The 30 Best Canadian Producers

What's good, Canada? We know July 1 is Canada Day, which is basically your birthday, right? In thinking about the Canadian EDM contingent, we realized

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Complex Original

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What's good, Canada? We know July 1 is Canada Day, which is basically your birthday, right? In thinking about the Canadian EDM contingent, we realized that there's a lot of talent coming from our neighbors up north! From techno innovators and drum & bass' new breed to experimental sounds, dubstep demigods and all kinds of future music, Canada has contributed quite a bit to the dance music scene so far, and will continue to do so for some time. DAD wanted to help celebrate Canada's birthday by looking at the best Canadian producers from many different sounds. Fly your flags!

Chromeo

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City/Province: Montreal, Quebec

What makes Chromeo so special? For one, they say they are "the only successful Arab/Jewish partnership since the dawn of human culture." Another reason might be their special brand of electrofunk. The duo hails from Montreal and they bring a blend of electro house, nu-disco, and funk all to shake your ass. With video game placements, three studio albums, and a string of late-night TV performances on shows like Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, Conan, and Late Show With David Letterman, Chromeo has been doing the damn thing for almost a decade.

Azari & III

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City/Province: Toronto, Ontario

Blending chicago house with a futuristic disco sound, Toronto's Azari & III (pronounced Azari & Third) was on to something when they looked into the past to make their sound. They've done an Essential Mix, released EPs on labels like Dim Mak, performed at festivals like the Ultra Music Festival, Sonar, Glastonbury, and more. If you're looking for a way into the deeper sounds of dance, Azari & III is a great place to start.

John Rolodex

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City/Province: Edmonton, Alberta

Since the early 2000s, John Rolodex has helped highlight the Canadian drum & bass scene like no other. He spent a few years releasing a more breakbeat-heavy style of drum & bass with Ray Keith's legendary Dread Recordings, moving onto tracks dropping on Tech Itch and Freak, before rediscovering his passion with his Machinist Music imprint. While his output hasn't been as huge as we would like it to be, his 2013 includes a single on V Recordings... with T Power. If that's not a stamp of approval from the dnb gods, we don't know what is.

Max Graham

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City/Province: Montreal, Quebec

If you don't know trance, there's a good chance you haven't heard of Max Graham. You should still get to know him though becaus not only is his weekly show "Cycles" often considered one of the best in the trance realm, but the producer makes a blend that so few can even do. Disco, trance, progressive house, Graham finds the intersection between these styles and makes it his own.

Tiga

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City/Province: Montreal, Quebec

Tiga has been at it for years in the Montreal dance music scene, helping put on some of the first raves to hit Montreal in the early 1990s. From then on it was starting his own boutique labels, including Turbo Recordings, which has been moving strong since it's inception in 1998. Tiga himself has released two albums on Play It Again Sam/Different, and has remixed the likes of Scissor Sisters, Peaches, The Knife, LCD Soundsystem, and Coldcut, among many others. Tiga's sound varies from electro and house to synth-pop and downtempo. He's one of those acts that we know will continue to knock out quality music for years to come.

Lazy Rich

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City/Province: Vancouver, British Columbia

Big Fish Lazy Rich might not be headlining Electric Zoo these days, but the western Canadian has quietly left his fingerprints all over the electro house scene. Reaching his commericial stride just a few short years ago during the complextro movement, Lazy Rich has gathered up a number of #1's in a short time. Support from the scenes biggest names like Tiesto, Pete Tong, Fatboy Slim, Skrillex, Roger Sanchez, David Guetta, and Carl Cox make Lazy Rich a candidate for some serious longevity. We're happy Lazy hasn't chased the big room trend, staying true to his driving, complex electro house style. Big things continue to come out of the Big Fish camp, and Lazy Rich is why.

Felix Cartal

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City/Province: Vancouver, British Columbia

Vancouver's Felix Cartal came into the EDM game with the backing of Dim Mak, who signed him and released his Skeleton EP in 2009. In the four years since its release, Felix has dropped two full-length albums, a dozen EPs, and has remixed the likes of MSTRKRFT, Green Velvet, John Dahlback, Wolfgang Gartner, Bart B More, and most recently, Zedd's "Clarity." His stock continues to rise, and with the early Aoki backing (and the constant support from others in the scene), he's bound to make his mark for years to come.

Free n Losh

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City/Province: Toronto, Ontario

The Toronto duo has been on fire. After breaking the top 10 on HypeM twice, they finalled snagged the coveted #1 spot with "Things You Don't Understand." Whether they're doing their thing with classic jams, producing hip-hop, or putting in time to work on their forthcoming original material, Free n Losh has got versatility in spades. Their production is clean, their attitude is right, and their future is bright.

Jokers Of The Scene

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City/Province: Toronto, Ontario

Minimal bleepings, electro squeals, Jokers Of The Scene make that true electro house. A far cry from festival mainstages, JotS are still hitting clubs like Brooklyn's Output shaking ass and melting minds.

Adam K

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City/Province: Toronto, Ontario

Hotbox Digital's Adam K has been in the game for 15 years now, although his work as a producer has been getting since for the last seven. He's part of huge singles from Kaskade, Funkagenda, and BT, as well as mixing compilations (with Hook N Sling) for Ministry of Sound. He might be more well-known for his remixes of acts like deadmau5, Benny Benassi, and Dirty South, and will always be the job when someone needs an emotional club-direction added to their music.

Keys N Krates

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City/Province: Toronto, Ontario

When Keys N Krates hit the scene, their plan was to bring the sounds of the remix and recreate it live on stage. Their skilled work as live remixers matured, forcing them to focus on their work in the studio (funny how that works), and have spent the last five years playing a number of huge festivals (including Ultra, Movement, and Sonar), and in 2013 their work got them to Dim Mak, who dropped their "Treat Me Right" single. This is all being done for them to work their way to an EP, Solow, which should further establish them as a trio to take note of.

Adventure Club

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City/Province: Montreal, Quebec

Adventure Club is one of the few duos on this list (and the EDM scene) that has had music featured on MTV's Teen Wolf program (those who know are up on their "Crave You" remix, right?). Their 2013 featured the duo debuting at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami... and going on to play Ultra Korea as well. They started out as members of a pop-punk band, but took their love for the sounds of Tiesto, Flux Pavilion, and Skrillex and turned into an outfit keeping the new wave of dubstep alive.

Crystal Castles

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City/Province: Toronto, Ontario

After nearly breaking through internationally with his metal project, Ethan Kath had a change of heart. Working on a solo electronic project, Ethan linked up with Alice Glass and formed Crystal Castles. Since their beginning nearly a decade ago, the duo has gone on to garner a devout fanbase headlining bigtime festivals like the Ultra Music Festival, Australia's Big Day Out, Moogfest, Glastonbury, Rockness, Bonaroo, Coachella and more. The duo's energetic performances are a throwback to the punk rock era and are a welcome addition to the world of knob-twisting, and hand-flailing. True rockstars, Crystal Castles puts on a show you can't miss.

Torro Torro

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City/Province: Toronto, Ontario

Torro Torro has been building from strength to strength, with the last four years finding the Toronto duo going from a number of releases on T&A in 2011 to remixing Kill the Noise and Clockwork in 2012 (for Slow Roast and Dim Mak, respectively) to knocking out a remixes for Sean Paul and Zeds Dead (both on Ultra), and being one of the plethora of producers to remix Zedd's modern classic "Clarity." If that's not enough to bank on their future, we don't know what is.

ill-esha

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City/Province: Vancouver, British Columbia

While ill-esha made her marks as a drum & bass producer and DJ that spent her time blending records while rapping and singing, her true rise came with her experiments in downtempo and dubstep, as well as the sounds of glitch-hop. She's produced music for indie video games, has worked with Antiserum, and dropped a well-received (although quickly-deleted) remix album of Daft Punk's Tron: Legacy soundtrack, and released her latest album, Whiplash Recovery, in 2013 via Gravitas. In a scene that's in need of more female productions, up-and-coming producers should look towards ill-esha as an inspiration.

Purity Ring

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City/Province: Edmonton, Alberta

Indie-pop electronic Purity Ring was a hipster darling when they broke out last year and for good reason. Their downtempo, emotive soundscapes are tender and intimate; a breath of fresh air. Not too sweet like that delicious maple syrup, but just right.

Excision

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City/Province: Kelowna, British Columbia

Alongside Datsik and Downlink, Excision has been part of the dubstep revolution coming from Canada. His career as a producer kicked off in 2007 with his Rottun Recordings imprint, although some might say it's his remix of Pendulum's "Showdown" that truly sent him into the stratosphere. 2011 saw the release of his X Rated album on deadmau5's Mau5trap imprint, and this year we got to see his group DESTROID (featuring Downlink and KJ Sawka) turn stadium bass music into a big deal, creating fully-realized sets (and costumes) to match their intricatelly designed live setup. He's part of the wave that's helping push the limits on what dance music will be from 2013 on.

Grimes

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City/Province: Vancouver, British Columbia

Another indie darling, Grimes has been wowing critics acorss the interwebs with her unique experimental mixture of pop, noise, synthpop, witchhouse and a host of other not-so-easily definable sounds. She won a Juno award for "Best Album Of The Year" in 2013 and praise from the New York Times. She's not going to be leading any raves, but there's no doubt she's got an electronic edge to her productions. This Canadian treat has had three albums thus far and has since used her growing fame to speak out on a number of issues. We're thinking no matter what happens with this perceved dance music bubble, Grimes will be just fine.

Carlo Lio

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City/Province: Toronto, Ontario

Carlo Lio is at the forefront of Toronto's thriving techno and tech house scene, where his unique style of club music has had crowds rolling and raving all night long. Sexy, hypnotic, and primal, Lio's contributions to techno could be considered esoteric to those outside of the techno world, but there's no doubt that his impact has been large. Lio has supported fellow Canadian Richie Hawtin on a number of festival dates as a part of his "Enter" series and contiues to make quality releases through his Rawthentic Records.

Datsik

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City/Province: Kelowna, British Columbia

Datsik hit the ground running in 2009, and hasn't looked back since. His first few releases dropped via 12th Planet's SMOG imprint and Excision's Rottun Recordings, and has had his collaborations with Diplo, Bare, and Kill the Noise drop via Mad Decent, Sub Human, and OWSLA respectively. His wave of dubstep triggered something in Steve Aoki, who released Datsik's Vitamin D album on Dim Mak, and somehow Datsik finds the time to juggle his productions and DJ career with the running of Firepower Records, which recently celebrated one year in existence. He's helping push the North American sound of bass music to the masses, and murdering sound systems along the way.

Art Department

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City/Province: Toronto, Ontario

The intersection of house and techno is often confusing and dark, but Toronto's Art Department has illuminated it with their own brand raw, forward-thinking, emotive dance music. The duo has since had critically acclaimed releases on labels like Crosstown Rebels, Skint Records, Southern Fried Records, Get Physical, Ministry Of Sound, Hot Creations, Turbo Recordings, and many more, including Art Department's Jonny White's own, No. 19 Music. With performances at Ultra Music Festival, EDC, and more, Art Department is sure to be apart of the growing deep house movement and get even bigger.

Sinjin Hawke

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City/Province: Montreal, Quebec

Although Norway's Cashmere Cat has certainly brought the majority of recent shine to DJ Slow's Pelican Fly, it was Canadian Sinjin Hawke who truly put the label on the map. With a heavy dose of R&B and rap influences, the future bass producer has led a new wave of bass-centric slow jams. With expansive production, street swagger, and a knack for a certain seductive smoothness, Hawke's tunes are some of the finest in bass music.

Rene LaVice

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City/Province: Toronto, Ontario

Rene LaVice brings a refreshing take on the drum & bass scene. While he's only been active for the last four years, he made such an impact with his massively intense "Headlock" that he was snapped up by Andy C for his Ram Records imprint (after being heralded by Canadian dnb staples like John Rolodex, Gremlinz, and others). 2013 saw the release of his debut album Insidious on Ram, highlighting his intense take on dnb from all sides - be it the more neuro side of things, or cuts taking a deeper approach. Rene has a singular view of the scene, and will become an important piece of the drum & bass spectrum as he continues to grow.

Ryan Hemsworth

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City/Province: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Ryan Hemsworth occupies an ill space in 2013, catering to the iTunes crowd that has no issue listening to the electro house right next to the freshest hip-hop. He's a sampling wiz who knows how to get the party started in a number of different zone, and has knocked out tracks for Deniro Farrar, Aaron Cohen, and Isaiah Toothtaker while releasing music for the Wedidit collective and getting love from Mad Decent, Mixmag, and other dance music outlets. Anytime you see the words "Ryan Hemsworth remix" together, you're guaranteed an awesome rework, and his original material is yards ahead of the pack in his chamber. And he's only been "known" for the last three years.

Zeds Dead

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City/Province: Toronto, Ontario

DC and Hooks, aka the Toronto duo known as Zeds Dead, are a pair of maniacal chameleons. Initially known as having a hip-hop-influenced style of dubstep, their original productions and DJ mixes showcase their fresh take(s) on electro house, drum & bass, and damn near anything else they want to put their fingers on. Currently signed to Mad Decent, they've piqued the interest of everyone from Skream to Steve Aoki, and have toured the world as a result of their refreshing, multi-faceted take on dance music. Give them a few years; they'll be running this thing.

A-Trak

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City/Province: Montreal, Quebec

Scratch champion at age 15? Check. Kanye West's tour DJ? Did that during his famous "Glow In The Dark Tour." Start his own label? Along with Nick Catchdubs, their Fool's Gold imprint is one of the leading independant labels in all of dance and hip-hop music. Produce megahits? He's got his solo works, and he's half of supergroup Duck Sauce. A-Trak's also got his travel website Infinite Legroom on top of it too. No one can copy A-Trak's unique blend of hip-hop, house, and disco. He's not releasing any high art in the classical sense and he's never taking himself too seriously, but we do. His skills? Too serious.

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Lunice

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City/Province: Montreal, Quebec

Lunice is a 2010 Red Bull Music Academy participant, vital part of the LuckyMe family, one-half TNGHT with Hudson Mohawke, produced for Angel Haze and Rockie Fresh, and has done remixes for The xx, Ryan Leslie, Elephant Man, and many others. He's quite possibly one of the most energetic DJs on this list, and while his music is already so revered, it feels like he's just getting started. With an official TNGHT credit on Kanye West's Yeezus, the sky's truly the limit.

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Amon Tobin

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City/Province: Montreal, Quebec

Though he is originally from Brazil, Tobin moved to Montreal in 2002 and has since taken on a Canadian identity. The experiimental producer has dabbled in various genres while also producing groundbreaking visual graphics shows twice (ISAM and ISAM 2.0) and releasing on hugely important labels like Ninja Tune. Tobin's music is most certainly not EDM or even all dance music, but it's all electronic and it's Canadian.

Richie Hawtin

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City/Province: Windsor, Ontario

Richie Hawtin was born in England, but moved to Windsor, Ontario since the age of nine, which isn't far from Detroit. It was in trips to raves in Detroit that he picked up on the techno sound, and has since been seen as one of the more important figures in the second wave of techno, helping bring forth a more minimal aspect of the scene, especially through his work as Plastikman. He's dropped 12 albums in the last two decades under a number of his aliases, and in 2006 helped produce a special composition for the Winter Olympics. His last Plastikman album was in 2011, so we're hoping he has some new material on the way... especially after his live, minimal techno performance with deadmau5 at SXSW 2013.

deadmau5

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City/Province: Niagra Falls, Ontario

No matter how much he might hate the term "EDM," deadmau5 is a big part of the resurgence of dance music in America. He's skilled in a number of flavors of house and trance, and four of his last six albums have been release via Ultra Records.He was named DJ Magazine's "Producer of the Year" in 2007, was named #5 DJ in their 2012 poll, and has won three Juno Awards for his music (so far). Songs like "The Veldt," "Strobe," and "Ghosts N' Stuff" are seen as modern classics (for good reason), and judging by the material he's been working on (waiting for his contract with Ultra to be up), he's embarking on some of his best productions yet. There's no question that in 10, 20, 30, years deadmau5 will be remembered as one of the true artists for this generation.

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