And the winners are...
House music is a huge minefield of so many sub-genres it hurts the brain. Well, we’ve left that particular brain-hurt at the door. In a bid to keep things simple in such a convoluted world, we’ve split the genre into just two categories. First up is the best house DJ or producer.
It wasn't easy to draw up the long list. Imagine trying to choose your favourite house producer from a sea of what seems like hundreds of artists - impossible. So, without getting too bogged down with sub-genre after sub genre, hit up the next slide for who you voted as the best house artists of 2017...
The MusicRadar Best in music tech awards 2017 are brought to you in association with Softube - Tools for the Audio Professional
5. Claptone
By remaining hidden behind his characteristic gold bird mask, Claptone has successfully managed to keep the focus where it matters – the music. Sure, Claptone is far from the first dance artist to keep their identity a mystery, but this policy of letting the productions and mixes do the talking has certainly worked to his advantage (or should we say ‘they’, since there’s still debate as to whether the moniker is actually the work of a duo).
Whoever it really is behind the mask, 2017 has seen Claptone winning yet more fans with the lauded Masquerade Mixes series, an excellent Essential Mix and an epic world tour.
4. Masters At Work
Put simply, ‘Little’ Louie Vega and Kenny ‘Dope’ Gonzalez are two of the finest, most important house musicians of all time.
The NYC pair have a huge back catalogue of bonafide classics stretching back to the late 80s, from the soulful disco of Backfired to the drum machine-driven funk of I Can’t Get No Sleep, via countless sought-after remixes and edits. As DJs too they continue to prove a highlight at festivals across the world.
3. Eats Everything
Throughout 2017, Bristol-born DJ and producer Daniel Pearce, aka Eats Everything, has continued to cement his reputation as one of the UK’s most reliable purveyors of big, joyful house music.
Not one for gimmicks or chasing trends, Pearce’s sets are built on a winning combination of infectious, party-starting tracks and subtly skillful mixing; allowing him to skip between genres, decades and moods while never taking his eye off the dancefloor. It’s little surprise that, going into 2018, he seems to be more in demand than ever.
2. The Black Madonna
In an age where many DJs seem to spend more time on their Instagram accounts than their sets, The Black Madonna’s rise to festival headline status is a reassuringly old fashioned tale.
Hers is not a career built on gimmicks or cheap publicity. Instead her popularity has been built through slow word-of-mouth, fuelled by her impeccable mixing skills, first rate selections and tendency to throw inclusive, diverse parties firmly focussed around having as much fun as possible.
1. Sasha
After a fascinating diversion into the world of ambient music and delicate electronics for last year’s Late Night Tales release, 2017 saw house icon Sasha returning to what he does best – creating deep, grooving club music that gently tugs at the heartstrings.
It was this side of Sasha that we saw landing on two German institutions in 2017, releasing the throbbing, Polica-featuring Out Of Time for Cologne institution Kompakt, and lean tech roller GameOvr on lauded Berlin imprint Watergate.
However, while both releases saw Sasha returning to the dancefloor, neither felt like a rehash of past glories, each pushing his sound subtly into new territory. Yet more proof that even deep into the third decade of his career, Sasha still isn’t one to rest on his laurels.
“They're French. I would say it's a kind of techno prog band”: Elvis Costello reckons that the Brooklyn warehouse gig he saw Justice play was “one of the great shows I've ever been to”
“She was playing stadiums in the US, and she was playing my remix. She was singing on my remix. I didn't expect that at all”: Boston Bun on the secret to killer remixes and making his track Nobody // Me
