Mosca
Mosca could not have survived 30 years ago. His first release in 2010, the Square One EP that kick-started the Night Slugs label, was just a continuation of a long standing love affair with all types of club music, from deep house and techno to rowdy dancehall and early grime. Mosca's refusal to stick to one or two sounds certainly doesn't make life easy - he is a journalist's nightmare as well as a critic's dream - but there are common threads that link his work. His sense of rhythm and groove is perhaps the key, the element that stops that heavy UK bassline from ever weighing too heavily. Even the catchy melodies from Bax and Tilt Shift have a moody edge that mirrors the tracky techno of his Wavey EP or the dark yet soulful house vibes on the Eva Mendes EP. Mosca seems to enjoy even more freedom as a DJ, his wildly unpredictable sets pitting Angolan kuduro against 2-step, or combining Wu-Tang with slow house. But despite his quick-fingered dancehall style, the selector takes time on his new BBC Radio 1 slot to explore a couple of genres in detail per show. With national radio backing and pirate station support from across the world, Mosca doesn't seem to be going anywhere but forward.