A couple of weeks ago I asked ‘Who Is Your favourite artist right now?’
With 849 votes cast… Crookers is the winner with 375 votes – 44%.
| Crookers |
375 (44%)
|
| Fake Blood |
196 (23%)
|
| Proxy |
144 (16%)
|
| Foamo |
73 (8%)
|
| Jack Beats |
35 (4%)
|
| Rico Tubbs |
26 (3%)
|
Of these five electro names, my personal top two would be Jack Beats and Proxy. They are both two innovative up-and-comers producing some truly fresh sounds.
Jack Beats’ style of ‘fidget’ seems to be an alltogether dirtier and louder form than some of the more subdued wonky tunes that Switch, Sinden, Herve & co are banging out on a daily basis. Jack Beats’ remixes posses squelching, filthy basslines that wobble all over; begging to be boomed out of stack-speakers and shake the dancefloor to pieces.
Proxy isn’t such a newcomer, but has only really developed a fan base this year. With four huge dancefloor destroyers released already: Decoy, Dance In The Dark, 40 Seconds and Raven. His remix efforts of Chromeo and Moby, too, have been esteemed, while his live sets are unparalleled. A strangely grimey feel echoes amid the grinding beats, beefy basslines and clanging drum patterns. A both menacing and gritty edge give Proxy’s tunes a roaring, epic feel. It’s like when you first heard ‘Waters Of Nazareth’. Well…almost.
But Crookers won, and I see everyone seems to lap up every Crookers release (of which there are billions, mostly found on this blog). Their tracks are becoming increasingly turgid and samey. Some of their productions feel rushed, resulting in tunes that just aren’t that good. However there’s no denying Crookers have some real classics under their belt: Love To Edit, Big Money Comin, Secoussse, Day ‘n’ Night… And I’m sure there’s plenty more to come.
Fake Blood came in second – lagging by a country mile – but is probably the most consistent of all six of these artists. ‘Mars’ and ‘Theme Tune’ are huge bangers seeing alot of attention from any DJ who’s anyone. While his remixes may be samey, there’s no denying they kill all on the dancefloor, with that thrumming beast of an all-reverberating bassline. Boom.
But yes, all six artists produce tracks that start to sound monotonous (Crookers rinse the same wobbly bassline; Proxy with his heavy distortion; etc; etc) . So perhaps it was foolish to leave out Boy 8-Bit, who’s productions never overlap; never re-use the same sound – always inventive. His remixes of Burial, Touche, Black Ghosts, South Rakkas are all top notch, while his original material is flawless. His most recent tune – ‘The Cricket Scores’ – is a must. Addictive listening.
[The next poll is now up and please take part by selecting your favourite summer festival - the poll is at the top right hand corner of the page. Thanks.]
