DJ Magazine Top 100 DJs poll

there's a ridiculous bias towards epic/progressive/trance in the list - i've never understood whats so great about Van Dyk and the other producers of that kind of music...and the majority of the DJs in this list, all they do is beatmatch essentially - where's the spark - the eclectism i regard as intuitive even?

i cant see Erol Alkan, Osymyso or Freelance Hellraiser in there which is a shame - much more fun than a 4 hour 'journey' set by one of the genre specialists in the list i think

Siegbran, where did you find the list?

What I also see on this list is high positions for DJ's who produce loads of tunes. Tiesto has done something along the lines of 30 remixes in 2001-2002, plus his (very good) album which also spawned five big club hits. Same with Scot Project, Deep Dish, Armin, Marco V...secret of popularity: swamp the market with tracks?

And though not ompletely related: what did strike me how very retro/proto-IDM Sasha's Airdrawndagger is. It's nothing like his sets, it's a cross between "Lifeforms"-era Future Sound Of London and 1994 Orbital, with breaks instead of 4/4s. I'm actually starting to like it (esp. Mr Tiddles and Cloud Cuckoo), while his DJ sets bore me to tears.

Well, what about the Stanton Warriors? But how popular are UKG clubs actually in the UK, I mean attendancewise, compared to hardhouse, trance, house or techno clubs? Obviously UK Garage has been getting loads of attention in the music press worldwide, but do the numbers match up? Personally I'd love to have seen Zed Bias in the list, but to be fair, this is a popularity poll, so "this rather unknown but brilliant DJ X should be included" comments are a bit out of place. I mean, I agree with loads of critics that Michael Mayer has great track selections, but face it, the average clubbing punter couldn't care less...

Well, that says it all really.

Norman Jay at 66 smacks of tokenism too

Bollocks. Norman Jay, quite rightly, is revered as one of UK dance music's most consistently innovative, eclectic, passionate, driven and just plain "Looooove!" players.

The fact that he plays dull-as funky house most of the time nowadays is far more to do with the clubbing public's lack of imagination than his own. Jay deserves to be higher.

and Charlie, i cant imagine the people for voting in that DJ thing are gonna vote for Norman Jay at all, however great he is - thats why i said 'tokenism'

and Moby, you can get stung by OB

I dont read the dance press though so if there is a big, wow Erol/Freelance etc. are saving clubbing angle then yeah I can see why that would annoy you, there's nothing more irritating than someone trumpeting about something being saved that doesn't need to be.

I think if that is so then also it is an age/lifestage thing as I sort of hinted above. This kind of thing is extending the clubbing lifespan for some people and those people are probably of an age where they have more media influence than the people your age.

my love for SOulwax, Freelance and Osymyso stems from the fact they're not discriminative in their setlists (a lot of credit due to Erol Alkan and the Avalanches here too) - i mean of course they're not the only ones and lots of people from Basement Jaxx to Laurent Garnier to Paul Oakenfold to James Lavelle and Justin Robertson have dabbled in dropping classic pop, hip hop or rock into their sets - also they mix competently/adequately and they're unashamed in their use of pre-mixed sequences and the use of CDs i.e. they're moving with the times

i know what Ronan means in that its annoying that these things are perceived as novelty or somehow better than a superbly excuted more 'conventional' set by Tiesto or Deep Dish or whoever - so while my preference these days is for DJs who prioritise the fun and the eclecticism (sorry to use that word) over the purist and technical elements of DJing (that doesnt mean i dont wanna hear people like DIgweed - he played a great set on Brighton beach at the Fatboy thing) i give them all equal respect

I agree entirely with this, I was going to make a facetious "Freelance Hellraiser-ENGLAND NOW HAS GOOD INDIE DJ" comment when I was being snarky upthread.

I guess the fucking stupid part is I actually love 2 Many DJs and I enjoyed seeing FH too before. This feels like an ethan thread from about a year ago.

others just missing out include:

104 adam beyer
114 mr c
116 ltj bukem
120 meat katie
123 dj shadow
131 derrick may
147 felix da housecat

Blank & Jones? Lady Dana? Yoji Biomehanika?

All around 30-40

Cosmic Gate? Junior Jack?

70-80.

this year's DJ magazine top 100 djs poll.

i wonder how many of the above djs in the 2002 poll are still there 5 years on?

1 Armin van Buuren
2 Tiesto
3 John Digweed
4 Paul van Dyk
5 Sasha
6 Above and Beyond
7 Carl Cox
8 Ferry Corsten
9 Infected Mushroom
10 David Guetta

11 Deep Dish
12 Paul Oakenfold
13 Markus Schulz
14 Hernan Cattaneo
15 Sander van Doorn
16 Eddie Halliwell
17 James Zabiela
18 Astrix
19 Richie Hawtin
20 Marco V
21 Judge Jules
22 Fedde le Grand
23 Gabriel and Dresden
24 Erick Morillo
25 Roger Sanchez
26 ATB
27 Sven Vath
28 Yahel
29 Umek
30 Andy Moor
31 Gareth Emery
32 Benny Benassi
33 Axwell
34 Mauro Picotto
35 Sander Kleinberg
36 Eric Prydz
37 Blank and Jones
38 Bad Boy Bill
39 Pete Tong
40 DJ Vibe
41 Tiga
42 Steve Lawler
43 Danny Tenaglia
44 Ronski Speed
45 Nic Fanciulli
46 Steve Angello
47 Nick Warren
48 Matt Hardwick
49 Ricardo Villalobos
50 James Holden
51 Mark Knight
52 The Thrillseekers
53 Marco Bailey
54 Anderson Noise
55 Lange
56 Offer Nissim
57 Kyau and Albert
58 Justice
59 Matt Darey
60 Timo Maas
61 Danny Howells
62 Menno De Jong
63 Bob Sinclar
64 John Acqaviva
65 Agnelli and Nelson
66 Fatboy Slim
67 Andy C
68 Ricky Stone
69 Donald Glaude
70 Desyn Masiello
71 Daft Punk
72 Martin Solveig
73 BT
74 Chris Liebling
75 Valentino Kanzyani
76 Trentmoller
77 Jeff Mills
78 John Graham
79 Robbie Rivera
80 The Chemical Brothers
81 Luciano
82 Hype
83 Lisa Lashes
84 Filo and Peri
85 Lee Burridge
86 Armand van Helden
87 Magda
88 Dave Seaman
89 Victor Calderone
90 Dave Clarke
91 Richard Durand
92 Westbam
93 Sebastien Leger
94 Chus and Ceballos
95 Wally Lopez
96 Bookla Shade
97 Adam Beyer
98 Dirty South
99 Erol Alkan
100 Laurent Garnier

source: http://www.dancenova.com/news/dj-mag-top-100-results-2007/12056.html

what is the criteria for this ridic list ?

ahh Bookla Shade

re: what is the criteria for this ridic list ?

it's a yearly worldwide open to anyone poll organized by British fortnightly DJ Magazine. obviously superstar big name house / trance djs are going to dominate.

booka shade are barely even djs! and daft punk/the chemical brothers

still...the purpose of this poll is outrage

who are...

the worst djs in this poll?
the most surprising inclusions?
the most glaring omissions?

ATB?!

this list is so weird its hard to even try and criticize it

TS: Israeli psytrance vs Palestinian clobber

ts: british trance dj vs. british trance dj vs. british trance dj

moons of saturn sub-spacestep

there is little sense in criticizing this poll because it is practically the same every year. trance dudes like to vote.

ts: the list of RA podcasts from 07 vs. this list

worst: chems
surprise: atb@26
omission: no jumpstyle dj?

lol@ "Chris Liebling"

"58 Justice
99 Erol Alkan"

Does this not seem weird to anyone else?

I don't really see the point in criticising this list seeing as it's always so far removed from my experience of clubbing. It took until #19 to get to a DJ I've actually seen, and I'll freely admit to having no idea who at least a quarter of these people are.

No Queens of Noise?

lol jk

9 Infected Mushroom

anyone heard of these chaps? awful name.

Yeah, it's Israeli psytrance, one of those 'intensely popular but totally under the radar' things. I've been invited to go and see them a couple of times and decline, partly because the chances are it'd be crap, but more because I'm terrified I might actually enjoy it.

The weird ones for me are people like Dave Seaman - where are these people in 2007 whose favourite DJ is someone like him, it's like that cliche about never meeting a really big fan of Seal or someone

Good to see The Ex getting props at no.30 though

"58 Justice
99 Erol Alkan"

Does this not seem weird to anyone else?

This did seem odd. I've never heard anyone enthuse about Justice as DJs but have heard plenty about Erol.

People can get very high in this list without me ever having heard their name before.

To be honest I'm pretty sure the same would apply if we were to look at Guitar magazine's Top 100 Guitarists list. It's pretty much the same thing really isn't it?

Haha I've just counted and I've never heard of 40 of these! It really is a different world.

infected mushroom is also huge in mexico and south america, as i understand -- psytrance (or "psycotrance") has a pretty heavy grip there. matt, i don't think you'd need to worry much about enjoying it, from the little i've heard.

and daft punk? really? i don't mean to turn this into a philosophical debate over the distinction between DJing and live PAs in the digital era, but but but.... they don't DJ, do they? at least not as daft punk?

well bangalter does I guess, but they sure don't DJ to enough people to get them enough votes to be in this poll!

Yeah, it's Israeli psytrance, one of those 'intensely popular but totally under the radar' things. I've been invited to go and see them a couple of times and decline, partly because the chances are it'd be crap, but more because I'm terrified I might actually enjoy it.

-- Matt DC, Thursday, 25 October 2007 08:37 (5 hours ago) Link

This made me laugh. No Infected Mushroom is the least trendy dance music of all. He's the Yes of the dance world. Then again, like Yes he's not completely without his merits and does have an enormous amount of fans. Go see him, but don't wear your best shiny shirt.

great to see justice so high. not a huge fan of the records, but they are fantastically unpretentious djs when i've seen them.
real it's-a-friday-night-let's-have-a-party style djing. i'd never have guessed. they played WHAM!

Infected Mushroom are two guys. The music they do is not (just) psychedelic trance anymore, it has guitars and vocals and is more like electronic rock or something. This is a video from their last album.

I listen to psychedelic trance (watch out for my mix on ILM competition!) but don't like this at all. And recently I've met progressive rock and metal types that don't listen to electronic music at all but really dig this stuff. Weird.

they played WHAM!

to be honest. some horrendous israeli psy trance is now sounding appealing in comparison.

also, a LOT of the people on this list actively encourage their fans to vote for them via email or via their website. *cough* tiga *cough*

Haha RUBBISH show then Tiga in that case. Clearly he must be the NME Sex Pistols appeal of DJ polls, and that's given he's one of the handful of DJs I'd pay to go and see again like a shot.

Does Weatherall fail to make this list every year then?

i'm pretty sure weatherall is more than happy to fail to make this list every year.

in fact some top fivers were dropped this year due people using scripts to vote for them repeatedly from the same IPs.

(Erm handful of DJs in the list, I meant)

rather shocked to see richie hawtin so high -- not because he's not a good DJ, but he seems so out of place (both stylistically and lifestylistically) among the others in the upper regions of the poll. no doubt, of course, he's a superstar, but his stardom has always seemed to me almost arbitrary, if that makes sense. like, the people aren't voting him so high because he plays minimal, but because he's richie hawtin -- a case of fame reinforcing fame. (i realize this may not be making any sense.... chalk it up to the onset of a headcold, times a watergate hangover.)

the next 50

101 Skazi
102 Tall Paul
103 Stanton Warriors
104 Lisa Pin Up
105 Sean Tyas
106 Mario Piu
107 John O Callaghan
108 Johan Gielen
109 DJ Rush
110 Antonie Clamaran
111 Aly and Fila
112 Cosmic Gate
113 Rank 1
114 Boys Noize
115 Krafty Kuts
116 Darude
117 Laidback Luke
118 John OO Flemming
119 Alex MORPH
120 John Askew
121 Astral Projection
122 Chris Lake
123 Marco Lenzi
124 Satoshi Tomiie
125 Digitalism
126 Dennis Ferrer
127 Super 8 and DJ Tab
128 Misstress Barbara
129 Marco Carola
130 Sebastian Ingrosso
131 Miss Kittin
132 Andy Whitby
133 Gui Boratto
134 Simon Posford
135 Tocadisco
136 Alex Kidd
137 Stephan Bodzin
138 Steve Porter
139 David Morales
1470 Loco Dice
141 Joachim Garraud
142 Leon Boiler
143 James Lavelle
144 John Dahlback
145 The Plump DJs
146 Luke Fair
147 The Tidy Boys
148 Pendulum
149 Josh Wink
150 Dave Spoon

Source: http://www.residentadvisor.net/forum-read.aspx?id=34988

i think hawtin gets booked to play the same (superclub) venues that a lot of the other top guys in the list do. he's been a professional dj for almost 20 years and he was hugely popular well before "minimal" despite pretty much inventing it. he can play really populist/entertaining/history-journey dj sets that balance out the more theoretical/arty aspects of his music which counts for a lot if you want to entertain a big crowd.

daft punk are definitely djs.

great to see justice so high. not a huge fan of the records, but they are fantastically unpretentious djs when i've seen them.
real it's-a-friday-night-let's-have-a-party style djing. i'd never have guessed. they played WHAM!
Die.

fun

I'm much happier to see completely left-field guys like Infected Mushroom in this list than those ppl with completely generic faceless sets like Zabiela, Matt Darey or Booka Shade.

Also, the key to this list: large fanbase outside NW-Europe = high position. It certainly accounts for the massive popularity of trance djs while you can't fill even a small UK/Dutch/Swedish club with a trance lineup if you pay people to come.

tricky, when/where do daft punk DJ? the big push this year was on their live show, i haven't heard of them doing any DJ sets aside perhaps from after parties (unless you're saying that what they do is equivalent to DJing). also, 99% sure that gui boratto plays live, not DJ. which is fine, but maybe it's time that DJ mag renames this the top 100 DJs and live acts poll.

"unless you're saying that what they do is equivalent to DJing"

yeah, but maybe not equivalent so much as evolved. anyone using computers and software to dj is doing a similar thing. seeing and hearing daft punk play in a stadium this year, i was struck by how similar their live show was to when i saw them banging out a live set in a nightclub over ten years ago with decks and a 909 (and other gear). the tools have just changed; the modern show was still a dj gig because it is based on time honored dj techniques like loop/scratch/mix/blend/build, build, build/release and very little else. it was simply dressed in rock and roll clothes (as avatar or pseudonym). i would say it is closer in parallel to brinkmann (or narod niki) not boratto.