When Rustie (Russell Whyte, 29) makes his Japan debut at SonarSound Tokyo this weekend, it will mark the culmination of a remarkable few years that has seen the Scottish producer swap house parties in his hometown of Glasgow for headline spots at some of the biggest clubs in the world.
Whyte's debut album, "Glass Swords," was released to unanimous acclaim in October. It's hyperactive — bombarding synths evoke a "Blade Runner"-esque landscape, retro video-game samples conjure up pixelated nostalgia, and blasts of the "purple" sound coined by Bristolian dubstep frontrunner Joker (with whom Whyte released a split 12" single in late 2008) add yet more color.
Another of Britain's most exciting producers and the man behind Werk Discs, Actress, recently designed a hypnotic soundscape for artist Yayoi Kusama's retrospective at London's Tate Modern. In comparison, the exaggerated effervescence of "Glass Swords" would find its visual equivalent in the Superflat works of artist Takashi Murakami. Whyte's 2009 track "Inside Pikachu's Cunt" even sounds like the name of something you'd expect to find inside Murakami's Kaikai Kiki studio.