Editor’s Observe: EDM.com proudly publishes 4 installments of annual year-end protection: Business Leaders, Performances & DJ Units, Music Producers and Songs.
DJing and music manufacturing are totally different. However the distinction between the 2 is sort of a wallflower—it hides in plain sight, and it is vastly misunderstood.
Publishing a “Prime DJ” checklist would undermine the originality, creativity and unbridled creativeness of the artists who dedicate their lives to music manufacturing. To honor their profound dedication to the artwork, the EDM.com workers yearly acknowledges 10 of the yr’s finest.
In no explicit order, uncover the very best digital music producers of 2024 under.
ISOKNOCK
Armed with generational manufacturing expertise and an unapologetic disregard for conference, ISOxo and Knock2 proved in 2024 that some inventive combos are merely written within the stars.
By way of reconstruction by deconstruction, their intentionally provocative artistry lower by way of the formulaic noise of at present’s EDM with each industrial precision and visceral intimacy. In a yr marred by TikTok-fueled predictability, they smashed the playbook with nail-spiked baseball bats and introduced anarchy to the algorithm, proving that unfiltered creativity nonetheless has a spot in at present’s fractured streaming sector.
The duo, collectively referred to as ISOKNOCK, shocked followers again in August after they surprise-released their debut album, 4EVR. Equal elements stunning and belligerent, the challenge is a song-cycle of uncooked dance bangers that lock horns with punk’s snarling spirit. One of many yr’s finest albums, it is an expertise that left us feeling like we would been by way of some sort of metaphysical automobile wash—battered and soaked in sound, however someway cleaner for the expertise.
ISOKNOCK’s music additionally translated like clockwork to their 2024 reside exhibits, which reworked dancefloors into middle-fingers-in-the-air battlegrounds that demanded bodily and emotional give up. The duo debuted at Coachella, demolishing the competition’s legendary Sahara Tent earlier than daring gravity at Chicago’s North Coast Music Competition by performing in a transport container suspended by a crane.
Phrases by Jason Heffler.
PAWSA
There is a operating joke in the home music scene that PAWSA’s USB is sort of a genie’s lamp—each observe appears like a want granted. The UK producer is infamous for teasing followers with unreleased music in his reside units for years earlier than formally releasing it.
In 2024, nevertheless, a variety of PAWSA’s hotly anticipated tracks hit the airwaves. The frequent thread between his releases—like “DIRTY CASH (MONEY TALKS)” and “TOO COOL TO BE CARELESS”—is a hedonistic mixture of old-school dance music and fashionable tech home. He effortlessly blends timeless ’90s vocals with thumping drums and basslines.
Much less is extra for the minimal home virtuoso, and that is the very best half. His stripped-back fashion eschews intricate melodies and busy, over-produced beats in favor of uncooked grooves. It isn’t simply music you hear, however music your physique feels—a direct line to the heartbeat of the dancefloor.
Phrases by Saad Masood.
Martin Garrix
In a banner yr for digital dance music, Martin Garrix reminded us that the way forward for the style belongs to these daring sufficient to reimagine it. Because it quickly developed all through 2024, he remained a lighthouse—good, influential and perpetually in movement.
Garrix’s music has all the time managed to engineer ageless reminiscences within the minds of his followers, however this yr, he returned to his progressive home roots and fired up the nostalgia machine greater than ever. He was a power of nature, proving that typically essentially the most groundbreaking moments come from rekindling the spark that first lit the hearth.
Each week it appeared like followers had a classic Garrix banger to stay up for, born from his skill to weave his roots into a brand new and electrifying imaginative and prescient. He began with the unforgettable “Carry You,” an anthem of hope launched in February alongside Third Occasion, Oaks and Declan J Donovan. Then got here three consecutive singles in as many weeks, a succession that culminated within the launch of IDEM, a rapturous EP that includes larger-than-life collaborations with DubVision, Mesto and extra.
The euphoria then bubbled over this summer time when Garrix launched “Wherever You Are,” a hovering competition favourite showcasing each his technical mastery and lyrical depth. Nevertheless it won’t finish there—after Coldplay featured his music “Breakaway” of their viral Glastonbury set, he hinted that an unique collaboration with the enduring band might are available 2025.
Phrases by Jason Heffler.
Jamie xx
2024 introduced the revival of the inimitable Jamie xx, whose launch of In Waves—his first studio album in almost a decade—led to one of many yr’s most compelling digital music tasks.
It was well worth the wait. In a yr the place songs had been churned out sooner than a ChatGPT immediate, In Waves stands as a testomony to taking your time within the pursuit of a daring artistic imaginative and prescient. It is typically joyful and typically hauntingly introspective. A challenge protecting such a variety dangers feeling cluttered or disjointed, however not within the expert fingers of this English beatsmith.
A uncooked love letter to membership tradition, In Waves instructed an exhilarating narrative by way of unforgettable tracks like “Baddy on the Flooring” (with Honey Dijon), “All You Youngsters” (with The Avalanches) and “Waited All Night time,” the lattermost of which Jamie produced alongside his former bandmates from The xx, Oliver and Romy. By design, it is troublesome to field these various tracks right into a single style classification.
Jamie’s music additionally left fairly a cultural footprint in 2024. Earlier than he even launched In Waves, he returned to his dwelling of London to host a curated occasion, “The Flooring,” and manifested his dream of opening his very personal membership. It was a snapshot not solely of his boundless creativity, but additionally his deep-rooted appreciation of the UK underground.
Phrases by Rachel Freeman and Shakiel Mahjouri.
LP Giobbi
LP Giobbi has constructed her profession on a basis of innovation and empowerment, however she took them to new heights in 2024.
Her infectious vitality and genre-defying sound crept into the bedrock of Dotr, her hotly anticipated sophomore album. The document stands as a tour de power, mixing her signature piano-driven home beats with soulful contributions from a compelling roster of collaborators, together with Alabama Shakes, Portugal. The Man, Panama, Jacob Banks and Holly Bowling. Tracks like “Really feel” and “Bittersweet” turned on the spot hits, encapsulating Giobbi’s unparalleled skill to bridge the hole between classical musicianship and fashionable dance music.
She additionally remained steadfast in her dedication to fostering inclusivity within the digital dance music neighborhood by way of her beloved FEMME HOUSE neighborhood, organizing workshops, mentorship and sources to fight business disparities. The group in March teamed up with Insomniac Data to launch a large compilation that includes music by Mary Droppinz, Lisbona Sisters, ZOF, Bexxie and different promising ladies in dance music.
Phrases by Mikala Lugen.
Fairly Lights
Fairly Lights’ comeback demonstrated that true innovation takes time, introspection and a fearless leap into the unknown.
Dual Fusion Unity, his first new unique music in seven years, humbly reminded followers why he stays certainly one of a sort. The radiant EP is classic Fairly Lights, a kaleidoscopic journey by way of glitchy digital textures, soulful vocal samples, funky brass thrives and moments of pure analog heat.
On its opening observe, “Highway to the Stars,” Fairly Lights’ reflective monologue serves as a poignant emblem of his extraordinary journey, crystallizing the return of a beloved artist seemingly at peace with creating artwork for its personal sake. “I will fly a starship throughout the universe… and I will be again once more,” he crooned.
Touring as soon as once more with a reside band, Fairly Lights picked up the place he left off, elevating his reside compositions into one thing much more dynamic by fusing uncooked instrumentation into his performances. In a style usually seen as saturated with pre-programmed units, his music as soon as once more stood out as deeply human.
Phrases by Cameron Sunkel.
John Summit
Simply if you suppose John Summit can’t outdo himself, he does. If 2023 was his crescendo, 2024 was his symphony.
He bought out large arenas, like New York Metropolis’s Madison Sq. Backyard and LA’s Kia Discussion board; carried out on the world’s largest festivals, like Tomorrowland and Coachella; and curated bespoke occasions for his Specialists Solely imprint, together with a ski journey in Colorado and a luminous Lake Tahoe mountain get together.
2024 was the yr Summit unveiled his debut album, Comfort In Chaos, an anthemic but intimate masterstroke wherein he took his songwriting to new heights. His HAYLA-assisted competition anthems “The place You Are” and “Shiver” remained staples, however he additionally took dangers, wading into the waters of drum & bass (“palm of my fingers” with venbee), breakbeat (“Keep With Me” with Of The Timber) and techno (“Resonate” with Kaskade and Julia Church).
Nevertheless, he did not cease at Consolation In Chaos. He emerged as a Renaissance man, in the future remixing The Mood Lure, the following Inexperienced Velvet. He even dropped one of many yr’s finest dubstep tracks alongside Subtronics and Tape B.
2024 wasn’t simply one other chapter for John Summit—it was the yr he rewrote the rulebook on what an digital music artist can obtain.
Phrases by Saad Masood.
c/o AEG Presents
Sara Landry
There are various, many the reason why Sara Landry holds the nickname “Excessive Priestess of Onerous Techno.”
However essentially the most convincing one—even in a yr that noticed her etch her identify in Tomorrowland’s historical past ebook as the primary laborious techno DJ to play its storied Mainstage—was Non secular Driveby. Posing life’s best questions at blistering BPMs, Landry’s exceptional debut album successfully crystallized one of the crucial explosive digital music breakouts in latest reminiscence.
Similar to her ferocious DJ units, the EDM.com Class of 2024 famous person dragged us right into a vortex of brutal euphoria together with her uncompromising strategy to techno manufacturing. Teetering on the sting of avant-garde and vocal-driven techno, the 12-track opus noticed her crew up with a compelling group of collaborators, like Nico Moreno, Shlømo and the illustrious Mike Dean. The album even contains a haunting soliloquy from her private hypnotist.
Landry soared to new heights and emerged as one of the crucial in-demand names in music, incinerating dancefloors and cementing herself because the plain “It Woman” of techno in 2024. And as she weaponizes her arsenal for her Coachella debut subsequent yr, all we are able to do is maintain on for expensive life.
Phrases by Mikala Lugen and Jason Heffler.
c/o Press
Justice
From the opening bars of Hyperdrama, Justice’s first new album in eight years, the duo reminded us why we fell in love with their timeless electro within the first place.
Whereas it is nonetheless anchored within the gritty analog tones that made them icons, the album discovered Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé exploring uncharted territory with a renewed sense of journey and emotional depth. They transcended the easy pleasures of physique music to talk to the tragedies, triumphs and bittersweet complexities that loom over the dancefloor’s euphoric launch.
Eschewing the aloof digital stoicism that outlined Justice’s earlier works, Hyperdrama bleeds candor and stressed craving with out abandoning their roots. Tracks like “Generator” and “Neverender” (with Tame Impala) have already earned their place as fashionable dance classics, reinforcing Augé and de Rosnay’s ageless knack for crafting generational music.
Nevertheless it’s not simply the music that made Hyperdrama stand out. They’re mentioned to have spent months working with a crew of laptop scientists to provide the album’s accompanying reside present, in the end elevating it right into a groundbreaking, multi-sensory expertise that captivated crowds at Coachella and the Hollywood Bowl, amongst many others.
Phrases by Jason Heffler and Rachel Freeman.
LSZEE
Good luck discovering a extra distinctive, but refined, digital album this yr than LSZEE’s self-titled debut.
Fusing CloZee’s globe-spanning sound with LSDREAM’s religious funk and bass, the album is a transformative expertise. There exists no collaborative partnership within the digital music scene fairly like this one; LSZEE sounds distinctly like LSZEE.
The album’s songs cowl numerous floor sonically, however stream seamlessly along with an overarching sense of surprise. Pay particular consideration to “NIGHTHAWK,” an absolute showstopper on the duo’s reside units all year long.
LSZEE at the moment are embarking on what they declare to be their solely tour in 2025. Do your self a favor and see them earlier than it is too late.
Phrases by Shakiel Mahjouri.
Honorable Mentions:
Rezz
Peggy Gou
Odd Mob
Coco & Breezy
Syzy
Jon Casey
Eptic
TSHA
longstoryshort
Sammy Virji
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