Armin Van Buuren again reigns supreme, with Tiësto and David Guetta following in the #2 & #3 positions.

Here are the Top 10 DJs:

1. Armin van Buuren
2. Tiesto
3. David Guetta
4. Above & Beyond
5. Paul van Dyk
6. Deadmau5
7. Ferry Corsten
8. Markus Schulz
9. Gareth Emery
10. Sander van Doorn

Check out the full list below, and then leave a comment with your thoughts!

The Top 100 DJs For 2009

1. Armin van Buuren
2. Tiesto
3. David Guetta
4. Above & Beyond
5. Paul van Dyk
6. Deadmau5
7. Ferry Corsten
8. Markus Schulz
9. Gareth Emery
10. Sander van Doorn
11. ATB (
12. Infected Mushroom
13. Sasha
14. Axwell
15. Andy Moor
16. Bobina
17. John Digweed
18. Carl Cox
19. Cosmic Gate
20. Steve Angello
21. Roger Shah
22. Aly & Fila
23. Paul Oakenfold
24. John O’Callaghan
25. Sebastian Ingrosso
26. Benny Benassi
27. Laidback Luke
28. Richie Hawtin
29. Fedde Le Grand
30. DJ Feel
31. Lange
32. Hernan Cattaneo
33. Daft Punk
34. Eric Prydz
35. Bob Sinclar
36. Joachim Garraud
37. Kyau & Albert
38. James Zabiela
39. Umek
40. Christopher Lawrence
41. Eddie Halliwell
42. Simon Patterson
43. Offer Nissim
44. Judge Jules
45. Sean Tyas
46. Dubfire
47. Martin Solveig
48. Sven Vath
49. Richard Durand
50. Marco V
51. Kaskade
52. Tydi
53. Erick Morillo
54. Matt Darey
55. Astrix
56. Menno de Jong
57. The Thillseekers
58. Nick Warren
59. Dirty South
60. Roger Sanchez
61. Mark Knight
62. Wally Lopez
63. Leon Bolier
64. Blank & Jones
65. Justice
66. Laurent Wolf
67. Astral Projection
68. Boys Noize
69. Ronski Speed
70. Sander Kleinenberg
71. Ricardo Villalobos
72. Chuckie
73. Sharam
74. Marcel Woods
75. Lisa Lashes
76. Moonbeam
77. Rank 1
78. Sebastien Leger
79. Marcus Schossow
80. Steve Lawler
81. Skazi
82. Super8 & Tab
83. Pete Tong
84. Tocadisco
85. Sied van Riel
86. Tiga
87. Daniel Kandi
88. Mike Koglin
89. Luciano
90. Yahel
91. Myon & Shane 54
92. John B
93. Simon Posford
94. Fatboy Slim
95. Robbie Rivera
96. Antoine Clamaran
97. Nic Fanciulli
98. Gui Boratto
99. Alex M.O.R.P.H.
100. Andy C

Image: BryanSereny

DJMag via InTheMix

This is an interview with Sasha and John Digweed, produced for the South West Four Festival:

To coincide with their only joint UK festival performance this summer we are very pleased to bring you Sasha & John Digweeds first joint video interview in many years!

Usually shying away from video interviews we were lucky enough to catch this legendary duo on a recent trip to London. As both DJs are veterans to South West Four and as they are rarely are interviewed together, we are absolutely chuffed to be able to bring you this exclusive as the duo discuss their first joint UK festival performance together in two years, life on the road, their individual projects and more.

via LockNLoadEvents

I’m surprised to see Infected Mushroom in the top 10. And where are the female DJs?

Let me know what you think of the list in the comments.

DJ Mag Top 100 DJs 2008

01. Armin van Buuren

02. Tiësto

03. Paul van Dyk

04. Above & Beyond

05. David Guetta

06. Ferry Corsten

07. Sasha

08. Markus Schulz

09. John Digweed

10. Infected Mushroom

11. Deadmau5

12. Carl Cox

13. Sander van Doorn

14. Paul Oakenfold

15. Richie Hawtin

16. Hernan Cattaneo

17. James Zabiela

18. Andy Moor

19. Eddie Halliwell

20. Axwell

21. Eric Prydz

22. Kyau & Albert

23. Gareth Emery

24. Sven Väth

25. ATB

26. Anderson Noise

27. Joachim Garraud

28. Bobina

29. Fedde le Grand

30. Dubfire

31. Aly & Fila

32. Judge Jules

33. Umek

34. Matt Darey

35. Ricky Stone

36. Ricardo Villalobos

37. Lange

38. Daft Punk

39. Benny Benassi

40. Bob Sinclair

41. Deep Dish

42. Mark Knight

43. Astrix

44. Marco V

45. The Thrillseekers

46. Laidback Luke

47. Danny Tenaglia

48. Menno de Jong

49. Marco Lenzi

50. Andy C

51. Offer Nissim

52. Martin Solveig

53. Adam Sheridan

54. Sean Tyas

55. DJ Feel

56. Yahel

57. Roger Sanchez

58. DJ Shah

59. Sander Kleinenberg

60. John O’Callaghan

61. Blank & Jones

62. Cosmic Gate

63. Steve Angello

64. Simon Patterson

65. Gabriel & Dresden

66. Richard Durand

67. Laurent Wolf

68. Matt Hardwick

69. Chris Liebing

70. Erick Morillo

71. DJ Hype

72. Signum

73. Justice

74. Dirty South

75. Wally Lopez

76. Magda

77. Lisa Lashes

78. Pete Tong

79. DJ Vibe

80. Bad Boy Bill

81. Tiddey

82. Greg Downey

83. Marcel Woods

84. Nick Warren

85. Solar System

86. Skazi

87. Mike Koglin

88. Mauro Picotto

89. Sébastien Léger

90. The Chemical Brothers

91. Steve Lawler

92. Fatboy Slim

93. Solarstone

94. Astral Projection

95. Leon Bolier

96. Nic Fanciulli

97. Ronski Speed

98. Tocadisco

99. Booka Shade

100. Alex M.O.R.P.H. & Woody van Eyden

Image: tricky

The last Sasha album we reviewed, Airdrawndagger, was an artist album, rather than a DJ mix. It got a lukewarm reception with some, despite being an interesting artist album. Involver 2, though, is a return trip to a world of carefully blended tracks that stretch the idea of a DJ mix.

On Involver 2, Sasha thinks well beyond the idea of mixing tracks together – towards crafting a music mix with an arch. Sasha draws on the artist chops he honed with Airdrawndagger, while also skillfully blending a variety of tracks by artists ranging from Ladytron to Thom York.

Sasha kicks things off nicely, blending Badger’s environmental/ambient track Intro smoothly into Telefon Tel Aviv’s You Are The Worst Thing In The World. While You Are The Worst Thing is a vocal track, Sasha stretches out the instrumental beginning, creating an long slow build to the first peak of the mix.

Next up is a trio of trance tracks, Flesh, Eclipse and Lowlife. This section is one of the highlights of the album, combining the three tracks together in a creamy hypnotic blend. Sasha then slows things down for a breather with Charlie May’s Midnight, but cranks things right back up with Apparat’s wonderfully Arcadia. Listen to the bassline on Arcadia closely and enjoy the rhythmic weirdness.

The next section of the album focuses on vocal tracks. Sasha makes some interesting choices, throwing together the likes of M83, Ladytron and Thom Yorke. Yorke’s track is the standout of this section, with its combination of ambient vocals and driving rhythms.

Sasha’s track 3 Little Piggies takes things back to Airdrawndagger territory. It’s a trance track that recalls the 80’s synth music of groups like Tangerine Dream – just with more driving beats.

The last track on Involver 2, Engineer’s Sometimes I Realise, is solid track – but doesn’t cap off the album as well as I would have liked. As a result, the album feels like it peaks early and has an overly extended dénouement.

On Involver 2, Sasha offers up a polished mix and takes fans back to proven territory. While I would really like to hear more of Sasha’s artist tracks, Involver 2 delivers the goods for fans of the original Involver.

Note to Sasha: Global Underground sends out their review disks with the spoken phrase “Global Underground Promotional Copy” mixed randomly and loudly over your mixes. It really detracts from the blending of tracks and the shape of the release. This may be a way of fighting piracy, but it’s like protecting a painting by rubber-stamping your name all over it.

Tracks:

• Intro Badger
• You Are The Worst Thing In The World – Telefon Tel Aviv
• Flesh Rone
• Eclipse – Sasha vs Ray LaMontagne
• Lowlife – Sasha vs Adam Parker
• Midnight – Charlie May
• Arcadia Apparat
• That You Might – Home Video
• Destroy Everything You Touch Ladytron
• Couleurs – M83
• The Eraser – Thom Yorke
• 3 Little Piggys Sasha
• Sometimes I Realise – Engineers

The CD features twelve heavily worked-over tracks, including tunes from Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, synth pop stars Ladytron, indie troubadour Ray La Montagne and Telefon Tel Aviv. Limited edition copies will include a second CD of Sasha remix exclusives.

Tracks:

01. Intro – Sasha
02. Telefon Tel Aviv – You Are the Worst Thing in the World
03. Rone – Flesh
04. Sasha – Untitled (with Ray LaMontagne vocal sample)
05. Sasha – Lowlife (with Adam Parker Vocal sample)
06. Sasha – Midnight (with Adam Parker vocal sample)
07. Apparat – Arcadia
08. Home Video – That You Might
09. Ladytron – Destroy Everything You Touch
10. M83 – Couleurs
11. Thom Yorke – The Eraser
12. Sasha – 3 Little Pigs
13. Engineers – Sometime I Realise

Sasha releases Involver2 on Global Underground on September 8th 2008.

Over at BeatPortal, Industry Boy is blogging directly from Sasha & Digweed’s tour bus.

It offers an interesting view behind the scenes of a superstar DJ tour:

At the front of the bus is a lounge area with three couches, two giant Toshiba plasma screens, and an entertainment centre complete with a Marantz amp, a DVD player, a VHS player and satellite TV.

There’s a fridge, freezer and microwave too.

At the back of the bus is another lounge with more plasma screens and its own soundsystem.

There’s also WIFI on the bus.

All in all, this is more like a portable hotel suite for 10 people, than a bus.

“No shitting on the bus,” says tour manager Patrick Tetrick. “If you need to crap, we’ve got to stop the bus because there’s no way we can flush it out.

“You do not want to be the guy that takes a shit on Sasha and John Digweed’s tour bus because we’ll have to live with the smell for three days.

Then Sasha walks in, carrying some shopping bags, a MacBook Pro and a LaCie external harddrive.

He’s beaming from ear to ear.

“Oh man, this bus is wicked,” he tells me, walking from the front to the back, counting all the screens, microwaves and bunk beds.

“Last time our bus had 18 bunks, so this is much better,” explains Sasha. “Plus the last one stank of beer, fags, and cum but this one smells really nice.”

How’d you like to blog from Sasha & Digweed’s tour bus?

It would beat springtime in Iowa – we had snow today!

Sasha and Digweed will be bussing it through the country. However, unlike their massive Delta Heavy tour, this tour is about going back to their grass roots.

“Its been six years since Delta Heavy,” says Digweed. “Both Sasha and myself have been talking for ages about touring the states together again, but really wanted to go back to our underground roots, as recently the only shows we have done together have been massive festival events. So this time around we are playing a great selection of clubs with great sound systems rather than big arena shows, which will give our fans a chance to see us in a more intimate environment.”

“While Delta Heavy was billed as an arena tour it was the theatres and clubs where John and I had the most fun and where we felt our sound worked best. So this time around we decided to focus on those venues,” explains Sasha.  “Over the last 6 years we have played together a lot in LA and NY, and whilst I love those cities, I’m really looking forward to returning to places like DC, Seattle and Minneapolis, where John and I haven’t shared the decks since 2002. Plus, spending time on the road with John on a bus touring the country is something I just couldn’t turn down.”

Tour Dates:

• THU 27-Mar-08 Miami Mansion
• SAT 29-Mar-08 Miami Ultra Music Festival
• WED 2-Apr-08 Boston The Estate
• THU 3-Apr-08 Philadelphia The Fillmore @ TLA
• FRI 4-Apr-08 New York Webster Hall
• SAT 5-Apr-08 Washington, DC Ibiza Nightclub
• MON 7-Apr-08 Nashville City Hall
• WED 9-Apr-08 Columbus Karma
• THU 10-Apr-08 Detroit Clutch Cargos
• FRI 11-Apr-08 Toronto Kool Haus
• SAT 12-Apr-08 Chicago House of Blues
• MON 14-Apr-08 St. Louis Dantes
• TUE 15-Apr-08 Minneapolis Epic
• THU 17-Apr-08 Guadalajara Foro Alterno
• FRI 18-Apr-08 Monterrey Autocinema
• SAT 19-Apr-08 Mexico City Arena Mexico
• TUE 22-Apr-08 Seattle Showbox Sodo
• WED 23-Apr-08 Vancouver Plush Nightclub
• THU 24-Apr-08 Portland Roseland Theater
• FRI 25-Apr-08 San Francisco The Warfield
• SAT 26-Apr-08 Coachella Coachella Festival

These are the original Virus patches used on DJ Sasha’s record Involver.

While you’re at it, try out remixing his track Wavy Gravy.

DJ Sasha

Sasha started out as a club DJ in the eighties. He first gained national attention, though, spinning grooves at club Renaissance. There he helped establish the UK house style. He released a compilation of the tracks that he played there, helping to start the trend for club-branded albums, and establishing his name in the process.

His mixes draw on trance, progressive and deep house tracks. Since then, Sasha has established himself as one of the few crossover DJs, successful with artist CDs as well as mix albums. His first artist release, Xpander, was a hit and has been played in clubs since. His more recent artist CD, Airdrawndagger, has proved to be popular, too. According to Sasha, his sound comes “from artists like Spooky, Future Sound of London, Underworld, Leftfield and William Orbit’s label Guerilla. When their records came around, I was like, This is what I want to play.”

He has worked extensively with John Digweed on the Northern Exposure CDs.  He’s also remixed tracks for the Pet Shop Boys, Madonna, Chemical Brothers, Simply Red and M People.

In addition to his skills as a DJ and artist, he plays the piano and bagpipes.

Resources:

• DJ Sasha forum
• Official site
  – Flash site
]]> http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2004/01/15/dj-sasha/feed/ 0 http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2003/12/14/sasha-xpander/ http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2003/12/14/sasha-xpander/#comments Sun, 14 Dec 2003 12:34:14 +0000 synthhead http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2003/12/14/sasha-xpander/ Fans of epic trance and dance electronica will want this CD in their collection.

The Xpander EP is the first time Sasha’s talent as a composer and producer was really apparent. Don’t be put off by the fact that this is an EP. There are just four full cuts on this album, but they deliver almost 50 minutes of music.

The EP starts off with the radio edit of “Xpander”. This is a catchy trance track, but the short edit doesn’t do it justice. Fortunately, the next cut is the full, 11:29, version. “Xpander” features a bell-like sequence that interlocks with pulsating chords. Driving drums keep things moving.

The second full track is “Belfunk”, a darker trance track. It has a little bit more of an industrial feel, especially in the percussion. The electronic drum kit sounds like it is being filtered, giving it a dynamic feel. The drums and pads come in next and build the track slowly until about five minutes into the cut, where the kick drops out and everything thins out. The remaining elements sounds are just some quiet industrial percussion with ambient strings and a harplike sound on top. This is beautiful, chill-out music. Then the bass returns and Sasha does a variation on the beginning of the track.

“Rabbitweed” is the next track on the EP. Their is a long section of filtered echoing percussion. This serves as a mellow introduction on the EP, but would also be a perfect intro for DJ cross-fading. As the percussion and bass come in, the track takes on a bit of an electro feel. The string sounds on this cut are interesting – they have a Mellotron feel. There’s also some lead synth work that sounds middle-eastern. The combination of elements sounds a bit like some of Banco de Gaia’s work.

Sasha ends the album with a reflective cut, “Baja”. This gorgeous track is blissful trance music that takes you on a twelve-minute voyage to the world of electronica. It sounds like Sasha’s listened to a lot of early Tangerine Dream, because the slow, pulsing sequences that make up the first few minutes of this cut sound like some of TD’s work.

Sasha adds in gated vocals that pulse in sync with the music, creating a very trancy effect. It’s nearly six minutes into the piece before the percussion comes in, and this take the cut into another level. The drum kit is passed through a phaser, giving it a classic trippy sound. About two-thirds in, Sasha creates a short breakdown, and then quickly brings everything back to close out the track.

Xpander is a very enjoyable EP. It is not as melodic as a lot of trance music, but it’s just as listenable. It sounds like Sasha is looking back to some of the old-school electronica from the 70’s in his choice of sounds and use of live drums. One of the most delicious aspects of this EP is its pace. Sasha isn’t afraid to take his time to build his music up. He lets the sounds and rhythms have some space. This makes Xpander seem a lot less frenetic than some dance trance, and makes it a great listen for electronica fans.

]]> http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2003/12/14/sasha-xpander/feed/ 0 http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2003/12/10/sasha-airdrawndagger/ http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2003/12/10/sasha-airdrawndagger/#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2003 02:27:24 +0000 synthhead http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2003/12/10/sasha-airdrawndagger/ This album by DJ Sasha is a bit of a surprise. Sasha has already made a name for himself with his dance cuts and remixes, so you might expect airdrawndagger to be full of high BPM dance and trance cuts. Instead, Sasha delivers a wide-ranging set of electronica cuts that will please all types of electronic music fans.

The album starts with “drempels”, which is an echo-drenched chill-out cut. Much of the album features deeply reverbed sounds, which give an ambient feel to several of the cuts. These muted sounds are also used as background on some of the more upbeat cuts. This ties the cuts together into a coherent whole, and also gives the cuts a mellower feel.

“Magnetic North” is a good example of this. It starts with a chillout feel, and then builds by adding drum machine and sequenced bass. It doesn’t sound like a dance remix, like so many electronica cuts now do. Instead, it has a little of an experimental feel.

“Cloud Cuckoo” sounds like something out of early 70’s Tangerine Dream. It starts with strange electronic wails, and then builds this with drum loops and electric guitar. The guitar is interesting because it sounds like something Fripp might have done in his Frippertronics work.

The first cut that sounds like a true dance cut is “Fundamental”. It’s got heavy beats and a kick that carries through most of the song. It sounds a little bit trance, but also a little like some of the big beat work of the Propellerheads. The next two cuts carry on in a more upbeat tempo, creating a nice middle section to the album that features a trippy dance vibe.

There’s a short cool down with “Requiem”, and then it’s back to uptempo numbers. The last two cuts are aimed for the dance floor. Both tunes are full of interesting sounds, but lack standout melodies.

Throughout airdrawndagger, Sasha aims to be pop electronica, rather than straight-ahead dance electronica. The result is an album full of interesting sounds and beats, with cuts that work together to take you on an electronic trip.

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