Best of 2011

I love it when people tell me that it's been a bad year for music, or that there's nothing new, or that the scene is dying. Nothing could be further from the truth. Bands and DJs don't revolve around your ever-decreasing musical circles, they carry on regardless. You put in what you get out as someone surely famous once said. Quite what I've put in to get to this rather scatter-gun Top 10 tracks and albums of 2011 I'm not sure, but they all have a special place in my iPod and in my DJ sets…

The Black Keys - El Camino

Like The White Stripes: big, bold basslines, scuzzy 60s guitars. Unlike the Stripes, pulverising, in-time drums. This is their 7th album, and hopefully the one that sets them onto super-stardom. And not only is this an amazing track from the album, the tongue-in-cheek video sh*ts over most of the crap shown in Dubai's cinemas.

Gil Scott Heron vs Jamie xx - I'll Take Care Of You

Like The Jesus and Mary Chain covering the Beach Boys (No, really! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb4OJ4EQajk), this really really shouldn't work, but it really, really does, as Jamie xx's reworking of Gil Scott Heron's album took it to bold, dazzling new heights. And this song, the album's finest moment, was criminally short at just 4 minutes of bass-buzzing beauty, hence this more DJ friendly re-work.

http://soundcloud.com/i-am-andy-buchan/jamie-xx-vs-gil-scott-heron

The Horrors - Still Life

Vivid, psychedelic but now imbued with a withering pop sensibility, The Horrors' 3rd album featured their best moment to date, the utterly bewitching 'Still Life.' A word of warning to the die hard Horrors fans out there: this version comes with a little added extra from Richard Ashcroft…

http://soundcloud.com/i-am-andy-buchan/the-horrors-vs-the-verve-still

I Break Horses - Winter Beats

Beware 3 Swedes who conjure up anti-equine names and profess they don't know how to play their instruments, when in fact they create soundscapes that echo and reverberate like a lost Sigur Ros album.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sg7YkPnEYw

M83 - Midnight City

The weirdest pop single of the year, and also one of the best. Ghostly shrieks, intergalactic breakdowns and an 80s sax solo that would give Kenny G a run for his money combine into something truly special. And with a beats and bass re-rub, also fitted into my DJ sets rather nicely.

http://soundcloud.com/i-am-andy-buchan/m83-midnight-city-da-funct

SBTRKT - SBTRKT

The poppy, acceptable face (or mask) of the British bass scene, with 'Pharaohs' the stand out track from an outstanding album.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErYAGQZs8e0&ob=av2e

Rustie - Glass Swords

Dubstep/Post-dubstep/future garage - the fragmented bass scene never sounded as unified as on this Warp Records release, with frazzled melodies, fractured beats and warehouse vibes combining to euphoric effect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4AqCrR_nAU

Tuneyards - Bizniz

A one-woman band and yet capable of sounding like a magical mashup of Sonic Youth and Vampire Weekend? Yes, yes please.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ1LI-NTa2s

And 2 to avoid

Bjork - Biophilia

I'm the biggest Bjork fan. I even like 'It's Oh So Quiet' despite it being the worst. song. in. the. world. But this monstrosity of beats and bleeps, where 90s rave collided headlong into 6th form poetry and prose was hideous from start to finish.

Justice - Audio Video Disco

The 'new Daft Punk' were left standing naked in the Emperor's clothing on their second album. Only 2 tracks - 'Canon' and 'Civilization' - escaped the 70s bad-rock pastiches. Bof.