Best Albums

January 2024

- JUKE BOUNCE WERK
  Dance Maniacs - Built Like That
  
  The trio's raucous, grab-bag genre approach to US club music reflects the old-school rave renaissance underway in Los Angeles.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- Fat Possum
  Nailah Hunter - Lovegaze
  
  The harpist sublimates her signature instrument into an atmospheric canvas for gauzy, candlelit love songs.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- Parallel Minds
  Ciel - Homesick
  
  Bringing many loves together—shoegaze, tech house and the traditional sounds of her home country, China—Ciel's debut album both soothes and compels movement.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- Spazio Disponibile
  Donato Dozzy - Magda
  
  The Italian techno maestro's latest album is an exercise in beauty and serenity, more zen ritual than catharsis.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp
- Music From Memory
  Various (Music From Memory) - 10
  
  A bittersweet celebration of one of the past decade's defining electronic music labels in the wake of the death of cofounder Jamie Tiller.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp
- Light In The Attic
  Lou Reed - Hudson River Wind Meditations
  
  This newly reissued, and often beautiful, 2007 drone album shows the late New York firebrand's keen grasp of experimental music.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp
- Self-released
  Chuquimamani-Condori - DJ E
  
  The artist formerly known as Elysia Crampton makes a gloriously chaotic and triumphant return.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp
- Love Minus Communications
  Tiga & Hudson Mohawke - L'Ecstasy
  
  Shards of electro, breakbeat, synth pop, soft R&B, techno and house make up this strange yet delightful brew, inspired by the idea of "hardcore romance."
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- fabric Records
  Sama' Abdulhadi - fabric presents Sama' Abdulhadi
  
  A ferocious big-room mix from Palestine's techno ambassador.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- 3024
  Otik - Cosmosis
  
  Otik combines liquid drum & bass, techno and UK garage on an album of heavenly beats inspired by his own soul-searching.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- SVBKVLT
  33EMYBW - Holes of Sinian
  
  The doyenne of Shanghai dance music explores prehistoric life and non-linear time with help from Batu and Marina Herlop.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify

Best EPs

January 2024

- Miami Daddy
  CC:DISCO! & Jennifer Loveless - Magic (Is In The Tempo)
  
  Two key producers of sensual dance music team up for something that lands between a forgotten Ibiza classic and '90s Latin house label Razz.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- Gudu Records
  Lady Blacktronika - Trablonika Daly
  
  Singular Detroit house with industrial bite, featuring a whopper of a remix from Octo Octa.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- FÆRIES RECORDS
  Talita Otović - ALTÆR
  
  Meditations on the body-as-archive, delivered in sibilant spoken word and an unpredictable mélange of techno and IDM.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- Magic City
  GRRL - Side By Side
  
  The kind of syncretic, everything-at-once techno pastiche that GRRL excels at.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- On Loop
  Amaliah - Manifold
  
  On this excellent EP, Amaliah mixes house, techno and UK funky—all united by a lean, tech house-inspired groove.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- Kalahari Oyster Cult
  Maara - Hear Me Neigh
  
  Maara sinks further into trance decadence—complete with horse samples—after the more downtempo strains of her excellent debut album.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp
- Ilian Tape
  Mia Koden - Decode
  
  Mia Koden hits harder than Ilian Tape's usual suspects, embellishing a core dubstep style with unpredictable arrangements and sneakily good sound design.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- Sea~rène
  GiGi FM - Kiwi Synthesis Diary Vol.2
  
  Spiritually touched techno laced with shooting star synths and supple drum programming.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- Limited Network
  Max Watts & Huey Mnemonic - The Silver Lining
  
  Two flavours of old-school Detroit techno with a contemporary finesse.
  
  Listen:
  Soundcloud
- Exit Records
  HomeSick - 1000dB Stare
  
  Brilliant uptempo club music on dBridge's label with quirky vocals and acrobatic drum programming.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify
- Rant & Rave
  Lady Starlight - Choose
  
  Rich and evocative techno with a muscular frame on Maedon's increasingly impressive new Rant & Rave label.
  
  Listen:
  Bandcamp / Apple Music / Spotify

Best Mixes

January 2024

- BEIGE
  Closing the Grove Sustain-Release 2023
  
  This set from BEIGE at Sustain-Release captures the weary yet euphoric vibe of a closing slot after a weekend of exertion: giddy, occasionally sleepy and blissed-out.
- Commissar Lag
  Disc Jam X Oscillations: Meltr
  
  Almost two hours of pumping, often hardgroove-adjacent techno recorded live at his first-ever gig in Pakistan. Expect pounding kicks, expert DJing and lots of jogwheel fun.
- Slowmouth
  Motus Podcast 057
  
  As founder of South Korean label Morsecode Records, Slowmouth champions loose-limbed, minimal music built around unwavering groove.
- Buhle Mbongwa
  E67 Music Always
  
  This Music Always set from Buhle Mbongwa offers a taste of drum & bass, jungle and breakbeat mixed in with Johannesburg's usual lush sounds.
- Jeffrey Sfire
  H.A.N.D. MIX 050
  
  Nearly six hours of downtempo sleaze and funk recorded live at Berlin party Cocktail d'Amore.
- Cauana
  Dekmantel São Paulo 2023
  
  The Brazilian DJ's hometown set is rollicking and spacey, floating through weird house, techno and electro with a steady, guiding hand.
- 30000AD
  SORRYMIX26
  
  An all-vinyl set of crunchy house, disco and techno from 30,000AD as part of Sorry Records' first-ever Nowadays takeover last year.
- Tammy Lakkis
  XOXA BLEND 187
  
  Detroit's Tammy Lakkis said she wanted to make this XOXA mix "something nice and smooth but who am I kidding, that's not what I do. This mix embodies the spirit of fluidity and eclecticism. Enjoy the curveballs."
- Anna Wall
  Spaced 30
  
  The 30th instalment in Spaced's beloved mix series features two hours of pillowy house, funky electro and more from the fabric resident.
- NIKS
  Daisychain 310
  
  An excellent Daisychain mix from Black Artist Database founder NIKS, who rolls through groovy and percussive techno and house with finesse.