01

Best albums

November 2019

- 33EMYBW
  Arthropods
  SVBKVLT
  
  Mind-bending club music inspired by spiders and crustaceans.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Bella Boo
  Once Upon A Passion
  Studio Barnhus
  
  House and pop combined with thoughtful depth and grace.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Shanti Celeste
  Tangerine
  Peach Discs
  
  Shanti Celeste's best record yet shows a new side to her sound—abstract, atmospheric, rhythmically varied—but doesn't skimp on the dance floor heat.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Ziúr
  ATØ
  Planet Mu
  
  Pop-inflected, politically charged and banging front to back, ATØ is a high-water mark for experimental club music.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Galcher Lustwerk
  Information
  Ghostly International
  
  Some might call it hip-house, but with Information Galcher Lustwerk continues to sound like no one other than himself.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Shed
  Oderbruch
  Ostgut Ton
  
  René Pawlowitz returns to Ostgut Ton—and returns to form—with an album full of bright synths and lively instrumentation, informed by the landscape of his East German homestead.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Soundcloud
- DJ Nigga Fox
  Cartas Na Manga
  Príncipe
  
  The Lisbon artist casts his distinctive batida style in a seductive shadow.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Giant Swan
  Giant Swan
  Keck
  
  The live techno duo translate the raw energy of their shows into one hell of an album.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- FKA twigs
  MAGDALENE
  Young Turks
  
  The visionary artist combines heartbreak with empowerment on this LP of haunting, 21st-century torch songs.
  
  Listen: Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Karenn
  Grapefruit Regret
  Voam
  
  Sonically rich and thrillingly intense techno that could only come from Blawan and Pariah.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Moor Mother
  Analog Fluids Of Sonic Black Holes
  Don Giovanni
  
  A poetic record about black empowerment that looks to time travel—via jazz, hip-hop and spoken word—for hope.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- Various
  4 Down
  Deek Recordings
  
  The weird pop records you love, remade with synths and drum machines.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud

02

Best singles

November 2019

- Róisín Murphy
  Narcissus
  skint
  
  Crooked Man's swirling instrumental combines with Murphy's honey-sweet vocals for a feel-good disco banger.
  
  Listen: Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Anastasia Kristensen
  MAXIMA
  Houndstooth
  
  The Copenhagen techno artist's second EP further reveals a thoughtful, nuanced approach to production.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Pinch & Kahn
  Crossing The Line feat. Killa's Army
  Tectonic Recordings
  
  Dubstep meets dancehall and Bristol meets Brixton on this fiery release from two bass heavyweights.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Joy Overmono
  Depth Charge
  XL Recordings
  
  Minimal fuss, maximum impact on this much-anticipated collaboration from three leading lights of UK dance music
  
  Listen: Apple Music / Spotify
- Kelsey Lu
  Why Knock For You (Dixon Retouch)
  Columbia
  
  Dixon nips and tucks Lu's vocals (and violin) for a melancholy anthem that echoes the Innervisions days of yore.
  
  Listen: Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Leif
  Igam-Ogam
  Livity Sound
  
  Hypnotic production, lush melodies and the tranquil grooves that mark Leif's best work.
  
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Andy Stott
  It Should Be Us
  Modern Love
  
  Ahead of a new album, Manchester's king of "knackered house" delivers nine spellbinding tracks.
  
  Listen: Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Aardvarck
  Monkey See...
  Deep Medi Musik
  
  It was made in 2009, but this Mala secret weapon could be the year's freshest dubstep release.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Midland
  The Alchemy Of Circumstance
  Graded
  
  Three years on from his mega-hit, "Final Credits," Midland outdoes himself with some of the weirdest tracks of his career.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- ⣎⡇ꉺლ༽இ•̛)ྀ◞ ༎ຶ ༽ৣৢ؞ৢ؞ؖ ꉺლ
  ʅ͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡(ƟӨ)ʃ͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡ ꐑ(ཀ ඊູ ఠీੂ೧ູ࿃ूੂ✧ළඕั࿃ूੂ࿃ूੂੂ࿃ूੂළඕั✧ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ɵੂ≢࿃ूੂ೧ູఠీੂ ඊ
  Text Records
  
  Save this psychedelic transmission from Four Tet's formerly obscure alias for the afterparty.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Spotify
- Shygirl
  BB
  NUXXE
  
  The rising UK artist teams up with Sega Bodega for a showcase of her rapping skills that also happens to be maddeningly catchy.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Marcel Dettmann
  BAD MANNERS 3 (Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir & Morphosis remixes)
  BAD MANNERS
  
  These remixes of unreleased Dettmann tunes are funky, strange and ripe for the dance floor.
  
  Listen: Apple Music / Spotify
- Aïsha Devi
  S.L.F. Versions
  Houndstooth
  
  Cutting-edge reworks of one of the most exciting artists in the game.
  
  Listen: Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud

03

Best mixes

November 2019

- ilind
  Spontaneous Affinity 022
  
  This enlightening mix from Denver artist (and Abstract Without Abstraction head) ilind might just make you rethink what mixes can be.
- xin
  FACT Mix 737
  
  A walloping selection of some of the influences, from dubstep to gabber to mutant hardcore, that went into xin's mind-blowing debut album.
  
  Four Tet
  The Lot Radio 11/12/2019
  
  This set from Four Tet at The Lot Radio in Brooklyn more than justifies his second appearance in this list.
  
  DJ Bus Replacement Service
  Live At Dekmantel Selectors 2019
  
  You may not be surprised to learn that this two-hour recording of DJ Bus Replacement Service playing in Croatia is absolutely bananas.
  
  DEBONAIR
  Dekmantel Podcast 257
  
  "From wavy to gnarly in 80 minutes," in the words of the UK DJ herself.
  
  Moodymann
  Plays Motown
  
  Who better than to celebrate 60 years of Detroit's most legendary label than Kenny Dixon Jr?
  
  Physical Therapy
  Live At Honcho Campout
  
  Daniel Fisher has had a banner year for mixes already, but this set from Honcho Campout—two-and-a-half hours of enchanting blends and a capella wizardry—is something else.
  
  DJ Voices
  Truancy Volume 254
  
  Slowed-down grooves, trippy techno and weirdo beats from an essential New York DJ.
  
  Lennart Wiehe
  Live At Bad Manners
  
  Marcel Dettmann protégé Lennart Wiehe lays down a deep and dubby two-hour set that might take you back to the old days of Berghain.
  
  Vlada
  GHOSTCAST007
  
  Party-rocking loopy house from the excellent Russian DJ.