Kura

From:Portugal

DJ style:“KR style.”

Best known for:“Mixing Portuguese vocals with techno and melodic.”

Portugese DJ and producer KURA has been a regular mainstay in the Top 100 DJs poll for the past decade, and — testament to his hard work — it’s been one of his busiest years to date, with his name on plenty of festival line-ups from Creamfields in China to Sudoeste Festival in Portugal. “I really enjoyed this year. Special moments with my team,” he enthuses. His DJ sets are full of personality, with a favour for bouncing house and trance with tension-building breakdowns.

This year has seen him play for crowds of thousands on festival stages, and the energy has been high. He’s been releasing music since 2014 with tracks made for the peak time on behemoth labels such as Armada, Revealed Recordings, and Spinnin’. His latest release on Revealed, titled ‘Aria’ and featuring Guiseppe Ottaviani, is a trance anthem with ethereal church choir vocals juxtaposed with high-octane slamming kicks and 303 acid: not for the faint hearted. Prior to this came the melodic sing-along ‘Eu Prometo’ featuring Nuno Ribeiro’s Portugese vocals and guitar toplines. In the past he’s also collaborated with the likes of Hardwell and Jimmy Clash, and judging by his devotion to the studio there’s plenty more to come.

Fave tune of 2024?

“KURA feat. Jessica Cipriano and Letus et ‘O Vento’.”

Rising star DJ/producer of 2024?

Most Popular

Faustix

From:Denmark

DJ style: “Big techno.”

Best known for: “Collaboration with Diplo, Faustix, Imanos and Kai called ‘Revolution’.”

Everything about 2024 was big and bold for Faustix. The Danish dance music lifer found a new sound over the course of the past year, where ropey and dramatic arpeggios dart in and out of brash techno kicks and every drop feels like barreling down a dopamine rollercoaster. Each release seemed to push the envelope further and further — from the soaring emotions of ‘Lead Me To Love You’ with vocalist Mougleta to ‘All My Friends Are Hot’, whose cheeky vocal flip (“All my friends are hot and only listen to techno”) was the perfect summer festival anthem. Add to that a teased remix of Belgian Stromae ‘Alors on danse’ and it’s clear that 2024 was, without a doubt, the year Faustix found a whole new groove.

While he’s certainly been busy in the studio, Faustix has also played everywhere — from 13,000 person raves in the middle of Copenhagen to gigs on the Faroe Islands. Faustix, in other words, hasn’t taken his foot off the gas for even a second. And, with each gig and release, he is testament to how much people still love pumping, hard-edged techno.

Fave tune of 2024?

“Dash Berlin ‘Till The Sky Falls Down’, it’s an all-time classic and still gets me