Lone

The primary alias of Nottingham, England native Matt Cutler, Lone debuted in 2007 with a CD-R, Everything Is Changing Colour. A series of 2008 and 2009 releases — Lemurian (Dealmaker), Cluster Dreams (Dealmaker), Ecstasy & Friends (Werk Discs), and Joyreel (Werk Discs) — positioned Cutler's project as something of a midpoint between admitted inspirations Madlib and Boards of Canada, as the producer combined off-center hip-hop beats with wistful, dreamlike layers and melodies. While some tracks — or sections of some tracks — had dancefloor appeal, Cutler flipped a switch in 2010. The A-sides "Pineapple Crush" (Magic Wire) and "Once in a While" (Werk Discs), along with the full-length Emerald Fantasy Tracks (Magic Wire), retained the evocative feel of his earlier work while incorporating his affinity for early-'90s hardcore, house, and rave. The deeply indebted yet unique sound carried through the six-track Echolocations EP (R&S), then took a bit of a goofball turn on "All Those Weird Things," both of which were released in 2011. "Crystal Gardens 1991" previewed Galaxy Garden, a 2012 album for R&S. Another album for the Belgian label, the relatively downtempo Reality Testing, followed in 2014. Two years later, he explored his love of '90s jungle with the full-length Levitate. Cutler has also produced a handful of singles with Andy Hemsley as Kids in Tracksuits, and has released an album as one-half of the duo Kona Triangle. In 2017, Cutler offered an entry in the DJ-Kicks series, marking his first commercial mix album. It was led by the single "Saturday Night." ~ Andy Kellman