I haven't done this in 2 years since 2021 (and there was a reason), but in 2023, when there were a lot of bangers songs both from olds and newbies members of Monstercat roster, there is a lot to discuss about Monstercat Best of 2023 compilation which will be out today (but I got it bc of time zones xD).
Stream it here: https://open.spotify.com/album/31jDw3MAuPgIonLWDsNfBm
Honorable Mentions:
#8 of Silk (#48 of all): Øneheart & Kazukii (@OfficialKazukii) - restless
The best of 2 ambient collabs from this duo, I would be glad to see it here on NG !!
#26 of Uncaged (#35 of all): Afinity, ROY KNOX & Skyelle - With U
Great melodic dubstep tune, better than Ace Aura's I'll Be Waiting which I was voting for too, a bit sad that it's that underrated, but glad it did make it :)
CHYL - Fool Me
None of CHYL's songs made into Best of 2023 which is sad, she deserves much more attention, and this song is her best from this year !!
#15 of Uncaged (#20 of all): DIESEL (a.k.a. Shaquille O'Neal) & Hairitage — BANG YOUR HEAD
This debut single from his album made a lot of hype: the freaking Shaquille O'Neal releasing his music on Monstercat, the biggest bass music label ever OMG !!!
Main Takes:
Bossfight (@bossfight)
Getting 5 songs from all 7 releases (remix of Sullivan King's Someone Else counts) into Best of 2023 is really bold. I stopped being a big fan of Bossfight after 2021 when he returned to Newgrounds by uploading all his Monstercat releases. Shadow is still my top favorite from 2021-2023 because I love melodic dubstep, but as 2022 has started, I lost my interest in his music immediately because it all seemed to me very similar and boring. The only highlight from 2023 is his collab with Dirtyphonics, Revenge, and it's all because I kinda started liking Dirtyphonics' stuff, mostly from Disciple. I definitely knew Powerplay is gonna be as high as possible bc it's THE collab with freaking Pegboard Nerds, THE MONSTERCAT OLD LEGENDS.
Here's the list of his songs:
#29 of Uncaged (#38 of all) — Neck Snap w/ Kompany:
#25 of Uncaged (#33 of all) — Revenge w/ Dirtyphonics:
#19 of Uncaged (#25 of all) — Deadlock w/ hayve:
#12 of Uncaged (#16 of all) — Buckshots:
#4 of Uncaged (#7 of all) — Powerplay w/ Pegboard Nerds:
#16 of Uncaged (#21 of all): nanobii (@nanobii) — 2NITE
Never expected him to come back on Monstercat because his solo career outside of any labels already made his music memorable and recognizable (not mentioning Rainbow Road). I love some of his songs and I see why he is the symbol of Happy Hardcore, the sound of which give a clear definition of the word "happy". I mean, when you listen his music, don't you smile because you really like how happy it sounds? Because I do smile.
And here's 2NITE. The genre is Hands-Up, a mix subgenre of Trance and Hardcore which fits a lot for (no offense, nanobii :) ) huge festivals and club parties with music from 2000s. These days, this music is kinda hard to be seen to be made by popular artists because the trend got passed. You must spend a good amount of time to find even underground Hands-Up artists who still give support to this genre. And you know, I'm glad for nanobii for giving attention to forgotten music which we used to like in our childhood. As he did it with Bubblegum Dance in his Crown & Town project in early 2022 (shoutout to the EP, it's really good !!), he's doing it now with Hands-Up.
#2 of Uncaged (#3 of all): Au5 (@Au5) & Chime — The Other Side
I didn't listen to this song enough to understand it, but the sound design is so flow and lit while sounding so futuristic, unlike Au5's any melodic dubstep tune. And it's all thanks to Colour Bass, the mainstream genre of dubstep music invented by Chime and passed a long evolution path by Rushdown artists such as Sharks, Ace Aura and also Xilent, who inspired the next generation of musicians to do futuristic dubstep music as they do.
Between The Other Side and Quantum Level, another collab song by Au5 released on Monstercat in 2023, I would prefer The Other Side, the sound is really mindblowing in there.
#7 of Uncaged (#10 of all): Pixel Terror & Ace Aura — Arcadia
My top favorite from Monstercat in 2023. I'm a very huge fan of Ace Aura. Since I started listening his music in 2020 (thanks to Another Heart collab w/ Skybreak and Sharks, who I was back then and still is a big fan of his music), my love for his music instantly reached its peak and never fell down. Even some songs of him which I considered to be bad eventually grew up on me, such as Soul Cavern and Sum Buddy. He is my #1 artist according to Spotify Wrapped for 3 years since 2021.
So when I heard the clip of upcoming collab of him and Pixel Terror (when they were duo) in their set celebrating the release of Sleepless by them, Chime and Teminite, this instantly became the most anticipated song for a long time (for 2 years and 1 week).
I was so hyped hearing it days before the official release by connecting the clips from 2 different mixes released not so long before the release. Listening to it non-stop for hours and I couldn't be any more happier at the moment. The expectations for the collab were met !!
THE song of the year !!
And the icing on the cake is…
Skybreak !!
You cannot deny that Skybreak on Monstercat is the best thing for the label in 2023. YOU LITERALLY CANNOT DENY IT.
Lightbringer, to be honest, was great as a debut release on Monstercat, but speaking of best songs of him, I would put as #3. It's a bit close to be called "mid song", like AQUASHIFT from Unity EP and Lumina from Lumina EP. There's nothing to called it great, despite the efforts put into it by Skye.
But what I will call great are Accelerate and Feeling Free. I swear, Feeling Free is one of the songs unusual for my music taste which I like a lot. Matching atmosphere of Skybreak songs from Lightbringer or Moonglow EP and dynamic house sound of CloudNone, there won't be a better experiment tune from this year than this. I'm not a fan of CloudNone, but I am a fan of his remix of Ace Aura's Breaking Free released in November 2021, so to give him a bit more shoutout than Feeling Free, I also voted for Lifted Me Up. A bit sad Lifted Me Up didn't make it, but Feeling Free is still a great song to be included in Best of 2023 !!
What about Accelerate, knowing how energetic Teminite's songs are, I knew immediately it's going to be a banger. Days before the release, I tried to remember where I did hear the clip from this collab before. It took me a while to remember the episode featuring Teminite from Skycast, a podcast managed by Paper Skies and Skybreak in 2021.
You know it perfectly that if Teminite is featured in making a song, it's going to best either one of best or THE best song for many music fans. Sleepless proved it in 2021 by getting #1, and so did Accelerate this year. From my point of view, I would prefer Sleepless over Accelerate because I'm too used to that song, but it's my opinion.
Congratulations to you @skybreakedm and @Teminite !!
#8 of Uncaged (#12 of all) — Lightbringer:
#3 of Uncaged (#6 of all) — Feeling Free w/ CloudNone:
#1 of Uncaged (#1 of all) — Accelerate w/ Teminite:
I was so happy to vote for a lot of songs from this year, let's hope 2024 will be better !!
