2011 Editor’s Picks: Daniel

Another year, another list and a chance to share what we though were some of the highlights of 2011. Here music & culture editor Daniel Jones picks his top five moments from a momentous year.

2011 was sick as hell, but in a really different way than 2010. For me, the previous year saw my ears soaked in massive amounts of music; it seemed wonderfully exciting, with new genres popping up and giving birth to new forms of expression in the visual world. 2011, however, was more about life in general, improving myself in various ways and growing as a person and in my personal taste. If I had to put it into some order, for example a list, it would probably look something like:

1. Best reason to question reality: Roseanne Barr calls me ‘dude’ and requests my opinion on the NWO.

Reality is so malleable.

2. Best pickup line: ‘You look like you have a really good tumblr.’
I do, actually.

3. Best life decision: moving to Berlin.
Since coming here from Brooklyn, I’ve become friends with so many amazing, lovely and creative people, fallen in love with a woman who is a constant inspiration to me, been a part of a mindblowing music and art festival, co-founded Berlin’s hardest dance party, and basically begun living the sort of baller-ass lifestyle a poor artist can only dream of in the hustle and grind of NYC. All this plus rediscovering my love for DJing, hard bass and live performance. EVERYBODY THRASH NOW.

4. Best key to future culture subversion/growth: Internet.
The idea of subverting subculture aesthetics and idealism has been a hot topic for the last two years, gathering steam primarily through the use of tumblr and the like. Existing formerly relevant but now-toothless structures such as punk or goth have been reimagined for the Now, taking aesthetically from bits and pieces of other existing subcultures (hiphop, r&b, rave etc) and combining to form something new without any of the outdated angst, social stigmata or cheese of the originals. The idea of a linear genre, of mainstream and underground, is no longer applicable for thinking forward. Internet symbology and our relation to the world becomes a key factor in this as well; no longer the refuge of nerds, the young artist feels a connection to the digital that goes hand-in-hand with their corporeal existence. A fascination with the early days of online culture is becoming more and more widespread, especially as nostalgia for the ’90s increases. My hand + arm looks weird as hell in that photo.

5. Favorite form of bullying: Complex Bullying.
“Bullying ranges from simple one-on-one bullying to more complex bullying in which the bully may have one or more ‘lieutenants’ who may seem to be willing to assist the primary bully in his bullying activities.”

I’m changing all my screen names to ThePrimaryBully.

Published December 20, 2011.