 
The Sound of 2011 list wasn’t the only major musical competition that the BBC announced this week, they also unveiled their short-list for Radio 1’s Essential Mix of The Year 2011.
A Radio 1 Panel made up of the Friday Night Dance Show producers debated and argued their way to a “shortlist” of fifteen two-hour mixes, with all mixes broadcast between January 1st and December 10th 2011 eligible for consideration. The final list included sets from: Above & Beyond, Beardyman, Brookes Brothers, Carl Craig, Dimitri From Paris, Eats Everything, Eric Prydz, Jamie XX, Joker, Julio Bashmore, Kaskade, Maya Jane Coles, Pete Tong, SBTRKT, and Seth Troxler.
The winner of the Essential Mix of The Year is decided purely by the public, and if you want to cast your vote you can do so here. But you must be asking yourself “how can I vote when I haven’t heard all of those mixes before”?
Never fear. We have rounded up all of the short-listed 15 Essential Mixes (and relevant tracklists) for you to listen to and download below the cut.
Above & Beyond – Essential Mix | Tracklist
“Former Essential Mix Of The Year winners returned with an emotional therapy session, making clever use of spoken word to tell a story.”
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Beardyman – Essential Mix | Tracklist
“Utterly unique. Beardyman recorded this mix using only a keyboard, an effects pad and a microphone. No records or CDs or MP3s! Check out the video on the Essential Mix page.”
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Brookes Brothers – Essential Mix | Tracklist
“A high octane mix which crammed in over 100 tunes and almost as many genres!”
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Carl Craig – Essential Mix | Tracklist
“A seamless journey through deep house and techno from the second wave Detroit innovator. Completely classic.”
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Dimitri From Paris – Essential Mix | Tracklist
“A funk & disco fuelled mix which set old school classics against contemporary tracks in a coherent vibrant mix.”
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Eats Everything at In:Motion – Essential Mix | Tracklist
“Recording your first Essential Mix in front of your hometown crowd could be daunting. Eats Everything breezed through it mixing up a tight-as two hours of Bristol Bass.”
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Eric Prydz at Creamfields – Essential Mix | Tracklist
“Apparently Eric didn’t know his set was being recorded for the Essential Mix until just before he went on stage. No matter. As expected, it was epic.”
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Jamie XX – Essential Mix | Tracklist
“A mix filled with personality. He’d already served up a classic 6 Mix for 6 Music. Dare we say he went one better on this Essential Mix?”
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Joker – Essential Mix | Tracklist
“The second Bristolian to make the shortlist. Joker’s debut was all about grinding bass and effortlessly flowed through dubstep, house and d&b.”
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Julio Bashmore – Essential Mix | Tracklist
“And the third Bristolian! There really was somethin in the South West water in 2011! Bashmore’s debut was an all vinyl affair joining the dots between classic UKG with future facing Bristol Bass.”
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Kaskade – Essential Mix | Tracklist
“An epic, melodic, uplifting big room mix from America’s superstar DJ.”
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Maya Jane Coles – Essential Mix | Tracklist
“One of the stars of the year served up one of the most train-spotted mixes of the year crammed full of (at the time) unreleased goodies. The mix bounces and flows effortlessly through two hours.”
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Pete Tong 20 – Essential Mix | Tracklist
“As part of a night to celebrate 20 years of broadcasting on Radio 1, Pete put together a very special mix of classics and hidden gems from twenty years of DJing. He pulled off a spectacular musical journey.”
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SBTRKT – Essential Mix | Tracklist
“A mix that encapsulates the the sound of 2011 from one of the artists of the year. Packed full of exclusive and never heard before tracks.”
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Seth Troxler – Essential Mix | Tracklist
“Funky, sexy and bouncing. Troxler recorded this mix live in one take in Jamie Jones living room. We wished we were there!”
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