Features
The top 10 DJs Of 2015
This year's cream of the crop
The top DJs of the year is probably the hardest end of year list to compile.
After all, choosing your favourite DJ is so minutely subjective: it could be some little-known selector who blew your mind at a party attended by less than 100 people or the resident at your favourite club night who's never likely to blow up and gain the wider attention that would grant them a place in a list like this (though keep an eye on our breakthrough DJs chart).
But, decisions must be made and votes tallied up. After all, that's our job. Here are the top 10 DJs of 2015 as voted for by Mixmag staff and contributors, based on who's blown the most minds on dancefloors, who's got the passion as well as the knowledge, who refuses to stop innovating, who's thrown down records with true flair and who's played across the world and always done so with style and substance. And let's be clear: this definitely isn't based on social media numbers.
10 Ryan Elliott
He's toured for the best part of a decade, but 2015 saw Ryan Elliott's reputation rise as a new generation of P Bar-savvy kids caught on to his consummate DJ style and he wowed floors from Fabric and Just Jack to Movement Detroit and Awakenings. His expert DJ skill and taste in tough, melodic tracks were oh-so refreshing in 2015.
9 Ivy Lab
Whether it's glitchy hip hop, hyperactive footwork or rowdy halftime, Stray, Sabre and Halogenix's sets are always a knockout. We got three doses at Outlook, and their 20/20 parties are a London standout. They haven't ousted straightforward d'n'b from their sets, as proved by shows with the Critical Music crew and a tour of Aus in October.
8 Adam Beyer & Ida Engberg
There aren't too many husband and wife b2b DJ teams in the game, but novelty's not why Adam and Ida make the top 10. Instead, it's their incredible chemistry behind the decks at events like their own Drumcode parties, SW4 and Sankeys Ibiza. Shout out to the babysitter too.
7 Ben Klock
Having conquered Berlin and earned his stripes as a resident at Berghain, in 2015 Ben Klock took his clean, driving, emotive techno to the world. Bloc, Awakenings, Coachella, Nuits Sonores, Movement, Dimension, Dekmantel: he had them all entranced. With his mighty Klockworks label and parties, he'll be riding high well into 2016 and beyond.
6 Marco Carola
In Ibiza, Marco Carola proved to be the most popular DJ on the island once again. Crucially, that success isn't down to hype or great marketing or fashionability: it's because week in, week out, his unique brand of techno delivered - and dance floors at Music:On at Amnesia and everywhere around the world responded.
5 Bicep
An XOYO residency that combined the spirit of their crate-digging roots with full-on techno madness, triumphant homecomings to the AVA festival and Shine in Belfast and gigs at Panoramabar, Hyte Amnesia and the CRRSD festival: this year Bicep have truly flexed their muscles.
4 Hannah Wants
Not content with headlining most of the UK's best festivals, Hannah Wants went international this year with a successful US mini tour and huge gigs at WAR and Together in Ibiza. One of the best-loved DJs out there, she also made the move into solo production, not least with the tracks on her stunning Mixmag cover.
3 Black Coffee
Perhaps it wasn't until his astonishing, life-affirming Mixmag Live gig that we fully realised just what a musical force of nature Nathi Maphumulo truly is. From Soweto to Circoloco to SW4, he lit up everywhere he played like sunrise over the veldt.
2 Four Tet
His £5 all-night sell-out gig at Brixton Academy in October highlighted Kieran Hebden's journey from percussionist to DJ master. Massive international festival gigs combined with intimate club performances - like his epic closing set at Plastic People (with Floating Points), perhaps the mix of the year.
1 Tale Of Us
The undisputed must-see DJs of 2015, Tale Of Us's emotional, operatic techno defined the year in dance music. From Ibiza to Coachella, theirs was the must-hear sound, moving dancefloors and melting hearts everywhere they played.
