AZARI & III

Azari & III have always been outsiders and iconoclasts. Alixander III, Dinamo Azari, Fritz Helder and Starving Yet Full first came across each other in the mid-00s Toronto underground club scene, to which they'd all gravitated on moving to the city to pursue their creative dreams - and it was their sense of being misfits even in a community of outsiders that drew them together.

At all times, Azari & III are spontaneous and hedonistic - qualities that, for Alixander and Azari, stem back to their first ever musical projects. Prior to the quartet coming together, the two instrumentalists were already taking advantage of Toronto being a cosmopolitan hub for creative kids from across the world. "We were working with these young artists to create sounds totally unlike modern ones," says Azari. "We didn't know each other then, but we were both using similar sounds - from samba beats to steel drums, mixing native folk music with modern technology." Experimentation with vintage synths and improvisation were key to their work - and even now, that's how they prefer to work. "Sometimes I'll be fiddling around with analog gear and it'll just start generating this weird noise," says Alixander. "And it's like - press record, boom!"

Fast forward to 2010, when they first thrust their way into the attention of international dance cognoscenti: again, the foursome were like no other dance act around. Their music was bold, brash, packed with hooks and full of character - and they had the visuals to match: debut video Hungry For The Power was a feast of imagery, an American Psycho meets Paris Is Burning extravaganza that was so explicit that the full version was banned from Youtube. Their eponymous debut album followed in August 2011 to widespread critical acclaim, with raves coming from all quarters: the dance press (Resident Advisor, XLR8R), the indie press (Pitchfork, NME) and mainstream reviewers such as the BBC and the Guardian.

Remixes for the likes of Cut Copy, Robyn, Creep and Booka Shade further reinforced their credentials across the worlds of both techno and pop - and the growing demand for a sound that was equally at home in a warehouse or at a fashion show, combining grit, glamour and a fierce, politicised attitude: the group speak frequently about the dancefloor's historic role as a place of liberation for marginalised communities, and throughout their work the feeling persists that something is at stake beneath the furious kineticism of the beats.

Such is its appeal that it's no surprise that the band have moved up to the next level: formerly on independent label Loose Lips, Island have now snapped them up and will re-release the album in January. So far, Azari & III have done everything their own way - and don't be surprised if they have a long way to go yet.