15 Essential Mixes We Need To Hear

It's been said that having a BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix is a DJ's true big moment; not playing a festival or releasing an album to critical success, but rather curating a two-hour long mix on a singular radio program. It might seem crazy, but an Essential Mix is in fact an important piece of electronic music culture. Since October of 1993, the Pete Tong-helmed program has broken ground within the dance music scene, highlighting a wide array of DJs, allowing them to showcase their turntable skills for this block of time. Some take the time to fully express their sound, while others have mixed in genres and songs that have been more influential to their development, and the results are usually stunning. No where to do you get a clearer picture of what it takes to be a good DJ than by listening to them in the Essential Mix.

With that said, there are some great talents that have not been invited to express themselves for Pete Tong's program that we fill could truly be a gift to the Essential Mix series. You might also be surprised at who's not been featured yet!

Style: Trap / Moombaton

If you've been paying attention to us on DAD, then you know we are crazy about Craze. While some turntablists will scratch a record to death, Craze has found a balance between showing off his technical mastery and keeping the musicality of the beats; a feat often failed. He doesn't have the biggest of catalog'd releases, but you know Craze will just make some crazy shit up JUST for the Essential Mix and he'lll do it in such a way to man that will undeniabley be Craze. If you doubt, just check out his most recent video where he performs his "Get Live" remix of Birdy Nam Nam's "Defiant Order." What the hell is Radio 1 waiting for?

Style: Trap

Hudson Mohawke and Lunice together make up TNGHT, and together they're making some cutting edge tunes. Their self-titled EP was perhaps one of the most polarizing releases in all of 2012 and as we make our way through the beginning of 2013, they are showing no signs of sacrficing their artistic integrirty. If you're looking for that NEXT shit, TNGHT is going to put you in that direction. The Essential Mix series might have a bias towards house and trance music, but it wouldn't be completely crazy for this group to get a mix in. Rustie had one last year and it was through that we were blessed with a host of new sounds and jams, like the emergence of Baauer. More than that, as the head of the LuckyMe collective, you know HudMo is going to have some novel tunes to bring to the table and make a true statement for the future bass movement. With that said, TNGHT seems to be a likely candidate to get a nod in 2013 and we're just waiting for it to be unleashed.

Style: Garage / House

Guy and Howard Lawrence might be the most talked about act in all of electronic music right now. With the success of their single "Latch" and their upcoming debut album, Disclosure has become all the rage. They've built this hype into legitimate buzz going from their premiere US tour last summer to this year headlining weekend two of Ultra Music Festival. With a blend of deep house, garage and R&B, Disclosure's sound represents the updated version of music we've heard in one form or another for the last twenty years. Some call it house, some call it garage, but most of us have given up on that entrirely and just call it good. At this point the second they release a single, the entire bloggosphere goes crazy and we haven't even had an album from them yet. Perhaps it's a sign of the times, but their buzz has superceed their pedigree, and an Essential Mix would go a long way towards solidifying exactly where they stand.

Style: Moombahton

Oh Dillon, where do we begin. His infectiously bootylicious moombah bangers? His oh so colorful personality? To put it simply, few have have a following quite like Dillon. His IDGAFOS attitude radiates throughout his music and his live sets, taking risks and succeeding all along the way. Whether it's been his huge Westside EP or his twitter antics and prankster jokes, Dillon contiues to make his presence known. He's experiemented with dubstep and trap as well, but Dillon's glitchy-glistening sound has primarily been one of moombahton.

With a big following, big co-signings and a recently-announced WURLD TURR, Dillon is slated to reach an even bigger audience. An Essential Mix is the next logicial step for Dillon and we're anxiously awaiting for this to happen.

Style: Trap

It seems to be pretty common knoweldge now that Baauer first got noticed when Rustie dropped his monumental "Harlem Shake" in his 2012 Essential Mix. Now, Baauer is one of the acts leading the way for bass music's development. With quirky samples, a catalogue of hits and a knack for the unexpected, Baauer brings a sense of wildcard that few others do. He's not remix heavy like Flosstradamus, nor is he out there on the edge like TNGHT, instead he balances the two sides and makes it work. Baauer's cataloge alone proves that trap music isn't just a one trick pony, but more than he has shown a talent that few have even come close to matching. Whether he's making brash bangers like "My Nose" or mimimal future bass like "Bublé Rap," Baauer has made sure we know he's here to stay and he isn't afraid to take some risks. And if it wasn't enough, he's also been named a resident for Mandalay Bay's and Cirque Du Soliel's new Las Vegas show/club, LIGHTS. An Essential Mix isn't even needed to know that this dude is a talent and we'll be hearing from him for quite a while.

Style: House

Is an explanation even really needed? No, but we'll give it ago anyway. Not only has Zedd released one of the few quality artist albums in recent electronic music history, but in Zedd's short career he's already broken ground as he became the first electronic musicain of this generation to make an appearance on Letterman. Additionally, it's crazy to think that Madeon and Porter Robinson, two of his closest contemporaries, have had Essential Mixes despite not reaching the same level of success he's had. Zedd is a musician first, producer second, and DJ third and so that might have something to do with it, but at the end of the day it's ridiclous that he hasn't yet. Even still, like Baauer, Zedd has been selected for a residency in Vegas at the new LIGHT show/club as well. We're waiting to hear it because we know it's only a matter of time before it comes.

Style: Various

Fans of Anjunabeats will know the name, but Andrew Bayer seems to fly under the radar more than most. Perhaps it's by choice, just look at his Facebook page where he has a message saying "I do not accept guest mix requests, so please do not ask." So maybe we won't ever hear the mix because it seems like Mr. Bayer is perfectly content with where he's at.

As one of the intergral pieces in the Anjunabeats magic, Bayer has had complete freedom to do what he wants musically. Remixing who he wants when he wants, releasing at his own rates, Andrew Bayer is the envy of many producers. He's got the only co-sign he'll ever need in Above & Beyond, he tours when he wants, and produces whatever he wants. Progressive house, trance, glitch-hop, breaks, downtempo electronica, Bayer's creation seem to be the result of earnest creative expression. Witnessing a Bayer set is a treat and so if you have the chance, you should definitely get to it. An Essential Mix might not be on his radar, but that doesn't mean we wouldn't love to hear one.

Style: Trap / Future Bass

Few do it quite like these Chi-town boys. Although many of today's biggest trap stars have come from hip-hop background, Flosstradamus have been doing the electronic thing for years, and now it's paying off as they find themselves at in the thick of trap's renaissance. Their remix of Major Lazer's "Original Don" proved to be a seminal tune in the trap scene and since then they've been instrumental in pushing the sound forward. Through their Total Recall EP and their X LP, the duo pushed a hard dance-infused sound into their work, exposing many to a whole new world of music and sounds. Flosstradamus has gracefully balanced the two disparate styles into making harmonious success. They've been supported heavily by 1Xtra's MistaJam, so we're thinking it's only a matter of time before they get called to the big decks too.

Style: Dubstep / Drumstep / Drum & Bass

It's crazy to think just how influential Excision and Datsik have been without having an Essential Mix under their belt. Yes we know they are two separate artists with two solo careers, but if you know anything about them then you know why we've put them together. Their massive collaborations like "Swagga" put the industrial and metal influenced dubstep on to the map and has inspired thousands of imitations. While Skrilex gets the publicity for pushing the "brostep" sound, it was actually these two guys who first started pushing the gnarly sound in North America. They now each have artist albums done and they each have their own record labels, and they each are seen as some of the most imporant guys in dubstep. Why haven't they had an Essential Mix?

Style: Trance

Dash Berlin. A name that seems to inspire a lot of mixed feelings, there's still no question that Dash Belin is one of the most imporant acts in the trance scene. Although many fans fail to realize that Dash Berlin is not a singular man but rather the collective work of three people (including two of the responsible people behind Alice Deejay), Dash has played every big festival, released multiple albums and is even now ranked by DJ Mag as the #7 DJ in the world. We're not exactly sure why Dash hasn't had an Essential Mix, but rather than question why, we'll just hope he gets a chance soon.

Style: Experimental

Honestly, including Amon didn't even cross the DAD consciousness for two reasons. We're floored that he doesn't have one already, and assumed he had. He's been a staple of the electronic music scene for years, creating all kinds of leftfield gems for Ninja Tune, and has been getting more recognition as Two Fingers over the last few years specifically. The second reason is that this guy can't be limited to the decks. His ISAM shows are just out of this world and really show why he's got the respect that he does. It doesn't matter which way he's going, he's always at the frontier.

Style: Dubstep

Lovestep, chillstep, dreamstep, liquid dubstep, or progressive dubstep, it doesn't matter what you call it Seven Lions has a unique sound that we need to hear more of. As many continue to try and imitate the Skrillex-y sounds, Jeff Montalvo looked to the sounds of trance as his major inspiration. His loved up remixes of trance heavyweights Above & Beyond might have been his first taste of success, but he's also released two quality EPs on Viper Recordings and OWSLA. Seven Lions might not be at the level of success as the others on this list, but he easily could be. His sound is far different than most out there and no one does it as good as him. Some might say that Seven Lions's music is more for the headphones and the home listen than the dancefloor, but at the end of the day, his music is quality no matter which way you look at it.

He hasn't been around too long, but we're excited at the prospect of an Essential Mix and what it would do for his career.

Style: House / Hard Dance

At one point they were one of the biggest names in all of hard dance, but in the last few years they've moved towards a house sound collaborating with some huge names along the way. Not only do they have full collaborative credit for singles with Hardwell ("How We Do") and Tiësto ("Hell Yeah!"), but they've also been the driving forces behind many of Tiësto's most recent hits, mainly "Maximal Crazy" and "Chasing Summers." Now that might news to many new fans or even willfully ignorant ones, but this isn't even an industry secret. Now as they continue to make their way into the house scene and move away from hard dance, it's hard to say where they might be heading. An Essential Mix is a chance to really define the sound they are going for and right now they're one of the few top producing acts without one.

Style: Dubstep / Trap / Moombahton

The artist known as Bro Safari has been through a number of different genres in his time; he first came under our radar as 1/3 of Evol Intent, helping the American drum & bass scene get some much-needed recognition. When the E.I. triumverate started to experiment outside of the dnb scene, he picked up a number of side projects, from Ludacrhist to Minus Music, but it's his dubstep / moombahton / trap selections under his Bro Safari guise that have taken off. Releases on Mad Decent's Jeffrees imprint, a recent remix for Dim Mak, and a forthcoming album with UFO! are just a few of his recent accolades. He's already been featured on Diplo's "Diplo & Friends" show earlier this year, and ran through a number of brilliant tracks in an hour's span. Imagine what he could do with the full two-hour slot?

Style: Various

Zeds Dead, while having a pretty short career, have made a huge impact. This Canadian duo has been dazzling crowds with their original productions, which started out in the dubstep realm but quickly moved up and down the BPM scale, and with their DJ mixes, which are real treats for the eclectic listener. They probably could do a mix with one particular style of EDM, but they always find a way to represent a number of genres, throwing in the odd drum & bass curveball or even touching on a bit of dancehall. With their most recent EP out now on Mad Decent, we can only assume that their career will continue to climb from here. Now is definitely the time for them to show the world why hardcore EDM fans are in love with their style.