Jamie XX

English producer Jaime XX blew up when his appropriately named band, The xx, dropped its very sexy, self-titled debut in 2009. Without the full band providing its seductive brand of minimalist, dubstep, and deconstructed pop, Jaime’s doing his own thing. A Glasgow-based label, Numbers, released his first solo single in June, “Far Nearer.” Mixing tropical steel drum flourishes with quasi-arctic, deep-space grooves, it’s an unusual combo of Tom Cruise’s Cocktail and Pantha Du Prince’s Black Noise. In other words, it’s totally Cool Runnings.

Updated 07/20/2011