Oops. Forgot About Peter Andre (Top 10 Artists)

Member Name: samredmore

Product:	Top 10 Artists
Date:	02/12/01 (1060 review reads)
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Y'know how it is. There you are, planning your next opinion. Maybe you've even told someone what it'll be one. And then suddenly there's something different you'd rather write about. Such as Top 10 Artists, when you're really supposed to be penning down an opinion on 'DJing in General' (although not titled as such). Yep, that occurrence is, err, occurring right now. Sorry.

And then we come to artists. Obviously, being in the music section, it's musical artists we're writing about. Not Van Gogh types 'n all that. Artists de la musique. But. That's right, with this particular opinion, there's a but. But I'm not going to be confining myself to music producers, no.

You see the way I look upon it, as will be explained fully in a future, more appropriate opinion, is that DJing is an art form. Shut up if your thinking 'but they're just playing other people's records...' No, just shut up.

So if DJing is an art form, DJs must be artists. And if DJs are artists, then I see no reason for my list of 'Top 10 Artists' not to include DJs. So it will. Not that this is just a list of my favourite DJs though. Although some included in the list will be there on their DJing merits, the people behind the music are (predominantly) still in there. Okay?

Sorry. I mentioned the word DJ so much in the previous paragraph I'm going to have to banish it completely from my next opinion. Which'll probably be my 'DJing in General' one. Oh well.

So without further ado, no rank / numbers will be given to the following, as each is in there for a different reason, and cannot really be compared as such.


MARK YOUNGHEAD & NICK CORRELLI

I know, I know. Two people (don't worry - they'll count as two of the ten).

Without their collective title, MYNC Project, I'm sure none of you will know who they are. Now I've let the
ir collective title be known, I'm sure, err; still none of you will know who they are. If you do - well done - either on genuinely knowing who they are, or simply having read my opinion on them.

For those who don't know, however, MYNC Project are DJs. Two DJs (told you there'd be DJs in here, didn't I?). The reason for them being in here together, as opposed to occupying two separate slots is the fact that they DJ together and I've not heard either of them on their own, so it just had to be this way I'm afraid.

What sets MYNC Project apart from other house jocks, however, is the creativity shown whenever I've had the pleasure of hearing them play. For a start, whilst most DJs, who usually just go it alone might I add, stick to using two decks and one mixer, the respective figures for MYNC time doubles; four decks, two mixers.

Accapellas. Beats. Multiple copies of the same record. That's what MYNC Project are all about. The latter two on the list are pretty self-explanatory. If unsure on accapellas, see my 'Undergroundiscofunk: Part Two' opinion, or just ask in the comments, to which I'll respond 'see me 'Undergroundiscofunk: Part Two' opinion'.

And then there's the music.

Quality. Pure quality. Quality funky house, with other forms of house thrown in for good measure. (But genres? Don't even go there). In fact, two guest mixes MYNC have performed on Danny Rampling's Radio 1 show. Of the two, before hearing them, I owned a total of none of the records played. Since, however, I think the fact that ten I now own as opposed to three I still don't own gives a fair showing as to how high the quality of tracks they play really is, bearing in mind I am of limited financial means and so can only really afford to buy the finest of house tracks.

Anyone who owns one of my mixtapes: Listen to it. Now listen to them. See where I get my inspiration? r>
They will be big.


CARL COX

From the moment I mentioned there'd be DJs included on the list, I'm sure there was no doubt in anyone's mind as to the fact that Carl Cox would be right up there with the best of them. This doubtless mentality would've paid off big-time had you placed a huge bet upon his inclusion, but as it happens, I'll just tell you a little about him and why he's up there with the best of them.

Pointing you towards jeff2000 and spacelamb's opinions of the man would be the easy way out, and have largely comedic consequences, so that's what I'll do.

Just kidding. But do check out their ops on the man, if only to mildly amuse yourself at their (sorry guys) feeble early attempts (in comparison to their current high writing standards).

Oh, and if you do read their Carl Cox ops, read some of their better, more recent ones too, just to stop me feeling guilty.

So back to Coxy then, and, as they say, three is the magic number. The first man to effectively use three decks, three-O (30) years as a DJ to reflect upon and acquiring a third arm are all attributes for Cox to stick in his CV. Which I'm sure you'll agree is quite impressive.

Note: I was only joking about the third arm, but surely more than the standard two are needed to do the things he manages on the decks?

The attitude Carl Cox has towards the whole clubbing scene is second to none, and would almost get him into my top 10 on it's own. Imagine the biggest grin you've ever seen anyone bearing, then triple it's width and you have the look of Coxy behind the wheels of steel. Just like Alex Ferguson.

Cox's production skills are, unfortunately, left trailing in the wake of his high DJing standards, with tracks such as "The Latin Theme" not really doing it for me the way his mixing and scratching (yes - he's a house / techno DJ who scratches)
ability do. Oh well.


PAUL VAN DYK

When you have a track voted 2nd in Mixmag's 'Best Tunes Ever' poll (in case you're wandering, Energy 52's "Cafe Del Mar" was number 1), a chord must have been struck amongst dance music fans. That chord was struck by PvD's trance classic "For An Angel". Written for his girlfriend, whom he is now married to, and reaching 28 in the UK singles chart, although not his biggest commercial success, "For An Angel" is what the man will forever be remembered for. Oh, and for being a top quality DJ...

After claiming it'd be unfair to label the music he plays as trance, strangely enough, I have no hesitation in saying he is by far my favourite trance DJ.

Seemingly always first to play what in months to come turns into the moment's biggest tune, whenever I've heard Paul van Dyk play, his sound has always sounded incredibly fresh, and without fail offers a few ideas as to what tracks I should be looking out for in coming months. Afterburn - "North Pole", Da Hool - "Eichelruck", Cygnus X - "Superstring" and Blank & Jones - "Fragile" are just a few examples of top-notch trance I've been introduced to by the man.

Not that PvD's "For An Angel" was his only hit, though. Tracks such as "Another Way", "Tell Me Why (The Riddle)" and "Love From Above" are all examples of van Dyk productions to have been shown just as much adoration from clubbers as "For An Angel".

Remixing-wise, van Dyk is up there with the best of them (although sometimes they're a little too similar for my liking), with remixes for the likes of Blank & Jones, Members of Mayday (Westbam) and Binary Finary amongst others.


JUNIOR JACK

Let's have a think: 'What kind of music is my absolute favourite?'
Hmm. That'd be funky, u
plifting house.

Which leads us to Italian dude Vito "Mr Jack" Vicente. 'Ahh', I hear you cry, 'someone who isn't a DJ'.

If you happen to have been at all into house music for the past year or so, you may well know of two of the biggest house tracks, like, ever: "My Feeling" and "Thrill Me", both Junior Jack productions.

Now then, as of yet, "Thrill Me" is still unreleased. Believe me though; this track will be the biggest track of the year, if it is to ever hit the shops. If not, as Mixmag put it, 'the track DJs have been slitting their children's throats for' will remain one of them elusive classics everyone who is anyone wants to get their grubby little mitts on. £12 I splashed out for the track, and not a penny wasted if you ask me.

And then there's "My Feeling".

'When I think about you, my feelings can't explain; why after all this time, my feelings can't explain?'

Okay, so maybe the lyrics don't make complete sense, but the Sister Sledge & Cherrelle sampling track, as once described by Sugar Matty O is 'a right good rollicking number', is, err, how you say? Brilliant?

Those two tracks apart, his collaboration with Richard Grey to produce "U Look Fantastic" is nothing short of excellent, whilst remixes for the likes of Kluster, Gala and Junior Vasquez have all gone down as well as his own productions.


DAJAE

Dajae, or Karen Gordon to those that know her, again, is no DJ. When I said I liked 'uplifting, funky house' earlier, whilst Junior Jack was my first example, not one of Dajae's productions cannot fall into the same category.

One of the biggest tunes of both last and this year (following a re-release) "Everyday My Life" happens to be the work of Ms Gordon. Strangely titled "Everyday My Life" whilst the vocal
actually says "Everyday OF My Life", hammered by house legend Frankie Knuckles and just about any other credible house jock around, the track is a sure-fire Ibiza anthem.

In fact, "Everyday My Life" was actually co-written by Junior Jack, and it is his mix of the track to which I stake my preference. Another thumbs up to Mr Vicente then.

Feel good classic "B With U" by Junior Sanchez featured Dajae on vocals, and was released by Roger Sanchez on his record label 'R-Senal', before being signed up for a UK release on Manifesto, and another one of last year's biggest tracks was Dajae's "Time", which featured E-Smoove on the guitar.

'We got so much time to live, so much love to give'

It all started with backing singer parts for the likes of R. Kelly, Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince (Will Smith), before teaming up with Cajmere to come up with "Brighter Days". Basically, it all took off from there...


DJ TIESTO

Oh. I said Paul van Dyk was by far my favourite trance DJ. Oh. Having heard Tiësto DJ only on one occassion though, it's unrealistic to expect him to rank up there with PvD, who I've heard many times.

On just one listening, it's pretty ridiculous for me to class Tiësto as one of my favourite DJs; so I won't. However, he's in my top 10 artists for the fact his production work is by far some of the best I know of. For those not over-informed upon Tiësto, he's a Dutch trance superstar, similar in style to Ferry Corsten (although if you don't know who much about Tiësto, I doubt you'll know much about Corsten).

One half of 'Gouryella' (of which Corsten is the other) and 'Kamaya Painters', Tiësto also has numerous solo tracks / remixes under his belt.

The first time Tiësto was brought to my attention was when the epic "Gouryella", by Gouryella was release
d, back in 1998. It was at this time that trance was really starting to become big business, and amongst the cheesy cash-ins such as Alice Deejay and Vengaboys, Gouryella really stood out as a track of terrific quality.

Further high quality releases as Gouryella with "Walhalla" and "Tenshi" followed, as well as Kamaya Painters' releases "Endless Wave" (sheer brilliance) and "Wasteland".

Tiësto's biggest success, however, came in the form of his 'In Search Of Sunrise...' remix of last years' summer anthem "Silence" by Delirium. Bringing clubbers to tears on occassion, the emotion behind "Silence" helped make it one of the best vocal trance tracks ever.

A harder, more progressive turn by Tiësto with "Flight 643", worryingly at the time, had me thinking the tuneful, melodic trance from his Gouryella days was a thing of the past, until one of this years' biggest tunes emerged, in the form of "Urban Train".

Confusion over the track's proper name (Urban or Suburban?) was cast aside as, all over again, "Silence" returned, only in a better, more sophisticated manner. Woohoo. No, really - stunning.


COLDPLAY

Time for a slight change of style just here, methinks.

Sometimes in life there are songs / bands / artists / whatever who make the kind of stuff you wouldn't usually be in to. For me, Coldplay are one of them. Don't know whether it's just balance striking between continuous beats 'thud, thud, thud' and something a little more relaxing, but there really is no non-dance band / act / whatever who even compares to Coldplay on a scale of how much I like their music.

Although not their debut single, "Yellow" was the track that shot Coldplay to stardom, and was the first track of theirs I heard, and immediately fell in love with. This was followed by what
has to be my favourite Coldplay song, "Trouble", which cemented the thought in my head that I had to get a hold of their newly released album, "Parachutes".

That's exactly what I did, and for the first time since Ace of Base released "Happy Nation" (no joke - I did honestly used to like them), was there a CD to which I took a liking to every single one of the tracks.


DAFT PUNK

Ahh. Time to return to more familiar territory. French duo Thomas Bangalter and Guy Manuel de Homem Christo first recorded a song under the name 'Darling', and were heavily influenced by The Beach Boys. How times have changed...

A name change to Daft Punk, after a review in the magazine 'Melody Maker' labelled there music as 'a bunch of daft punk', and an increased influence from the house sounds filtering across from the UK and US led to their first success as dance artists, with "Da Funk", a track heavily promoted during sets from The Chemical Brothers.

The release of their debut album "Homework" broke into commercial success and what is now a relative classic tune "Around The World" did similarly well.

During a break from his Daft Punk days, Bangalter helped produce one of clubland's biggest tunes, "Music Sounds Better With You", as one third of Stardust.

The year of 2000 marked the return of the long forgotten duo though, as "Discovery" went on to achieve even greater success than "Homework". The first release from the album, "One More Time", to be honest, at first had me reaching for the 'off' switch on the radio. Given time, however, and the track grew on me so much I now own the record.

Hugely unimpressed at first with a fair few of the tracks on the album, each has grown on me to the extent that I own a selection of the tracks on the album on 12" vinyl, and would do s
o the album, if I was an album-buying kinda person. Which I'm not.

Not daft, not punk - Daft Punk.


NORMAN COOK a.k.a FATBOY SLIM

a.k.a about a million other pseudonyms.

It is, however, as Fatboy Slim that Norman Cook's popularity has grown to superstar status. Although a DJ, Cook is in this list for his work as Fatboy Slim, the producer.

Fatboy Slim first sprung to my attention with his remix of Wildchild's "Renegade Master", and soon followed it up by the not-so-great remix of Cornershop's "Brimful of Asha". It was with the first release from the album "We've Come A Long Way, Baby", "Rockafeller Skank" that I really properly took notice of his work, in 1998.

The music world, as I was, was consequently taken over by Fatboy Slim, with further tracks from the album, "Gangsta Trippin", "Right Here, Right Now" and "Praise You" each being hugely successful in both clubland and radio studios alike.

Excellent, original music videos seem to be Cook's thang, with the video for "Praise You" winning numerous awards, and "Right Here, Right Now", "Ya Mama" and "Weapon Of Choice" each receiving praise from, err, people who felt the need to praise them.

The latest album, "Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars", released last year, from what I've heard of it, sounds very disappointing, to be honest, with tracks such as "Sunset (Bird Of Prey)" and "Weapon Of Choice" failing miserably in trying to match the greatness achieved by tracks on the previous album.

Having said that, the last release from the album, "Ya Mama", sees a return to being good, which is what Fatboy Slim does best. Yippee.

Also note the fact that one of my favourite tracks of the year, albeit a Chemical Brothers remix, "Song For Shelter&
quot; is a Fatboy Slim production, and took clubland by storm throughout the summer.

On the whole, ignore the new stuff, ignore the old stuff ("Better Living Through Chemistry") and go for the stuff in the middle. The 'jam', if you like.


Okay. As with all top 10 lists, it appears compulsory to leave 'the ones that got away', so that's what I'll do. Leaving you with close contenders for the list, thank you for reading my opinion.

Erick Morillo
John Digweed
Travis
Moby
Sasha