My Top “10” Tunes Of 2011
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It was difficult enough in 2010 to pick out my top ten favourite tracks, but this year is even more difficult, though there is a clear number 1 for me.
I tried my best but could only get it down to 20, so here goes:
20. Christian Burkhardt – Stopover Goa – This track has so much energy and was one of the first tracks of 2011 to really get me in the party mood. Soooo Cocoon.
19. David K – Somewhere In My Head (Deetron Remix) – I’ve only very recently discovered this, a beautifully haunting piece of minimal. Yes, there is still space for minimal in my music collection in 2011.
18. Maceo Plex – Falling – This is just such a feel-good house track from my favourite producer of 2011, it put a huge smile on my face in Ibiza with tingles down the spine.
17. Noir & Haze – Around (Solomun Vox Mix) – A much slower paced track, with nice vocals…oh and that bassline and those synth stabs.
16. Laura Jones – Love In Me – The influence of old garage sounds was quite a regularity in 2011, and this is the best of the bunch in my opinion.
15. Matt John – Hello Again – This is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea, it has these strange warbling sounds and goes “hello, hello” – one of the first tracks that Sven played at Cocoon In The Park, and it stayed in my head all night, just like the number 1 track of my 2011 did.
14. Lovebirds – Want You In My Soul – This kind of track would never have featured in my favourites any time since circa 2004 until now, such has my music preferences veered back to house, it is again a very feel-good song, it is a love song and I put it in my long-lost funky house folder.
13. Thugfucker – Disco Gnome (Tale Of Us Remix) – This is just typical of the disco-house sound that is almost everywhere in 2011, and is even starting to filter into bars in Reading, and will be played in dancefloors in Hull in 2015 (electro-house has finally caught on there, and minimal).
12. Maetrik – Crush On Me – A long build-up into a twisted kind of tech-house track, with vocals that I found most quite amusing to sing at anyone unsuspecting.
11. Efdemin – There Will Be Singing (DJ Koze Remix) – This is really deep, dark and devastating, with a fantastic break-down into an excellent arty sample, and the bassline coming in is…well…devastating, Sven played this in his warm-up to his 9-hour set at fabric earlier in the year and that was when I realised that he wasn’t messing around this year.
10. Maceo Plex – Can’t Leave You – Talking about devastating basslines, this is yet another one but it is quite a light feeling house track too, which is where the magic comes from. The third mention for my producer of 2011.
9. Eleven Eleven – Tourist Trap (Jamie Jones Miss X Remix) – There is no way that my top 20 can go without a mention of Jamie Jones, despite the haters or probably because of them, the night at fabric back in the autumn was crazy, totally out of this world with excitement and a buzz like only fabric can seem to produce, and even more than the Ricardo and Sven nights and despite (or again, because of) the fact that P. Diddy is part behind this track, it is a monster and representative of the dark, twisted disco-twinged music of Jamie Jones that very special night.
8. A. Mochi – C2M (Gary Beck Remix) – The only proper techno track I am featuring this year, this is the track that I nearly left the main room at Cocoon, Ibiza to check out the terrace but couldn’t bear to tear myself away from Sven and he rewarded me with the relentless pounding monster of a techno track that seemed to go on forever and totally devastated the main room. And those ice cannons…
7. Creep – Days (Soul Clap Remix) – A much slower house track, and surprise, surprise, it is the bassline that just makes me wet myself yet again, I just think that it is a brilliantly emotive remix.
6. Luca – Different Morals (Clockwork Remix) – Another very slow-paced vocal house track, totally groovy and one that is really growing on me right now, I love the vocals as I sometimes do wonder where people get their morals from – they are different to mine! Or perhaps more like where I got mine from…ahem.
5. Dinky – Acid In My Fridge (Visionquest Remix) – When I first saw that they had remixed one of my favourite ever minimal tracks, and a stone-cold minimal classic, I was a little concerned but this is amazing as it is ever better than the original, very dark, amazing bassline and oh, Sven played it at fabric and totally blew the place apart – again as part of his warm-up. Shocking stuff.
4. Lucky Paul – Thought We Were Alone (Money vs Gold Remix) – One of those tracks that a lot of people won’t like, to me though it is a really good feeling epic house track which gave me tingles down the spine the first few times I played it and it therefore just had to be included.
3. Butch – Rawhide – Ricardo played this at Cocoon In The Park, and it sent me absolutely crazy, it is probably the craziest track of the year and a bit of a head-fuck – yes another one that a lot of people won’t like but since when does Ricardo play anything that normal? Took me about 4 months to work out what the heck it was too. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaoooooooooooowwwwww!
2. Danny Daze – Your Everything – Award for the best video of 2011, and the second best track of 2011, a stone-cold classic house track, an amazing bassline that just goes right through me and a bona-fide amazing moment at fabric when Danny Daze played it, who incidentally also played a very clever and very impressive warm-up at fabric.
1. Azari & III – Hungry For The Power (Jamie Jones Remix) – And yes my number one is the track that everyone seems to love to hate though if it wasn’t RA’s number 1 DJ behind the remix and only had 1,000 views on Youtube instead of 1.2 million views then there would not likely be so many haters. I first heard this played out at Cocoon In The Park, Sven played it, and the crowd, already such an up-for-it party crowd just went wild. It stuck in my head all night and became my favourite tune for weeks, if not months of 2011. I love the bassline, I love the annoying high-pitched noises, I love the vocals. I love that a British producer/DJ has produced my favourite track of 2011. I love that it has so many haters. I love that 6 months after first hearing it, it still makes me want to dance like crazy. Sorry, but this is my absolute stand-out track of 2011.
I know the chance of getting anyone to comment is quite limited but I really would love to hear what you think of my attempted top 10, and some of your favourite tracks of 2011.
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