It feels almost blasphemous to link up with Gerald Donald for a split electro release and end up outshining him on the B-side, but then again, dance music relies on audacity in its compulsion for progression. Objekt is one artist whose inclination for innovation has had a definitive influence on the past decade. He’s produced his fair share of anthems in that time, but none stands out moreso than his contribution to ‘Hypnagogia’, a two-sided collab EP with Dopplereffekt.

‘Ganzfeld’ sounds like 100 tracks distilled into one. An array of textures twang, splutter and oscillate, tightening like a spring and then uncoiling like a multi-dimensional dispersion of atoms. Its influence on club hits to follow is audible in the intricate melodies and bass deluges of Minor Science and time signature experiments of Bruce. At just shy of 150 BPM the tempo is high, but the feeling of control is absolute, like a champion skier finessing slaloms. And extraordinary ability is the theme of the track, taking its title from a test designed to identify extrasensory perception. The results of this ‘Ganzfeld’ experiment are conclusive: Objekt is superhuman. Patrick Hinton

2014 might have been the year that grime made mainstream ears perk up (see: Skepta 'That's Not Me'), but some of it also got really weird. Mumdance was a producer experimenting with out-there production methods, calling on young South London MC Novelist to spit bars on top of the smashing percussion and demented synths. Basically, the Rinse Recordings release is a head-fuck combination of old-skool grime, intense experimentaton and newblood lyricism. Even though it featured an MC, it was prime for Mr Mitch, Logos and Slackk's instrumental grime party Boxed, a place for bizarre, banging and WTF grime sonics that's garnered a somewhat cult following among bass heads. What isn't to love about parties in sweaty basement venues where most of your favourite DJs - even if they're not on the line-up - are hanging out? That, along with labels and parties such as Butterz, has been key for grime and bass producers looking to screw up convention and 'Take Time' came during a period when this was really rife.

'Take Time' was one of the reasons Novelist became a Mixmag cover star in 2016, but it also meant XL Recordings snapped Mumdance and Nov up for '1 Sec' and 'Shook'. Novelist went on to have a Mercury Prize-nominated album with 'Novelist Guy' while Mumdance got a 'Fabriclive' mix, and his passion for experimentation landed him back-to-back sets with Nina Kraviz and DJ Stingray. Dave Turner

As one third of the Studio Barnhus collective, Kornél Kovács had often lived in the shadow of co-founder Axel Boman, and found himself crippled with anxieties that his productions just didn’t stand up next to other releases on the label. Luckily, 2014’s ’Szikra’ put paid to all that. Initially seen as something of a throwaway track when he first made it, the laid-back house track is so hazy you can almost see the smoke in front of your eyes every time you hear it. Showing early signs of the effortless knack for a melody that would come to characterise his work over the next five years, a floaty synth line gives way to the joyous vocal refrain “let’s get fucked up”. Try listening to this without vauge, half-remembered memories of all the great after parties you ever went to flooding your brain. Sean Griffiths

Tirzah initially announced herself in 2013 with the quietly defiant ‘I’m Not Dancing’ but it was ‘No Romance’ the following year that really got us hooked. The Londoner had been working with producer and multi-instrumentalist Mica Levi since her school days, over 10 years before, and, despite being only her second release, the longevity of their friendship and collaboration gave Tirzah’s music a depth and maturity usually found in artists far more advanced in their careers. Levi’s stripped back and compulsive production perfectly compliments Tirzah’s unshowy yet deeply emotive vocals on the track, as she appears to lament the death of a relationship with the temerity of someone who insists they’ll never get into another again. The track that announced one of the most singular British voices of the decade. Sean Griffiths

The 2010s was the perfect decade for Holly Herndon to come to the fore. A fascination with the digital and the online has threaded its way through her work since her 2012 debut ‘Movement’, where she examined the potential for personality and intimacy with the compositions she could create with her laptop.

‘Chorus’ was first released on a RVNG Intl. EP in 2014, before appearing on her 4AD album ‘Platform’, released in 2015, in which she takes this concept one step further. The entire album was composed using a software that turns browsing into audio output, designed and created by Herndon’s partner Mat Dryhurst.

At university, I joined the Union Music Library, a secret little haven tucked away in some forgotten corner of the student union filled floor to ceiling with records and CDs. I remember picking this CD up and being entranced by Herndon’s piercing blue eye obscured by digital visuals, looking out, beyond, perceiving the future. Ever a child of the digital age, I ripped the CD onto my laptop and waited for the perfect time to listen to it in full. I remember how ‘Chorus’ rocked through me, from its jittery start to its perfectly sequenced end. It’s a track that isn’t didactic, but demonstrative, questioning of the world around it: something we need more of in dance music today. Jemima Skala

It’s hard to imagine a higher compliment for an electro record than being DJ Stingray’s most rinsed selection. This decade, that crown surely belonged to Gesloten Cirkel’s ‘Submit X’. It’s been a fixture in the Detroit don’s sets from release to the present day, and hasn’t lost any of its impact in that time. Raw, dirty production and a forbidding robotic vocal merge to form a belting powerhouse of a track that plunges dancefloors into delerium. Pick this one out and dancing submission is guaranteed. Patrick Hinton

Kieran Hebden is a true master of rhythmic manipulation. Regardless of which alias he produces under, whether it’s Four Tet, KH, Percussions or ⣎⡇ꉺლ༽இ•̛)ྀ◞ ༎ຶ ༽ৣৢ؞ৢ؞ؖ ꉺლ, when he releases a new track it always deserves our attention due to the inventive and remarkable nature of his arrangements. In 2012 he introduced us to Percussions and teased the moniker’s potential with ‘Bird Songs’. Then in 2014 he released ‘KHLHI’ and took over the scene with one of the most reliable dancefloor cuts of the decade.

Although the vast majority of Hebden’s releases have come under his Four Tet moniker, his work as Percussions has delivered some of his most beloved material. ‘KHLHI’, arguably Kebden’s most powerful house cut, ruled over clubland when it was released, relentlessly being used to inject hypnotic energy, and it has continued to do damage ever since.

‘KHLHI’ possesses all the elements of Hebden’s sound profile, from his imaginative use of samples, brilliantly chopping the soulful and yearning vocal of Syreeta and building tension on the breakdown, to his intricately woven percussion and seductive bassline. While he never ceases to impress with anything he releases, ‘KHLHI’ is Hebden at his absolute best. Harrison Williams

‘Two Weeks’ is one of the most tender of bangers about banging intended for, well, banging, ever. It’s filled with all sorts of cosmic commands breathily delivered by the heavenly songbird that is FKA Twigs upon an instrumental, metaphorical bed of synths, drops and arched snares.

It was the first taste of her then-forthcoming debut album ‘LP1’, back when genre tags like ‘future r’n’b’ and ‘avant-pop’ were dubbed accordingly as they were considered alternatives to more widely recognised takes on the genres. At the time the Boomkat crew paired its release with one of their typically amusing bios with an ending that if I’m honest, makes me feel old. “We may call this sound avant-R&B, but you kinda know that this sorta production and aesthetic is going to be the norm by 2020,” they wrote, “and then what's avant gonna sound like…? For now we'll just come to terms with this present vision of a future.”

But they were right. Tracks like ‘Two Weeks’, ‘Pendulum’, ‘Papi Pacify’, ‘Water Me’ or more recently ‘Cellophane’ can be stashed away in a time capsule and labelled prime examples of how the sound Twigs cultivated (alongside the likes of Kelela, Kelsey Lu, Banks and Abra) has evolved, one day to be dusted off and examined when it takes on whatever form it mutates to next. Jasmine Kent-Smith

Moodymann has long had a cult following, but on 'Lyk U Use 2' his vocals channelled both all-time hero Prince and The Love Below’ era André 3000 into a deeply personal lament, while still keeping things very sexy, obviously.

Motoring along at 180BPM, live drumming bringing the funk and jazzy chords keeping it as a smooth and cool as Moodymann’s low drawl, 'Lyk U Use 2' is a tale of rejection in which Kenny Dixon Jr also notably insinuates his penis size (‘Eight and a half is not enough anymore?” he asks not very coyly) - presumably a calling card to single ladies now he’s on his own again.

Drums are notably played by Andrés, Slum Village’s former DJ, whose hugely popular 2012 ‘New For U’ EP also, as previously mentioned on this list, has the dubious honour of somehow being the most ubiquitously recommended release on Discogs - check the comments for lols. Joe Roberts

The arrival of a new Aphex Twin album in September 2014, the first official full-length from Richard D. James’ worshipped alias since 2001, was like Christmas coming early for the many disciples of dance music’s own shaggy-haired, bearded deity. And it was this festively titled (via AFX disfigurement) cut that most strongly affirmed he hadn’t lost his miraculous touch.

Times changed in the 13 year gap from ‘Drukqs’ to ‘Syro’: attention spans dwindled as the hyper information age accelerated. Meanwhile, Aphex Twin remained Aphex Twin: uncompromisingly individual, and still able to absorb distracted minds with 10+ minutes of uniquely captivating material. Pull apart the invidual elements and on paper they read like a ragtag selection: a harpsichord, an untuned piano, an acid line bubbling with the verve of Stevie Wonder, wind chimes, timid snare rolls and blunt gong hits. Unified by Aphex Twin, they sound spellbinding. Patrick Hinton

One of the many, many things I love about Kelela is the fact her music is so multi-faceted and listeners of varying interests are introduced to her for the first time in totally different ways. I first heard her on Fade To Mind boss Kingdom’s 2013 track ‘Bank Head’ and have followed her transition from innovative Night Slugs/Fade to Mind figurehead (‘Cut 4 Me’ and all tunes featured still a daily listen) to the Warp-signed force of nature behind tracks like ‘LMK’ with a certain starry-eyed gaze.

Others however, arrived at her music via her collaborations with Arca (‘A Message’), her work with Solange (‘Scales’) or just her trusty reputation for soulful r’n’b sounds seemingly written and realised in a dimension light years ahead of ours. On ‘Rewind’, taken from her 2015 Warp debut ‘Hallucinogen’, Kelela navigates between her various collaborators, sonic textures and thematic discussions with ease and the vocal delivery and presence of an IRL angel. Don’t let the wordy description fool you though, as it's far from a chinstrokey, academia-minded output – ‘Rewind’, at its core, is a bop, rooted in Miami bass stylings and r’n’b sex appeal. Thus, making it a prime example of what Kelela represented then and how her signature has developed to date. And as the title suggests, ‘Rewind’ demands to be rewound, over, and over, again – this decade or any other. Jasmine Kent-Smith

It wasn't so much of a reinvention that ensured Skepta cemented his name in this decade's hall of fame, just a mere rewind to what singled him out as one of the most exciting artists in grime in the early '00s. After the glitzy MC-goes-pop 'Doin It Again' album in 2011, Skepta's output was pretty quiet aside from a couple of mixtapes in 2011 and '12. Then in 2014 he resurfaced with 'That's Not Me', a blatant ode to Wiley's Eski beats with a grainy video harking back to Channel U. With the back-to-basics production and video came a wardrobe switch, Skepta swapping the designer clobber for tracksuits and trainers, declaring 'Used to wear Gucci / put it all in the bin 'cause that's not me'. The £80-to-make video ensured he won the hearts of the now-adult kids who grew up watching the DIY grime video channel, but he also had a whole new generation of mid to late-teens climbing fences and standing on buildings to watch him perform, as happened at a very wild takeover of an East London car park in 2015.

The hype reached Drake, whose love for Skepta and the true essence of grime no doubt played a part in this very UK sound infiltrating North American ears and 'Konnichiwa' - the album containing 'That's Not Me' - became the first grime album since Dizzee Rascal's 'Boy In Da Corner' in 2003 to win the Mercury Prize gong. Proper grime was finally getting the mainstream recognition it didn't quite get the first time round, paving the way for the likes of AJ Tracey and Stormzy to follow Skepta's lead and conquer the charts and sell out arenas. It's not unjust to say Skepta opening doors played a part in Stormzy becoming the first grime artist to headline Glastonbury, either. Dave Turner

A track that not only helped define a legitimate and lasting scene, but also represents a culmination of all things great about it. Jack J aka Jack Jutson aka one half of Pender Street Steppers shredded the notion the best club tunes had to be quantized to an inch of its life and showed electronic music backed by live drums didn’t have to be a downer (ie post-dubstep) with ‘Thirstin’’ in 2015. Jack’s label Mood Hut, which he runs with Cloudface and House Of Doors, were already making waves on the Canadian Riviera with their blissed-out, DIY beats during a fertile time on Soundcloud that saw them notch 100s of racks of plays. But it was this release on like-minded DC-based label Future Times that represents the scene at its most accessible and best. ‘Thirstin’’s playful tinkering around a nonchalantly groovy bassline and spacey percussion helped lead the way for other Riviera bangers like Project Pablo’s ‘Closer’ and Local Artist’s ‘Dancer’ but mainly it reminded people how fun dance music can be. Louis Anderson-Rich

In 2015, Skrillex and Diplo joined forces as Jack Ü, and paired with top 40 kingpin Justin Bieber. American PLUR’s festie-loving, trap-happy, and r’n’b-adoring era exploded into a mess of tropical house vibes.

Swedish House Mafia’s 2012-released ‘Don’t You Worry Child’ established a precedent for dance music’s resurgence in Billboard’s top ten. ‘Where Are Ü Now’’s tender, neon balladry extended that standard, allowing for further globalized mainstream appreciation of electronic music and culture.

American FM radio had warmed to the idea of EDM occupying space next to hip hop and pop standards. However, what David Guetta’s ‘When Love Takes Over’ opened a half decade ago was being invaded by scruffy producers touting an off-kilter, pitch-shifting pan flute riddim. What do those umlauts even mean? Mad Decent? OWSLA? Tropical house? A pop conundrum indeed.

Alongside streaming heatseeker ‘Lean On’ from Diplo’s Major Lazer project, and late summer 2015 Bieber smash ‘What Do You Mean’, the tropical house era was highlighted by bright, breezy, and saccharine jams. The era’s legacy, though? When brash, chart-topping producers Skrillex and Diplo joined forces, it was as big a boost to EDM’s commercial appeal as a Rolling Stones and Aerosmith co-headlining tour would’ve been to rock. Marcus K. Dowling

'Nu4him' comes with vocal cries of 'soulfully' throughout. Makes sense seeing as Shanti Celeste is a producer renowned for heartfelt house music. The track's also much like the bright yellow artwork that accompanies it: glowing and brightening up any room it's played in via heavenly vocals, silky smooth pads and gently tapped piano keys. Add to that the thumping garage-esque kicks and you've got a modern house classic that Shanti can look back on in 20 years time with glee. It's a tune that's as welcome at a sun-drenched festival on the Adriatic Coast as it is at an afters: its unrelenting whomp the nutrient for a dancefloor workout and the vocals the medicine for that post-rave comedown as you and your mates sit slumped on the sofa as daylight creeps through the blinds.

'Nu4him' followed releases on Idle Hands, Brstl, Broadwalk Records and Future Times, this one signed to Sunday party-turned-label Secretsundaze, meaning Shanti joined the likes of Brawther and Amir Alexander in releasing sweltering hot house tracks on the imprint in the first half of the decade. It goes without saying that there's been a surge of women DJs and producers bossing it in recent years - Shanti's SASS peers Moxie, Saoirse and Peach included - and Shanti's been at the forefront. 'Nu4him' is one of the reasons why she's one of the best around. Dave Turner

‘Heterocetera’ feels like an emergency: The title track of Lotic’s 2015 release is built on an alarm, or perhaps an air-raid siren. The wailing, pitched-up sample of ballroom classic ‘The Ha Dance’ is looped over itself ad infinitum like a disorienting drone, but the song’s hip-swinging melody and catchy topline are inviting and seductive—it’s a track born from Berlin’s sweaty club culture and aged in the city’s smokey basements and fire-hazard warehouses.

For Lotic, Berlin’s nightlife acts as an emotional palette. The Houston-born producer’s urgent but alluring projects have been at the core of Berlin’s most recent club-culture revival over the past decade, and ‘Heterocetera’ numbers amongst her finest. It feels like last-call on a crowded dancefloor: cutting through the inebriation and distorted noise with a staggering sobriety.

Since its release, an array of darker textures made from whips, snaps, shots, and drones has spread across Berlin’s clubs, and moved abroad with the work of GAIKA and Angel-Ho, too. So has its gospel: Beneath the frenzy of industrial samples is a warmth, a danceability—amongst other things, ‘Heterocetera’ is an invitation to lose yourself in its chaos. Nathan Ma

Hector Barbour has so effectively become the ultimate main stage DJ of late, that it’s easy to forget that it was his tunes that first caught our ears, and not his effusive festival DJ sets. ‘It’s Only Real’ dropped on Numbers at the tail end of 2015, and had all the hallmarks of a far more accomplished producer. Tough and driving, yet deeply sultry and melodic, with a real snake charmer of a topline, the track got rinsed by everyone from Bicep to Four Tet to Annie Mac and had track identification groups on Facebook clamouring to work out who was behind it. Four years on and ‘It’s Only Real’ still has the power to make the hairs on your arm stand on end. Sean Griffiths

‘100% Lustwerk’ was passed around like a sacred offering between friends who could barely believe such a perfect thing could exist. An hour long-mix of impeccable deep house tracks by an unknown New York-based producer, it made its way from nerdy conversations at club nights to trippy afterparties and became a viral underground hit. People talked about it with wide eyes and listened to it in rapture.

The mixtape emerged in 2013 as if by magic, taking listeners by complete surprise. Where had this high grade house music come from and who was responsible? Interest in Galcher Lustwerk, who had one EP to his name at the time, and the mysterious White Material imprint it was released through bubbled to a frenzy. Records sold-out in rapid time and showcases alongside label cohorts Young Male and DJ Richard were booked on the other side of the world. A loose outsider house scene emerged, powered by DIY labels and belters crafted in makeshift home studios, setting the groundwork for the lofi movement to come.

The hype whisked Galcher off on tour and fans had to wait a criminal amount of time for cuts from ‘100% Lustwerk’ to be made available on vinyl. Two 12”s finally arrived in 2015 containing gemstones such as ‘I Neva Seen’, a chemical love song that epitomises Galcher’s tuff, stylish production and ability to conjure a silky-smooth atmosphere (along with a cheeky nod to ‘Mushrooms’). The track is one of his finest, a luxurious rabbit hole of hedonism, possibility and endless groove. Seb Wheeler

One of Detroit’s true dynamos, K-Hand linked up with Nina Kraviz back in 2015 and released this cut on the Russia selector’s трип label. Her tracks were part of Nina’s arsenal of secret weapons for quite some time. I remember hearing ‘Sound 6’ at Warehouse Project. In amongst a whole batch of TR-303-driven mayhem, it had an out of the ordinary high quality to it that made me and my friends stop and look at each other in amazement, then proceed to completely lose our shit.

29 years deep in the game, K-Hand’s production prowess comes through loud and clear on ‘Sound 6’. It’s simple yet oh so deadly and helped to really establish Nina’s label as a go-to for authentic acid and the more experimental side of club music. The track also introduced K-Hand to a whole new fanbase, giving her a well-deserved boost and leading to bookings all over the place. Marcus Barnes

So electro’s been pretty popular this decade hasn’t it? We’re talking Drexciya-styled, Detroit-drenched electro and DJs like Stingray, Jensen Interceptor and Danny Daze have been zapping minds and taking the sound to the masses. But one artist has taken things to the next level and she’s made the game her own. Helena Hauff is the champion for the raver who wants their face melted off.

As a producer she’s carved out a mighty impressive discography with seven EPs and three albums under her belt this decade. It’s hard to pick out a quintessential banger that defines her vertical incline over the last few years because there are just so many to choose from. I’m going with ‘C45p’ taken from her 2015 album (later re-released via Dark Entries in 2017) ‘A Tape’. It’s menacing and pounding and the main riff offsets the darkness with a bouncy, fruity melody. We’ve heard her play it out and on a system it rumbles like you wouldn’t believe. A track of the decade? Yes, one of the best DJs of the decade? Without question. Funster

Brazil’s MC Bin Laden is the curiously named, charismatic young gun behind some of the decade’s most entertaining and irreverent tracks and visuals as he dishes out his funk proibidão (or “strongly prohibited”) take on funk paulista (funk from São Paulo) up from the underground and out to the masses. In turn, making him one of the community’s most visible, and widely-known acts.

‘Ta Tranquilo Ta Favorável’ (aka ‘It’s Cool, It’s Ok’) was one of his bigger hits, alongside tracks like ‘Bololo Haha’ or his 2014 namesake single ‘Bin Laden Não Morreu’. The first time I heard it I was tuning into Venus X and Asmara’s brilliant ‘Putaria Maxima Volume 1’ mixtape, which fused “the sounds of the American ghetto and the Brazilian favela”. This fusion, coincidently, only grew in scale and innovation as the decade went on and more and more from the northern hemisphere were turned onto the bass prowess bubbling away in the south.

‘Ta Tranquilo Ta Favorável’, despite releasing proper in 2017, debuted via a music video back in November 2015. At the time of writing, the beachy visual is on a cool one hundred and two million plus views and counting – more than Aphex’s ‘Windowlicker’, Fatboy Slim’s ‘Right Here Right Now’ or even Eric Prydz’s ‘Call On Me’. While Bin Laden may not be the headsiest act from the various funk scenes, there’s something about him that just exudes an infectious star quality that’s only getting brighter. Jasmine Kent-Smith

There are debuts, then there are debuts like Willow’s ‘Feel Me’.

It’s a story that sounds like destiny, were you to be believe in such a thing. Written by young Manchester-based producer Sophie Wilson, its deep house template avoids all obvious formula: a von Oswald-esque dubby bassline and steppy drums topped by a charmingly muffled vocal from long-time friend Tash Davies.

It was a random play of the track off a phone while hanging out with Move D at a campsite tent rave at Gottwood that brought it to the German maestro’s attention. Understandably captivated he requested it, and when he played it out for the first time on Boiler Room’s stage at Croatia’s Dimensions in 2013, the power cut out. The gods, or possibly generator, had spoken and the omens were good, even if the festival’s infrastructure needed work.

Lowtec snapped it up for Workshop imprint and a new star was born. Joe Roberts

What do wrestling, reggaeton and ice cream have in common? The answer is Kamixlo, the artist of Chilean descent who grew up in South London and turned the city’s club scene upside down when ‘Paleta’ was released.

“Who wants to join a scene or stick to a genre? That’s so dry,” Kamixlo told me around that time as we sat in the Brixton branch of Creams eating dessert. He’s a chill guy but his approach to music is combative, choosing to eschew industry norms and anything he deems “dusty”. His industrial reggaeton arrived like a bolt of lightning, rolling at a much slower BPM than any other London-centric dance music but with a punishing intensity.

Originally a SoundCloud upload before being snapped up by PAN sub-label Codes, ‘Paleta’ had been doing damage for about a year before its release, most notably at Felix Lee’s shadowy Endless party, which launched Kami, his brother Uli-K and Endgame, who would then go on to form the Bala Club collective, named after the siblings’ favourite Japanese wrestling outfit.

You’d hear reggaeton, dancehall, kizomba, rap, hardstyle, trance, metal and more at Bala Club functions as genre boundaries were dissolved and a new type of dancefloor was marked out by its founding members and their associates. They joined a global network of like-minded crews like NAAFI in Mexico and Staycore in Stockholm, while at home Kamixlo’s searing productions ignited a wider interest in reggaeton and slower tempos. Seb Wheeler