UK producer Kareful has been recently tumbling into view from the internet right into real life on the energy of wave—not a wave, but Wave, the majestic monochrome atmospheric SoundCloud tag-turned-genre. Pushing the style and its general aesthetic forward and helping to incubate new producers is his nascent but fast-growing label Liquid Ritual, co-founded by LTHL and Stohou.
A year on from its radio show beginnings in 2016, the label looks set to burst with the spreading popularity of the wave scene. Their latest release is a Kareful collaboration with Nottingham producer Pholo called 'Atlantis', an icy zinger with a tapestry of textured percussion rattling beside trance-flavoured hollow synths, lush and wintry.
With his status as director and A&R for Liquid Ritual evident of the newness he's always on the look-out for, we asked Kareful if he would join us in celebrating the talent that 2017 has seen and he put together a list of exciting UK producers for you to copy and paste into your memory. Read on☟
The UK has always been at the forefront of intuitive electronic music, 2017 being no exception. With the power of the internet we are seeing more international producers pioneering interesting styles and sounds in little pockets all over the globe, but wherever I tour in the world, I'll always being hearing that UK influence in modern bass music. Here is my list of 10 UK producers that I believe everyone should be looking out for in 2018.
Fellow London producer and owner of Yusoul Records, Skit has always been on the ground pushing the young genre 'Wave' in London. In my opinion (along with some others) he helped shape the now very typical 'Wave' sound. Skit has a very popular show on Radar Radio + an EP on the way, so definitely one to watch.
Vacant is one of those producers who is always in their room making music, and we'll probably only hear about 5% of it: whether it's future garage, grime, dubstep or trap, Vacant always excels. I've always been impressed by how large and loyal Vacant's following is considering his minimal use of social media, I guess good music will always shine through.
Out of all the electronic LPs of the year the one that caught me the most was probably Nottingham's Glacci with Lifeforce (out on Plastician's label Terrorythm). I'm a real sucker for some melodic music – add some hard hitting drums and a big bassline and I'm hooked. Glacci fulfils all my music needs with this release.
guiding my musical intuition. It is a reaction to my surroundings and personal perspective."
☞ ᴄʜᴇᴄᴋ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴏᴜʀ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴠɪᴇᴡ ᴡɪᴛʜ Glacci ☜
Nottingham's new kid on the block Pholo has really shined for me this year, essentially coming out nowhere, I've been been thoroughly impressed by this kid's grind. His mix of emotional synths and organic world music percussion really caught me and even with his young catalogue of tunes behind him... Pholo has easily earnt his place on this list.
Perhaps the youngest producer on this list, at only 20 Rapture 4D has been one of the kids leading the pack of Glasgow's grime scene. Him and his crew have been making serious waves among the UK scene and rightly so. Probably one of my favourite grime producer at the moment. This list would not be complete without him.
When I first discovered producer Klasey Jones I was very surprised to find out he was also from Romford. His first official EP Foreign Buyers Club really pushed the boundaries of what Wave could be; I've always been taken aback by his impressive use of sampling layered with '80s synth work.
I first discovered Manchester's Compa before I ever took producing seriously, I think I was 16 or 17 at the time, following his radio show and relistening to radio rips of unreleased tracks uploaded by fans on YouTube. It was insane an insane moment as a fan when Compa started making some wavy stuff of his own. I've been spoilt with large folders of unreleased beats that will probably never see the light of day, but luckily enough a few made it out of the record bag and onto the online stores. I'm excited to see where Compa's musical direction goes next.
Yung Ldn's founder Aesthetic Kid is definitely one to look out for next year. His atmospheric update on 'Sweetboy Grime' never fails to impress me. I often find myself reaching for an Aesthetic Kid track when DJing without any hesitation.
I've known this London-born producer for a long time; we met when he still went by HVRXLD, and even collaborated in the early days. Palence re-found himself after dropping his Glider EP on Armada's brand new sublabel Vaypor. His moody ambient music makes for some great home listening, and I'm curious to see where he'll take the Palence rebrand in 2018.
Bristol producer Muttley first entered my radar in early 2017 – his style of production heavily varies from track to track which has always kept me interested. Making splashes in Bristol's tight but buzzing electronic music community, I hope to see Muttley make it on more London line-ups in 2018.
- 🔔 Listen to all these tracks in our playlist: Kareful's 10 UK Producers To Watch Out For In 2018.
- 🔔 Learn more about Liquid Ritual on SoundCloud or, for a more detailed treatise, their official site.
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