The UK’s Top 40 DJs Poll 2010: the results

Posted by Ben Gomori at 10/02/2011 11:54 AM

Who is the UK’s favourite DJ?
The question should be rephrased in this instance: who are the UK’s favourite DJs? 

 
This year, after two years of Erol Alkan topping our poll, there’s a new name at the top of the pile: Above & Beyond. 
 
The trio formed around the time trance music was peaking in 2000, and since then have steadily become the UK’s biggest name within the hugely popular global scene. They’ve played to over 1 million people in Rio De Janeiro, soundtracked the launch of the world’s first commercial spaceship, created two of the most successful labels in trance and progressive house, played the world’s first gig in a hot-air balloon, and become the first independent UK label to sign a revenue deal with YouTube. What we’re trying to say is that they are massive the world over, innovative in what they do, and most importantly maintain a strong and consistent dialogue with their army of fans. They crowned an amazing 2010 by selling out London’s iconic O2 Academy Brixton in October weeks in advance, with little promo aside from letting their legion of supporters know about the show. Their fans are incredibly passionate and loyal – you should see some of the fan mail they get. 
 
So congrats to A&B and everyone else who features in our poll. Dubstep and bass music made a bigger impact this year, with Benga, Rusko, Toddla T smashing their way in, DJ Marky repping drum and bass, Aeroplane bringing nu disco to the fore, and nu skool house & tech heroes like Jamie Jones and Seth Troxler breaking in. Radio 1 star and technical genius Jaguar Skills storms in at Number 3 as the highest new entry following on from his amazing DT Podcast, and other new entries include Mark Knight, Mat Zo, Joris Voorn, Claude VonStroke, Laidback Luke, Fatboy Slim, Markus Schulz and Super8 and Tab. 
 
Local (Residents) Poll Winner
Congratulations to Scott Bleepz also, resident at Birmingham’s excellent underground house music night FACE, who walks away with the Local Hero award – look out for our feature on him tomorrow. 
 
Above & Beyond Mini Mix
The full results are below, and you can grab a free 30-minute minimix from Above & Beyond in the Soundcloud player below. We spoke to Paavo from the trio to find out their thoughts on winning.
  Above & Beyond: The UK's Top 40 DJs Poll 2010 Winners' MiniMix by Data Transmission 
 
Who would you vote for as your favourite DJ? Apart from each other!
From the ones I've seen in the last year, Sven Väth blew me away with his not only being funny but being charismatically mad whilst playing a set full of exciting and groovy tunes.
After so many years, he's clearly still absolutely loving it, he was one of the first international DJs I saw and he's still going strong.

After two years of electro winning the vote with Erol Alkan, trance has triumphed. Do you think it’s an indication of the strength of the scene right now?
These things always go in cycles and trance keeps evolving too: in the last two years BPMs have been coming down and things have got a lot groovier. This has helped the music feel really exciting, and there's so much cross-pollination of genres that if you listen to melodic techno you might as well call it trance, or some trance tunes could easily be called house or electro.  I'm sure that the growth of (online and FM) radio shows like our Trance Around The World show is also what's helping the scene grow and strengthen.   

What’s been your standout gig of the last 12 months?
Probably being able to do our first full-production show at home and seeing a jam-packed Brixton Academy go off like it did: it's too easy to think parties abroad would be somehow better, and we sometimes wrongly fall into the trap of thinking that way. Brixton showed us that London's still at the top of the game, and made us feel so proud of our home city. 
 
What have you got to say for every who voted for you?
I'd like to thank everyone who supported us in this poll, and hoping your 2011 will be filled with great clubbing experiences, whoever's behind the decks.

The Results
(last year’s position in brackets): 
 
1.      ABOVE & BEYOND (2)
2.      EROL ALKAN (1)
3.      JAGUAR SKILLS (-)
4.      EDDIE HALLIWELL (24)
5.      ERIC PRYDZ (6)
6.      GARETH EMERY (29)
7.      ARMIN VAN BUUREN (4)
8.      DEADMAU5 (7)
9.      CARL COX (13)
10.   SASHA (3)
11.   RILEY & DURRANT (32)
12.   MAT ZO (-)
13.   TIESTO (5)
14.   JOHN DIGWEED (11)
15.   JUDGE JULES (16)
16.   JAMES ZABIELA (10)
17.   JAMIE JONES (-)
18.   BENGA (-)
19.   AEROPLANE (-)
20.   SKREAM (33)
21.   PAUL VAN DYK (9)
22.   SUPER8 & TAB (-)
23.   SETH TROXLER (-)
24.   BOYS NOIZE (23)
25.   AXWELL (22)
26.   FAKE BLOOD (39)
27.   RICHIE HAWTIN (20)
28.   2MANYDJS (12)
29.   STEVE ANGELLO (17)
30.   ANNIE MAC (31)
31.   MARKUS SCHULZ (-)
32.   LAIDBACK LUKE (-)
33.   RUSKO (-)
34.   CLAUDE VON STROKE (-)
35.   DJ MARKY (-)
36.   MARK KNIGHT (-)
37.   JORIS VOORN (-)
38.   FATBOY SLIM (-)
39.   TIGA (19)
40.   TODDLA T (-)
 
The Next Twenty

41.   JAYTECH (-)
42.   LOCO DICE (-)
43.   RICARDO VILLALOBOS (-)
44.   PETE TONG (25)
45.   RAMADANMAN (-)
46.   DJ YODA (-)
47.   DOORLY (-)
48.   ANDY C (14)
49.   SVEN VATH (8)
50.   CHRIS LAKE (-)
51.   DAVID GUETTA (15)
52.   JAKWOB (-)
53.   SANDER VAN DOORN (18)
54.   SKRILLEX (-)
55.   KRAFTY KUTS (-)
56.   A SKILLZ (-)
57.   AFROJACK (-)
58.   ANDY MOOR (-)
59.   LAURENT GARNIER (-)
60.   JAYMO & ANDY GEORGE (-)
 
Local Hero (Residents) Poll

1.       SCOTT BLEEPZ
2.       UNION
3.       RAYMUNDO RODRIGUEZ
 
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