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Evolution or convolution?

I’m not fond of making lists, but I had to do it. Just because I had to share a few tunes which really had an impact on me during 2011. Tracks that killed it during gigs or made me go mad at dance floors all across Europe or even gave me a smile while listening to them at home. 2011 was a year filled with dub records, especially because I (re)discovered a lot of old vinyl. But 2011 was also a year in which techno evolved and went up to a higher level again. Guess it wasn’t a bad year after all.

The 2011 tracks that worked for me in random order:

1 Mike Parker - FWD (D. Dozzy mix)

Some are correct when they say that Mike Parker only makes music that sounds the same. But the subtle evolution he made during 2011 was quite remarkable. But it never became as good as the remix Italy’s Donato Dozzy made of FWD. The atmosphere in the track is really spooky, a bit haunting it seems. This is how techno should sound like in a dark basement around 6:30 in the morning.

2 Dexter - Space Booty

Dexter, the guy who does it all. After releasing some house tunes on Steffi’s label Dolly last year, he came back to Clone Records for this magnificent electro release. Space Booty is the best track of the Skinny Fat People EP. And one of the most fun tracks to play out in front of a crowd, especially when pitched down. Even then the funk’s still there.

3 Cosmin TRG - Separat

Bass music, dubstep, call it whatever you like. It all merged quite well with techno last year. One of the people who made this crossover work so well is Cosmin TRG. His sets are really eclectic in a way and so are his records lately. The Romanian dj/producer released his album Simulat on Modeselektor’s 50 Weapons imprint. Unfortunately I couldn’t put all the tracks in here, so I chose the track that worked best for me during 2011.

4 Conforce - Ominous

Conforce is one of the guys that made techno interesting again. His releases on Echocord, 1xa, Clone, Dolly and Ann Aimee are all pure quality. Ominous comes from his debut album Escapism on the Dutch Delsin label, on which he showcases how versatile this Dutch producer really is.

5 Morphosis - Dirty Matter

Delsin kept on releasing high quality records. During Spring they released Morphosis album What We Have Learned. Dirty Matter was the big track on this album for me, because of the dark atmosphere and the percussion that never was completely in sync with the rest.

6 Burial, Four Tet & Thom Yorke - Ego

2011 was a year of hyped vinyl records. Records of which only a few hundred copies got pressed and after being sold out, the prices went sky high in just a matter of days. This release on Four Tet’s Text Records was one of those records. Main reason were the presence of both Thom Yorke and Burial ofcourse. That was also the reason that I just had to check where the fuzz was about. Although a lot of people didn’t like the release, I fell in love with the track Ego rightaway.

7 Planetary Assault Systems - Rip the cut

I’m not the first person who writes about the new Planetary Assault Systems and how great it is. But this album had some great impact on me. Especially when hearing the guys play live during Amsterdam Dance Event, I was blown away. Rip The Cut is one of the roughest techno tracks that got released last year. If you put this one on, you know shit will hit the fan instantly.

8 Levon Vincent - Man or mistress

Every release on Levon Vincent’s Novel Sound seems to become a hype. There wasn’t any difference for Man Or Mistress when it came out. The vinyl sold out in just a few weeks and prices on market place sites like Discogs went sky high. And about the record: it’s pure class. A future classic on the A side and on the flip two really dark and melancholic house tunes which you can play out for years.

9 Blawan - Lavender

A brutal mixture of bass music and techno, that’s the way I would describe this Blawan track. Coming from a more dubstep and bass music background this release was quite a surprise for me. It’s so rough, but still really deep in some way. I think people died on a dance floor while going crazy to this track.

10 Mike Dehnert - Pneumatic

The third track that got released on Delsin this year in this list and it’s quite an anthem. Probably even a future classic. It’s not really the sound Mike Dehnert is known for, but this track for the Inertia series is such a banger. It gives me a smile every time I listen to it.

11 Convextion - Oil On Metal

This track got released on Time2Express’ Labyrinth EP which only contained big tracks by Donato Dozzy, Peter van Hoesen, Mike Parker and Convextion ofcourse. All of them are pure class, but the Convextion track is the one that had the most impact on me. It’s such a deep and subtle track, which Convextion for years has been known for. When I saw him play live in November of this year, he instantly became one my all-time heroes.

12 Dj QU - Everybody’s Dark

Underground Quality, the name of the label really describes what’s on there. This dark house track isn’t made to listen to at home or during the first hours in the club. This track is made for the early mornings, when the sun starts to come up. When I close my eyes while listening to this track, I see a lot of silhouettes dance to it on an imaginary dance floor.

13 Basic Soul Unit - Soulspeak (Shed Mix)

Just like every year, it has to end with a bang. This remix by Shed on Steffi’s Dolly imprint provides with the bang for the end of this list. Brutal, but with a gentle twist. Hope you had a good one on the dance floor when this one was played by one the Berghain guys or girls.