Doomsquad Pick Out Some Canadian Gems

The cream of emerging female electronic talent...

Canada is a mind-fuck of a place – vast, largely desolate, and very sparsely populated. As such, it's actually the perfect setting for obscure bedroom producers to emerge from beneath their blankets and quilts with the hottest sounds since Holly Herndon. Discovering these sounds can be a full time task for any eager music lover to embark upon. Thank goddess, sites like Weird Canada and Silent Shout do a lot of good work, featuring the best, strangest, and most exciting music that our country has to offer. And even then, you can surely count on stuff being missed.

Anyways, it's important for us to note that this list only represents a small selection of what's happening right now in Canada's electronic music landscape. Many of these artists are friends and collaborators, and belong to the same communities we're involved with in Toronto and Montreal. In no particular order, here are 10 far out galactic female electronic producers who are bold as fuck and rep our dance music scene hard!

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Marie Davidson (Montreal)

We first fell in love with her through watching her live performances in various MTL warehouses in a state of perpetual midnight. Marie Davidson is probably one of the best artists to catch live … EVER. Her gear table stretches out for a mile and she makes almost all of her sounds live! Totally unreal industrial, sci-fi beats to soar to.

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Princess Century (Toronto)

Water, insects, trees … 808s, 909s, DX7s… it's all stirred into the sonic soup that is Princess Century (Maya Postepski). 'Sunrise 101/Last Disco' is, as the name suggests, the perfect way to bring in a new day, or put to bed an all-night rager. Maya's DJ sets are banging, too. And when she's not making music as Princess Century, she plays in another awesome Canadian band – Austra.

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New Chance (Toronto)

A Leaf is a Body ~ NEW CHANCE from Healing Power Records on Vimeo.

New Chance is the solo moniker of producer, musician, DJ and all-round renaissance womyn Victoria Cheong, who holds it down in Toronto. She sings in a project with Jennifer Castle and Isla Craig called VC/IC/JC. She also makes chill-ass live sounds for this amazing contemporary dance group called Rosé Porn. Victoria and her partner started a label called Healing Power Records (http://healing-power-records.blogspot.ca/), and they've been putting out so many exceptional projects in Toronto, including Petra Glynt. Definitely one of our favourite DIY labels in the city. Invest in this track… wait for the gift it delivers at the end!

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Ramzi (Vancouver)

Acidic Pacific Northwest forest and fog. Phoebé Guillemot is a Montreal ex-pat who recently relocated to Vancouver after signing with 1080p, which is possibly one of the most exciting and expertly curated electronic labels right now. That says a lot about Guillemot's music. This extremely far-out album is constantly on repeat in our tour van and it should be on constant repeat for you too! Re-synthesize your DNA with this head trip.

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Petra Glynt (Toronto)

Activist, beat maker, visual artist and full-on psychic female. Alexandra Mackenzie of Petra Glynt has the heart of Toronto's DIY scene in her grip. She's working on a new album in Montreal right now, but in the meantime, 'Sour Paradise' is one of my favourite tracks off of her last EP. Her activism motivates her to build progressive beats with intention. It's really inspiring. She also has the sickest collection of reggae/dancehall vinyl, and on occasion pulls it out to spark epic dance parties.

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Castle If (Toronto)

Jess Forrest is transcendent. When her first EP dropped five years back it really rattled shit up, and it still holds ground today. Working meticulously with vintage analog equipment, this goddess of sound carefully sculpts out ear candy to trip to. Hence her tightly curated musical output. But when she does release stuff, be warned! It's like, whoa.

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Lido Pimienta (Toronto)

It's really hard to try and capture the spirit of this wondrous woman in words. Lido Pimienta is a Colombian/Canadian musician who weaves fiercely bold, socially engaged vocals with forward-thinking international grooves and rhythms. She keeps her indigenous Colombian identity close to her heart, as she addresses contemporary global and local issues. One foot rooted in the past, and one foot rooted ten steps into the future. Dig this first single off her soon to be released, highly anticipated new album.

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Pursuit Grooves (Toronto)

Pursuit Grooves, aka Vanese Smith, is the mysterious Toronto-via-NYC-via-DC beat maker of subterranean pulses, syrupy bass lines and sparse, minimal trances. Her musical explorations run the gamut of old-school house, techno, IDM, jungle and more. She has an extensive catalogue of releases, and getting into it can seem as exciting and daunting as starting Infinite Jest.

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Jessy Lanza (Hamilton)

'Pull My Hair Back' is possibly our #1 favourite record of 2014. It was definitely our most played by far! Front to back, it's an instant classic, standing out even on a roster as incredible as Hyperdub's. There's not much to say about Jessy that isn't already being said.

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Tenderness (Toronto)

Chrissy Reichert is probably one of the best kept secrets in Toronto. Whenever Tenderness announces a show date or drops a track, you can guarantee that all the real heads erupt like dormant volcanoes. Her 2012 EP The Axe Is Ready At The Tree remains a seminal and important documentation of Toronto's scene.

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Doomsquad's new album 'Total Time' is out now via Bella Union.

Catch Doomsquad at the following shows:

May
21 Brighton The Great Escape
22 Hull The Adelphi Club
23 Newcastle Head Of Steam
24 Glasgow Glad Café
25 Manchester Night & Day
26 London Moth Club

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