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Artists like Jamie xx — and the music that made them

Electronic/UK Garage · 2009-present
Electronic pioneer weaving house, garage, and indie into transcendent dancefloor magic
Jamie Smith, known as Jamie xx, is the electronic mastermind behind The xx who transformed from indie band member into one of Britain's most innovative solo producers. His genre-blending approach seamlessly merges UK garage, house, and ambient textures with pop sensibilities, creating deeply emotional dance music that works equally well in clubs and headphones.
Essential tracks
Gosh
I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)
Loud Places
Did you know
He sampled a 1990s answering machine message from his friend for the intro to 'Gosh'
His remix of Gil Scott-Heron's 'I'll Take Care of U' led to a full collaborative album with the legendary poet
He taught himself production by making beats on his laptop in his university dorm room at Elliott School
“Melancholic house beats meet UK garage rhythms in sublime electronic poetry.”
2
generations
of influence
Influence tree
Trace Jamie xx's roots back through history
Every sound has a source. Click any node to hear the connection.
Jamie xx
2009-present
Burial
2006-present
cited
Four Tet
1997-present
cited
Aphex Twin
1985-present
sonic
Goldie
1992-present
movement
Photek
1992-present
movement
Roni Size
1993-present
movement
Larry Levan
1970s-1992
movement
Brian Eno
1970-present
sonic
↑ Click any influence node to see the connection and where to start listening.
What makes the sound
Sonic elements
UK garage rhythms
Melancholic house progressions
Organic sample manipulation
Sparse minimalist arrangements
Start with these tracks
Gosh
I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)
Loud Places
Sleep Sound
If you like Jamie xx, try these
Four Tet
Shares organic textures and emotive electronic compositions with folktronic elements.
2000s · Electronic
Burial
Creates similarly atmospheric UK garage with haunting vocal samples and emotional depth.
2000s · UK Garage
Mount Kimbie
Blends post-dubstep electronics with indie sensibilities and intricate sound design.
2010s · Post-Dubstep
Bonobo
2000s · Downtempo
Caribou
Combines dance music with indie pop songwriting and rich melodic textures.
2000s · Indietronica
Disclosure
Masters UK garage revival with house influences and sophisticated production techniques.
2010s · UK Garage
Key influences explained
Burial
Jamie Smith's atmospheric approach to electronic music draws heavily from Burial's pioneering work on 'Untrue,' particularly the use of pitched vocal snippets and crackling vinyl textures that create emotional depth. The way Jamie xx layers ghostly vocal fragments over minimal beats, especially on tracks like 'Gosh,' directly echoes Burial's technique of using R&B and garage vocal samples as melodic instruments. This influence taught Jamie xx how silence and space could be as powerful as the beats themselves.
Gil Scott-Heron
The collaboration with Gil Scott-Heron on 'We're New Here' fundamentally shaped Jamie xx's understanding of how electronic production could serve as a reverent dialogue with hip-hop and soul history. Scott-Heron's spoken-word delivery over Jamie's subdued, jazz-inflected beats demonstrated how restraint and respect for the source material could create something entirely new. This project established Jamie's template for honoring influences while transforming them through his distinctive minimalist lens.
Four Tet
Kieran Hebden's approach to organic textures within electronic frameworks provided Jamie xx with a blueprint for making dance music that breathed with human imperfection. Four Tet's albums like 'Rounds' showed how field recordings and acoustic instruments could be woven into electronic compositions without losing their natural character. Jamie xx adopted this philosophy of warm, tactile production, evident in how he processes live drums and incorporates environmental sounds throughout 'In Colour.'
Context
Jamie xx emerged from the post-dubstep UK underground of the late 2000s, where producers were deconstructing garage, jungle, and UK funky into more spacious, emotionally resonant forms. As part of The xx, he helped define the 'chillwave' aesthetic that dominated indie culture around 2010, but his solo work pushed deeper into the UK's dance continuum. His production style bridges the gap between the introspective indie electronic scene and the UK's bass music heritage, drawing from both the restraint of ambient techno and the rhythmic complexity of UK garage. This positioned him uniquely within London's diverse electronic ecosystem, where bedroom producers were increasingly engaging with club culture.
Legacy
Jamie xx's influence reverberates through the current generation of producers who blend indie sensibilities with dance floor functionality, from Ross from Friends to DJ Seinfeld. His approach to sampling—treating source material as sacred while completely reimagining its context—has become a template for respectful musical archaeology in electronic music. The emotional weight he brings to minimal arrangements has influenced how contemporary artists approach vulnerability in dance music.
Why it matters
Understanding Jamie xx's influences reveals how his seemingly effortless minimalism actually represents a careful synthesis of UK underground traditions with indie rock's emotional directness. His ability to make dance music that works equally well in headphones and on sound systems comes from studying how his influences balanced intimacy with physical impact. Recognizing these lineages helps listeners hear the deep intentionality behind arrangements that might otherwise seem simply 'chill' or atmospheric.
About this page

Music like Jamie xx — Jamie Smith, known as Jamie xx, is the electronic mastermind behind The xx who transformed from indie band member into one of Britain's most innovative solo producers. His genre-blending approach seamlessly merges UK garage, house, and ambient textures with pop sensibilities, creating deeply emotional dance music that works equally well in clubs and headphones.

Artists like Jamie xx today include Four Tet, Burial, Mount Kimbie, Bonobo. If you enjoy Jamie xx, these artists share similar sonic qualities, influences, and emotional range.

Bands like Jamie xx and songs like Jamie xx are among the most searched music discovery queries — rootz.guru goes deeper by tracing the roots of the sound itself, not just surface-level similarity.