Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Slaptop's Year-End Wrap-Up



Fuck Yeah Humans! 2011 was a momentous year for electronic dance music. It's popularity soared, its influence spread, and its quality increased. And as you have been slowly recovering from the biggest party night of the year, I have posted the highlights:


Love it or hate it, Avicii's "Levels" was hands down the biggest track of the year. The song is perfect and no matter how pretentiously "sick of it" you might think that you are, it is a track that you are certain to dance your pants off to in 2012. I think we can expect big things from Avicii in the future. Coming off of what he called the biggest night of his life in NYC on NYE, he has more momentum than ever. That said, I saw Avicii a few days prior at the Warfield in San Francisco and was pretty underwhelmed. He played none of his forthcoming hits and never even took off his sweatshirt and played an uninteresting largely predictable set. He seemed to be going through the motions. If Avicii is going to continue to take things to the next "level" in 2012 he need to tour less, produce more, and learn how to DJ better. In the meantime, congratulations to the Swede for being the breakout artist with the biggest track of 2011.


This show was incredible. Best live set I have ever heard. Swedish House Mafia will continue to tear shit up in 2012 but this night will not soon be forgotten. Congratulations to SHM on the biggest show of 2011.


Like "Levels" it was hard to go out without hearing this song. One of this year's most significant happenings was the birth of Alesso and this song is largely responsible. He went on to produce chart topping remixes that kept us dancing all year.


Electronic dance music at its finest. This song is a masterpiece. We can expect huge things (like this) from both of these producers in the coming years.


Sun & Moon song has a particularly warm place in my heart and has left its mark on many my favorite nights of this year. Above & Beyond is a group that often gets overlooked in the US. However, as house music's popularity grows, and the lines between house and trance become increasingly blurred, it is only a matter of time till this bomb explodes. If you ever have a chance to see them perform live do not let it pass you by.


A trip to DJ Magazine's top 100 rankings will show you where this guy is at. This was my favorite album of the year. It had the poppy hits that we expected, but then the b-sides blew my mind. It showed us that David Guetta deserves to be #1 because he can really do it all.


I Saw Fedde on Jan 1, 2012 (the night after new years), and he absolutely slayed it. He is a very talented DJ as well as a producer, which is becoming rare in music these days. When he dropped this song the lights went on, the confetti dropped and the crowd went wild.

Hold It Against Me - Britney Spears

There are so many song to point to as evidence of the complete takeover of pop that electronic music did in the last year but this is one of my favorites. Who new Britney Spears likes to womp out (2:17)?



Watchlist for 2012:
Mat Zo
Nicky Romero
Matisse & Sadko
Deniz Koyu
Dada Life

Worst of 2011:
Pitbull
Big Bad Wolf - Duck Sauce
Daft Punk doing everything in their power to blow it


Fuck Yeah Humans, like electronic music, looks to up its game in 2012 and that means we need your help. Theives and I will continue to bring you our favorite artists and tracks on a more consistent basis. So if you like this blog, tell your friends and help us spread the good music.

Happy New Year,

Slaptop




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