Pantha Du Prince

Germany's black-clad Pantha Du Prince cuts a dashing figure befitting his regal name, and his music is just as darkly romantic in nature, wrapping up bell tones and lush synthesizers with clean, wrinkle-free house beats, like a feather duvet stuffed inside a crisply ironed cotton slipcover. Pantha Du Prince (aka Hendrik Weber) is a mainstay of Hamburg's Dial label, which since the early '00s has specialized in a distinctive brand of dreamy, moody, minimalist house and techno, akin to Kompakt's mellower side. In 2009, Pantha Du Prince became the first electronic act ever signed to Rough Trade; his debut for the label, Black Noise, followed in 2010, featuring a cameo from Animal Collective's Panda Bear.