Best Of iSwing - 2019

Electro Swing is a fast growing and glorious genre of music. It's overflowing with colourful characters and music that keep feet and ears unapologetically happy. As the music industry gathers this weekend for its biggest awards night, the iSwing blog also honours its best of the year.
Leading the nominations in 11 of the iSwing categories for 2019 is Caravan Palace with five, followed by SpekrFreks and Uki Mizusaki with four each. So continue reading to find out about your favourites from 2019.

And the category is...


Best New Electro Swing Artist

OB3One
Stefano Mastronardi
Uki Mizusaki
SpekrFreks
Young Punx

Each of the artists in this category really srepped up their game this year with fantastic albums. Of the five nominees, SpekrFreks take the prize. Established out of San Francisco in 2010, SpekrFreks made a huge impact on the chart in 2019. Releasing their album, Sockdollager, in the early part of 2019, it produced the Number 1 song, "Move On," and the momentum just didn't stop. Four Top 40 appearances, including a banger of a remix for Damon Rush really kept underground speakeasy's hoppin'.


Best Electro Swing Artist (Ladies)

Annella
Emma Clair
Little Violet
Alanna Lyes
Uki Mizusaki

The ladies of Electro Swing add such glamour and foot pounding fun to the genre. Annella takes the prize with this one. Establishing her reign early in the year. Her, "Love Music," kept the Winter Blues away and she owned the entire Spring season with the Number 1 smash, "Trouble."


Best Electro Swing Artist (Gentlemen)

DJ Mibor
Varrick Frost
Wolfgang Lohr
Offbeat
Odd Chap

Gentlemen don't usually stand a chance of winning if nominated with Wolfgang Lohr in this category. And the same is true this year. Wolfgang Lohr is the clear winner here. He's so darn prolific. He has nearly fourty Top 10's to his credit. Plus side projects, like Club 27, always keep the man very relevant.


Best Electro Swing Artist (Duo/Group)

Balduin
Bart&Baker
Caravan Palace
Lyre Le Temps
Swingrowers

Always an interesting category that could go in any direction, but Caravan Palace nail the win. They took a big chance taking their established sound, and flipped it on its head. Can't wait to see how they're going to mould the 2020's music scene.


Best Electro Swing Remix

Bart&Baker/Haylen - It's In Her Heels (Wolfgang Lohr Remix)
Robert Edwards/Little Violet - Charleston Boogie (Seolo Remix)
Ginkgoa - Don't Give A Damn (Varrick Frost Remix)
Jojo Effect/Dennis LeGree - Swing It Up (Zouzoulectric Remix)
Swing'It Dixieband - Party Like It's 1923 (DJ QuestionMark Remix)

Ginkgoa's, "Don't Give A Damn (Varrick Frost Remix)," is what the envelope reads. It's hard to keep your feet from moving when this jam comes on. And who doesn't give a damn when sweating it out on a dance floor. The perfect addition to your Roaring 2020's soundtrack.


Best Electro Swing Video

Caravan Palace - Miracle
Uki Mizusaki - Land Jump
Satin Dollz - That Man
Swing Bot - Shake Like It's Coming On
Swingrowers - Dreamland (Say Goodbye Bye Bye)
Parov Stelar - Gringo

And the winner is Parov Stelar's, "Gringo." A hypnotising video of hundreds of handpainted pictures edited brilliantly to a pretty friggin' catchy song.


Best Electro Swing Performance (Ladies)

Annella - Love Music
Emma Clair - Time To Fly
Beverly Knight - Marvelous Party
Little Violet - Swinging Melodies
Uki Mizusaki - Land Jump

The clear winner. Emma Clair. Emma's smooth Swing House production on "Time To Fly" marked Emma as a major player in the Electro Swing scene. Old school House DJ's, this ones for you too.


Best Electro Swing Performance (Gentlemen)

Fred Astaire - Slap That Bass
Varrick Frost - Summer Breeze
Stefano Mastronardi - The Speakeasy
Papa Django - Back & Beat
Swing Bot - Deuce Overdose

"Back & Beat" by Papa Django. Papa Django's early 2019 hit was a very pleasant surprise for fans. "Back & Beat" has a Daft Punk kinda quality to it and belongs on a bootleg remixer's to do list.


Best Electro Swing Performance (Duo/Group)

Caravan Palace - Miracle
Lyre Le Temps - Everything Moves
SpekrFreks - Move On
Swingrowers - Dreamland (Say Goodbye Bye Bye)
Tape Five - Party Like It's 1929

Beating out some heavy players, SpekrFreks', "Move On" is handed the prize in this category. If you swung in a club at all this year, this banger would have called you to the dance floor.


Best Electro Swing Album

Caravan Palace - Chronologic
Lyre Le Temps - Clockmaster
Postmodern Jukebox - Jazz Age Thirst Trap
SpekrFreks - Sockdollager
Tape Five - The Roaring 2020's

Congratulations, Lyre Le Temps. Clockmaster shook the ears like an earthquake. In the words of a circus ringmaster, "Amazing."


And the final category is...
Best Electro Swing Song

Caravan Palace/Charles X - About You
Emma Clair - Time To Fly
DJ Mibor/Wolfgang Lohr/Offbeat - Very Nice People
SpekrFreks - Move On
Tape Five - Party Like It's 1929

And the winner is, "Very Nice People." This is the kind of collaboration Electro Swing fans dream of. Paris catwalks and Chicago after hours clubs are where this gem belongs. And we all know where that leads. Everywhere.

Thanks for browsing and please return for my weekly iSwing Top 40 countdown. I break down what's happening in the world of modern swing music and occasionally blab about fun stuff too.
Until then, keep your head in the clouds and keep swinging for the stars.

JC JSum