Today we’re channelling our inner-clairvoyance to bring you sixteen names that we believe everyone should be watching in 2015. As always, we’ve tried our best to keep away from the more well-established artists that we know will be bringing out killer releases in 2015, and instead have handpicked our favourite emerging artists in the hope that you’ll discover something new and exciting.
Listen to the run-down as a playlist on our Soundcloud or as a full mix below:
Age of L.U.N.A
Joining the new breed of hip hop talent flourishing in the UK, Age Of L.U.N.A have all the right ingredients to blow this year. With an average age of 18 (producer NK OK is just 16!), the young group of Londoners stay committed to forcing musicality and consciousness back into rap music. Earlier last year they dropped a track called ‘Indigo‘ which made big waves in the UK urban scene, and 2015 looks to be a big year for them after recently signing to Believe Records (Fyfe/James Vincent McMorrow). The quartet are set to drop a free download next Monday (19th Jan) and then a 7” dropping in March, so keep it locked on Stamp for both of those.
D-Ribeiro
Popping onto our radar at the tail-end of 2014, Rotterdam-based producer Ranie Ribeiro Fortes aka D-Ribeiro is a shining light of the Electronic scene. His 6-track December release Purple Ghost Dance EP (on R&S Records‘ London-based imprint Meda Fury) was a love-affair of futurist hip-hop and cosmic house, sitting somewhere between Floating Points’ Shadows EP and Flying Lotus’ Cosmagramma. There’s nothing officially confirmed yet for 2015, but we’re expecting some very special things nonetheless.
Eleventeen Eston
A nice change of pace for us here at Stamp is Perth-based “fantasy windsurfer” John William Tanner aka Eleventeen Eston. His debut album Delta Horizon dropped last summer on cassette bringing soft-psych vibes with warm, sun-soaked, nostalgic sentiments that, in the words of Britt at Not Not Fun Records, comes together like “the soundtrack to some mythically faded new wave instructional hang gliding video”. In keeping with his chimerical sound, no-one’s entirely sure what 2015 will bring, although his label have mentioned there’s a bunch more unreleased tracks that could potentially form another release something this year.
Gabriel Garzón-Montano
New York-native Gabriel Garzón-Montano has been turning heads in the past year with a unique blend of soul grooves carved out with an electronic twist. His debut release Bishouné: Alma del Huil came out last May and brought influences from around the world by way of his Colombian father and French mother. Lenny Kravitz is one notable fan, who asked Gabriel to support him on his European tour last month. 2015 will bring more show dates around the world and perhaps another release if we’re lucky.
J’Danna
One track that got a lot of love last year was Julio Bashmore’s 70’s disco throwback ‘Rhythm Of Auld‘ featuring London-based soul singer J’Danna. We actually featured her shuffled cover of Gil Scott-Heron’s ‘Winter In America’ back in 2012 and it seems she’s been steady rising since. We’re unsure what she’ll be putting out this year, but we know the team behind her and they don’t mess around with new talent!
Harvey Sutherland
Harvey Sutherland is another incredibly exciting new face on the Electronic scene coming from Melbourne‘s hyper-creative suburbs armed to the teeth with analog synths and velvet grooves. He’s already garnered support from Max Graef, Bradley Zero, Glenn Astro and Motor City Drum Ensemble, and his 4-track Brothers EP released on Voyage Recordings last October was a massive highlight of 2014 for us. Looking forward to this year, he’s got a track dropping on the next Voltaire Records boogie sampler, some new remixes and a top secret 12″ release that will hopefully coincide with an UK/EU tour in May/June.
Ibeyi
The saintly French/Cuban musical twin sisters Ibeyi are bound to make a lot of Ones To Watch lists this year. Heavily influenced by the culture of Yoruba and their late father (Cuban percussionist Anga Diaz from Buena Vista Social Club), their debut EP Oya came out on XL Recordings last year championing both West African and Cuban elements with a unique twist. Along with a series of enigmatic videos created for each track off the EP (check River and Mama Says), the duo got itchy feet in October and recorded an angelic cover of Jay Electronica’s ‘Better in Tune with the Infitite’ after XL bossman Richard Russell reduced them to tears by playing the original. With their self-titled debut album slated for release in February, there’s no telling what we can expect.
Imyrmind
Leading the way forward in soulful house and hip-hop territory is German producer Imyrmind. Frequent collaborator with STW favourite Glenn Astro, the two came together on the Box Aus Holz 09 EP last year bringing 9 tracks with deep colour and warmth to the dancefloor. 2015 will bring new music on Tartelet Records, Money Sex Records, Max Graef’s Box Aus Holz label and Andy Hart’s Voyage Records, plus some exciting collaborations with Andy, Max and Glenn.
Jitwam
Out of Australia by way of Manipur (India), mysterious producer/vocalist Jitwam has had us hooked with his spiritual concoctions of slow-motion funk, dusty soul and spacey R&B. With past releases on Matthewdavid’s Leaving Records and even guest vocals on Paul White’s Shaker Notes, his grounding in experimental music knows no bounds. His long-awaited debut album should be dropping this year, along with some intriguing collabs with Henry Wu, K-15 and Paul White.
John Barera
2014 was a busy year for Boston-based DJ/producer John Barera. His rugged blend of sample-heavy deep house continued to light up dancefloors with a debut full-length in collaboration with fellow Bostonian Will Martin, released on Steffi’s Dolly imprint. Released in October, the 8-track Graceless is a potent combination of warm, welcoming and effortlessly groovy sounds that made many end of year lists last year. John has just landed his Fabric debut for the Just Jack Room 3 takeover (14th Feb), so a first chance for Londoner’s to check him out.
K15
London-based producer K15 has been pulling out jazzy and soul-infused electronic flavours for some time. 2014 brought a highly-acclaimed EP for Kyle Hall’s Wild Oats, his glorious second EP on WotNot Music and some cosmic soul with his Profusion project. As a perfect end to last year, K15 graced us with a knock-out set at our own party in Bristol and now we’re glued to here more. 2015 will bring more from Profusion, a remix for SoulParlour dropping next month and a few other exciting things under wraps for now. Definitely reason to keep your eyes and ears locked.
Kamasi Washington
On a slightly different tip comes Californian jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington, whose been swimming in jazz circles for over two decades with 10-piece band West Coast Get Down. A little more than a year ago, they went into a Silver Lake studio and recorded six albums in 30 days. Washington’s contribution to that effort is called The Epic, a 171-minute, three-record set that includes a 32-piece orchestra and a 20-person choir. Written and conducted by Washington, the record is slated to drop this year on FlyLo’s Brainfeeder label and somehow fuses elements of jazz, soul, classical, hip-hop and even gospel.
Lnrdcroy
Another vivacious breeding ground for amazing music at the moment is Vancouver, Canada, where house/techno inspired producer Lnrdcroy has been following in Mood Hut’s footsteps with some hazy ambient sounds this past year. Following a two-track release for Vancouver-based Pacific Rhythm in October, his debut album dropped the following month via Edinburgh house imprint Firecracker Recordings, bringing with it cosmic lulls and atmospheric wooziness that sweep the electronic spectrum. What 2015 will bring we have no idea, but we’re excited nonetheless.
Mikael Seifu
Fusing Ethiopian sounds of nomadic folk musicians, known as Azmaris, with UK garage & his own dream brew, Mikael Seifu is a tremendous success story of African-infused electronic music. His debut EP Yarada Lij came out last July and is receiving love from all directions with its musical mixture of influences that extends from Ethiopian folk to Burial and Air. There should be new music coming from him around spring time this year and hopefully some shows in Europe too.
Queen Magic
Fast emerging from Melbourne’s musical epicentre is unsigned future-R&B producer/vocalist Queen Magic. With only one track released back in September, we’ve got high expectations for crooning talent. And we won’t have to wait long. A new single entitled ‘Bad Trip (I Love You)’ should be dropping next week via the Wondercore Island mixtape #5 (spiritual home to Hiatus Kaiyote and Clever Austin). Looking further forward, Queen Magic is in the late production stages of a double track release forecasted for February/March.
Yesway
Californian psychedelic folk-duo Yesway‘s delicately put-together self-titled debut was a slept-on gem of 2014. The two best friends, Emily Ritz and Kacey Johansing, created a beautifully dark collection of shapeshifting folk tracks brought together by two simple guitars and their own entrancing voices. We don’t know all that much about the duo’s future plans, though we’ll be keeping a very close eye on them in 2015.
