The F-List 
Live DJs
A clubber's concept of "best DJ" depends upon taste, genre, and circumstance; ease of access, as much as any factor, dictated why year-end polls ranked Paul van Dyk's main-room sets higher than Ricardo Villalobos' epic afterparties. We prefer to highlight the selectors who push dance-floor aesthetics toward new extremes while never missing a beat. -Philip Sherburne
The
Scratch Perverts — whose members hold six world turntablism and DMC titles among them — apply their bountiful technical skills to weaving in and out of pop, drum 'n bass, hip-hop, dancehall, and beyond, making even the most jaded jaws drop in amazement. -
Colin J. Nagy
Parisian
Jennifer Cardini balances out the cool, dandyish sophistication of her colleagues at Kompakt Booking with an unabashed will to rave. Holding court at Paris' Rex Club, Cardini cuts up classic Plastikman and next month's micro sounds with such complexity that you'd swear there were three decks involved, while her head-banging command brings a butch energy that's sorely lacking in techno. -
Philip Sherburne
Diplo's chopped and screwed mating of Rio de Janeiro's infectious baile funk with Sri Lankan MC
M.I.A.'s coquettish banshee calls earned him slots at music festivals worldwide in '05. Adding strains of Southern hip-hop and classic rock to his live mixes more recently, he continues to send disco-fever levels skyrocketing wherever he plays. -
Jonathan Schultz
Richie Hawtin, the newly coiffed, Berlin-based Canadian, has done more than any other DJ to bring minimalism's euphoric focus to dance floors worldwide. His embrace of new technologies propels DJ culture's decks-and-mixer mentality into a wild new space of performative possibilities. -
Philip Sherburne
One third of Germany's International Pony,
DJ Koze isn't just the best DJ on the Kompakt roster — his hip-hop informed approach to house and techno draws on deep crates and unparalleled technical skill, bringing disco's original anything-goes mentality into the four-to-the-floor era. -
Philip Sherburne
