Laurence Guy
Following in the footsteps on Chaos in the CBD for their jazz-indebted approach to deep house, comes London’s Laurence Guy. He made a splash last year with an EP for Church that had an entrancing delicacy, yet enough bite to still work on the dancefloor. Move D’s affinity for ‘W.L.Y.B’ was testament to that, as it played a central role to his sets over the summer. Besides a V/A appearance for Fouk’s Outplay, 2016 promises a release on new London label Cin Cin (run by Fort Romeau and Warm’s Ali Tillett), plus a 10” on Rose Records and another for Church.
Melbourne-based producer Len Leise’s afro balearic edit ’Stars For Jorge’ boogied its way into our favourite tracks of 2015 and kept us at bay until a mini-album Lingua Franca dropped on the iconic balearic imprint International Feel. Moving from ambient jazz to afro disco, Leise occupies a very unique space in electronic music and we’re looking forward to hearing more. This year we can expect a few remixes dropping on International Feel and Aficionado Recordings and a new album before the year is out.
Luis C L
One half of Melbourne native duo Zanzibar Chanel, the relatively quiet Luis C L (compared to his larger-than-life partner anyway) marked himself out in 2015 with an debut solo release on Francis Inferno Orchestra and Fantastic Man’s imprint Superconscious. Old drum machines and lo-fi housey goodness peaked our ears, whilst his Baba-X alias on Bandcamp showed a more funky side to his production palette that we hope to hear more in 2016. As for Zanzibar Chanel, they also have an EP dropping soon, on new German imprint called Pig Sweat.
Lukas Nystrand von Unge
Aside from having the best name on our Ones To Watch list this year, LNvU caught our attention with the superlative EP he brought out on Studio Barnhus three years ago. Studio Barnhus EP No. 1 was a disjointed and eccentric six-tracker, bound together by a glue of analogue house ambiguity. Not sure what we mean? Just contrast the euphoric piano on ‘Gamla Skolan’ with the warped melancholy of ‘En Slags Popmusik’, or the muffled synths on ‘Melodi’ that sound like Jai Paul has been nailed inside a coffin. We only came across this release at the tale end of 2015, fortunately around the same time we heard a new Studio Barnhus EP was on the way. On top of that, Lukas has also imparted news that even Studio Barnhus isn’t aware of: he’s currently composing the soundtrack and doing the sound design for an animated movie, that he only started yesterday! He’s also contemplating reawakening his dormant cassette label Editions Ikioma.
Australian-based Jordan Alexander (aka Mall Grab) brought some prolific productions to our ears in 2015, with lo-fi head-in-the-clouds techno and drugged-out night time house grooves on Collect-Call and Shall Not Fade. After premiering a track off his Alone EP on STW we’ve been keeping close tabs on the artist, which is just as well after his release on Vancouver-based dreamy nostalgia house label 1080p dropped last month. Looking to this year, Mall Grab is currently working on an LP alongside two EPs set to come out on Church and Viers‘ label Hokkaido Dance Club.
Moses Boyd
We first met Moses Boyd last year when we curated an event for RBMA bringing together Lonnie Liston Smith with a live band hand-picked by Gilles Peterson. As the drummer, Moses was one of the youngest in the band but led them with a maturity and self-assurance that had helped him land the Best Jazz Act at the 2015 MOBOs. This month, he takes to the stage for another Peterson-endorsed project, a super-band consisting of Leron Thomas and Eska at the Worldwide Awards. Following that, we’re told to expect a 12” on his own Exodus Records – the label’s first – that consist of tracks he worked on with Four Tet and Floating Points; one of them was featured on Four Tet’s recent Boiler Room if you want a preview. The two tracks will then feature on an album that features Moses’ band (The Exodus), as well as Zara Macfarlane, Terri Walker and an Africa Bata Ensemble. A prodigious young British talent, who looks set to unite the often disparate worlds of jazz and dance music.
Noname Gypsy
For a while Noname Gypsy was a no-name artist focused more on slam poetry than rap. Thankfully she applied her dextrous skills to the world of hip-hop through a chance guest spot on Chance The Rapper’s archetypal Acid Rap mixtape release and she’s been harnessing her craft ever since. In 2014 Mick Jenkins signed her up for an appearance on his breakout tape The Water[s], which carried her into 2015 where she appeared to-ing and fro-ing on collaborative track ‘Israel‘ with Chance The Rapper – making it into our top hip-hop tracks of the year. All the ingredients are in place for Noname to make 2016 her own with solo tracks and a debut album set to blow.
O’Flynn
One of the standout 12 inches of 2015, came from the unlikely source of O’Flynn, a young British producer who inaugurated a new imprint Blip Discs with two tracks of percussive and powerful, African-influenced house music. ‘Tyrion’ became a tool for Four Tet that was rarely left out of his sets, while the anthemic ‘Desmond’s Empire’ won support from Gilles Peterson and was used to devastating effect across festivals in the summer. An enviable way to launch your career, but he’s not dwelling too much. His follow-up EP for Blip Discs has already got Radio 1 and Rinse airtime from James Black and Hessle Audio respectively, while he’s also in talks with a London label who must remain anonymous, but had an equally exciting breakout 2015. Elsewhere, O’Flynn is also working on his own edit white label and is involved in a special project between Blip and the British Arts Council.
Sampa The Great
Creativity, laughter, purpose and rhythms: the four simple principals of Sampa The Great’s debut mixtape, The Great Mixtape. Confidently titled, it’s a strong statement from the self-assured and assertive MC, Zambian-born, Botswana-raised and now Australian-dwelling. The release found a home on Melbourne-based label Wondercore Island, home of Hiatus Kaiyote, Oscar Key Sung and Kirkis and a breeding ground for left-field and experimental rhythms. Combine this with her philosophising poetry and you have a potent recipe, due for an exciting year ahead. A collaboration with a large Australian act is incoming, while she also working on her first full length album. Remove Iggy Azaelia from your dictionary of Australian hip-hop, because Sampa The Great is about to rewrite what’s good.
Shanti Celeste
Shanti Celeste had a big year in 2015. Releases came thick and fast on Future Times (Being 12”), Secretsundaze (Alma EP), FunkinEven’s Apron (SSS) and her own imprint Brstl (Moods / Lumi), with one of the most recognisable tracks of the year upstaging Jack J on the Future Times Vibe 3 compilation. Rough drums, crystalline synthesis and hard hitting melodies defined her output in 2015, and we expect 2016 to be a year where she really shines through in the world of house music. There’s murmurings of another Brstl release coming out sometime in 2016 and we doubt that’ll be the last we hear of Shanti before the year’s out. We’ve also went into the studio with her recently and will be revealing all in a Talking Tech feature next week.
Silent by name, not so silent by nature is the future-soul Melbourne based producer/crooner. Silentjay popped up onto our radar a few years back as part of Hiatus Kaiyote’s triage of back up vocalists (alongside Loreli, of Kirkis-fame), and we could tell back that he deserved his place as a frontman. As luck would have it, at the tail-end of 2015 Rhythm Section put out a limited edition cassette release (now sold out) of Silentjay and fellow Hiatus Kaiyote backing singer Jace XL’s 30 minute mini-album Sacrafice, drawing on R&B sensibilities and laid-back groove in a futuristic way. While full vinyl and digital of the release will be coming out in March, we’ve been told to expect a debut full length in 2016 alongside a new Silentjay band outfit set to support Thundercat in February. Rest assured 2016 will be a noisy one for Mr Jay.
Vivians
Debuting their first self-titled release in October on the new Stones Throw sub-label Akashik Records & Tapes (run by Alima Jennings and Boiler Room queen Sofie), Vivians is the magical collaboration of LA chief beat-maker Mndsgn and Koreatown Oddity on the mic. There’s only one release to go on but the aesthetic of Mndsgn’s throwback 90s hip-hop vibe and head-spinning lyrics from Koreatown Oddity should be a positive push for the west coast hip hop scene in general. We don’t know what 2016 will bring but we expect to hear a debut album that changes the direction for LA’s stoner beat-scene.
