Welcome back to On Our Radar, Beatportal’s monthly roundup of the DJs and producers we can’t get enough of.
Check out the On Our Radar Beatport Chart to find tracks from the artists below, along with additional tunes that have caught our attention this month.
DAVID CASTELLANI
On November 24, modular synthesis connoisseur David Castellani released his latest EP AntiPull on his own label Noetic. The Italian-born, LA-based techno producer creates peak-time productions with analog hardware to create dance-floor destroyers that are simultaneously future-facing and rooted in techno history. This summer he played a boundary-defying live performance at Work in LA and released his collaborative project ‘Hysteria Dichotic’ with AnnMarie Arcuri; so this new EP is a continuation of an amazing year. The title track combines rugged machine rhythms with bare-boned bleeps, while “AntiPush” is an industrial production that constantly shifts tempo, using modulated layers to create gorgeous spirals of sound. The two tracks contrast each other, exploring linear, big-room energy alongside expressive tonalities.
Photo by: Harriet Taylor-Potts
AMALIAH
Following the release of the lead single “Helix” in November, Amaliah drops her debut full-length EP Manifold on Moxie’s On Loop imprint, laying the groundwork to become one of the stand-out producers of 2024. The EP showcases her percussion-heavy style, with three tracks designed to tear the dance floor up. “Helix” received support from Saoirse, Parris and featured on Pangaea’s BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix, while “Me So” and “Spooky Dub” take bubbling drums and punchy grooves to another level. Since her first release in 2022, the Borne Fruits founder has risen through the musical ranks to become one of London’s most exciting new voices, progressing the sound of contemporary house music, sound system culture and UK club music. There’s no doubt the Manifold EP will set a precedent for a phenomenal 2024.
SHMN
Just one year after the release of his debut album Interstice, Ukrainian producer and DJ SHMN releases Amadeus, a 7-track album that glides between melodic techno, house, indie dance and breakbeat, while maintaining a distinct style unique to the artist. With previous releases on Poesie Musik, Lost On You, Beatfreak, Dear Deer and more, SHMN has built a name as a genre-defying producer with a focus on the contradictions inherent in human nature and the trials and tribulations of personal growth and transformation. Stand-out tracks on the album include “Decadence,” which combines powerful low ends, spraying basslines and expressive synths, and “Run Away” which features singer-songwriter Luke Coulson in a sublime, seven-minute journey filled with lush broken beats and tender vocals layered over delicate keys.
PRAYER
Leicester-born producer Prayer lives up to his name with music that elevates and transcends. He’s spent years honing the ability to combine soaring compositions with floor-filling club music that treads the line between euphoric and sorrowful. He developed his unique style while studying acousmatic music at university, a style of tape music that draws inspiration from recordings around the world. He’s released tracks and EPs on Grade 10, Hooversound, Black Acre and many others, and received support from BBC Radio 1, NTS, Reprezent and Balamii radio. Prayer is rounding off the year with his Make Me Feel EP on BUBBL, a 5-track project made up of post dub-step breakbeat ranging from 117 to 160 BPM with music that spans the full spectrum of human emotions.
KITSTA
In November, Kitsta released her Liefmans EP, made up of two left-field house pumpers and a deep-space remix by REES. The EP comes hot on the heels of the artist’s Megababes label launch this summer, and showcases a knack for rolling percussion alongside energising, psychedelic house music. As one of the founders of the Beatriarchy, Kitsta has been busy gigging around the UK over the last few years, with DJ sets at Corsica Studios and Wire and Soup as well as residencies on Balamii and Voices Radio. The Beatriarchy works to spotlight underrepresented artists in the music scene, and Kitsta has led a workshop at Sheffields No Bounds Festival and curated a residency at The Halley Space as part of the Orbit partnership in London. With her Liefmans EP, she continues her mission to push boundaries and make you move.
GAZZI
One of Spain’s most exciting new producers, GAZZI, rounds off a huge year with his te robo un besito EP on Pets Recordings. The 3-track EP combines garage, bassline and deep house to create an unexpected and light-hearted sound full of sped-up vocals and garage vibes. In 2023 GAZZI played his biggest shows to date with sets at All Points East Festival, Billbao BBK, Primavera Sound, and DC 10 for Solid Grooves. As a DJ, he glides between genres in exactly the same way as he does his productions, and this confidence and dexterity has won him fans from all over the world. After a killer 2023, GAZZI’s all set for an even bigger year ahead.
Learn more about our previous On Our Radar artists from this year:
November 2023: Bashkka, Loods, Mirin Doja, Levity, Maya Q, Douvelle19
October 2023: Honeydrip, Ryan Clover, DESNA, Cohn, Yaw Appiah, Sherm
September 2023: Acutek, Makez, Bae Blade, Amal Nemer, zorenLo, Blanka Barbara.
August 2023: Ineffekt, Mona Yim, t e s t p r e s s, Storm Mollison, Arodes, P-Rallel
July 2023: Hilit Kolet, Justus, Saffron Stone, [IVY], SOMMA, and Toumba.
June 2023: Introspekt, Baalti, Rakans, BIIANCO, Supreems, JSPORT
May 2023: Tigerhead, Le Motel, Packed Rich, In2Stellar, Paurro, Yubik
April 2023: Azzecca, GHSTGHSTGHST, Tony Y Not, E-Unity, Willo, &friends
March 2023: Anna Kost, Sensu, Zaida Zane, Luxe, Mha Iri, Pretty Girl
February 2023: Black Forces, RaeCola, Salome Le Chat, Close Counters, Angel D’Lite, Lawrence Hart
January 2023: Drumskull, Dasco, Calussa, Jenn Getz & Alfie, Eli Fola, Uncle Knows
