Top 100 DJS 2008 - DJ Magazine

Dear All,

Thanks for all your Support this past Year and all of you who have Voted for me again this year. It is a real honour for me to feat again this year and so highly. I would also like to congratulate all the other DJs who have made it into the list.

Here is what DJ Mag have to say..

"It's been the most tremendous year in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs poll, and there are plenty of surprises.

A mind-boggling 350,000 voted for your favourite selectors, with votes flying in from 167 countries, reflecting the fact that we really do inhabit a dance music planet.

Votes from the USA were most plentiful, very closely followed by the UK, voracious electronic music consumers Germany and the increasingly BPM-hungry Russia. Perhaps most unexpected is that Mexico came fifth place, itself an exploding territory when it comes to club culture.

Holding the Crown
It was a close run thing but as you've no doubt noticed, Armin van Buuren retains his crown, nabbing the No.1 DJ spot for the second year running, followed by fellow Dutch trancemaster Tïësto retaining his position at No.2.

The Anjunabeats future trance trio Above & Beyond are up two places at No.4, and David Guetta has zapped from No.10 to No.5, no doubt helped by his huge Unighted event at Paris's Stade de France this year. Progressive trance dude Markus Schulz also bust into the Top 10, up five spots from No.13 to No.8.

Firebrands
The biggest shock this year is the amount of newbies who've broken into the poll. An unprecedented 25 new entries demonstrates that the kids are voting with their feet, knocking the old guard off balance in favour of the young-blood firebrands breaking through.
"Each year the poll brings surprises one way or another," says DJmag Editor Lesley Wright. "This year's surprise is the number of new kids breaking through in this popularity poll. It's a pretty seismic shift and obviously shows that the new generation of clubbers have their own young heroes. It'll be interesting to see how that goes down with some of the old guard…"

Most extraordinary of all is the showing of Deadmau5, aka Canadian cat Joel Zimmerman, who rockets straight to No.11 — the highest new entry EVER.
"Deadmau5 is on fire," says Lesley. "He's gone from being a relative unknown to being one of the biggest electro house players in the space of just a year. You've gotta take your hat off to him."
Known mostly for his productions, Joel has been playing live and DJing with his own material extensively in 2008, which has brought his genre straddling styles to ever-bigger audiences. Named as Producer of the Year by 2007's No.1 and No.2 (Armin and Tïësto respectively), it's great to see him perform so well in 2008.

Ready, aim, fire!
Another DJ to rinse out 2008 is Prince of Darkness, Dubfire. The erstwhile Deep Dish dude, Ali Shirazinia, has taken his deep minimal techno incarnation to new heights, blasting into No.30 as a new entry under his solo moniker.
He stunned all and sundry last year with his new dark underground direction, tracks like 'Roadkill' and 'Rib Cage', and uncompromising DJ sets, and in the last few months he's taken his style to the next level with storming sets at Cocoon, amongst others.
Other techno types to do well this year include Ricardo Villalobos (up 13), Richie Hawtin (up 4) and Brazil's Anderson Noise, who is up 28 places to No.26, no doubt assisted by the rallying efforts of Djmag'first sister publication, DJmag Brazil.

The influence of our sister magazines has been felt elsewhere too. Bobina and fellow countryman DJ Feel are the first Russians to ever break into the poll following the arrival of DJmag Ukraine, which has drummed up votes from across the former Soviet state. And although the names might not be instantly familiar, scratch beneath the surface and you'll discover that Bobiba in particular is massive in his home territory.
DJmag Poland, too, has clearly made its impression felt, rallying the trance troops to ensure that Polish DJ Tiddey blasted in as a new entry at No.81.

New Wave
Trance has always fared well in the DJmag Top 100. But whereas last year's poll was characterised by an influx of techno DJs, this year brings a trance tsunami crashing into the poll, as a new wave of genre champions contribute to a massive resurgence.
Egyptian duo Aly & Fila are new showings, while Adam Sheridan, Sean Tyas, John O'Callaghan and Simon Patterson all enter the poll for the first time. There are some notable leaps in popularity too with Kyau & Albert up 35 places to clinch this year's Highest Climbers award.
The psy-trance contingent, meanwhile, also make an impression on the chart, with Solar System new at No.85 and Astral Projection fresh at No.94.

Back in the house!
Though dominated by trance, several new house DJs have entered the poll. After Deadmau5's extraordinary performance, the next highest house cat is Joachim Garraud. Known previously as David Guetta's producer, the France-born DJ's profile went through the roof in 2008 thanks to tireless gigging.
Dutch electro dude Laidback Luke also makes his poll debut, no doubt helped by his imaginative new style, blending the fidget funk of artists like Diplo with big room house to stunning effect.

Despite an overall lack of junglist DJs in the poll, two major players represent the genre to the hilt. Ram Records main man Andy C snags the Highest Drum & Bass DJ, zapping 17 places to No.50, while DJ Hype is up 11 to No.71.
The two most renowned pairs of Parisian noise specialists, meanwhile — Daft Punk and Justice — again make respectable showings, with the robotic duo at No.38 and the leather-clad electro rockers at No.73. Daft Punk's showing is all the more remarkable in that they only performed once this year for a live performance at the Grammy Awards.

Like last year, no breaks DJs have dented the poll once again with the hard dance scene also woefully absent: only Lisa Lashes appears, the only woman in the poll bar techno queen Magda.

Love it or loath it, the Top 100 DJs poll is a snapshot of a DJ's worldwide popularity and visibility. Check out this year's results in full and let the heated debate begin... "

1	Armin Van Buuren	                Non-mover 	Highest Trance DJ

2	Tiesto			Non-mover	

3	Paul van Dyk		Up 1	

4	Above & Beyond		Up 2	

5	David Guetta		Up 5		Highest House DJ

6	Ferry Corsten		Up 2	

7	Sasha			Down 2		Highest Prog DJ

8	Markus Schulz		Up 5	

9	John Digweed		Down 6	

10	Infected Mushroom	                Down 1		Highest Psy DJs

11	Deadmau5		                New Entry	                Highest New Entry

12	Carl Cox		                Down 5		Highest Techno DJ

13	Sander van Doorn	                Up 2	

14	Paul Oakenfold		Down 2	

15	Richie Hawtin		Up 4	

16	Hernan Cattaneo		Down 2	

17	James Zabiela		Non-mover	

18	Andy Moor		                Up 12	

19	Eddie Haliwell		Down 3	

20	Axwell			Up 13	

21	Eric Prydz		                Up 15	

22	Kyau & Albert		Up 35		Highest Climber

23	Gareth Emery		Up 8	

24	Sven Vath		                Up 3	

25	ATB			Up 1	

26	Anderson Noise		Up 28	

27	Joachim Garraud		New Entry	

28	Bobina			New Entry	

29	Fedde Le Grand		Down 7	

30	Dubfire			New Entry	

31	Aly & Fila		                New Entry	

32	Judge Jules		Down 11	

33	Umek			Down 4	

34	Matt Darey		Up 25	

35	Ricky Stone		Up 33 	

36	Ricardo Vilalobos	                Up 13	

37	Lange			Up 18	

38	Daft Punk		                Up 33	

39	Benny Benassi		Down 7	

40	Bob Sinclar		Up 23	

41	Deep Dish		                Down 30	

42	Mark Knight		Up 9	

43	Astrix			Down 25	

44	Marco V			Down 24	

45	The Thrillseekers	                Up 7	

46	Laidback Luke		New Entry	

47	Danny Tenaglia		Down 4	

48	Menno De Jong		Up 14	

49	Marco Lenzi		New Entry	

50	Andy C			Up 17		Highest D&B DJ

51	Offer Nissim		Up 5	

52	Martin Solveig		Up 20	

53	Adam Sheridan		New Entry	

54	Sean Tyas		                New Entry	

55	DJ Feel			New Entry	

56	Yahel			Down 28	

57	Roger Sanchez		Down 32	

58	DJ Shah			New Entry	

59	Sander Kleinenberg	                Down 24	

60	John O'Callaghan	                New Entry	

61	Blank & Jones		Down 24	

62	Cosmic Gate		Re-entry	

63	Steve Angello		Down 17	

64	Simon Patterson		New Entry	

65	Gabriel & Dresden	                Down 42	

66	Richard Durand		Up 25	

67	Laurent Wolf		New Entry	

68	Matt Hardwick		Down 20	

69	Chris Leibing		Up 5	

70	Erick Morilo		Down 46	

71	DJ Hype			Up 11	

72	Signum			New Entry	

73	Justice			Down 15	

74	Dirty South		Up 24	

75	Wally Lopez		Up 20	

76	Magda			Up 11	

77	Lisa Lashes		Up 6		Highest Hard Dance

78	Pete Tong		                Down 39	

79	DJ Vibe			Down 39	

80	Bad Boy Bill		Down 42	

81	Tiddey			New Entry	

82	Greg Downey		New Entry	

83	Marcel Woods		New Entry	

84	Nick Warren		Down 37	

85	Solars System		New Entry	

86	Skazi			Re-entry	

87	Mike Koglin		New Entry	

88	Mauro Picotto		Down 54	

89	Sebastien Leger		Up 4	

90	The Chemical Brothers	Down 10	

91	Steve Lawler		Down 49	

92	Fatboy Slim		Down 26	

93	Solar Stone		New Entry	

94	Astral Projection	                New Entry	

95	Leon Bolier		New Entry	

96	Nic Fancuilli		Down 51	

97	Ronski Speed		Down 53	

98	Toca Disco		New Entry	

99	Booka Shade		Down 3	

100	Alex Morph & Woody Van	New Entry