#1 - Welcome To Amplified Frequency

I, Shmeg, on behalf of the 3-man team here at Amplified Frequency would like to welcome you to our blog. I will be helped out by the extremely knowledgeable duo of Gazza G and Mr Greg Kacev. Hailing from Jozi, South Africa, we are music lovers who feel its only fair to spread our passion for music. So without further ado, we've decided to kick off the blog with monster post of the currently ranked top 10 DJs.

We know all about the hype and controversy associated with this ranking system but we are not responsible for the list and still feel that it is fairly accurate. The current top 10 is:

1. David Guetta
2. Armin van Buuren
3. Tiesto
4. Deadmau5
5. Above and Beyond
6. Avicii
7. Afrojack
8. Dash Berlin
9. Markus Schulz
10. Swedish House Mafia

What we've decided to do is give a brief history of each of the 10 and will recommend 3 songs from each of the 10 as well - 1 new, 1 old and 1 that should be in everyones iTunes.

1. David Guetta

Born: 7 November 1967 in Paris, Fance
Record Label: F*** Me Im Famous! (as seen above) as well as the brand new Jack Back Records, started earlier this year.
Genre: Electro and Commercial House
Most Well Known For: Bringing an EDM sound to Pop and commerical music

Old: David Guetta vs The Egg - Love Dont Let Me Go




New: David Guetta and Nicky Romero - Metropolis. This was the first release off of Jack Back Records with Mr Guetta's protégé Nicky Romero.



Must Have: David Guetta and Avicii - Sunshine

2. Armin van Buuren

Born: 25 December 1976 in Leiden, Netherlands

Record Label: Armind and Armada Music

Genre: Trance

Most Well Known For: The radio show (and now brand) A State Of Trance (ASOT) with yearly compilations and world tours. 

Old: Armin van Buuren - Never Say Never Ft Jacqueline Govaert

New: Armin van Buuren - We Are Here To Make Some Noise

Must Have: Triple A - Winter Stayed (Armin van Buuren's On The Beach Intro Mix). Tough choice but seeing as though Armin is one-third of Triple A, I thought this unbelievable edit would be fitting.

3. Tiesto

Born: 17 January 1969 in Breda, Netherlands

Record Label: Magik Muzik, Black Hole Records and Musical Freedom 

Genre: Trance, Electro House and Trouse (Trance House) as he calls it

Most Known For: His radio show (now brand) Club Life as well as unleashing his protégé Hardwell on the world :)

Old: Tiesto - Adagio For Strings

New: Tiesto and Showtek - Hell Yeah!

Must Have: Tiesto - Elements Of Life

4. Deadmau5

Born: January 5, 1981 in Ontario, Canada

Record Label: Mau5trap

Genre: Progressive & Electro House

Most Known For: The Mau5head as well as his Mau5cube used on stage for awesome visuals and light shows (as above)

Old: Deadmau5 - Faxing Berlin. Granted this wasn't his first release but this projected the world's most famous Mau5 into fame.

New: Deadmau5 - Professional Griefers Ft Gerard Way. Gerard Way is the lead vocalist of the band My Chemical Romance

Must Have: Deadmau5 - Strobe. The full 10 and a half minute version

5. Above and Beyond

Group Members: Paavo Siljamäki, Tony McGuinness and Jono Grant

Born: Finland (Age 35), England (Age 53) and England (Age 32) respectively

Record Label(s): Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep

Genre: Progressive House and Trance

Most Well Known For: Their radio show Trance Around The World

Old: Above and Beyond - Good For Me (Album Version)

New:  Above and Beyond - On My Way To Heaven Ft Richard Bedford (Above and Beyond Club Mix)

Must Have: Above and Beyond - On A Good Day (Metropolis)

As a bonus I've included this new mashup by Above and Beyond:  Arty vs Reflekt - Need To Feel Hope (Above and Beyond Mashup) 

6. Avicii

Born: 8 September 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden

Record Label: Le7els

Genre: Progressive House

Most Well Known For: His brand of progressive house sounds that shaped more than a few tracks other than just his own productions

Old: Tim Berg - Seek Bromance (Avicii's Vocal Edit)

New: Avicii - 2 Million. Not his best work but as in the title, it was to celebrate reaching 2 million fans on Facebook! 

Must Have: Avicii - Freedom

7. Afrojack

Born: 9 September 1987 in Spijkenisse, Netherlands

Record Label: Wall Records

Genre: Electro & Dutch House

Most Well Known For: Bleepy sounds and high energy dutch house tracks

Old: Afrojack - Claudia

New: Afrojack - Rock The House

Must Have: Afrojack - Take Over Control Ft Eva Simons

8. Dash Berlin

Born: 8 November 1979 in The Hague, Netherlands

Record Label: Aropa Records

Genre: Trance

Most Well Known For: His extremely good technical ability behind the decks which has lead to a string of highly successful 'Dashups' (Dash Berlin Mashups) as well as his rapid rise to stardom

Old: Dash Berlin - Till The Sky Falls Down

New:  Dash Berlin - Better Half Of Me Ft Jonathan Mendelsohn

Must Have: Dash Berlin - Man On The Run Ft Cerf, Mitiska & Jaren

9. Markus Schulz

Born: 3 February 1975 in Eschwege, Germany

Record Label: Coldharbour Recordings

Genre: Trance

Most Well Known For: His radio show Global DJ Broadcast

Old:  Mark Otten - Tranquility (Markus Schulz Coldharbour Mix)

New: Markus Schulz - Caught (Instrumental Mix)

Must Have: Markus Schulz - The New World

10. Swedish House Mafia

Group Members: Sebastian Ingrosso, Steve Angello & Axwell

Born: Sweden (Age 29), Greece (Raised in Sweden, Age 29), Sweden (Age 34)

Record Label: Ultra Music Group. However, each of the 3 independently own a label

Most Well Known For: High energy performances together with top-end productions

Old: Swedish House Mafia - One

New:  Swedish House Mafia - Greyhound

Must Have:  Swedish House Mafia & Laidback Luke - Leave The World Behind Ft Deborah Cox

Hope you feel a bit more educated about the current 'top 10', expect plenty more from the team here at Amplified Frequency. Please feel free to leave a comment, we appreciate your input.