18 Women In Electronic Music You Need To Hear Right Now

Moogfest returns this year and will be celebrating some of the most acclaimed women in electronic music.

Moogfest 2016 recently unveiled its schedule for the four-day festival of electronic music (Listen to our preview playlist here). Many of the most promising new female artists are performing this year — seven of whom appear on this list — but they're just part of a whole new wave of women making music that you need to listen to right now.

1. Grimes

NBC / Via vimeo.com

Over the course of five years, Claire Boucher, better known as Grimes, has released 4 critically-acclaimed records of experimental pop music, which quickly had her one of the most popular underground artists of the last decade.

Where to start: "Oblivion," "Kill V. Maim"

2. Jlin

Via pasunautre.com

From just outside of Chicago in Gary, Indiana, Jerrilynn Patton became a global sensation in the frenetic dance genre of footwork with an approach that matches technical mastery with an expressive approach to production.

Where to start: "Unknown Tongues" (the video features dancer Lilian Steiner, above), "Erotic Heat"

3. FKA Twigs

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Singer and producer FKA Twigs is one of the most enigmatic stars of electronic R&B. Her music hearkens back to the sparse, melancholic beats of '90s trip hop, but her sensual voice, distinct style, and dance-based performances put her in a class all her own.

Where to start: "Video Girl," "Two Weeks"

4. Anna Meredith

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Acclaimed composer Anna Meredith took the unexpected step outside the classical world to tackle experimental pop...and the gamble paid off. By blending together electronic and acoustic instrumentation, she produced one of the most exciting debut albums of 2016.

Where to start: "Nautilus," "Taken"

5. Gwenno

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Gwenno honed her pop skills in the '60s-inspired girl group The Pipettes, and in her new solo career, she pulls from a much more personal influence — her Welsh heritage — and crafted a smart electro-pop album sung in her native tongue.

Where to start: "Fratolish Hiang Perpeshki," "Chwyldro"

6. Gazelle Twin

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Wearing a blue sweatsuit and mask, British producer and musician Elizabeth Bernholz uses throbbing beats, distorted vocals, and loops of household objects to create intense, eerie soundscapes.

Where to start: "Exorcise," "Anti-Body"

7. Holly Herndon

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Producer and Stanford doctoral student Holly Herndon solidified her place on the forefront of experimental music by leveraging her laptop's instrumental potential to create jittery, ambient songs.

Where to start: "Chorus," "Interference"

8. U.S. Girls

Via youtube.com

Canada-based songwriter Meg Remy explores gender inequalities through her warped, experimental take on pop, dub, rock, and vaporwave.

Where to start: "Damn That Valley," "Window Shades"

9. Laurel Halo

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Born in Michigan and now based in Berlin, Laurel Halo became a electronic star when she got behind the mic for her album Quarantine, but is now gaining praise for developing her own brand of free-form, instrumental ambient music.

Where to start: "Carcass," "Changes of Rain"

10. Julianna Barwick

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Julianna Barwick has gained praise for her distinctive sound: layers and layers of loops that create a lush chorus of her own voice. It's both heavenly and completely human.

Where to start: "Same," "One Half"

11. Hundred Waters

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Drawing comparisons to Bjork and Stereolab, Hundred Waters' refined take on folk and electronica caught the attention of Skrillex's OWSLA record label, which signed the group in 2012.

Where to start: "Cavity," "Murmurs"

12. Empress Of

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With the release of her first LP, 2015's Me, Lorely Rodriguez became a leading voice in electro pop, being described as "one of the most confident, skilled pop artists of the year."

Where to start: "Water Water," "How Do You Do It"

13. Micachu

Via youtube.com

Mica Levi, who also performs as Micachu, is often described as a visionary with no musical boundaries — she creates scrappy pop with her band The Shapes, produces dance tracks with collaborator Tirzah, and earned international acclaim for her score to 2014's Under the Skin.

Where to start: "Feeling Romantic Feeling Tropical Feeling Ill," "Heaven"

14. Kelela

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Los Angeles performer Kelela sang jazz and rock before discovering her own glossy, sensitive approach to '90s R&B-inspired electronic music.

Where to start: "A Message," "Bank Head"

15. Jessy Lanza

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Working with Junior Boy Jeremy Greenspan, Lanza's chilly but soulful voice made her synth R&B album Pull My Hair Back one of the decade's most distinctive debuts in electronic music.

Where to start: "You Never Show Your Love," "Giddy"

16. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith

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Following in the footsteps of electronic pioneers Suzanne Ciani and Laurie Spiegel, Bay Area composer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith uses Buchla synths and acoustic instruments to create melodic, etherial ambient music.

Where to start: "Sundry"

17. Pharmakon

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Noise artist Margaret Chardiet's creates music that is brutal and cathartic: metal riffs and howls that sounds more like an electronic exorcism than music.

Where to start: "Bestial Burden"

18. Lafawndah

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Paris-born singer Lafawndah's take on global pop has made her one of the most promising new stars of electronic music, having just signed to one of the most esteemed record labels, Warp, alongside Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada.

Where to start: "Tan"

Also check out SØS Gunver Ryberg, Colleen, and Nidia Minaj.