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Ægir Sindri Bjarnason is a multi-faceted artist from Reykjavík. He’s cut his musical teeth playing drums in hardcore bands such as World Narcosis and Dead Herring and exploring dream-pop and indie-rock with Bagdad Brothers and Laura Secord, respectively. A DIY enthusiast, he also helms the Why not? label and has been running an all-age venue in his basement since 2017.

After debuting his electronic-driven Ægir solo project in January 2020, the Icelandic musician has been experimenting with a host of genres ranging from ambient to experimental. After releasing two albums in the past 18 months, he’s getting ready to release a third full-length, The Earth Grew Uncertain, on his indie imprint.

Ahead of the album’s release on June 18, we’re thrilled to world premiere “He Is So Timid” from Ægir’s upcoming eight-song collection.

The instrumental about “social anxiety and lack of confidence which leads to feelings of isolation and loneliness” opens with woozy pads, crisp breakbeats and a meandering melody. Midway through the cut, he stomps on the gas pedal, upping the tempo and driving the listener careening into a sonic moshpit of frenzied blips, bleeps and adrenaline-inducing rhythms.

Hit the download button below and enjoy.

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Viennese downtempo duo Dzihan & Kamien are back after taking a hiatus of more than a decade.

Before Vlado Dzihan and Mario Kamien hit the pause button on making music together in 2010, they had amassed an impressive catalog of releases — including three full-length albums for Six Degrees Records — incorporating elements of acid jazz and trip-hop.

Ahead of the duo’s impressive comeback album titled IV out tomorrow on their Couch Records, we’re thrilled to world premiere “Deeper,” a swinging deep-house track featuring warm pads, lush keyboards and the hypnotic voice of songstress Zadi.

Hit the play button below and enjoy.

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Underplayed, a documentary about female DJs and producers directed by Stacey Lee, will debut on Amazon Prime on International Women’s Day (March 8). The film features interviews with a broad range of artists, including Rezz, Alison Wonderland, Tokimonsta, NERVO and Tygapaw.

Musical multihyphenate DJ/producer/composer/musician Kate Simko, who leads London Electronic Orchestra, scored the soundtrack for the film.

Ahead of the release of the Underplayed soundtrack tomorrow on Lakeshore Records, we’re thrilled to world premiere “Her Likeness” (Extended Mix) from the 20-track collection.

The genesis of the rousing, Detroit-inspired “Her Likeness” — the only uptempo cut on the soundtrack — harkens back to February 2020. Kate wrote the banger the night before traveling to New York City to play at a Cityfox party.

“I knew they’d booked me to close out the room so I had late-night NYC in mind making it,” she tells us via email, adding that she was “loading live parts from the song on the plane.”

Kate adds, “I wanted to create a raw, don’t give a f*** vibe with this song. It’s over eight minutes long which is pretty unusual for a soundtrack cue. It’s unapologetically long because it has lots of little synth lines, rhythms and melodic voices coming in-and-out with something new to say.

“Underplayed is a film about women’s voices being heard, and ‘Her Likeness’ is like a homage to all the women out there hustling to carve a space for themselves in this industry.”

Hit the play button below and enjoy.

Image above by Rui Pignatelli

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As the world reflects on the unexpected breakup of Daft Punk, let’s not forget about the fresh crop of underground producers around the world who are pushing electronic music forward.

While many of them won’t get lucky enough to achieve the same mainstream success, there’s plenty of innovators creating magic in the shadows who shouldn’t be overlooked.

Rising Saint Petersburg, Russia’s Nightdrive is one such discovery.

Beginning his production career in the realm of techno back in 2015, he’s since gravitated toward house music and is bringing harder, better, faster, stronger, vibes to the genre.

Ahead of the release of the No Sleep EP on February 26 via Dubiks, we’re pleased to world premiere Nightdrive’s “Feel My Acid Mind,” a squiggly, squelchy sample-based track with pitched-down vocals, clackety drums and aerodynamic 303s.

Hit the download below and enjoy.

No paywalls, free to all. Help us remain 100% independent and unbiased. Please give to Big Shot by making a secure one-time donation to help us continue covering DJ culture and electronic music like we’ve done since 2003.