Dancing Astronaut’s Top 50 Artists Of 2011: 1-5
We can’t tell you who the best DJ in the world is because the word “best” is absolute and dance music is subjective. That’s why we covered our asses and decided to call it the “Top Artists” instead.
Dancing Astronaut can’t tell you who the #1 Artist in the world is because that title cannot be bestowed by one person, group, or media organization. What qualifies a person to be #1? The amount of fans he has? The size of his name on a poster? The number of people who would vote for him in a popularity contest?
We have no idea how these five artists affected you personally, but we do know that each one of our top five has shaped the global dance music scene in identifiable, concrete ways. This isn’t our attempt to guess who your favorite artists is (and by “you,” we mean “everyone who listens to EDM”).
This is our account of events that we have seen with our own eyes, heard with our own ears, and felt with our own hearts. This is how EDM made history in 2011.
Without further ado:
5. David Guetta
You may hate David Guetta, but the truth is that once his music comes through the speakers, you can’t help but appreciate his prowess. Because the truth is, you stop hating David Guetta the second you hear him speak. Despite everything you want to believe, David Guetta is not an arrogant, self-righteous man. He is humble and articulate, the kind of guy who can express himself equally well in at least three languages. He delivers a hell of a show live, and is a quintessential entertainer of the year 2011 — just see his performance from Electric Zoo if you don’t believe us.
“F*** Me, I’m Famous!”, is Guetta’s tagline, and the fact is that there’s nothing wrong with being mainstream or commercial. Even though EDM-enthusiasts may take issue with his new approach, without David Guetta, dance music would not be what it is today.
The greatest indicator of Guetta’s remarkable success came when his hands were imprinted at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. As he placed his famous fingers into the concrete and looked unblinkingly into the paparazzi’s blinding flashes, Guetta cemented his name into pop culture history.
David Guetta has paved the way — now it’s up to new names to further the cause.
4. Steve Angello
Without Steve Angello, we wouldn’t have been blessed with the likes of Thomas Gold, Tim Mason, Third Party, and AN21& Max Vangeli. As the head honcho of Size Matters, he’s responsible for organizing the finest collection of young talent in progressive house. We’re eternally grateful to Steve for discovering and mentoring these new names, and we wouldn’t be surprised if they started to outshine him one day. Month after month, Size Matters continues to impress us with its emphasis on gorgeous melodies and commitment to flawless productions. Steve Angello will hang up his headphones one day, but Size Matters will live on.
While it’s been a spectacular year behind the desk, it’s been an equally impressive one behind the decks. In 2011, Swedish House Mafia went from progressive house superstars to bonafide global celebrities. We’re not exactly sure quite what makes the triumvirate so absurdly successful, or who does what within the supergroup, but we’d like to hazard a guess: Axwell brings the heart, Seb brings the passion, and Steve brings the style. Yeah, there was #thatawkwardmoment when he was caught faking performing with his set pre-mixed, but selling out the Garden in 9 minutes and proceeding to deliver one of the most memorable nights in New York EDM history has got to count for something.
If we do have to reduce Steve Angello to a single word, it would be style. What better way to describe the red Ferrari, the slicked-back ponytail, the signature “Knas” sound. It’s been well a year, but “Knas” still sounds as fantastic as the day we heard it for the first time. Thanks, Steve. We love you.
3. Axwell
Sure, we could talk about Axwell’s gorgeous productions, his fantastic DJ sets, or the fine work of his Axtone imprint, but there’s something inherently cool about Axel Hedfors that we can’t quit put our finger on. Part of his allure has to be the special way he embodies everything we adore about the dance music scene. His signature line: “You wanna party?” His sense of humor: “For the love of God, can you just say insert woman!” His infamous disregard for the authorities and their rapacious desire to keep young people from having fun in the wee hours of the morning.
What Axwell understands is that dance music is about more than bleeps and bloops, bottle service, and bass. It’s about spiritual healing. Sometimes in life, it’s important to “Turn off the head, turn on the heart.” Because, as we all know, “goosebumps never lie.”
2. Avicii
Oooh-oooh-ooh-sometimes… I get a good feeling….
If Coca-Cola has trademarked happiness, then Avicii has trademarked joy. Pure, innocent, unadulterated joy.
Yes, we know his DJing skills are not the most impressive, and that many of his productions sound the same. We also understand that Avicii live sets can be somewhat underwhelming or repetitive — but none of that matters.
Why? Because everyone — yes, everyone — likes Avicii when they hear his music for his first time. His tracks have a timeless, universal quality that seems to affect people regardless of their age, gender, nationality, race, sexual orientation, favorite sports teams, political ideology, or any other affiliation that we humans use to divide ourselves. Heck, have any other songs in DA history ever passed the Mom Test? He’s become so wildly popular that even his flannel has a Twitter.
It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, Avicii makes you feel good. We would know, since we saw him an absurd amount of times this year — from coast to coast, to the beach, to backstage in Sweden.
Somehow, Avicii has managed to transcend himself. It’s about more than watching him DJ, it’s about the way in which Avicii’s music has infected the hearts and minds of thousands of people across the world, lifting us when we are sad and comforting us when we feel alone. It’s about how a skinny, pasty Swede somehow tapped into the inherent human desire to be happy. It’s about how whenever Le7els plays, whether you’re at a Starbucks, a shitty dive bar, or EDC, the energy level ramps up another notch.
If you still don’t believe us, here’s a simple test. At the next social gathering you attend, wait till the guests have had a chance to meet, mingle, and have a few drinks. Wait till a few brave souls have ventured out on to the dance floor. Wait till people are laughing, smiling, and ready to have a good time. Then turn “Le7els” up to full volume, and watch the magic happen.
1. Tiësto
When Tiësto abandoned his roots in uplifting trance, many viewed it as a betrayal of sorts. The elevated BPMs and swirling, ethereal melodies were unceremoniously dumped in favor of a more progressive/electro style. For lesser artists, this may have been a career setback, but Tiësto wasn’t thinking short-term. He wanted to conquer the final territory, the one place that was resisting dance music’s global pull — the US of A.
In a way, Tiësto’s change of heart was emblematic of a larger trend within EDM — or perhaps it started the trend. You’ve probably noticed that our list is light on trance and heavy on progressive. That’s an indicator of American tastes, as well as a reflection of the subgenres that have gained traction in 2011. If you’ll allow us one sweeping generalization, it’s that the current generation of American EDM fans were converted fairly recently. Progressive and electro lend themselves naturally to newcomers, particularly when compared to trance and techno, which require a more patient, disciplined ear. Call it the “David Guetta/Tiësto” effect, but the time when trance ruled the world is over. Even Armin van Buuren has been ousted from his perch atop the DJ Mag Top 100 — a list that’s typically full of trance gods who are boosted by their huge followings across Europe and parts of Asia.
Our genre is steeped in history, beginning with Paul Oakenfold’s EDM education on the beaches of Goa and the White Island of Ibiza. It’s time to update that history. It’s time to recognize the power of progressive and electro to rise up from the underground and occupy the mainstream. We’ll remember 2011 as the year in which dance music officially (re)arrived in the United States — a cultural development for which Tiësto deserves much credit. If Vegas really is the new Ibiza, we can thank Tiësto’s lucrative residency at the Joint (as well as Kaskade’s run at Marquee), which emphatically demonstrated that EDM DJs are worth the investment. Is there any better way to end a weekend in Vegas than by leaving Tiësto’s residency at 5AM, completely energized?
As we mentioned at the start of this list, these rankings aren’t speculation. They’re based on our account of actual events, events that we chronicled right here on our beloved blog. Tiësto’s seminal moment came when he performed to 25,000 rabid fans at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles. We can debate whether any other DJ would have been able to pull off a gig of that size. But only Tiësto had the balls to attempt such a spectacular event and the star power to actually pull it off. The man is an icon.
For more than a decade, Tijs Michiel Verwest has been rocking audiences around the world. His childhood nickname has become a valuable worldwide brand, a powerful entity that resonates wherever and whenever it’s heard. If you’ve never heard the name “Tiësto” in your life, that’s entirely your fault.
It’s very hard for an entertainer to deliver on massive hype — just ask LeBron James. But Tiësto never fails to impress. His name on a poster is a set-in-stone guarantee of a good time. While much of the Tiësto’s overwhelming popularity can be attributed to savvy marketing and a fantastic publicity team, that doesn’t detract from the core point: the man always throws down. A Tiësto gig never fails to keep its promise. It’s the real thing.
We’re not really sure why EDM fans have to defend our love for this music to outsiders, but for some reason, we do. “It’s not real music,” people like to proclaim. “Anyone could do this, anyone with a laptop and some time.”
What’s the best way to win over the haters? Take ‘em to a Tiësto gig and let this Dutch deity blow their minds.
There’s no way Vegas is the new Ibiza. Difference between the two: the Vegas clubs only book the big marquee names, and even then, half the people in the club have no clue who the DJ is they’re dancing to. Can you imagine Sven Vath, Digweed, Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin, etc., playing Marquee or Rain? Neither can I.
Where the fuck is Ferry Corsten? :-/
1. no tech artist has paved the way? ROFL. do yourself a favor and google carl cox and maybe you’ll learn a thing or two about the history of dance music.
2. you think locodice and plastikman are underground. LOLz.
3. you think maximal crazy is a top track because electro DJs close with it. LOLz.
4. you think that because tiesto changed his music in order to sell out shows with frat bro’s that he’s still the man. LOLz.
and also, way to put down the blog you’re also trying to give props to by saying that because i like techno and minimal that i don’t belong here. i think you’re the one on the wrong site, i believe you were looking for http://www.davidguetta.com
wowww gentlemen and dj lips…just woww..i rescind my prior statement about balance..your inane asinine attempt at outdoing the dj mag rankings has truly been your undoing…the verbose unapologetic and completely unnecessary nature of your prose should give you pause…you are not the oracles of the next generation…at least anyone but tiesto would have been original…poor…poor and problematic for this sites future….we expect better
This comment is my favorite thing ever.
We specifically stayed away from “Top DJs” verbiage in favor of “Top Artists” for a reason. Also, we are not a tech house/minimal blog, and explained the “DA Bias” in our original post.
these comments are really bringing out the best in people huh…? way better than DJ Mag rankings honestly.
Jamie Jones + Seth Troxler have arguably been the two most successful non-commercial djays of 2011. When all of the new die hard avicii and tiesto fans that are new to the game go away and those that stay with the house game discover real music, they will look back and think why didnt I hear of Damian Lazarus or Maceo Plex before? Jamie Jones hands down plays the best dance music period. Hot Creations is the movement and will continue to reign supreme for several years after lazy dubstep and complextro have been exhausted. True house music is timeless, which is why you continue to hear classics remade and replayed over and over. I still love the testosterone-induced rage music that is being produced today, but sit down and force yourself to listen to a number of sets by Jones, Plex, Troxler, or Art Department. Their range is impeccable and their sets are flawless. Those that go without saying are Vath, Coxie, and Plastikman. Even the godfather of house and luciano have been found playing the productions of Jamie Jones and Maceo Plex… Just look at podcasts of recent from Global Radio or Pete Tongs Essential Tunes of the year. Dominated by true house productions. Im excited for EDM but I cant wait for the fakers to go away. Bring on the funk and jack your body people!!!
im reading this comments and i cant believe xD … this guys shape world music!!! especially Tiesto… armin only shape trance scene, so pls dont make comments like myon and shane xD haha
To everyone here saying “blah blah this guy needs to be higher this guy lower”, know that everyone has certain preferences and artists that they deem more important than others.
This list was made to show who DA found important this year. You may not agree with them , but everyone has their preferences, so make one of your own if you want to show your opinion.
I say you did a good job DA, keep up the good work and let’s hope for more awesome tracks in 2012!
i love you. jamie jones is a god.
hahaha, a very valid point. why didn’t we ever think of that?
i didn’t read that, so i’ll take fault for not seeing it – but then rename the list to “top electro/prog house artists that play the same songs of 2011″..
if i look up the track lists from the top 10 – the overlap is so great it makes me want to cry. as a DJ, you have the luxury of literally being able to play any track ever with just the click of a button. so when your 2 hour set of 40 songs has 20+ tracks that are the same as the next guy, it becomes obvious you’re playing a set to fulfill the masses and that will get likes on youtube – as opposed to promoting originality and introducing the audience to new music.
that’s why tiesto is no longer a revolutionary. he’s just playing whatever the mafia boys are playing. in his prime, tiesto was the king of kings. he’d introduce and play tracks in his sets that would become popular a year later. everything streamed from him. now, he’s just playing whatever’s hot on the top charts from beatport. i love tiesto, he’s the reason i got into EDM when i heard ‘in my memory’ in ’02 and i respect his idea of musical freedom – but the fact that 90% of his fanboys now have no idea of anything he’s done before kaleidoscope goes to show you the current state of his career.
just read the introduction to the top 50 list from the original post.
“Daft Punk doesn’t make it on this list, because for all we know they might not play a live show ever again. How can you be considered an artist if no one is able to see your work live?”
please tell me someone was drunk/high/joking when they wrote this? daft punk CAN’T BE CONSIDERED AN ARTIST because guy-manuel has an ear problem and can’t do live shows anymore? LOL. not one of the ‘artists’ on this list would have a career if it weren’t for DP. and i get that this is simply a list of who had a splash in 2011 – which is why DP should be #1. because they’re work was so revolutionary that it is still paving the way for new people to come and spin music at clubs. i’m pretty sure if you haven’t produced new work in years, yet your original work is still HEAVILY influencing every single artist in your genre then yeah – you should be on any list.
disappointing.
if you want to see DP’s work live – simply go to any deadmau5, tiesto, SHM show. there wouldn’t be a “live EDM show” if it weren’t for daft punk.
and for the record – svan vath and his cocoon label just got their own tent at ultra.. definitely a has-been right? LOLz.
i am a trance electro house fan and i walk probaly longer than you in the EDM scene for more then 20 years. you talk alot of crap and your full of yourself fucking ignorant retarded short minded moron you know a shit your still stuck in the past with your in my memory album from tiesto it was good i agreed. but nevertheless his new stuff is good to onely not your cup of tea anymore that doesn’t make tiestos new stuff sucks because you don’t like it. and no tiesto don’t play the top 40 beatport tracks idiot. tiesto is always updated with new tracks in his concerts to test them when it’s not even on beatport fucking pathological liar. and yeah maximal crazy is a outstanding quality track coz he blend almost every style together when you hear the track so do not pretend that you have some knowledge coz you dont have it at all.and tiesto is still revolutionary and came with a new genre aka trouse= trancy house years ago tiesto is just a pioneer a inventor with everything just saying and that you don’t appreciate it anymore me and millions don’t care dude. time people change with the years music evolve so does tiesto.he is still the best dj out there even with his new style i saw him in 2003 and in 2004 in concert the best trance concert in history by far in holland that time. but i saw him also recently in concert with his new style he was still blowing me away. the onely difference was he is not stuck anymore to one genre in his concerts he plays what he wants nowadays and produced what he wants and that is a good thing what ever happpened in history not stuck anymore to one genre.and if you have some knowledge the whole trance scene changed in a deacde and it is not more what it was end discussion. and then you can come with every dj name they all changed their sound because the train reaction when tiesto left the trance scene years ago. and now he does the same thing with electro house aka trouse en break all records in the world what he did before with trance whahaha. so don’t be a hater of someonces succes because he changed his style bro and it is not more your cup of tea. i feel sorry for you to burst your bubble. sorry for my bad english :D
1) DE is my man.
2) To say Sven Vath is a has been is the most ridiculous statement. The guy has never compromised his sound and integrity to become more universal or appealing.
3) Seb- you’ve obviously never seen a Carl Cox set
4) Tech was cool 15 years ago? Uuumm. ToolRoom Records is the biggest selling label on beatport, owned by tech house maven Mr. Mark Knight.
5) From In Search of Sunrise to Maximal Craze? Tiesto can’t even play a 2 hour club set without taking a break to shoot the shit with the cocktail waitresses- lazy.
Good response.
Excelent Article, Tiësto is an amazing DJ, He deserves that 1st. place.
Excellent*
Loved Seth Troxler Essential Mix. Really good.
Sven Vath + MDMA = A 50 Year Old Swedish Man Enjoying His DJ Set More Than Any Human Being In The History Of The Universe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ACzYkeNZJY
I don’t understand why these puritans are hating so much on you guys. If they’re so pure then why are they looking at this blog?
hahahahahaha I mean thats what you gotta do to enjoy that kind of music. Sorry if progressive is getting too “commercial” but I like to enjoy my music sober.
hahahaha skrillex sucks, along with all dubstep. makes my ears bleed
all i say too the incredibly pretentious EDM fans new and old clogging this article with insolent information: who the fuck cares if bro’s are fist pumping to EDM anthems? who gives a fuck that fratboys can sing levels? if you honestly concern yourself over that and change your own opinions based on what other people listen to and like, go fuck yourself. Avicii is not great live, yep its a truth, but too say that he shouldnt be in the top 5 this year would be the exact same as saying mr. vath didnt make a big splash 15 or so years ago just because i’m not a big tech-house guy. great list DA, i respect your opinion regardless if theo keating was nowhere to be found on this list either.
tiesto is the best DJ in the world…go go go go TIESTO
I ♥♥♥♥♥ Tiestoooooooooo!!!!!!!!!
Everyone is entitled to their opinion… but I disagree with you that weak ass Tiesto is #1… He gets all the hot producers at the time to collab with him… Throws his name on the record and all of a sudden
RIGHT ON MATES! 1 & 2 Perfect selection.
Tiesto & Avicii
Right on mate!
You should read the title…Top 50 Artists of “2011″…he uses daft punk as an example. Sure you can make incredible music but if you never perform live then what does it matter.
Example: Avicii may not be the most talented DJ but you play Levels and shit gets wild.
But I guess its okay to bash people if you’re stupid and ignorant.
Мне пох какие они там по рейтингу,Tiesto,Avicii,David Guetta Рулят!!!
Tiesto is, The Best. Of course that you can say so. Tiesto is the number one in the word. C mon recognize him. Tiessssto #1 . Tiesto, Tiesto, Tiesto. We love you. VIVA MEXICO Y QUE VIVA TIESTO !
Que viva TIESTO. He is THE BEST. Kaleidoscope speaks for you. TIESTO #1.
Wow, this is almost as bad as DJMag..
Your fried mate, this is actually a very well-thought-out list. Contructed with no bias, and fair reasoning. The other comments obviously correspond with it.
I like Avicii but for those of you who think he is better than Tiesto you should know that in 2004 when Avicii was doing his homework for high school ,Tiesto was playing the opening of the Olympics in Greece in front of 4 billion people on tv. Avicii needs to earn this,you cant just name him the best cause hes had 3 hits
I dont get why people complain when big name djs like Swedish House Mafia and Tiesto are on lists like this instead of Digweed,Hawtin,Vath, and others like that. The kind of music that Digweed and these other guys play is not commercial and thats why they play it. They are not looking to be #1 in a list like this cause they dont want to be here. If they did they would play more commercial tunes. And if the tech-house/minimal djs did change their style all their fans would stop listening to them. As far as trance is concerned i think its fair to say that its no longer the most popular genre of dance music. Im all about representing my favorite DJ’s and producers but when people start hating on other peoples tastes of music its just childish. Represent who you like but dont disrespect others,there is plenty of music for all of us to enjoy. One Love
Love Tiesto <3
number one TİESTOO
LOVE TİESTO . <3