© Frank Hönsch / Getty zeroEvery year, the task of honestly collecting the best producers of the year becomes more difficult: there are more talented electronic music artists than we can synthesize, and their number is growing every day.
However, we are doing our best. While this year's list represents the diversity of talent shaping today's electronic music scene, it's also a reminder of the continued assimilation of the electronic sound into the pop mainstream. 2022 year.
Electronic artists continued to influence the wider music landscape this year, while producers, synthologists and cutting-edge artists outside of pop waved goodbye to sonic experimentation. Without further ado, let's reveal who you voted as the best electronic music artist of 2022.
1. Fred again
If you haven't seen this year's winner Fred Egain on your scale at least a hundred times since January, we make you ask what rock you live on. Eternally upbeat producer Maschine is absolutely dominating the conversation in 2022.
And for good reason: Fred's fresh, sample-based approach to dance music has earned him a legion of fans this year, with an unprecedented social media buzz surrounding the artist following his viral Boiler Room performance. , international sold-out tours and collaborations. Swedish House Mafia, Four Tet and Skrillex, their trilogy of albums led to the third Actual Life.
To many it may seem like it came out of nowhere, but the truth is that Fred has been working behind the scenes on some of the biggest pop hits of the past five years. His stellar collaborators include Stormzy, BTS, Ed Sheeran, Halsey, Eminem, Headie One, The xx, Rita Ora and George Ezra, along with mentor Fred and close friend Brian Eno.
At this rate, there's no limit to Fred and we're sure he'll be on this list...again.
2. Caitlin Aurelia Smith
Taking second place this year is one of the hottest names in synth, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. Delving into the creativity of Buchle-based structures and their expressive possibilities, this Californian avant-garde synthesizer releases his ninth (!) album this year.
Speaking to MusicRadar earlier this year, Caitlin told us about the interesting relationship she's developed with her favorite instrument: "I've been using Buchla's instruments for a long time, so it's really easy for me to work with her language... an extension of my brain."
And that's exactly what it sounds like when Caitlin channels her voice through Bucklan's circuit to create a psychedelic hybrid between a woman and a talking machine, with her unprofessional genius behind the buttons.
3. Bonobo
Organic electronics purveyor Bonobo has quietly become one of the world's most beloved manufacturers since its debut two decades ago. Mixing live instruments with samples, synths and fluid, his music is hard not to like , and his pleasing versatility has made him a favorite of festival goers, radio DJs and Grammy judges.
Bonobo is certainly ready to collaborate this year, having worked with Camila Woods, Joji, Kedhai Bonet and Jordan Reiki on his award-winning seventh album, inspired by generative experiments in modular synthesis, as he explained to MusicRadar earlier this year: “I used to do it "On YouTube, I dig deep and watch people who aren't necessarily releasing music, but are doing inspiring things with modules. They've helped me discover sonic possibilities I didn't realize."
4. Point Oneohtrix Never
Daniel Lopatin, the producer better known as Oneohtrix Point Never, earned his pass thanks to his work on The Weeknd's career-defining synth-pop masterpiece. , Sunrise FM.
As the album's executive producer, Lopatin brings his quirky, retro-sounding vision to nearly every track on this chart-dominating release, proving that in 2022, the age-old distinction between popular and experimental is blurring faster than ever. .
5. Tourist
After being forced out of his studio in 2020/2021, British producer Tourist has changed his focus. "Before the pandemic, I bought 10 artists with whom I would like to work, bought a good studio, recorded everything, everything was analog, walked around. to put in a nice synth, I would have picked one or the other and nothing would have happened,” the producer told us earlier this year. “It's really liberating. I thought, "Well, if I can't do that, I'll just have to work with what I have."
His album Inside Out is one of the best releases of 2022, revealing big themes and big emotions with a simple setup of a laptop, OP-1, phone and audio interface. We love to see it.
6. Rival console
London-based musician and producer Ryan Lee West, aka Rival Consoles, creates fast-paced electronic music shrouded in atmosphere, atmosphere and mystery. On his latest release, the incredible Now Is, the producer perfected this formula, using a wide range of synths, instruments and analog effects to create the best album of his career.
We caught up with West late last year and he talked about his creative process, explaining his love for analog instruments. "No analog synth can work with software like Massive, and now it's just plain old digital synth," he said. “The problem is that there's so much new software and so many variables that you don't need to know what to do or how to handle it.
“Whereas the limitations of analog have always appealed to songwriters because you can think more about the composition and not be constantly bombarded with ideas. Digital is really powerful and you have to be very smart and use common sense to deal with it.”
7. Nia File
Jungle and DnB are making a comeback this year and some producers are really fueling this revival. Near Archive is one of them, and 2022 is definitely an important year.
Earlier this year, Nia rightly called the MOBO Awards the award category for electronic musicians. They celebrated, and earlier this month he won his first MOBO Award for Best Electronic/Dance Music Artist. The feat is even more impressive considering it comes just a month after BBC Introbbing, the first electronic artist to win the award, was named Artist of the Year.
The Bradford-born producer kicked off his career in March with the release of Forbidden Feelingz, a fast-paced six-track album that fuses the jungle influences of his forebears with soulful bedroom pop fueled by amen breaks. Their latest single "So Tell Me..." takes this formula even further, using the genre as a vehicle to explore tender songs and confessions filled with raw emotion.
8. Two shells
Nothing gets people excited like an anonymous producer, but an anonymous duo? This is a recipe for intrigue. The mystery couple behind Two Shell haven't revealed their true identities, but there are a few things we're sure of.
Their genre-bending sound combines bass-heavy techno with post-dubstep beats, twinkling synths and sped-up vocals straight out of hyperpop. After "house" released earlier this year became something of a sonic mission, their iKON EP takes us deeper into the duo's crazy world.
We're also pretty sure they sent two hustlers with goat horns and clown wigs to play a mix recorded earlier this year and DJ the Boiler Room set. Trolling of the highest order.
9. Kelly Lee Owens
With the release of his debut EP in 2016, Welsh producer Kelly Lee Owens has quickly become one of the biggest names in electronic music. He worked with Björk, John Cale and Saint. Although he collaborated with Vincent, it was his solo work that shone, combining brutal electronic textures and smooth drum programming with soaring vocals and spoken word to create a dreamlike world that vibrates with emotion.
We caught up with Owens earlier this year as he talked more about the creative process behind his 2022 LP.8. "I spent a lot of time in the studio iterating through variations and glitches," he says. "I think it can be called humanity. Push something forward, pull it back, lower the volume, try to interest the listener.
“If music doesn't go away, people will die. It's okay, I know what the song is, I don't need to listen to it anymore. Analogies make things interesting. He rebelled against stability."
10. otik
Born in Bristol, London-based producer Otik stays true to the traditions of his hometown, creating an inventive and intelligent club sound that combines echoes of jungle, dub and bass through the lens of British techno. In 2022, he doubled down on his momentum, releasing four EPs that are considered his best of the year.
Following his previous releases on Who Owns the Bass Track - Martyn's 3024, Shall Not Fade and Graded Records - Otik has made a name for himself this year. Solar Body, the label behind Otik's work, is "an attempt to connect the dots between ethereal vibes and high-octane jungle, footwork, subdued dark garage, ambient techno moments and more."
