Gold Panda

Mixing samples into a swirling yet laid-back stew, a musical mélange somewhere between DJ Shadow and Four Tet, London-based knob turner Gold Panda began to stir an underground buzz in the late-2000s. A retiring sort with the given name Derwin, Gold Panda began his electronic experiment as a lark in the late '90s as a teenager, chopping up pop songs with abandon on his music producer uncle's sampler. By his late twenties, he was remixing tracks for Bloc Party and Little Boots, and turning the ears of tastemakers with his original hip-hop and trance-laced compositions. Before and You were released in 2009, with Lucky Shiner following soon after in 2010. The year 2011 would find him contributing a mix for the !K7 label's DJ-Kicks series. ~ Jason Thurston, Rovi