Discogs, the music cataloguing database and marketplace we recently profiled, released their annual report of the top 25 bestselling house and techno records from 2016. Beyond some relatively predictable inclusions like Giegling figure DJ Metatron’s THUMP year-end favorite 2 The Sky, classic records from the likes of Floorplan and Jeff Mills, and a collection of new tracks that are simply very, very good, a few of the list’s inclusions piqued our curiosity for other reasons. See what we’re talking about below.
1. Mall Grab is more than just hype
Sampling Alicia Keys on a house track could go either way, but the young Australian star known as Mall Grab nailed it. As discussed on our 2016 year-end best tracks list, the long awaited vinyl pressing of his breakout hit “Cant” on South London’s Church was a release destined for greatness—and big sales number. As the stats in Discogs’ report shows, that’s exactly what happened. Sitting far ahead of genre legends like Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter and Aphex Twin, Mall Grab’s release was the number one selling house and techno record of the year on Discogs with a whopping 520 copies sold on the platform. That’s even more sales than Detroit legend Andres’ New For U EP from the previous year. For any producer in the business, let alone one so young and new, it’s an impressive feat for the skate-loving DJ from down under.
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2. Mr. Oizo’s charting “Flat Beat” has become a certified underground classic
It’s rare that a record that charts heavily on a pop singles charts does the same in more underground markets like Discogs. Mr. Oizo’ascheeky electro house number “Flat Beat” from 1999 is one of those instances, and nearly two decades after its initial release—and number one spot of the UK single’s chart—it scored the number ten spot in the house and techno Discogs list. Keep your ears open and you’ll probably hear it at a club near you.
3. People still really like the Kalbrenners
Paul Kalbrenner’s emotional collaboration with his brother Fritz “Sky and Sand” was a pretty hard track to miss if you were dancing in 2009. Originally produced as the title song to the film Berlin Calling, starring Paul himself, even became the longest running chart hit of all time in Germany. At this point in the year 2017, one might think people are tired of hearing “Sky and Sand.” Think again: the track sold 221 times this year on Discogs alone.
