Playground magazine

The autumnal equinox is usually a time to start new projects. Leaves falling, students going back to their classrooms, human nature tends to change cycles around this time. Maybe that's why this column is full of premieres and debuting artists. But don't fear, their rookie condition doesn't mean these producers don't make top quality stuff. Quite the contrary, in fact. Starting with Scottish S-Type, the new LuckyMe squire, and ending with young Leeds master Happa, we're bringing you several candidates for the title of 'Revelation of 2012'. But we've also made room for more experienced people we've already expressed our love for on these pages. Like Lukid, who's back with a 12” on Werk Discs, or Jam City, who decided to give the DJs of this world the club versions of the tracks from his “Classic Curves”. Furthermore there's a Spanish newcomer, Astroboyz, who makes his debut with a beautiful piece before he's off to represent Spain at the Red Bull Music Academy.

What the devil is in the Glasgow water? What school did the people of LuckyMe attend? How is it possible that in a city with little over half a million people, so many genius hip-hop beat makers emerge in such a short period of time? S-Type is the latest example of the excellent shape the Scottish capital is in music-wise. And, as could be expected, the 25-year old's debut is sponsored by the double-eyed brand, which back in the day also supported Hudson Mohawke and the scene Rustie grew up in. Bobby Perman's productions are reminiscent of those two, although he also drinks from the well of American sampledelia, on this “Billboard EP”. Six instrumental hip-hop cuts that scream for attention from the rap CEOs on the other side of the Atlantic: “I'm your new favourite producer!”. The EP sounds tremendous all the time, sometimes marching, sometimes almost religious-like, with a whiff of gospel. For those who saw LuckyMe's signing of Baauer as selling out, here's the happy reconciliation with the Glasgow label. And get this: the press release mentions future collaborations will be revealed “a$ap”. Literally. Do we read between the lines?

Here are two tiny miracles for the dance floor. In one corner, T. Williams, a London producer who started his career like so many others, turning old garage into proto-grime, only to turn towards house later on. His “Heartbeat”, on Local Action two years ago, might be one of the sweetest things that ever happened to English house and, although he hasn't come up with anything that good since, the productions that followed were high level. In the other corner we find PMR Records, which is starting to stand out as a quality label thanks to its two big names, Julio Bashmore and Jessie Ware, but also because of its recent signings. T. Williams is one of them, alongside Two Inch Punch, who's giving electronic R&B a fantastic twist. “Pain & Love” is quite a convincing effort. Firstly, because of its versatility: Williams shows different ways of understanding dance music in four excellent tracks. From the power of the breaks of “Quote On Quote Bass” to the vocal elegance of Himal on “Can’t Get Enough” (spoiler alert: the chorus of the latter will stick inside your head immediately). Lovers of AlunaGeorge have an alternative for the duo in “Think Of You”, while Bicep and Jersey house fans get “Moving Fast”. The legacy of garage, house, R&B and breakbeats in four more than play-worthy tunes.

Alex Silva is Astroboyz, one of the lucky producers who will represent Spain at the upcoming Red Bull Music Academy. Silva uses his past in different genres of dance music and his experience as a sound engineer to reinvent himself. Fascinated by deep-house at first, Galician Astroboyz enthusiastically embraced other sounds coming from his friends in his present home town Barcelona. Doing his pre-parties during the weekend while David M and Noaipre were doing their shows on Nasty FM awakened his curiosity of British rhythm patterns. He started to work on new music in 2011, but this “Pianobatacazoo EP” is the Galician's first title, and it's also the first release on the new Struments imprint from Barcelona (which intends to press up vinyls of other strong rookies, such as Clip!, for example). Both the title track and “Mngc” on the flipside show Astroboyz's courage of linking sensations, with a keen eye for detail and a delicate elegance, especially on “Pianobatacazoo”. The EP comes with a Jimmy Edgar remix which, in all honesty, isn't quite on the same high level as the original material.

From Russia with love, because every so many months we meet another new talented and original beat maker. Pixelord and DFA paved the way for the others, and the people of Gimme5 compiled them on 2010's “Fly Russia”, still available from the Error Broadcast website at a low price. Young Moscow producer OL (Oleg Buyanov) is on there as well, the latest recruit on the platform. The label made 300 physical copies of “Body Varial”, so if you want it, be quick. The six tracks on the EP aren't the quintessence of abstract beats, nor are they the musical epiphany of the decade, but the boy shows an exquisite preference for the details of the most elegant brands of juke in the vein of DJ Rocc, the traveling and prolonged synths of the Hyperdub school and some very rugged bass lines. It's surprising how he goes from tracks like “Combination”, on which he comes close to Sepalcure's exported juke, to the schizo sounds of “Keep Calm” and that purple aura of Bristol dubstep. The mysterious artwork with the animal print makes it all the more convincing.

There's some confusion around this title. Initially, this EP by Lukid - one of the most adorable oddballs in electronic music today and a minion of Actress on his Werk Discs – should have come before his second album, “Lonely At The Top”, scheduled for 22nd October. However, some online stores say it won't ship until a month from now. Whatever it's going to be, it's well worth your hard-earned cash. If your face goes all weird when you first hear it, don't worry, you're on the right track. It happened to me when I heard his PG podcast two years ago. Lukid writes reviews of canned drinks and his music melts your brain into a slightly disturbing cotton coma, from which you need to wake up from time to time, in order to hook up to his rhythm changes again. A narcotic lethargy, a chemical substance and sound cocktail that is featured once again, with different colours and flavours, on “This Dog Can Swim” and its twin sister “This Dog Can Run”, the two original cuts on the single. The EP also includes remixes by Mass Prod and another weirdo young gun people are talking about this year: 1991.