Best Albums

June 2021

- 4AD
  Erika de Casier - Sensational
  
  Sultry and inventive R&B that sounds like Y2K bedroom pop, with lyrics that are alternately funny, sexy and clever.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Hyperdub
  Fatima Al Qadiri - Medieval Femme
  
  A beautiful and delicate album that draws on the feelings, imagery and mood of medieval poetry.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- Rush Hour Music
  Terrence Dixon - Reporting From Detroit
  
  A manifesto for the future of Detroit techno minimalism.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Rough Trade
  Dean Blunt - Black Metal 2
  
  The mercurial artist sounds more confrontational and hilarious than ever on this powerful follow-up to his seminal 2014 album.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Fabric Records
  Motor City Drum Ensemble - fabric Presents Danilo Plessow
  
  Recorded in the pandemic, this quietly triumphant mix highlights the invigorating power of dance music in all its forms.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- AMF
  Greentea Peng - Man Made
  
  Recorded live in the countryside with a band, the Londoner's debut album showcases an intimate, healing and sometimes psychedelic style of R&B.
  
  Listen:
  Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Melody As Truth
  Suzanne Kraft - About You
  
  The chameleonic producer turns to '90s indie on this surprising—and convincing—album of dreamy jangle rock.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Smalltown Supersound
  Perila - How Much Time It Is Between You And Me?
  
  Perila's music only grows more interior, complex and spine-tingling on her Smalltown Supersound debut.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Kranky
  Loscil - Clara
  
  The veteran ambient artist presents his most epic work yet, built entirely around a three-minute orchestral sample refracted and stretched into new sounds.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- FORESEEN Entertainment
  Georgia Anne Muldrow - VWETO III
  
  The latest in the singer and producer's beat tape series is brash and soulful, saying a lot with very few words.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud

Best Singles

June 2021

- Magic City
  Jubilee - don't play this
  
  Miami bass with a New York club touch, inspired in part by Jubilee's early days in the Florida underground.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- Accidental
  Nwando Ebizie - I Seduce
  
  A cyclone of percussive and vocal polyrhythms inspired partly by Haitian vodou.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Unknown to the Unknown
  Evil Fred - The Unknown Evil
  
  Shed gets (UK) funky on this new EP, showing how much ground the restless producer still has to explore.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Self-released
  MIIV - Umbra
  
  Compelling, understated and eclectic R&B from an exciting new voice.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- black.round.twelve
  Ricardo Villalobos - Mecker
  
  A long-awaited dubplate resurfaces 14 years later, catching Villalobos at his loopiest, funkiest and most concise.
  
  Listen:
  Youtube
- 2 B REAL
  LOFT - Wish It Would Rain
  
  Pure club catharsis from the artist also known as AYA.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Exit Records
  Malfnktion - No Dough
  
  The Indian artist's adventurous Exit debut—touching on drum & bass, dubstep and more—is a landmark not only for him but the country's wider club scene.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- Gudu Records
  Peggy Gou - Nabi feat. OH HYUK
  
  Peggy Gou does trip-hop with this refreshingly laid-back summer jam.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- GD4YA
  SW2 & Moses Boyd - Bridge The Gap / Dirty South
  
  Jazz, jungle and UK garage collide on this dream-team collaboration featuring the kinetic drumming of Moses Boyd and remixes from El-B and Sully.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Kompakt
  Steve Moore - Auto Sequence Start
  
  The synth head sets his phasers to "techno" on this lush EP for Kompakt, complete with a touch of Krautrock.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify / Soundcloud
- Éditions Appærent
  bela - Guidelines
  
  Mind-bending club music inspired by a Korean folk tradition and rendered in futuristic, almost alien tones.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Soundcloud

Best Mixes

June 2021

- downstairs J
  Juanita's Mix 047
  
  The NYC artist's entry for Juanita's Mix comprises slow, tripped-out grooves, complementing his debut 12-inch, basement, etc..., released earlier this month.
- Rick Wade
  Ghostly @ The Lot Radio
  
  Timeless Detroit deep house.
- MISTERVACATTION
  DISCWOMAN 105
  
  MISTERVACATION celebrates Juneteenth with a mix of Black dance music from across the world.
- Ron Like Hell
  Deep South Podcast 077
  
  Ecstatic disco and old-school house from one half of Wrecked.
- Theo Nasa
  EarToGround Podcast 4
  
  Some might know Theo Nasa for running Alien Sound Trax; others for his hilarious techno reviews on YouTube. Here he is at his rolling, kinetic best.
- Kilopatrah Jones
  Daisychain 177
  
  The New York-based artist's new mix opens with a killer flip of Tweet's "Oops (Oh My)" and goes full-throttle from there.
- Axel Boman
  Circoloco Radio 193
  
  Axel Boman delivers a perfect weekend-ready session, featuring groovy house and disco loaded with effervescent melodies and bouncy drums.
- Jana Winderen
  Refuge: World Oceans Day
  
  Jana Winderen explores the marginal ice zone with a live broadcast of nautical field recordings, her own productions and some insight into her process.
- Mez
  Underground & Black
  
  Los Angeles DJ Mez guested on Ash Lauryn's NTS Radio show with an hour-plus of feel-good house, infused with disco, jazz, gospel and more.
- Nadia Struiwigh
  Dekmantel Podcast 335
  
  This mix for Dekmantel is both banging and tranquil at different points.

Best Albums

June 2021

Best Singles

June 2021

Self-released

Best Mixes

June 2021

downstairs J

MISTERVACATTION

Theo Nasa

Kilopatrah Jones

Jana Winderen