Skeng’s Guide To Sónar Reykjavík

Skeng has not tuned 25 years old, but has still been a legendary figure on the icelandic scene for years, with a devotion to and vision of upcoming sounds that few people match. He’s part of the Plutó crew, who’s radio show on FM X-tra on 101.5mhz (not to be confused with alt-station X-ið) has the strongest links to the up and coming DJs, and the firmest grasp on tomorrow’s sounds. He’s performing at the festival on saturday at 22:00, just before kindred spirit Ben UFO.

Ben UFO

Ben UFO is a a Rinse FM resident who’s been one of my favourite DJs for years now. I’ve seen him play in London, Copenhagen and, most recently, at Panorama Bar in Berlin, earlier this winter. He played for almost 8 hours, very early on a casual Monday morning—a typical German party. He absolutely killed it. He’s playing Saturday night in Harpa’s little car park club. Do not miss out.

Bjarki

Bjarki is a young (techno) rock star from Reykjavik who’s really shaking up the international techno scene at the moment. He’s playing the world’s hottest clubs week after week, and his tracks are being played by everyone from Nina Kraviz to Skrillex. He’s been improving his live set quite a lot in the past couple of years. I really like the new and weird sound he’s pushing out these days, it really takes you on a trip. You might find out late on the Friday night that he’s more than just a techno producer.

Courtesy

Courtesy is a Culture Box resident, born in Greenland. I wasn’t familiar with her at all, until I did my line-up research recently. I checked a couple of mixes and I was really impressed! Super dark stuff—a versatile Copenhagen cool cat.

Kosmodod

Known for being the producer of Samaris, this guy makes some real beats. Most people don’t know what he’s capable of in the studio. He just launched a super cool label with his friends, Sweaty Records. His ice cold electro rollers give me the shivers.

Mumdance

This guy is one of London’s finest, pushing out monster tracks. It’s some experimental grimy techno thing that doesn’t sound like anything else, and sure gets me moving. He also made some excellent tracks with Novelist, London’s freshest grime MC of the moment.