100. Subb-an
99. Speedy J
98. DVS1
97. Ivan Smagghe
96. Efdemin
| | From the amount of time DVS1 spends in the booth at Berghain, you'd think they were grooming him for a residency. That would certainly make sense: with his balance of toughness, variety and emotional range, the Minnesota native is one of the finest acts in techno today.
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95. Deetron
94. Margaret Dygas
93. Max Cooper
92. Joy Orbison
91. Joseph Capriati
| | The key word with Joy Orbison is "discerning." He didn't play a ton of gigs outside of the UK in 2011, but every single one of them seemed to be at one of the best venues that country or city in question had to offer.
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90. Heidi
89. Moodymann
88. Michael Mayer
87. Miguel Campbell
86. Dan Ghenacia
| | It's not easy being a deep house DJ in Paris, but Dan Ghenacia isn't complaining. For nearly 20 years, while French Touch, filter disco and eventually nu-rave blared at most of the city's clubs, he's been the beating heart of a small but proud underground scene.
|
85. Henry Saiz
84. Four Tet
83. Peter Van Hoesen
82. Catz 'N Dogz
81. Kerri Chandler
| | DC-10's curatorial hand and a relaunch of his Madhouse imprint had plenty to do with Kerri Chandler's 2011 renaissance, but it was his own stellar DJ sets that vaulted him into this list of the top jocks of the year.
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80. Wolf + Lamb
79. Justin Martin
78. Mathias Kaden
77. Andrew Weatherall
76. Craig Richards
| | From their house and bass music hybrids to their infectious sense of humor (read: the video for "LEZGO"), Justin Martin and his fellow Dirtybirds have a way of keeping things fresh, which explains why they maintain such a special status in San Francisco and beyond.
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75. Ellen Allien
74. Steve Bug
73. Shaun Reeves
72. Guy J
71. Paco Osuna
| | Guy J proved that prog had plenty left to say in 2011 via his 1000 Words full-length. Clubbers agreed, flocking to see the Israeli jock push his uplifting 4/4 in venues around the world.
|
70. Daniel Bortz
69. Theo Parrish
68. Shonky
67. Petre Inspirescu
66. Ame
| | He's been DJing for 20 years, but Daniel Bortz may just be the sleeper success of 2011. Despite playing little outside of his native Germany, Bortz has cultivated a following through an adroit run of sample-heavy house tracks. |
65. Guy Gerber
64. Visionquest
63. Jeff Mills
62. Donato Dozzy
61. Surgeon
| | More and more DJs play the type of ambient techno that Donato Dozzy is so closely associated with. But take one look at this list and you'll realize that nobody else plays it in the same way. A master of atmosphere and touch, Dozzy is one of a kind.
|
60. Nina Kraviz
59. Agoria
58. Motor City Drum Ensemble
57. Pearson Sound
56. Levon Vincent
| | What to expect from a Nina Kraviz DJ set? House and techno with a nod to the past. And more than likely some mistakes. The Russian selector spread her purist message further than ever in 2011. |
55. Danny Daze
54. Matt Tolfrey
53. DJ Harvey
52. Move D
51. Nick Curly
| | You could hardly escape Danny Daze's breakthrough track "Your Everything" in 2011 and, accordingly, he had some high-profile gigs in the UK to match. Expect to see him plenty more in clubs around the world in 2012.
|
50. Rhadoo
49. tINI
48. Steffi
47. Matthias Tanzmann
46. Lee Burridge
| | tINI fully emerged from the lengthy shadow of Desolat label boss Loco Dice in 2011 with a debut album that allowed her more intricate take on house to come fully to the fore.
|
45. Carl Craig
44. DJ Koze
43. Robag Wruhme
42. Pan-Pot
41. James Holden
| | It's impossible to dislike Robag Wruhme. From the nonsense titles of his recorded mixes to the beats themselves, his glowing personality flows right into his music and has made him a perennial favourite.
|
40. Prosumer
39. Claude VonStroke
38. Julio Bashmore
37. Zip
36. James Zabiela
| | After a relatively barren spell during the '00s, home-grown house music is thriving again in the UK. Via his fresh and bass-heavy take on the sound, Bristol's Julio Bashmore is one of the key talents of this rejuvenated scene. |
35. Ben UFO
34. Davide Squillace
33. Raresh
32. Carl Cox
31. Cassy
| | It almost goes without saying that bass music DJs play across the board these days—but no one does it with quite the same skill and panache as Hessle Audio co-founder and Rinse FM resident Ben UFO. |
30. Damian Lazarus
29. Steve Lawler
28. Joris Voorn
27. Hernan Cattaneo
26. Dubfire
| | "Whether you like Crosstown or not, Damian is one of those people that just ***in' knows what he's doing," said Maceo Plex earlier this year on the subject of Damian Lazarus' A&R skills. The same could also be applied to his DJing. |
25. Scuba
24. Dyed Soundorom
23. Magda
22. Adam Beyer
21. Chris Liebing
| | Chris Liebing's magnificent recent run of form continued in 2011, with the CLR label and its celebrated podcast series cementing its position as one of the go-to sources for the tougher end of the techno spectrum.
|
20.
SolomunDiynamic continued its reign as one of Germany's most vital imprints in 2011.
Label boss Solomun had a lot to do with that, taking the imprint's sound
to clubs around the globe while also *** sure that their own
hometown venue
Ego was stocked by some of the world's best DJs. Celebrating an
anniversary—five years of Diynamic—certainly didn't hurt matters much
either. Add one of the year's most beloved remixes—his take on Noir
& Haze's "
Around"—on top of all of this, and you're left with the best year yet from the Bosnian-born DJ.
19.
Marcel DettmannOstgut Ton further expanded its brand of no nonsense techno and old
school-indebted house outside of the confines of its Berlin home at the
famed
Berghain/Panorama Bar in 2011. The techno evangelism was largely due to the work of residents Marcel Dettmann and
Ben Klock. While Klock largely kept his head down in the clubs, Dettmann found time to put out a solid mix CD,
Conducted, on
Music Man and 12-inches through
50 Weapons and
Kontra-Musik.
These outside endorsements further emphasize that the world has warmed
up to the cold, steely techno that Dettmann loves so much.
18.
Lee FossEarlier this year, Lee Foss told
tracealine.com that "there will be a backlash, there's no way around it." As for now? Foss is riding high alongside
Hot Creations partner
Jamie Jones,
and an imprint that helped define 2011. With two solo EPs and a host of
DJ gigs, Foss was as personally responsible as anyone for the trend.
But he's no overnight success: He grew up in Chicago's hard knock scene,
honed his sound in Los Angeles and now makes his home in the UK. In a
few years, the backlash
will arrive. If there are more years like 2011 before then, though, Foss will undoubtedly have far more fans than detractors.
17.
SashaGod is a DJ—but he only warms up for Sasha, reads the title of Brendan Blood's semi-biographical book on the UK veteran, a playful nod to the famous 1994
Mixmag cover story. Sasha may not command quite the same levels of reverence
these days, but his latest appearance in our top 20 should go some way
to emphasizing his enduring relevance. After a nine year break, Sasha
got back together with
Lee Burridge and
Craig Richards to reform Tyrant this year, sprinkling some of that star power over
the final event in our
RA X series at
Trouw in Amsterdam.
16.
Sven Vath It was largely business as usual for Sven Vath in 2011. Although when you consider that "business" includes running
a club, a booking agency,
a record label,
a weekly Ibiza residency and visiting the four corners of the globe to
DJ, you realise that there's nothing "usual" about this. Germany's most
famous techno DJ celebrated 30 years behind the decks, and while the
mythical status surrounding his marathon sets, Ibiza afterparties and
general debauchery continues to swirl, remaining steadfast might just be
the secret to his success.
15.
Tale Of UsIn
a year when RA's DJ poll underwent some massive changes, Tale Of Us'
climb into the top 20 has to count as the most surprising. The group
barely
existed in 2010. Their
beloved RA podcast,
however, outlined exactly what they do in a club setting. Melodic,
bouncy and pitched at right around 120 BPM, they hit at a moment when
pop has been *** a mighty comeback courtesy of
Hot Creations and
Visionquest —the latter of whom put out their
Dark Song EP this year. Something tells us, however, that they'll be around for a while: Catchy tunes rarely go out of style.
14.
Soul ClapDJing
may appear pretty simple. Soul Clap remind us that even the simplest
stuff requires an expert hand to become something greater. The Boston
duo dole out classics at a regular clip. The secret is in the way that
they put them together. (Head down to one of their
'90s Jam nights, and you'll hear exactly what we're talking about.) Over the course of
two well-received mix CDs (
one alongside Wolf + Lamb), they also showcased just how many future classics are on
the way from friends and family, and proved that their 2010 entry into
our DJ poll was anything but a fluke.
13.
John Digweed There's honestly not much to say about John Digweed at this point.
What's most amazing about the progressive house king's longevity,
however, is the longevity itself. Dance music is a young man's game, yet
Diggers continues to add colors and countries to his already voluminous
gig diary. Few DJs on this list have played
Macedonia,
Cyprus,
Israel and
Taiwan.
He did it in the past 12 months. It's Digweed's professionalism,
consistency and dedication that keeps him booked every weekend in clubs
around the world. The music, meanwhile, is what keeps crowds coming back
year after year.
12.
LucianoThose who say that Ibiza is dead need look no further than
Cadenza's Luciano as a case study to the contrary. After spending a second season at the helm of his Sunday night shindig at
Pacha,
the label boss has positioned Cadenza as one of the most surefire
brands on the island (and the world). Quite simply, Luciano brings the
party like few others, whether it's via his label's tropical house sound
or a well-timed and well-known a cappella. This year saw further
success at Pacha, along with a continued nod to his underground roots,
bringing the likes of
Moodymann,
Larry Heard,
Daniel Bell and more along for the ride.
11.
Marco Carola "I'm just expressing who I am, what I like to play and hear in the club," Marco Carola
told us this year.
The Italian veteran maintains his #11 placing in our poll this time
out, speaking to his continued dedication to pushing the purest forms of
the music he loves. Whether it's house, techno or something in between,
there's always something u***takably "Carola" about his pared-down,
groove-based sets. As a
Cocoon resident, Ibiza was a key territory for Carola this summer, while
further afield he continued to enjoy one of the busiest worldwide
touring schedules of any DJ.
10.
Ben KlockIt's
nice to know an artist as uncompromising as Ben Klock can be so widely
loved. Granted, he might throw in a few more house records than some of
his fellow
Berghain residents, but his overall sound is techno at its most punishing, and
he always has the cojones to lay it on thick, even when he's playing
somewhere far away from his home base in Berlin (which has been
happening
more and more).
Few DJs could take such brutal rhythms and meld them into something so
compelling. It's that finesse that makes him one of the best.
09.
Maya Jane Coles When we featured her in the
RA podcast in January of this year, we felt pretty confident that Maya Jane Coles
would have a strong year. What actually transpired was nothing short of
incredible. The young London house producer has gone from a talented
local name to a worldwide headlining force in what feels like the blink
of an eye. 2011 has seen
gigs stack up across Italy, Germany, Ibiza and the US, while labels like
Crosstown Rebels,
2020 Vision and
Hypercolour have all played host to her classicist house sound. As for 2012? Let's
just say that there's really no limit to how far she can go.
08.
Dixon"Drama" is the word that comes most immediately to mind with Dixon. In the catalogue of his label,
Innervisions,
nearly every track has a story to tell. It's the same way with his DJ
sets. Rarely does a mix go by without the Berlin-based jock leaving you
anticipating what's going to happen next. It's almost as if the
transitions are as (or perhaps even more) important than the tracks
themselves. A
standout mix CD for Live At Robert Johnson proved this point. If his claims that it is
to be his last are true, look for his frequent club gigs to underline it
on a weekly basis.
07.
Loco DiceWhy
do people always apply the same adjectives—"muscular," "physical"—to
Loco Dice's sound? Well, firstly it avoids having to make an
embarrassing fist-pumping action, and secondly these words are as close
as it gets to describing something unique. See, the intriguing thing
about the German DJ—and very often what sets him apart—isn't
what he plays but the
way he plays. This could be to do with his hip-hop background (discussed
at length with us in January of this year) but what's certain is that Dice's take on house and techno is truly his own.
06.
Art Department We described Jonny White and Kenny Glasgow's rise as "
meteoric" back in October, and for the proof look no further than their touring schedule. The Canadian duo played
a single gig in July 2010; the number of shows for the corresponding month this year?
18. What happened in between was a single of the year, "
Without You," and a standout album,
The Drawing Board, for
Crosstown Rebels.
The key difference between Art Department and so many other
"breakthrough" acts, however, is that individually they've been doing
this since the '90s—a fact that is only too evident from their artful DJ
sets.
05.
Maceo PlexIt's safe to say Eric Estornel had a pretty killer year. After nearly two decades of DJing and *** records––mostly as
Maetrik, more recently as Maceo Plex––he released
Life Index, a breakthrough album that thrust him into the limelight. A month later he played at
Get Lost in Miami and arguably outshone all of his fellow
Crosstown Rebels.
The rest, as they say, is history. Today he makes it into the top 100
for the first time all the way up in the top five, easily the highest
ranking debut since the RA DJ reader poll began.
04.
Ricardo VillalobosIt
could be said that Ricardo Villalobos enjoys a cult of personality: few
artists fill clubs so easily, and as a debonair artiste with a
hedonistic streak, he's underground clubland's perfect poster boy. But
that only accounts for a small part of his following. Some two decades
into his career, Villalobos still has that inimitable mad scientist
quality, whether he's boggling minds at
fabric or
remixing modern jazz records for ECM.
In some ways he's a victim of his own success—good luck catching him in
an intimate setting these days—but he remains one of electronic music's
true visionaries.
03.
Richie HawtinWe
expressed wonderment last year that Richie Hawtin bothered to DJ at all
in 2010. The same was true in 2011: Taking his mammoth
Plastikman show to smaller spaces and to another technological level might've been
enough. It clearly wasn't, if his diary was any indication. Without
three of his key compatriots—
Magda,
Marc Houle and
Troy Pierce left to
focus on Items & Things—it's
clear that Hawtin will have to be more focused than ever in 2012.
Judging by his work ethic, we'd be surprised if he weren't up to the
challenge.
02.
Seth TroxlerIn 2009, Seth Troxler told
Little White Earbuds that he'd "
retired"
at age 16 when he quit his job at The Palace in Detroit (they wouldn't
let him work with dreadlocks). Now 26, he hasn't held a "normal" job
since, but that doesn't mean he hasn't put in the hours. 2011 was a
dizzying year for Troxler—starting a label (
Visionquest), founding a charity (
Red Dot Relief)
and playing at countless parties around the globe. His class clown
persona might make it seem like he doesn't take any of it seriously, but
nothing could be further from the truth. Seth Troxler is one of most
driven DJs out there, and it pays off.
01.
Jamie Jones"The chillest bro in dance music."
That's the way one RA staff member described Jamie Jones earlier this
year. And while that may be true behind the decks, the rise of the
Hot Creations boss is more down to hard work. By our count, Jones was
billed at 142 gigs in 2011, which means he nearly averaged a set
every second day. Couple this with a
lauded fabric CD,
a whole host of remixes and the expert co-curation of a label that came
to define the sound of clubland in 2011, and you're left with a simple
equation. The hottest tracks + the most gigs = the #1 DJ of 2011.