, so you can find more.

I hope you all enjoyed and were inspired by electronic music in 2010 as much as I was. It was a special year!

This is the fifth article in the series, and is a guest contribution from influential Toronto Producer DJ John Roman. John has been featured on SalaciousSound several times, and has even guest contributed in the past. I was delighted to have his permission to republish this extremely high quality article, which he originally released on his blog here. He also offered to give us a sneak-peek of his latest track with this personal note:

A groovy tech-banger supported by Sound of Stereo and NT89. “Sphere” was featured in ElectroTO’s “Producing for Presents” charity EP that raised almost $1000 for Heart House Hospice in Toronto.

My debut EP “Sing!” on Idiot House Records will be coming out January 15. I’ll send out more information on that as well as a free promo MP3 in coming weeks.

Looking back, I’d describe 2010 as a year in transition for dance music. For some of us, the ideas and elements that first attracted us to the genre had grown tired. And for many others, these ideas and elements were brand-new and exciting; inspiring the same obsession that urged us to dig further into the culture. As a whole, dance music’s popularity in North America grew exponentially in the past year, seeing many mainstream milestones (deadmau5 at the VMAs, Pharrell on SHM’s “One”, the superstar cameos in Duck Sauce’s “Barbra Streisand” video, “We No Speak Americano” everywhere) and a stunning amount of new fan enthusiasm and genuine passion.

But as audience expectations became more refined, definitions of what “dance music” is and should be narrowed for the majority. For DJs, the inner-conflict between entertainer and curator heightened, often creating a strange grey area on dancefloors that was, at its best, magical and inspiring, and at its worst, confusing and alienating. Although this is not an altogether new phenomenon, for a new generation of DJs created from dance music’s recent explosion (myself included), it was a difficult, and at times stifling, creative challenge. The experience that was once communal became adversarial for some. Honesty and integrity were often put at odds with entertainment and commercial appeal. Through no fault of the audience though – these are just the growing pains of reaching artistic maturity.

The DJ’s frustration is inherent given the way he or she listens to music compared to most fans: a greater part of their life is devoted to finding music, listening critically and understanding how tracks function in relation to others. Expecting this same level of interest from the average crowd is illogical and idealistic. To me, a good DJ set is like a good argument: here’s what I like, here’s what you like, and here’s why I prefer what I like. If the DJ and the crowd like the same thing, then this argument is much easier, but if not some convincing is required. A great DJ plays a persuasive role, helping the audience arrive at conclusions naturally rather than educating them against their will.

But expecting great DJ sets to completely shift mainstream tastes is probably just as illogical and idealistic. Popular music is popular for a reason. The emphasis of “lowest common denominator” is more so common than lowest. For something to interest the majority, it has to appeal to people’s most base and universal similarities. By their nature these qualities can’t be complex, unique or individual, they’re shallow, instinctual and the more one grows intellectually and independently, the further one moves away from these basic commonalities.

But this isn’t to say that the current state of popular dance music will be accepted passively forever. Art is reactionary – what is now will not be in the future. Nothing is permanently popular, only temporary. And with the pace that we create and consume music, it’s temporary and disposable nature will only increase with time. It’s very easy to miss some of the amazing, original, and expertly crafted dance tracks within a sea of conventional sound-a-likes and popularity fiends. But the effort of searching to find them is always a worthwhile and rewarding experience.

2010 was a year in transition, but more importantly, it was a year filled with GREAT dance music. I hope this list serves as one of those “magical and inspiring grey areas” between what’s popular and what should be. I’m not trying to create an all-encompassing best-of here, or reflect the esoteric taste of some pretentious music nerd. Rather I hope you recognize a lot of these names, check out some of the picks you aren’t familiar with, and broaden your definition of what dance music is and can be.

1. (Baby I Don’t Know) What You Want – Jacques Greene
2. 1010 – Boys Noize
3. 1992 – Dexter
4. 1999 (Tim Green Remix) – Cassius
5. Ancova – Mumbai Science
6. Antidote – Style of Eye
7. Arnold Classics (Egyptrixx Remix) – Brodinski
8. Aspic – Simian Mobile Disco
9. Avalanche – Boys Noize, Erol Alkan
10. Babylon – Congorock
11. Bare Knuckle – Kid Gloves
12. Beachball (Joris Voorn Remix) – Nalin, Kane
13. Berlin Booty – Hobo
14. Best in Class (Soulwax Remix) – Late of the Pier
15. Beton Brut – Cosmin TRG
16. Bit This Thin – Djedjotronic
17. Blitz (Harvard Bass Remix) – Digitalism
18. Calypso – Round Table Knights
19. Closed Timelike Curve (Marcel Dettmann Remix) – Traversable Wormhole
20. CMYK – James Blake
21. Coma Cat – Tensnake
22. Coma Cat (Round Table Knights) – Tensnake
23. Cut To The Top – Round Table Knights
24. Cvan – Jesper Dahlback
25. Deeper – Filthy Rich
26. Dis (KiNK 909 Tool) – DJ T.
27. Enjoy Music (Riva Starr Remix) – Reboot
28. Epsilon – Terence Fixmer
29. Extravaganza – Soul Clap
30. Fatherless – Breach
31. Fireworks – Deadboy
32. Fissa Tune – Homework
33. Flanter Filnger – Jonas Kopp
34. Forever This – Phil Weeks, Hector Moralez, Fries & Bridges
35. Forever You – L-vis 1990
36. Gain Reaction – Jan Driver
37. Gare Du Nord – Carte Blanche
38. Get Funky – Pirupa
39. Gold – Mumbai Science
40. Gospel (Super Flu’s Antichrist Remix) – Format:B
41. Haasten – Egbert
42. Hands Up – Massimo Massivi
43. Harmageddon – Green Velvet
44. Hello Chicago – Guilio LNT
45. Homeless (Canblaster Remix) – Style of Eye
46. Horse Power (Popof Remix) – The Chemical Brothers
47. I Can Change (Tiga Remix) – LCD Soundsystem
48. I Love You So – Cassius
49. I Need a Dollar (Tensnake Remix) – Aloe Blacc
50. I Wanna Be Your Telephone (Tiga Remix) – Jamie Lidell
51. I Want Everything – Mowgli
52. I Wonder – Erdbeerschitzel
53. Into The Night – Azari & III
54. Jack The Potato – Jori Hulkkonen, Jesper Dahlback
55. Keep Time – Shed
56. Klavierwerke – James Blake
57. Kleine Traume – D.I.M.
58. La La Land (Derrick Carter’s ‘D’s BHQ Business’ Remix) – Green Velvet
59. Lazers (Deepgroove Remix) – Sei A
60. Left Hander – Martyn
61. Lemonade – Boys Noize, Erol Alkan
62. Maybes (James Blake Remix) – Mount Kimbie
63. Mayor – Mount Kimbie
64. Miezekatze – Ogris Debris
65. Motion Sickness – Audiojack
66. Mr. Spock – Justin Martin, Ardalan
67. My Sweet Vital Angel – Steve Bug
68. Never Stop (Erol Alkan Rework) – Gonzales
69. Not The Only Girl – Dexter
70. Nott (Shadow Dancer Remix) – Boys Noize
71. NY is Killing Me (Jamie XX Remix) – Gil Scott-Heron
72. On Off (Sebastien Leger Remix) – Cirez D
73. One (Congorock Remix) – Swedish House Mafia
74. Overshoot (DJ Mehdi Remix) – Zombie Nation
75. Percolator (Riva Starr Remix) – Cajmere
76. Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy (Format:B Remix) – Hugo
77. Reckless With Your Love (Tensnake Remix) – Azari & III
78. Robert Schumann, Clara Wieck – Wolfgang Voigt
79. Say What – Gary Beck
80. Scat Track – Renaissance Man
81. Silly Froggies – Electric Rescue
82. Sing – Deetron, Seth Troxler
83. Sinister Boogie – Remote
84. Soda Caustic – KiNK
85. Soho – Julian Jeweil
86. Somebody To Love Me (Congorock Remix) – Mark Ronson
87. Soms – Hermanez
88. Souvenir – Slam
89. Squeek – Zombie Nation
90. Steal Drums (Julio Bashmore Remix) – The Martin Brothers
91. Supersonic – Mark Henning
92. Tarantula – Pleasurekraft
93. Tellyfoam – Jan Driver
94. The Chomper (Matt Walsh Remix) – Popof
95. The Dub Track (Len Faki Remix) – Pfirter
96. The Look – Jacques Greene
97. The Majestic – Shlomi Aber
98. The Secret – Joris Voorn
99. Upside Down – David Keno
100. Vallee De Larmes (Pleasurekraft Sideshow Remix) – Jean Claude Ades
101. Vaporizer – Gingy, Bordello
102. Variations – Gesaffelstein
103. Wahhagoogoo – Renaissance Man
104. Without You – Art Department
105. World Class Driver (Harvard Bass Remix) – Felix Cartal
106. Yard Birds – Boy 8-bit
107. Yearning – Black Van
108. You Gonna Want Me (Hey Today! Remix) – Tiga
109. You Know It – Jesse Rose
110. Zzafrika – ZZT

A Youtube Playlist With All the Tracks: