South West Four – Top 10 Acts not to be missed!

It’s been over a 10 years since South West Four first graced the festival circuit to offer Londoner’s something different to the dirge of indie and pop festivals that then littered the capitals musical landscape. This weekend on the August bank holiday (Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th August), they will once again be dominated by some of the biggest names in electronic music with the organizers looking to top the previous years efforts when a sold out Clapham Common hosted an array of exceptional talent as the likes of Above & Beyond, Deadmau5, MK, Jamie Jones, Skream, Maya Jane Coles, Maceo Plex, Eats Everything and Laurent Garnier arrived in the Capital.

Not ones to rest on their laurels this year they’ve gone all out to deliver a similar caliber of artist with a plethora of big names making their way to South London for this years already sold out festival. So with big expectations, we’ve decided to compile a quick list of must see acts we’ll definitely be checking out at this year event.

Faithless

So this one was a bit of a no brainer. There are few if any bigger names in electronic music than Faithless and rightly so. In a time when the word legend gets thrown around referring to anyone vaguely involved in the formative years of dance music, the iconic British outfit are one of the few names genuinely deserving of that status, reuniting the summer in celebration of their 20th anniversary and headline the main stage for their exclusive homecoming performance. We’re not gonna miss this and neither should you. I can’t get no sleep…

Maceo Plex

Electronic music has many faces though for artists it is important to have a well-defined identity to enjoy success. Whilst a cohort of artists are renowned and make a career with their genre-defying eccentricity this can itself becoming the defining feature with which fans identify. Occasionally an artist establishes themselves in multiple planes, albeit a tremendously rare story of success. Despite years spent in the shadows of fame and accomplishment Eric Estornel persevered, producing techno under the guise of Maetrik with a debut release going to press in 2000. Despite plugging away with releases and relatively small scale club appearances the sudden propulsion to fame and celebrity with his alter-ego Maceo Plex was perhaps not the linear progression that Estornel had expected.

If one listens over the impressive back catalogue of Maetrik’s work, the polished composition and attention to detail is obvious and serves as a stark reminder of how difficult success can be in this fickle industry. Curating his own stage on the Saturday of this years festival, we’re hugely excited about catching him in the flesh ahead of the release of his much anticipated new album Solar.

Carl Craig & Mad Mike Banks [Live]

There are few outfits within electronic music spoken about in such hushed and revered tones as Detroit’s Underground Resistance. Such was the influence of the politically charged collective of techno innovators to the scene that over two decades on its members and former members still continue to have a considerable impact. Thus when the likes of Messrs Banks, Hood and Mills speak we tend to listen and when they play music dance.

Hooking up with fellow Motor City techno mogul – and Data Transmission favourite – Carl Craig, to say we’re more than a little excited at what the pairing have cooked up for a collaborative live show is a massive understatement. Continually evolving with the times seems to be something that Carl has always been about as can be evidenced not only by his success as an artist but also as a label manager of his long running Planet E imprint. Pushing the boundaries of what electronic music can be whilst expanding minds, challenging orthodoxies and on a fundamental level making people dance.

Luciano

With a career spanning over a decade and a half, Luciano has built up quite the following, wracking up notable feats such as three albums, a fabric compilation mix, a record label – Cadenza – which has just hit the 100 release milestone, and four wins (and a further five nominations) at the DJ Awards. There’s just no stopping him. He’s a bona fide star; yet Luciano keeps his feet firmly on the ground. He sees how dance music is changing, and understands the dangers. This focus on quality is spread across Luciano’s career. Cadenza’s 100th release in March was a celebratory time for him; following encouragement from his sister – who handles the label’s graphic design – Luciano cooked up the whopping, 14-minute ‘Grace Of An Art’, to mark the occasion. However, he’s already looking ahead, and planning changes for the label. “We are now concentrating on coming back to the label, and bringing absolutely incredible music. We’ve been busy and kind of lost… not lost… but we’ve [had] a lot of responsibilities and the label was sort of put on the side,” he admitted to us when we called him up last month. “We realised we’re not passionate about issues and administration, we’re passionate about music, and this year we’re taking it back to that! There’s a release now coming from JAW and myself that we did together. I think it’s a big tune and it’ll mark the coming back of Cadenza.” Sounds good to us!

Fatboy Slim

Eat. Sleep. Rave. Repeat. Fatboy Slim will be making a very special return for the first time in five years, for the launch of his brand new project the ‘Smile High Club’.  Promising to inject SW4 with a huge dose of random acts and giant smileys throughout the entire day Fatboy is almost as excited as us to be there beaming: “I’m heading back to South West Four to host my very own arena on Saturday. Normally that means you just put up a bit of bunting, but we’re trying to take it further with something called Smile High Club. We’re creating a movement called Random Acts of Smiles – it’s an excuse for some acid house smile face high jinks. The Smile High hostesses will be your stewards making sure you have a comfortable ride.”

Andy C

Drum & Bass’s premier DJ is always moving, a whirlwind life of gigs, tours and festivals at home and beyond. When he’s not in a car he’s on a plane. He undoubtedly clocks up some serious air miles over the course of a year. Does he ever use them for an actual holiday? “Every now and again I treat myself”  With a hectic schedule which has taken in the likes of Hideout Festival and Glastonbury, surely he must get a little tired from constantly being on the road? Tiredness is a natural human trait, even for a man who appears in-human with his DJ powers as he does. “The lack of sleep doesn’t really get to you until you slow down. So I try not to slow down. But I see it as a good thing if I’m out there and I’m travelling. That means the music is really healthy and it means people want to hear it so that’s a massive positive.” It was clear from hearing him talk that the enthusiasm is still there and clearly hasn’t waned. Not simply during the course of a non-stop 2015 but over a career that’s spanned over 15 years.

While Drum & Bass was originally a ‘London ting’ its worldwide popularity has now taken it to far reaching corners of the globe, here at Data Transmission, we still enjoy hearing it that little bit more when on home turf. So with two opportunities to catch the executioner in action next weekend – either on the mainstage or headlining the his own arena – we’d put down the Ram Records boss down as one of the festivals must see artists.

Maya Jane Coles

Having built a fierce reputation in the studio with a slew of well received EP’s on some of the scenes hottest labels with efforts under her own name and the arrival of her own I/AM/ME label the last few years have certainly smiled on Maya, and the good times look set to continue if the arrival of her last LP as Nocturnal Sunshine is anything to go by. Going from strength to strength, she returns to London for this years event, curating her own stage for one of the festival’s most hotly anticipated festivals.

DJ EZ

To many, EZ is a man who needs no introduction. A leading figurehead on the UK Garage scene for longer than some have been raving, a Kiss FM mainstay for over a decade and generally just a man who’s DJ skills and sets need to be seen and heard to be believed. Do yourself a favour and check out his Boiler Room set on You Tube for proof of exactly what we mean. Oh and go see him. You won’t regret it.

Jaguar Skills

A ninja (忍者) or shinobi (忍び) was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan who specialized in unorthodox warfare. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, and open combat in certain situations. Their covert methods of waging war contrasted the ninja with the samurai, who observed strict rules about honor and combat. These days ninjas have moved with the time and unlike his blood thirsty brethren 21st century ninja Jaguar Skills uses his dexterity to chop tracks rather than adversaries as he shows off his famed dexterity on the turntables. Prepare for the way of the ninja…

Want a preview? Check out our Live Transmission with Jags here

Carl Cox

Oh yes, oh yes! No SW4 list would be complete without Carl Cox. Needing no introduction, the Intec boss has a special relationship with SW4, having previously described the festival as the “crowning glory” of London’s clubbing calendar. An ever-present figure since the early days, he has developed living legend status within the dance music and Ibiza community. Despite being over 50 years old he remains a pioneer of the electronic music scene and heavyweight champion of the underground. While so many have fallen by the wayside as trends in music change, Carl has remained at the pinnacle of his game and his Music is Revolution a testament to his innovation and talent as a DJ; playing hard, unflinching, underground techno next to a hand picked selection of the finest house and tech the world has to offer.

Teaming up with fellow Ibiza legend Loco Dice, his performance is sure to be one of the highlights of the summer so make sure you check out the house mainstay this weekend. You won’t regret it.

See you on the Common!