Armin van Buuren

DJs React to DJ Mag Poll on Twitter [Updated]

Darren Ressler Leave a Comment

The results of DJ Mag’s annual Top 100 poll was announced last night in Amsterdam (see the full list of winners here). Armin van Buuren took the top spot for the fifth time, edging out 2011 winner David Guetta, who fell to the fourth position. Since last night DJs have been on Twitter, some expressing their gratitude for making the list and others having a less positive view. Winner Armin van Buuren tweeted that his victory was “overwhelming”; Hardwell proclaimed he has “the best fans in the world” and Nervo tweeted that they too were “overwhelmed.” But not everyone was feeling the love: Diplo, who landed at 102 on the poll, tweeted “Seriously I don’t even know what dj mag is is it actually a magazine? Like people?” Sasha offered “Oh no dj Angerfist beat me in the DJ mag poll. My career is over.” Feed Me suggested that the poll is “a corrupt and an outdated model.” But perhaps the most curious tweet was from Kaskade who wondered, “Is a DJ Mag Poll Relevant?” Have a look below at the chatter on Twitter and tell us who you agree or disagree with.

Oct. 22 update: See new tweets from BT, Alesso, Sébastian Léger and others at the bottom of the story.




























Editorial: Global Spin Awards Honors Hip-Hop DJs, Pays Only Lip Service to EDM

Darren Ressler 2 Comments

Last week it was announced that Global Spin Awards, a new ceremony honoring DJs, will take place on November 19 in New York City. Reads a blurb on GSA’s website: “Actors have the Academy Awards…Recording Artists have the Grammy’s…And Now…DJ’s have the GSA’s!!”

Good idea, we initially thought.

GSA is the brainchild of Shawn Prez, an employee at Bad Boy Records. He told to the New York Post that “GSA is not about the hip-hop community. It’s about the DJ and their music. Award shows like these would help get awareness to what influence DJs have on social culture.”

However, looking at the list of nominees, I’m not so sure I agree with Prez’s statement not being only “about the hip-hop community” — a scan of GSA’s list of nominees clearly gives dance music DJs gets short shrift.

Out 200 nominations in 42 categories, only a handful of the DJs affiliated with electronic music are in the mix. Some of the nominations seem entirely random, such as nominating Daft Punk for Dance DJ of the Year. Aside from creating a mix for Saint Laurent’s show during Paris Fashion Week last week, the reclusive French duo rarely DJ and haven’t toured in ages.

While every publication (including BS) is guilty of typos, there are several on the list of nominations — specifically the spelling of dance music DJs Paul Van Dyk, Armin van Buuren and deadmau5 — on GSA’s site. My guess is that they are likely the result of the organization’s unfamiliarity with EDM (we’ll table our issues with the list of nominees for another day):

 

While Global Spin Awards promise musical diversity it’s also interesting to note that only hip-hop DJs — Funkmaster Flex, Kid Capri, Sway Calloway, Clinton Sparks and legendary DJ/producer Marley Marl — were present at the kickoff press conference. Big Shot didn’t receive an invitation to cover the press conference, and judging by the dearth of coverage on EDM sites we’re going to assume invites weren’t extended much beyond hip-hop press.

Honoring DJs is unquestionably commendable, but saying you’re paying homage to all DJs is quite another.

In the future, let’s hope the organizers cast as wide a musical net as possible and solicit help when paying tribute to DJs beyond their own personal comfort zone. After all, we all get by with a little help from our friends.

Above & Beyond’s Tony McGuinness: “We’ll Stop Touring When We Die!”

Kathy Vitkus Leave a Comment

British trance trio Above & Beyond continue to push the envelope with their productions, live show and Anjunabeats label, constantly innovating and moving their music forward. For their new video for “On My Way To Heaven,” the triumvirate, who recently Cream Ibiza Mixed by Above & Beyond,  tapped actor Steven Berkoff (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, A Clockwork Orange, The Krays) to perform a dramatic Shakespearean soliloquy set to the group’s track featuring Richard Bedford. With Above & Beyond returning to the States over the summer for select gigs for their ongoing Group Therapy tour, we thought it was high time to publish our chat with A&B’s Tony McGuinness conducted back in March in Miami.

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DJs React To Swedish House Mafia’s Breakup on Twitter

Darren Ressler 1 Comment

Now that the world has had a day to process Swedish House Mafia‘s news that their upcoming tour will be their last, many of the trio’s peers have taken to Twitter to express their sentiments. DJ Sneak, who became embroiled in a Twitter-feud with Steven Angello in March, tweeted, “This is a game of chess & I just checked mate.” Other jocks like Armin Van Buuren were disappointed, calling the trio’s demise “a sad day for EDM” while some took the group to task for comparing themselves to The Beatles. Have a look at some of the tweets we culled and tell us what you think about SHM’s breakup.