2011 Editor’s Picks: Alexandra

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Another year, another list and a chance to share what we thought were some of the highlights of 2011. Here editor Alexandra Droener picks her favourite moments from a momentous year.

2011 in music. Did this actually happen? This was one of those rather uneventful years that could not be characterized by departures or paradigm shifts but by formulation and refinement. In contrast to global politics where the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement and the eagerly awaited deaths of a handful of tyrants and terrorists made the year an epochal one, musically there was no revolution in sight.

With 2010’s tumultuous discoveries, be it witch house or footwerk, the slowed down antics of house and disco, emo-step with a capital Blake, R&B lurking around every corner or the lo-fi excursions of pretty much any genre, 2011 did nothing but analyze, stabilize and popularize. Leave aside a small, polarizing group of 90s-obsessed youngsters who fell for cheap hair color and cheap irony, there was not much to really get excited about.

But anyway – music is my first love and always will be so this is what I loved most about 2011:

My fave Mixtapes:
Frank Ocean – Nostalgia Ultra
The Weeknd – Trilogy (House of Ballons, Thursday, Echoes of Silence)
A$AP Rocky – LiveLoveA$AP
Danny Brown – XXX
Squadda B – I Smoke Because I Don’t Care About Death
Death Grips – Exmilitary

My fave Old Stuff:
Throbbing Gristle Digital Re-Releases (all)

Cabaret Voltaire – Johnny YesNo Redux

Conrad Schnitzler (all)

Bruce Haack – The Electric Lucifer

39 Clocks (all)

Tuxedomoon – Unearthed

My fave Outernational Beats:
Gianni Giublena Rosacroce – La piramide di sangue
Souad Abdullah (all Chobis basically)

Imanaren – Imanaren

Ayshay – Warn U
DRC Music – Kinshasa One Two (come on, it’s for charity!)

The Top 50 or so names in my 2011 Traktor playlist:
A$AP Rocky, Africa Hitech, Araabmuzik, Babe Rainbow, Becoming Real, Blawan, Brenmar, Cedaa, Clicks&Whistles, Dam Mantle, Dark Sky, Deadboy, Distal, Doshy, Dubbel Dutch, Falty DL, Funkystepz, Gucci Mane, Gunplay, Hackman, Ital Tek, Joy O, Kahn, Killa Kyleon, King Midas Sound, Kingdom, Kuedo, Kuhn, Lazer Sword, Lil B, Lunice, Machinedrum, Main Attrakionz, Matty G, Nguzunguzu, Nicki Minaj, Objekt, Om Unit, Pangaea, Royal T, SBTRKT, Sepalcure, Swindle, Teeth, The Weeknd, Throwing Snow, Waka Flocka Flame, Whistla, xxxy, Zed Bias, Zomby

Africa Hitech – Out in the Streets

Clicks&Whistles – Cranberry Goose

Kuhn – Slime Beach

Objekt – Tinderbox

Royal T – Orangeade

Special Shout Outs go to:
Kurt Vile, John Maus, Clams Casino, Vatican Shadow, Planningtorock
And the homies: Jahcoozi, Modeselektor, Robot Koch, Thunderbird Gerard, Sick Girls

Published December 27, 2011.