April: six artists you need to check out this month

Anastasia Kristensen moved to Copenhagen at 14 and built the foundation for her musical career there. With a love of Drexciya and acid, she began DJing locally and now takes her driving, hypnotic techno around the world, with recent shows in Berlin and New York. She’s put out two tracks on comps for Monasterio and Greece’s Nous; her trippy, looping contribution to the latter, ‘Spring Ballade’, brought her to wider attention, with more coming soon.

[Photo credit: Morten Benzton]

Hear more at Anastasia Kristensen's SoundCloud

Baba Ali has worked with the likes of Little Dragon and Wolf+Lamb, and his live show has Gold Panda’s seal of approval. Now the politically conscious New Jersey-born singer-songwriter is going solo with the mantra: “from relationships, to locations, through highs and lows, the answer always remains the same: keep it moving.” Debut EP ‘Nomad’ showcases his smoky, understated grooves, highlighted by a bare-bones approach to production.

‘Nomad’ is out now on Believe Digital / Ways & Means

23 year-old Glaswegian Calum MacRae was behind two of the most intriguing releases of 2016. His first, glitchy, razor-sharp IDM on Lee Gamble’s UIQ label, displayed musical maturity far beyond his years; a forward-facing, post-rave dubplate on Whities was more proof of his ability to create rich soundscapes. An eclectic mix for RBMA featured everyone from Björk to Burial alongside his own work, and another Whities release is on the way soon.

‘Whities 11’ is out soon

Mist is his name, but there’s nothing hazy about the flows of this Birmingham rapper. He spits with confidence over dark, bass-heavy instrumentals, as on new single ‘Madness’ where he asserts “Music is my job, not my damn hobby.” In a scene often dominated by London artists, Mist will buck that trend when he inevitably breaks through. His UK tour at the end of March is sold out, and at the time of writing, he’s amassed over 17m views on YouTube in a very short space of time.

Mist is on tour in the UK

Bearcat, aka Kerrie Ann Murphy, hails from London but lives in NYC where she’s part of the Discwoman collective. An audio engineer and badass DJ, she blends dancehall, r’n’b edits and UK experimental into booty-bouncing sets for the likes of MoMA PS1 and Rinse FM, while recent production ‘Charged Up – Sandy Speaks’ samples the voice of Sandra Bland who died in police custody in Texas in 2015. A self-released EP channelling influences from her diasporic roots is due in summer.

Hear more at bearcat.digital

Having reduced Pharrell to tears with a performance of ‘Alaska’ during a masterclass with students at New York University, Maggie Rogers is becoming 2017’s biggest break-through artist. The 22-year-old Maryland-born singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer’s voice recalls Tei Shi and Kacy Hill. Off the back of three stunning singles, she’s sold out shows worldwide and gathered streams in the multi-millions. Her debut EP is an exciting taste of Maggie’s bright future.

‘Now That The Light Is Fading’ EP is out now on Polydor