March: six artists you need to check out this month

Since arriving in Berlin from Tel Aviv over four years ago, Dr (real name Marina) Rubinstein has become known for creating hypnotic music. With a love for acid grooves and cosmic techno, she’s fired up dancefloors at Berghain, ://about blank, Stattbad and more. She’s now prepared to leave Berlin behind for 2017, taking up a residency at Oval Space alongside DJ Nobu to bring her space-age sounds to London.

Dr Rubinstein plays Oval Space on March 31

From G-funk sleaze to folk guitars, Dutchman Duke Hugh proved his talents with debut release ‘Canvas’. Its danceable Saturday-night grooves and mellow Sunday-morning sounds arrived via Rhythm Section, with label boss Bradley Zero won over after he found himself constantly humming the track ‘Green Leaf’. Next for Hugh is a more straightforward house tip for La Freund Recordings, followed by some broken jazz sounds on Money $ex.

The ‘Poly Valence’ EP is out on La Freund Recordings

Belly Squad rose through the ranks by stamping their fun-loving identity over existing hits from Travis Scott and Desiigner. That mix of road rap and Afro pop crosses over into their original material too, most notably on their hyper track ‘Banana’, which has been an online sensation and finds the trio obsessing over “good drink and a good whine.” They’re now set to take their sound on the road with a run of UK tour dates.

Hear ‘Banana’ below

After being picked up by Plastician’s label Terrorhythm, 21-year-old Klasey Jones has been on the receiving end of nothing but praise from the dubstep icon. Influenced by anime soundtracks and 80s synth music, he crafts rich and dense productions built on grime foundations. Until recently he could only be caught on Plastician’s Rinse FM shows, but on his debut EP ‘Foreign Buyers Club’ he already sounds more mature than most in his ability to craft intricate beats.

‘Foreign Buyers Club’ is out now on Terrorhythm

Colin Bailey’s Drums Of Death alter-ego was a ferocious live performer who wore terrifying skull face makeup and barked over crunchy beats. But the amiable Scot decided to kill off his old alias and begin recording as Austin Ato in 2015, starting with ‘Dreams’, a rework of Loui Vega’s ‘Diamond Life’ (a mainstay on Radio 1, but the uncleared sample prevented an official release). The EPs ‘Break My Fall’ and ‘Fantasy Streetwear #1’ followed, fusing infectious old-school house and disco.

Austin Ato’s EP ‘All I Want’ is out on TMT Records

After growing bored of her hometown Nice (where she studied at the Villa Arson art school), Coucou Chloé moved to London last year to focus solely on music. Since then, the artist in her early-20s has been shaping an impressive discography that channels skewed club elements and warped vocals into futuristic cuts, touching upon ambient and more dynamic floor-primed styles, working both solo and alongside Sega Bodega as Y1640. A new EP is due this summer.

Catch Coucou Chloé on tour across Europe in March with her Y1640 project