We have covered our track chart, published our podcast picks, so it just remains for us to share our sets of the year in this, the third part of our music review of 2011. So the wait is over as we countdown, from ten to one, our most prolific players & their scintillating sets, revealing who tipped our musical scales the most.

Best Year Yet "The Sets"

While there is no doubt that 2011 had its huge highs & large lows, very much reflective of the rollercoaster ride references that were so much a part of our journey from January to December, music continuing to be central to or existence, whether it be the terrific tunes or the captivating compilations that filled our ears throughout the year. However, if it wasn’t for the prolific players across the capital’s clubbing circuit, or indeed those inspirational international spinning stars that entertained us during our expeditions across Europe, what we have termed, musically wise at least, as being our “Best Year Yet”, could not have been complete without the scores of superb sets we were so privileged to be part of in 2011. But while we would love to capture each & every entertainer in our lengthy list of dynamic D.J.’s that sparked us to spin on our spot, whether in London & Antwerp, Barcelona & Brussels or Paris & Rome, we had to slice our set selections down to just ten, devoting five to stars here in the capital & five to those based abroad.  So, by giving you a flavour of their storming sets through extracts from reviews of the time, we will hopefully demonstrate why these terrific ten made it into our Y.E. chart, but by also pointing you to their Soundcloud sites, Podcast pages or Website windows, so you too will be able to melt into magical music that amassed in our bountiful memory banks..

Tremendous Tenth

So let’s get to it and to our tremendous tenth first, a Parisian player whom we got to meet properly for the first time back in February when we paid a visit to the French capital, although his work had not gone unnoticed before, his inclusion in the massive LGDF dance festival here in the capital a year earlier got our focus. However, we counted ourselves honoured to meet Ben Manson while shopping with our Parisian pal Leomeo in Le Marais, which prompted a visit to the superb Spyce Bar in this delightful district and it was here where we witnessed the brilliant Ben in action, his lofty position above the impressive & striking LED wall & displays adding to the amazing atmosphere he was creating that night. Treating us to a truck load of towering tunes, we included the following in our review of his prolific performance, “…soaking up the brilliant Ben beats and a better set we couldn’t have wanted for, Mr Manson delightfully blending tech tracks, with tribal beats, infusing these with euro style sounds & uplifting vocals, then taking us back again on this magical musical journey he was carrying us away on. Indeed, a better set we couldn’t have wished for, especially when he selected the heavenly “Hide You” by Sami Kivera, then having dived back into a trio of tech tunes, lifted the already amazing atmosphere with another vocal dream, this time “Show Me Your Love”, the crowd reacting accordingly and showing their appreciation with dextrous dance moves coupled with whoops & cheers, we ourselves succumbing to these scintillating sounds, spinning on our spot as though we were cavorting in a club….”. So, it is no surprise that Mr Manson simply had to make it into our top ten with his Spyce set. But, with superb showings for Salvation, SuperMartXe, Scream, as well as La Demence & Beyond (to name just a few), there were plenty of other reasons why Ben won us over, while you can you can too be won over by the man’s musical magnificence when picking on any of the 20 or so podcasts on his page(s) at http://benmanson.podomatic.com/.

Nifty Ninth

With nine out of ten of our set selections so close to call, nominating our noteworthy ninth was a tricky task, but someone had to make it and so it goes to Brent Nicholls who didn’t feature in our year anywhere near as much as in 2010, although that said, on the few occasions he did, he never failed to score significantly with his superb set showings. With Hard On!, Rupert St & Profile/Lo-Profile considerations, Industri was nowhere near the tour de force it had been, a switch to Soho reducing our weekly institutional visits to just a few occasions while trips abroad were other reasons for not appearing as often as we would have liked. But like Industri, Brent’s other playing ground in our clubbing cavorting, Lovechild, pretty much split our year down the middle, the first half much more a feature of our frolicking, Mr Nicholls pretty much the master of the “love lounge” where we land on his most magical memory making masterpiece from January & Lovechild’s “Snowball” event, our reflection of Brent’s showing including “…it was time for us to find safety & solstice in the lounge space, where Mr Nicholls was firing up what would turn out to be our performance of the night…” along with “…Brent was definitely hitting our musical sweet spot, with one favourite track after the next, “Release Me”, Now Or Never”, “Trapped” & even “Stereo Love” all getting airplay, the latter sending us into an emotional state & floating our thoughts  across the miles to a Lovechild inspired experience far away…”, he set showing here, like too many we could mention, delivering delightfully, Mr Nicholls’ distinctive nu-funk style never failing to hook, line & sink us into s pinning frenzy. And, there is plenty of that so called “nu-funk” style of his in his plethora of podcast releases in 2011 alone, so if you haven’t sampled a live set, then the next best thing is to go straight to http://djbrennicholls.com & choose any one of the twenty or so releases from the year.

Enthralling Eighth

To our enthralling eighth now and we stick to London and a fellow scene star that has been cutting a significant stride for many a year, our first memories of Jamie Head stretching back to those halcyon days of Crash, the club that started the whole Vauxhall clubbing movement around the turn of the century. However, Jamie has remained a feature of the capitals clubbing circuit since, regular appearances at Beyond, Profile/Lo-Profile, A:M, & Later scoring highly in his schedule, while we look back just a couple of months to WE’s 1^st Anniversary, when he set us off on our “Disco” dancing dervishes delightfully. Then there was his set at WE “Attacks” at the beginning of the year which also spurned a rare podcast, leaving us with plenty of choices for his inclusion, this along with a handful of Terrace Room treats at Beyond being edged out by his prolific performance when Later took to the high seas of London, well the Thames actually, Jamie nailing a superb set during this aquatic audacity. And having remarked in our review that  “…with many still packing the outside deck, we laid our hat inside and for good reason as Jamie Head was now in charge of the tunes, serving up a set to savour, a whole host of classic hits remixed & rehashed hitting the mark with many, we finding a spot to spin not far from the makeshift D.J. booth, our dancing dervishes increasing with every track he picked, the dancefloor erupting when the truly brilliant “Enjoy The Ride” played out & seemed so appropriate for the terrific time we were having, this ride on the waves in the hands of Mr. Head a huge highlight…”. And it seems that, despite all his other amazing London appearances, Later seems to bring out the best in him, next Sunday (28^th Jan) a definite date in to put in your diaries, as Mr Head hits the Later decks for an exclusive back-to-back set with Mikey D, while if you haven’t sampled a Jamie set, then you can do a lot worse than checking out his “Tech Head” compilation (which is pretty close to his Later showings) at http://soundcloud.com/jamie-head/tech-head, while his “WE Attacks” podcast remains one of our firm favourites & his still available to download at http://jamiehead2.podomatic.com/.

Superb Seventh

Onward to our superb seventh and we switch back to an international globetrotting star, the Belgian born but Barcelona based Steven Redant, who impressed us on more than one occasion during 2011, although is a D.J./Producer we have been tracking for much longer, Steven having hit our radar when he landed on London to guest for Matinee when it moved to Cable in London Bridge, Mr Redant also a feature of the massive London Global Dance Festival a couple of years ago. But global is very much a word that sums up Steven’s activity, hardly a weekend passing by when he isn’t jetting to some corner of the globe, he being noted for saying on many an occasion of his travels, “…it’s relaxing after a week in the studio…” Mr Redant also noted for his production work, recording’s with fellow Barca based boy Lenz Garcia & his major playing partner in crime, Phil Romano, a whole string of sounds coming out of this threesome stable. However, we found ourselves incredibly fortunate to witness a simply spectacular set of Steven’s at La Demence back in February 2011, a trip to this long running & popular club part of our mini hop between Paris, Brussels, Antwerp & Amsterdam, our arrival at Fuse & a spot by the D.J. booth made all the better by the warm welcome & hospitality we received from Mr Redant. But it was his magnificent music that truly won over our mind body & soul that night, our review, “Brilliant Brussels Beats” remarking of Steven’s performance, “…And with Mr Redant truly radiant & on fabulous form, delivering an equally dreamy set of dance, house, tech & uplifting tunes, we were sent into seventh heaven with a succession of scintillating sounds, hard edged hits intermixed with uplifting vocal smashes that was leaving us wanting more & more, not least when the awesome “Till We See The Sun” was rolled out, Steven’s prolific performance seemingly going from strength to strength., we now doing the Disco Matt just like we were at Beyond…” we concluding “…Steven Redant pretty much stole the show with a scintillating set that had us spinning on out spot for the duration…”, hence why it & he simply had to make it into our Y.E. set chart. And the great news is that if you weren’t there, fear not, as Steven produced a podcast to mark the occasion and one you can still download by hitting on the direct link at his podcast page, http://stevenredant.podomatic.com/entry/2011-02-10T04_51_37-08_00.

Superb Sixth

Now as we move to our spectacular sixth, it’s getting tighter & tighter and virtually to close to call between the next two, both who floated our boat while away in Barcelona in April for Delice Dream, although Carlos Gallardo had treated us to some superb sets at WE Party in London during 2011 too, “Attacks” & “Candy” two huge highlights, we being privileged to get an on-stage intro at the NYD party last year, while we simply had to mention our mini “Doing The Disco Matt” moment with Mr Gallardo at this NYD’s “Safari” event, we once again finding ourselves in the privileged position by Steve Pitron’s side on stage when Carlos arrived to take over with another superb set showing. But all that is for our review still to come, while here we are taking you back to April 2011 and when Carlos represented WE at Delice Dream, the following extracts from our review of the whole festival, focussing on Carlos’s exemplary efforts, we first remarking “…And to then add to this now audacious action, incumbent D.J. Carlos Gallardo began to steal the Delice Dream show, taking the initiative…” neatly followed by “…with the atmosphere now amazing, in the hands of Carlos, the party hit top gear terrifically, track after track wowing the captivating clubbers & seeing us go into “Doing The Disco Matt” overdrive, even the drop dead gorgeous Delice cover boy Mourad dancing in very close quarters, sending our senses skyward, while the night was Mr Gallardo’s who gave the performance of the festival so far, the whole WE party under his steership attacking the minds bodies & souls from start to finish of his simply scintillating set…”. Yet, while we can’t share the sounds of this scintillating set with you, a flavour of the man’s magnificent music is available from a rare podcast pressing that Carlos made in advance of WE’s “Candy” event in London at the end of May, so one very much a must for your collection by going to http://wepartylondon.podomatic.com/entry/2011-05-16T06_26_59-07_00, this on top of a year when Mr Gallardo teamed up with prolific P.A. Peyton at a whole host of WE parties, including at Delice Dream, the product of the partnership a superb single, “Let It Go”, a terrific tune full of vivacious vocals & brilliant beats that showcases Mr Gallardo’s studio talents so one well worth picking out via Carlos’s Soundcloud site at http://soundcloud.com/coar/peyton-carlos-gallardo-let-it.

Fabulous Fifth

Onward to our fabulous fifth and our fourth international D.J./Producer to pack it in our top set “The Sets” chart, a man from Milan, Danny Verde, who’s 2011 has been, like our musically wise, his best year yet, tours of The USA, Mexico, & Brazil major features, while he has touched virtually every country in Europe during 2011, not least two showings in the U.K., first in Brighton back in January for club “Kinky Dangerous”, a weekend we were privileged to spend in his company, then just two months later in March, he was right here in London, playing for “The Black Party”, joining at the Beyond which immediately followed and making for a morning packed with magical memories. However, it was our turn to hit his turf a little later in the year, May in fact, when we made the trip across to Rome and to the magnificent Muccassassina. And seeing Danny playing in his own back yard (well almost) was an experience we will savour for a long time to come, the whole 24 hour expedition ranking among a handful of heavenly highlights of our year, although it was one of just a few exceptional events that we missed capturing in a full-on review, or even one of the bite size variety, rather a simple preview the review rapture which summed up Danny’s substantial showing at Mucca in May their “Raffaella event, when we simply said of or Milano Man’s showing,  “…we lapped up every tiny morsel of the impressive & uplifting scorcher of a set from Mr Verde, who wowed us from start to finish of his superb stint, a performance packed with favourite anthems among newer tracks, treating us tremendously…”. However, with this proving one outstanding outing among a trio of Danny set showing 2011 treats, Delice Dream the when we declared of his performance on behalf of Mucca in Barca “…and we were not be to disappointed in any respect, the right royal send off we had been hoping for very much delivered from the off, resident D.J. back in Rome, Danny Verde, kicking off the night at Zillion in scintillating style, gloriously gathering an ever increasing crowd with a solid string of superb sounds, some Verde classics, others new tough tech & progressive beats that won him even more fans than he already had…”, it is no surprise that he has been included in our terrific ten, that on top of track remix productions a-plenty including Ellie Goulding’s “Starry Eyed” & Lady Gaga’s “You & I”, both ranking highly in our Y.E. chart, a glance at his Soundcloud site at http://soundcloud.com/holabstudio giving you indication of why this man’s studio reputation is of the magnitude it is.

Fantastic Fourth

Now we find ourselves at our fantastic fourth and another international D.J./producer who rocked our 2011, he like the two before him, a feature of our fantastic five days out in Barcelona in April and a time when we got an opportunity to really get to know about the enigmatic Belgian & his work. However, it would be his home country where we would draw his set showing and one that sees him top our chart as best international D.J., despite the overall fourth position, this accolade as our best overseas entrant down to a simply scintillating set at Antwerp’s Red & Blue club back in February, when the club played host to Spanish brand “I Wanna F***”, although rather than its own resident shining the brightest, it was our Belgian beatmaster that would stand in the shimmering spotlight with a pulsating performance. So, letting our review of the event do the talking, this is what we had to say of his stellar set, “…a quick glance up confirming we were in the majestic musical hands of resident D.J. Elof De Neve, the man pumping out a superb selection of euro-style beats, uplifting vocal sounds and tech house drenches that had the dancefloor delirious with his selections…” further references including “…, the terrific talent Elof treating us to a storming selection of scintillating sounds, barnstorming beats & vocal infused euphoria that would put many a Matinee D.J. to shame. Indeed, the roof short of lifted off Red & Blue when he picked out one of our favourite tracks of now, Danny Verde’s vivacious remix of Blake Lewis’s smash “Till We See The Sun”, sending us into a spinning frenzy and the atmosphere in this “I Wanna F***” inspired event, stratospheric…” and “…in Elof De Neve, the Red & Blue team have a terrific talent of a resident D.J. and his performance on this occasion once again impressed immensely, definitely further elevating him in our estimation and, as we hinted before, someone who would put many a Matinee D.J. to shame, especially with the truly tremendous set we had the privilege of witnessing…”. So, that pretty much say’s it all for us, we rating Elof as our international equivalent of Steve Pitron, a truly towering talent that should & is going places, 2012 looking even brighter than 2011, while a visit to his Soundcloud site at http://soundcloud.com/elofdeneve/ will allow you to engross in Elof’s excellence.

Thurmping Third

So we reach our top three and look to London for all of them, two no strangers to our Y.E. music reviews, while our thumping third is a newish kid on the capital’s clubbing circuit block, although one that made the biggest impression on us in 2011, hence his lofty postion in this chart. Plus, being one of our protégé players, Zach Burns’ inclusion having already been confirmed as our best newcomer of the year, ranking very highly in our podcast part of this music review of the year had to make it into our set chart too, although it was well earned as his set at Gigolo’s launch back in May and then a close on pitch perfect performance in December have secured his third overall position here. However, splitting these two sets was too tough a call, so we decided to include them both, our reflection on Gigolo’s launch having very much a Zach theme, the title, “Brilliant Burns Beats” shouting out enough, while our remarks that included “…our attention was now drawn to the music and the cute yet capable Zach Burns, who was treating the classy crowd to tons of terrific tunes, a magical mixture of old classics re-made, intertwined with up to date floor fillers, the pace & pitch of his performance perfect for this superb Soho society social soiree that was definitely soaring by the minute…” as well as “…we were soon in seventh heaven when Zach pulled out our favourite tune of now, the awesome “Stupiddisco 2011 Original Mix” by King Richard & Danny Thomas, we finding our favoured spot by the D.J. booth to invoke a mini “Doing The Disco Matt” routine…”. But we were even more lyrical of his December delight in saying “…it would all pale in comparison to its & our star turn, the cute yet commandingly capable Zach Burns, his arrival & the assumption of the decks the real lift we had been looking for, this terrific talent who had impressed us from the moment we first saw him play, immediately setting about sorting a selection of sounds that would hook us for the whole heavenly two hours of his spectacular showing….” we adding “…with tracks that included “Music In My Soul”, “Last Night A DJ”, & “Here Comes The Rain”, these along with a magical multi mixing moment when Zach chose to combine “Stupdidsco” & “Don’t Go” with mesmeric effect, we were going nowhere, rather glued but spinning on our spot right next to the D.J. booth…” as well as “…with yet more treats in store, Danny Verde’s track “Open Your Heart among them, it was no surprise we were drawing comparisons of the brilliant Mr Burns to our other top draw D.J. Steve Pitron, the duo having played out pulsatingly just a handful of weeks ago at “Playtime”, even the occasional looks Zach was giving us over The Shadow Lounge decks akin to those we get from our other superstar turn…”. And, in essence, there is not much more to add, these two sets with the only exceptions of another two ahead of them, the most stand-out of our 2011, Mr Burns having laid down a podcast pressing lifted from that “launch” party at Lo-Profile which you can still grab by going to direct download link http://djburns.podomatic.com/entry/2011-05-11T12_00_38-07_00, this coincidentally being the compilation that made it into our podcast chart.

Spectacular Second

So we come to our spectacular second and, as we hinted, an individual how is no stranger to our year end round-up’s, although 2011 was a year when Mikey D’s impact on our music world was not as extensive as previous years, as like football, it was a year of two halves, the first six months seeing him play out plenty of times at Beyond & at Later to exceptional effect, while the latter six saw just the odd appearance here & there, like so many people, Mikey having to devote his energies more & more to his daytime occupation. However, they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder and it is perhaps this thought that secured his second place, Mikey’s set & reappearance at Beyond in December making an indelible impression, we remarking in our review “…back being an appropriate word as we couldn’t have been happier to see Mikey D at the decks, our short absence nothing compared to his, although in an instant it felt like he hadn’t been away at all…”. Indeed, such has Mikey become part & parcel of what is so brilliant about Beyond, his return definitely stood out head & shoulders above the other entrants in our set chart so far, we going on to say of this pulsating performance, “a glorious mix of tougher tech tunes intermixed with dancefloor delights, “You Better”, “Souk” & “Pressure” among them, while a look in our direction & then a quick chat over the booth confirming that we were nibble size tweeting, made both of us feel right at home…” along with “…Mikey masterminding mounds of majestic music moments, we knew that Beyond in his hands was once again the place to be…”. But the true depth of this stunning set was just how Mikey managed to lift the atmosphere through his spectacular selections and, like only one other, held us spinning on our spot literally from start to finish. So while we look forward to just next Sunday (28^th Jan) when Mikey will be playing back to back with his old Crash sparring partner, Jamie Head, we look back on this set showing at beyond with fond reflection & marvellous memories, which, like the man has done for many a year now, fill us with joy & happiness through his magnificent music making, while his rare 2011 appearances are matched by that rare podcast production, “Heavy Baby” from June & still available at http://soundcloud.com/mikedower/heavy-baby, an exceedingly good example of his music diversity.

Phenomenal First

So to our phenomenal first, 2011 absolutely littered with prolific performances from one Steve Pitron, magical memory making moments at Beyond, Room Service & Lo-Profile a major feature of our year, while London gay Pride was a day we will never forget, Steve being an intrinsic  part of the rollercoaster ride that made up our year of heavenly highs & lousy lows, although his music, perhaps like the place where he was always his most magnificent along with he himself, three of the compelling constants that made 2011, as we have indicated in this massive music review, our “Best Year Yet”. Therefore choosing a set showing of his to make our number one was an extremely difficult task, it could easily have been the porridge ridden Room Service showing in July, it could have been the superb send-off he gave us at Beyond Erotica in February, just hours before we flew home to South Africa, or the Beyond that welcomed us back to London in March, first “Muscle”  when we & then “Black” leaving us to remark that “…as much as we were missing South Africa, we knew that right here right now, we were at home, Beyond in the hands of the (we love to say it!) pitch & precision perfect Pitron simply “doesn’t get any better than this”…” But while occasional invites up into the Beyond main room D.J. booth made these & many more very special, after much deliberating, we decided that it was his set showing at Orange Electric in November that would get our vote, it marking our return after a six week break, our absence through October having backed into his in September, meaning it had so much poignancy, highlight comments from our “Emotionally Engrossing Euphoria” review including “…another dynamic delivery of dance delectations he delighted us and a now near capacity Electric crowd to, a magnificent mixture of classics, classics rehashed & up to date hits, cleverly interwoven into a scintillating string of sounds, one track after next sending us into a spin behind the stage…” along with “…the track choices Steve was making, first “Last Night A D.J. Saved My Life” (Mr Pitron was definitely doing this tonight!)…” as well as “…balanced by more up to date tracks too, crowd pleasers for sure, “Live Your Dreams” one of them and “Pressure” another, both which, as they always do, sent us headlong into that tearful & emotional rollercoaster ride, while our vantage point right behind Steve was the best we could have asked for…” much more on this a read away at http://discomatt.com/web/2011/12/reviews-emotionally-engrossing-euphoria-orange-electric-saturday-26th-november-full-size-review/. But, while we cannot share a podcast pressing that comes close to this scintillating set, what Steve has produced in his “Jan 2012 Session” compilation is equally as emotionally engrossing as the euphoria he created back in November, so an absolute must for your collection by going to direct link http://stevepitronsessions.podomatic.com/entry/2012-01-18T00_07_36-08_00.    

Well, that rounds off the most comprehensive music review of ours to date, a three part epic that covered “The Tracks”, “The Podcasts” & “The Sets” that made 2011, musically, our best year yet and with 2012 starting off in a similar vein with that phenomenal podcast we have just mentioned, it’s now time to look forward to a year full of tremendous tracks, captivating compilations, but more than that, stunning sets that are the core of this rapturous part of our review. (DISCO MATT)