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The 5 Flops of 2020 (For Us)

January 4, 20215 min read

We have a great community of supportive readers, but perhaps even that won’t save us from some dose of hating on this article. However, transparency has been the core motifs of EDM Reviewer since day one. That being said, we want to share our thoughts without cowering from negative reactions. If there is any chance that following topic isn’t your cup of tea, feel free to skip this controversial write-up altogether.

2020 has, even if it stretched mundanely long, ended. And with that, we decided to share our picks that came out during this uneventful trip around the sun. We have a final top 5; scratch that, make it “Flop 5”. This is a list of five songs that we personally disliked for many reasons. Remember, this is a highly subjective take and there are bound to be disagreements.

VINAI x Le Pedre – I Was Made

Slap House reworks have been the real trend for this year, with a killing combination of bouncing basslines and covers of reputed records from the past. Out of many R3HAB copycats, we picked VINAI for a simple reason: their incoherence. In addition to using a legendary vocal by KISS to an incredibly forgettable Slap House arrangement, the duo yet again demonstrated the phenomenon called jumping on bandwagon; changing their signature annually from Future Bass to Psy-Trance and then Slap House. Honestly, we miss the “copy-paste” VINAI more since they stuck to one recognizable format.

Brennan Heart x Kayzo – Untouchable

Alright, alright, this is a spicy one. “Untouchable” disappointed us for the predictable result delivered from two aliases who have shown their love for creativity in the past. We had certain high expectations, yet the track simply presents a generic Hardstyle drop and even more textbook of a Dubstep segment. Don’t you think there was much potential left “untouched”?

Tiësto & Becky Hill – Nothing Really Matters

For a better explanation, we suggest you to skim through a longer verdict on this song in our review of the latest album “ The London Sessions” from Tiesto. Co-produced by Gorgon City, we were particularly bothered by the flat-out commercial approach so taken. “Nothing Really Matters” did justice to its title by following after the Meduza wave (even by using a related vocalist), without extending anything more to a standard formula.

NTVT & Kevin Moncado – Keep On Going (SOVTH Edit)

Despite not being at the peak they were earlier known for, Revealed still manage to satisfy us this year. They “promoted” some of the recurring talents from Radar to the main label (such as Blackcode, Wildvibes and NAEMS) and at the same time pulled off House-y releases multiple times to re-invent their persona; it stuck out like a sore thumb. “Keep On Going” left us with more questions than appreciation, having unfamiliar names (who just had a spot in a past sampler) and a style of production which doesn’t fit with the Dutch imprint, including an annoying horn in the buildup and extremely repetitive schematics. We would have skipped this harmless tune in another context, but that’s not Revealed material at all.

Nicky Romero – Toulouse (2020 Edit)

This one, despite being featured last in this article, has to be the top-contender as a blatant fail. No prior hype together with a below average attempt of a festival bootleg of an Electronic gem led to demise of what could have been a fantastic revamp. “Toulouse (2020 Edit)” began with an optimistic and nostalgic tone with the unforgettable synth riff from the original, quickly degrading to a generic percussive Electro House drop. The same blueprint developed by the Protocol label-head and duo Teamworx, minus the charisma and plus an excellent dose of marketing skills.

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