vip Six sizzling new artists set to take over your tracklists
Matador
Pierce Fulton
Planas
n Richie Hawtin’s Minus label may have said goodbye to heavyweights Magda, Troy Pierce and Marc Houle last year, but techno aficionados needn’t worry: Dubliner Matador ushers in a new generation of Minus artists with his deep, driving, twisted sound. A trained chef, sound engineer and producer, Matador has been busy of late putting out tracks on Cocoon, Perc Trax and Plus 8 as well as two EPs on Minus, not to mention playing our epic Mixmag Live Presents: New Horizons party back in February with Hawtin and Hobo. One to watch.
n Brought up on The Doors and Led Zeppelin and playing every instrument he could get his hands on, Pierce Fulton decided to turn his interest towards electronic music. Smart move. Exploding onto the scene last year with his contagiously melodic strain of electro-house, the 19-year-old Vermont student describes his rise to stardom as having ‘jumped three hurdles at once, rather than one at a time’. Now signed to house giant CR2, he spends the week studying, while gigging in Las Vegas and at Pacha NYC with the likes of Tiësto and Calvin Harris at weekends.
n Toby Davies from Stoke Newington has a finger in almost every genre under the sun, putting out funk, reggae, hip hop and soul under various monikers, and playing bass in Gentleman’s Dub Club. But he’s possibly best known for his more bass-driven dubstep alter ego, Planas. Having set up Ranking Records in 2007 with Harry Evergreen, Planas’ productions on it – as well as noted labels like Brownswood and Exceptional – have been played on Radio 1 and Rinse FM, with support coming from Mary Anne Hobbs and Pearson Sound.
Matador’s ‘Spooks’ EP is out on Minus now
Check www.piercefulton.com for European dates
Planas feat Ed Thomas ‘Breathtaking’ is out now on Exceptional Records
Noah D
Moxie
Kutmah
n There’s a lot more to American bass music than relentless brostep. Enter Noah Dickinson, who has been making ridiculously good dubstep since 2007, releasing on pivotal underground labels Argon, Subway, Rwina, Boka and Chestplate. He’s got a colourful discography, moving between dubwise riddims, rollers as deep as the Mariana Trench and rib-snapping bangers with ease and aplomb. Aligned with US bass collective SMOG crew, Noah D is part of a wave of US steppers who know how to do it right. His debut album is out now; it’s his strongest work to date.
n Alice ‘Moxie’ Moxom’s crate-digging mixes of hip hop, house, dubstep, disco and grime blend the classic and cutting edge with contagious effect. At just 24, the Londoner has toured clubs and festivals worldwide and runs the capital’s Deviation night with Radio 1’s Benji B. A regular on Rinse FM, she’s also covered Sinden’s show on Kiss and currently presents her own fortnightly slot on NTS Live. “I can take the show in any direction”, she says – ideal for a DJ with a truly engaging mixing style, one who’s able to vary vibes and tempos with unflappable momentum.
n Kutmah is the selector who knows that underground hip hop is very much alive and kicking out the jams. His taste in tunes is so spot-on that Gilles Peterson called on him to hand-pick the latest compilation on Brownswood. ‘Worldwide Family Vol 2’ takes in organic and electronic joints that showcase Kutmah’s love of experimental realms as well as the dancefloor. Brighton-born and London-based, the DJ/producer/illustrator with a crazy backstory of imprisonment and deportation (Google him!) hangs with the Earnest Endeavours party crew and is making it his mission to prove that boom bap is brilliant.
Standard bearer for Minus’ new school
American dubstep that’s all killer
Noah D’s ‘Perspective’ is out now on SMOG
[[1L]] may 2012
Electro house and lectures
Eclectic DJ with a bass for radio
Moxie’s show airs every other Wednesday from 3–5pm via www.ntslive.co.uk
Ranking’s versatile dub-meister
Unearthing ace underground hip hop
‘Worldwide Family Vol 2’ is out now on Brownswood
www.mixmag.net
WORDS seb wheeler, cecilia borjeson, phil dudman
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