The setlist for May’s Lightning in a Bottle (LiB) festival is jam-packed with names from all over the world, ranging in all styles of EDM from dubstep and trap to new age and ambient. With a headlining setlist jam-packed with big names, and a large list of side-stages hosting DJs nonstop, here is a list of the artists we think are worth prioritizing and checking out (if it doesn’t get in the way of seeing your favorite niche DJ with 200 soundcloud followers). 

Skream

By name alone, Skream is worth seeing for his legacy and contribution to the world of dubstep. The English DJ and producer hadn’t toured for over ten years, making this one of the most recent chances to see what he’s been up to. Additionally, over the last decade, Skream has slipped away from dubstep to focus on house and disco, but for LiB he is hosting an old-school dubstep set (the title of “old school” is to avoid confusion with the subgenre of brostep that has taken over the dubstep moniker). 

Skream’s reggae, jungle, and drum & bass inspired dubstep became an EDM standard when he released his 2006 debut album “Skream!” This album sits as an exemplary pinnacle of the genre, both for sticking closely to the roots of dubstep, tracing its evolution in his music, and for making creative left-turns that ultimately steered dubstep into what it evolved into. It sits right on the precipice of past and future, cementing itself as a signpost or gateway for anyone exploring dubstep.

Clozee

Clozee is a French DJ, whose pop-y production and refined taste allow her to create wide sonic landscapes reminiscent of Porter Robinson’s “Worlds” or nostalgic anthems similar to contemporaries like Madeon and San Holo. Her newest album “Microworlds” (2023) is aptly named for labeling the sprawling vistas she creates across the tracks due to an informed use of layering and sampling. 

Her sound is characterized by the sparkling showers of glittery synths and echoing booms of bass-heavy percussion that gives everything across her tracks a beautiful gloss and an intangible sense of depth. Her pieces are steeped in romantic nostalgia, yet have a very lived-in allure that is comforted by zen, swaying melodies, reminiscent of Richard Wright’s keyboard playing on “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” This set will be great for breaking out the hula hoops and streamers.

Fatboy Slim

The Man. The Myth. The Legend. The DJ behind some of pop culture’s favorite dance hits, singles, and remixes even if you didn’t know he was involved. Fatboy Slim broke big in 1998 with his landmark record, “You’ve Come A Long Way Baby,” a collection of bigbeat, drum & bass, and hip-hop-inspired tracks that spawned massive hits like, “Right Here, Right Now,” “The Rockafeller Skank,” and “Gangster Tripping.” 

He and his contemporaries (like Moby), helped contribute to a wave of British electronic music that celebrated and accentuated heavy percussion and eccentric beats that combined hip hop, club music, and UK garage. His music is drenched in hip-hop and reggae influences, with elements of rock, surf rock, and reggae samples scattered all over the in-your-face production. Fatboy Slim was a bastion of the 90s but has been famously elusive since the 2010s, and for some people, seeing Fatboy Slim at LiB might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

M.I.A.

If you were born within the last 30 years you either know who M.I.A. is or you’re a fish too busy surviving the deep blue sea to notice. One of the most controversial figures in pop music, M.I.A. made waves in 2007 with her breakout hit, “Paper Planes.”  While the rest of her discography hasn’t been able to acquire as large a fanbase, it’s only because it’s artistically ambitious and not accessible for the faint of heart. 

M.I.A. 's style of razor-sharp art-pop borders on avant-garde and industrial, employing her art to express political protest, societal frustration, and cultural critique. I like to describe her as “too cool for art school” due to the vitriolic realism in her work and public persona, being one of the rare art school graduates capable of breaching the walls of artistic theory and applying them to the practical, physical realm; her performance will be much more “at home” at LiB than at the Superbowl. 

 ISOxo

The hometown hero, ISOxo is a DJ from San Diego, California, who’s made a name for himself in the trap scene of EDM. Combining elements of bass music, darkwave, hip-hop, and alt-rock, ISOxo has crafted a very unique and finessed slice of the trap pie for himself, with a sound palette that reminds me of all the best parts of DJs like Zhu, Darude, and Deadmau5. 

ISOxo broke out with his debut EP, “Nightrealm,” a short, but well-themed and consistent collection of tracks that feels like it comes right out of the school of the “Tron: Legacy Soundtrack.” His songs are crafted to be either reflective and transcendent or vitriolic and in-your-face with its harshness; he displays his mastery of the craft through his diverse, yet sonically cohesive, ingenuity. Anyone from SoCal headed to LiB should be sure to check out his set.