10 dance music things we're most thankful for this year

Towards the end of November every year, people in the United States are encouraged (through a few days of vacation and the promise of a knockout meal ahead) to round up their blessings and think about what they're most thankful for in life. Mixmag rallied the global offices to get in the spirit, remembering some of the most incredible moments our staffers have experienced all around the world and in every corner of the electronic music sphere in 2017.

Read on for a list of the reasons we're thankful this year...

Glastonbury is not just my favourite festival in the world, it's the best festival in the world, period. A massive adventure playground for people of all ages, races and sensibilities, anything and everything goes and this year was a particularly special one for me. I DJed there for the first time at the Beat Hotel and managed to turn a slightly dazed group of revellers at 2pm into a full crowd of chanting dancers by 4pm. It's not like any other place I've played before, it's special and I don't care if that sounds lame. Add to that seeing Radiohead on the Pyramid Stage and escorting another member of Mixmag staff to the toilet at around 10am by the Stone Circle and I've got a festival and experience I'm truly thankful for. Wouldn't swap it for anything. - Funster, Digital Editor

There was a soundtrack filtering through the air of London this year, blasting through the gaps of rolled down car windows. No matter where you journeyed in the vast city - north, east, south, west - it was the same: colourful Afrobeat and dancehall indebted production, rap bars about black Mercedes-Benzes and white ones. J Hus’ debut album ‘Common Sense’ became a point of obsession for many inhabitants of the city, barely taken off rotation months on from its release. Falling deep into the J Hus wormhole was a life giving aspect of 2017: endless listens to the infectious music, the shared passion with friends - to the point where for a time my conversational skills degraded to the levels of a juvenile only able to blither on about one topic. It was fun to fully embrace the fanboy status. And in a year that’s been politically bleak, what better escape than allowing yourself to be consumed by the most vibrant record of 2017? - Patrick Hinton, Digital Staff Writer

I'm thankful for Björk's utterly insane Mixmag cover DJ mix. Listening to it now, loving it forever. Not sure any other human being could've put together a selection like this... - Nick DeCosemo, Global Editorial Director

At the end of this summer I was lucky to visit Hostal La Torre in Ibiza. It's a proper Balearic outpost on the west side of the island where DJs like Alfredo and Harvey play intimate sets as the sun melts into the sea. You can catch a really nice vibe there, whether you're soaking up the music on the luxe little terrace or having deep chats on a sofa surrounded by rocks. My favourite spot was at the end of La Torre's ancient fisherman's steps, the point where the cliff edge ends and the waves begin. One night I watched the sky turn different shades of pink with a best friend, both of us stunned by the gorgeous panorama on display. It was a sumptuous moment, one of those rave-related times when everything just clicks. And that's kind of what this thing is all about, right?

Sounds kinda pretentious, I know, but don't knock it 'til you've tried it. La Torre is open all year round and it's easier than ever to bag a cheap flight to the island. Rooms start at 82€ and, best of all, entry to the epiphany-inducing sunset sessions is free! - Seb Wheeler, Head of Digital

With the festival scene in the United States as strong as ever, there is still only one place to find a full lineup of international artists focusing on proper house and techno: Movement Electronic Music Festival in Detroit. Artists from across the electronic spectrum like the heavyweights of Ben Klock, Carl Cox, DVS1, Pan-Pot, Daniel Avery and Adam Beyer alongside underground talent including Sterac, Matrixxman, Ambivalent, Rrose, Red Axes, Drumcell and Rebekah, plus all the Detroit techno innovators, it's simply not like any other festival in the states. And that's not even mentioning the after parties... If it wasn't for Movement, we would be left perpetually drooling over international lineups, but thankfully each year we gather at the birthplace of techno for three days of bliss. Long live Movement! - Harrison Williams, East Coast Editor

Finding myself at more shows than ever this year, my gluttonous and incessant hunger for track IDs has been quenched by a beautiful little piece of technology called Shazam. Who needs Pokemon Go when I can try to catch all the tracks during DJ Stingray’s b2b with Helena Hauff or catalog all the disco gems thrown at me during Motor City Drum Ensemble's rare visit to Los Angeles! Be it at the club, warehouse or kickback, my friends and I have always competed on who can nail down the best unknown tunes, gloating when that handsome blue screen pops up with text on it.

Sometimes, it’s hard not to look like an idiot on the dance floor trying to grab a track ID. Luckily, Mixmag has found a solution. - Cameron Holbrook, US Editorial Intern

This year I went to a five-day, 24-hour festival on a cruise ship and learned perhaps the biggest lesson of my young life. Cabin fever is real and it will turn even the most level-headed reveller into a paranoid, restless and moaning wreck. Booze, drugs, annoying work colleagues, tech house, swimming pools, vomit on the casino floor, it was all there and it will all thankfully be forced back deep into the dark recesses of my mind... fuck it, who am I kidding. I'll be back next year. - Louis Anderson-Rich, Digital Producer

I'm thankful for the incredible Amsterdam boat house AirBnB the Mixmag team was able to party in this year at ADE with four corner high-fidelity speakers. It was the proper way to celebrate the week. We'll be bringing the decks next year... - Zach Becks, Production Manager

I'm really thankful to have been involved this year with the many amazing artists we have managed to cover in the magazine - just taking our cover stars as an example, I was lucky enough to collaborate creatively with inspirational figures like The Black Madonna, Honey Dijon, Bonobo, Nastia and Kerri Chandler, see Kölsch get his face painted in UV make-up, watch my somewhat basic hand-glued J Hus collage develop into a stunning cover shot, stay up all night in Barcelona with Mall Grab, feature Bjork's first ever studio DJ mix, pound the autobahn and clamber up a rusty tower with Bicep, witness Patrick Topping's triumphant Newcastle homecoming, and celebrate Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder's contribution to dance music in style. Can't wait for next year! - Duncan Dick, Editor

It should come as no surprise that as a Mixmag staffer, dance music is our everything. It's what we eat, breathe and live on the weekdays after work hours and through the weekend, it's what we chase after during our holidays. In January, I set out with my fellow coworker and our friends to Mexico for a week-long work and play trip to The BPM Festival. After eight incredible days in Playa Del Carmen and the neighboring haven of Tulum, we rallied for one last hurrah before our flight home, heading to Elrow's anticipated closing party at The Blue Parrot. Little did we know, less than 30 minutes after arriving, we'd soon become survivors of a shooting where more than a handful of attendees and security guards would not be so lucky.

Without a doubt, the trauma of experiencing something like that still lasts with me today, but I found myself taking time to really think about why I love, appreciate and sometimes even risk my life to enjoy a night out with a DJ and my closest friends. Shortly after, I returned to Mexico for an incredible outing with Nic Fanciulli as the debuted his Latin American version of The Social Festival to high praise, and later again to RHA Festival to see the budding festival circuit looking to provide positive and promising replacements for its people. Mexico is an incredible place, and possibly one of my favorites to visit thanks to its gracious people, delicious food and thriving scene, even despite what I've been through. Even in the darkest times, dance music has a way of reminding its loyal fans that it is a safe space and a church that can never be brought down. So I'm thankful to be able to do what I love every day, and every day ahead. - Valerie Lee, US Digital Editor