DJ Mag’s top mixes of 2024

This year, DJ Mag has had the pleasure of hosting mixes, HQ sessions and live streams from around the world on our various channels. On Soundcloud, our Recognise series welcomed 16 mixes from the likes of Karen Nyame KG, IMANU, Regal86, DJ Danifox and re:ni, while the On Cue series …

Spotify populating playlists with “ghost artists” to minimise royalty costs, report alleges 

A new report published by Harper’s Magazine has alleged that Spotify is filling some of its biggest music playlists with work by “ghost artists”, a group of musicians who create large amounts of music to be distributed specifically across the streaming platform. According to journalist Liz Pelly – who will next year …

Selections: Azzecca

It’s been over a month since Azzecca dropped her long-anticipated single, ‘Who’s That Girl​?​’, and we’re still not over it. The intergalactic house heater – released on Dutch imprint DGTL – brought a more minimal twist to the Chicagoan’s signature sound, interfusing ethereal vocals with deep, stuttering bass lines and …

DJ Mag’s top compilations of 2024

From mix releases courtesy of dance music royalty, through archival deep dives and explorations into global scenes, to sprawling collections raising funds for crucial causes, here is DJ Mag’s unranked overview of the compilations that made the past 12 months so memorable for electronic music in all its forms

Fresh Kicks 218: Maude Vôs

It’s Thanksgiving morning, and Maude Vôs is feeling a little nostalgic. The Los Angeles-based sound sculptress is spending the holidays with their family in Salt Lake City, Utah, and, as they sip on their takeaway coffee, they’re relishing in the familiarity of their former home. “It’s funny because I picked …

DJ Mag’s top tracks of 2024

2024’s biggest tracks showcased a scene-wide push and pull between hedonistic dancefloor energy and a pivot toward deeper textures and slower tempos. From ace-in-ya-sleeve heaters and rap gems, bleepy breakbeat rollercoasters and future-facing house and techno cuts, into technicolour trip hop and sub-crushing club tunes, here is DJ Mag’s unranked …

DJ Mag’s top albums of 2024

In 2024, electronic artists explored the intricacies of identity and cultural history via club-focused LPs, while others stepped away from the dancefloor’s hard and fast hedonism in favour of hazier soundscapes influenced by downtempo, dub and ambient music. Visionary rap, jazz and pop musicians and niche genre pioneers alike reached …

Sheffield’s Hope Works to shut in February

Sheffield club Hope Works will shut its doors in February 2025.  Announcing the news today, 16th December, the team behind the beloved underground venue and home of No Bounds festival said that founder and Creative Director Liam O’Shea, aka Lo Shea, had made the difficult decision to close in order …

Premiere: Choopsie ‘Melt’

Choopsie has released her new ‘Drift’ EP via HE.SHE.THEY. Listen to ‘Melt’ below. The LA-based DJ and producer follows releases for Shall Not Fade, Dirtybird, Silver Bear Recordings and more with a new suite of transcendent club material, crafted from strands of UKG, house, trance, techno and breakbeat. The four-track ‘Drift’ EP – …

DJ Mag Best of British awards 2024: the winners

“It’s for the dancefloor; it’s fun, with groovy basslines, nice chords, fairly simple, not super intricate, but it’s changed so much it’s quite hard to describe!” Over Zoom, a beaming Josh Baker is attempting to define the distinctive production sound that won him our Breakthrough Producer award. He specialises in …

Tbilisi’s Left Bank venue launches GoFundMe to ensure survival amid political unrest

Tbilisi venue Left Bank is fundraising to ensure its survival amid ongoing political unrest in Georgia.  Tens of thousands of Georgians have taken part in protests over the past two weeks in the response to the government’s decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union. Parliamentary elections took place in October, but …

Boudica Music Conference returns to FOLD with Juliana Huxtable, Jaguar, PXSSY PALACE’s Nadine Noor, more next month 

Boudica Music Conference will return to FOLD on Saturday 24th January 2025. Established as a platform for female, trans+ and non-binary people working within electronic music, the multidisciplinary all-day gathering is divided into panels, workshops and a club event.  Speakers are set to include Nadine Noor of PXSSY Palace, Hannah …

Premiere: Cinthie ‘I Warned You Baby’

Cinthie will release a new EP, ‘Rave Baby’, later this week via Aus Music. Have an exclusive first listen to ‘I Warned You Baby’ below. Landing tomorrow (6th December), the project is the third in a run of four releases from different artists to celebrate the 200th outing of Will Saul’s …

Premiere: Oscar Farrell ‘Why Won’t You Tell Me’

Oscar Farrell will release his debut single later this week. Have an exclusive first listen to ‘Why Won’t You Tell Me’ below. Landing tomorrow on Dirty Hit’s electronic sub-label dh2, the release follows a string of big-league remixes from the English producer, including a contribution to DJ Seinfeld’s ‘MIRRORS (REMIXED)’ project and a recent rework of Kelly …

Premiere: eoin dj ‘On Lilac Skies’

eoin dj is gearing up to release a new EP on Spray’s Punctuality imprint, ‘Ode To Beachball’. Have an exclusive first listen to ‘On Lilac Skies’ below. On the label’s fourth and final release of the year – landing 4th December – the Galway-born, Berlin-based DJ and producer channels the chart-topping trance euphoria of Nalin & …

Mu540 releases new EP, ‘4×4’: Listen

Mu540 has released his new EP, ‘4×4’. Spanning seven tracks, the new record sees the Brazilian DJ, producer and regular Mochackk collaborator fuse baile funk, UK garage and house music, and collaborate with Brazilian vocalist such as MC GW, MC Laranjinha and Cave. The track titles, features and visual imagery …

New book teaches children about Chicago footwork

A new children’s book has been published devoted to Chicago footwork. Elvin Discovers Chicago Footwork centres around a dancing elephant named Elvin and explores both the music genre and the dancing at the centre of the scene. It’s the creation of a partnership between ChicagoFootworkDotCom, Jones Corner Store and Creative …

Crazy P release ninth album, ‘Any Signs Of Love’: “Danielle considered it to be some of our best work”

Crazy P have released their latest album, ‘Any Signs Of Love’. Marking the UK project’s ninth studio record, its release today (Friday, 29th November) follows the untimely passing of lead singer Danielle Moore in August of this year. It’s their first full-length album in five years. In a collective statement …

New online music journal, Forward / Scratch, documents music and nightlife as tools of political resistance

A new online journal, Forward / Scratch, is documenting music and nightlife as tools of political resistance, with a specific focus on their role in the struggle for Palestinian liberation. Launched with support from DJs Against Apartheid and Ravers For Palestine, the publication describes itself as “the resistance music journal”. “We …

Premiere: Papa Nugs ‘132 In A Ford Escort’

Papa Nugs and Ho Gosh have linked up on a new EP for London label Suckerpunch Recordings, ‘Dance Floor Renovations 002’. Listen to ‘132 In A Ford Escort’ below. On the second edition of Suckerpunch’s edit/’90s homage series, label co-founder Papa Nugs goes head to head with elusive producer Ho Gosh on four cuts of sample-laden club …

Kenny ‘Sting’ King, Telepathy UK rave promoter and Stratford Rex venue founder, celebrated in new book

One of UK rave’s unsung heroes, Kenny ‘Sting’ King, is being celebrated in a new book by Rollo Jackson and Andrew Bravin. STEP IN TIME: Conversations with Kenny ‘Sting’ King is a largely first-hand chronicle of King’s time as a promoter in the ’90s with the Telepathy and Life Utopia raves, among …

Ferry Corsten releases new album, ‘Connect’: Listen

Ferry Corsten has released his sixth studio album, ‘Connect’. Out now via Flashover Recordings, a subsidiary of Armada Music, the 15-track record fuses various electronic styles of music, including trance, progressive house and breakbeat. It features collaborations with Marsh, 22Bullets, Silva City (the collaborative project of Alan Fitzpatrick and Reset …

Premiere: Sakura Tsuruta ‘Obsidian’

Sakura Tsuruta will release her new EP, ‘GEMZ’, next week via All My Thoughts. Have an exclusive first listen to ‘Obsidian’ below. Set for release on 26th November, the project follows the Japanese DJ and producer’s sprawling debut album, ‘C / O’, originally released in 2022 and reissued in 2023. This time …

Premiere: Tommy Bones ‘Dub Style’

Tommy Bones is readying a new double AA release on Vega Records, ‘Shouldna/Dub Style’. Have an exclusive first listen to ‘Dub Style’ below. Over thirty years after his first professional DJ gig in New York City, the house veteran continues to find rich, sonic inspiration in the city that raised him, …

Premiere: Ell Murphy ‘Need It’

Ell Murphy returns to Berlin-London label Greco Roman this week with a new single, ‘Need It’. Have an exclusive first listen to the track below. The South London-based DJ, producer and vocalist rounds out an abundant year of releases – which included the four-track ‘Pressure’ EP on her Jucey Tunes imprint and …

Marie Davidson announces new album, ‘City Of Clowns’, shares ‘Sexy Clown’: Listen

Marie Davidson has announced her sixth studio album, ‘City Of Clowns’, set for release on 28th February via Soulwax’s DEEWEE label. Co-written and produced with Soulwax and Pierre Guerineau, the album marks a new chapter for the Canadian DJ-producer, blending club-ready energy with experimental pop structures. Today’s announcement is accompanied …

Helena Hauff releases new Tresor EP, ‘Multiply Your Absurdities’: Listen

Helena Hauff’s debut release for Tresor Records is out now. The ‘Multiply Your Absurdities’ EP is the Hamburg producer’s first solo release on the iconic Berlin label and features lead single ‘Humanoid Fruit’, for which Hauff released a music video last month, directed by Bahar Noorizadeh. ‘Humanoid Fruit’ was originally part …

Year-round onsite drug testing at Drumsheds and The Warehouse Project to be introduced by The Loop

Harm reduction charity The Loop has been granted a licence to carry out onsite drug testing at two of the largest club venues in the UK, London’s Drumsheds and The Warehouse Project in Manchester. Having received new Home Office (HO) licensing to test at music venues, The Loop will provide mobile laboratories onsite at both …

Teenage Engineering announces new portable instrument and sequencer, OP-XY

Teenage Engineering has released a new instrument, sampler, sequencer and performance instrument called the OP-XY. The new monochrome device from the Swedish designers is made for polyrhythm sequencing, with eight tracks of instruments and eight auxiliary tracks for controlling external equipment, modular gear and effects. Each can run at independent speeds …

Premiere: Zisko ‘The Dystopian Paradise’

Zisko is gearing up to release a new EP on Neighbourhood, ‘Speak Your Truth’. Have an exclusive first listen to ‘The Dystopian Paradise’ below. On the heels of his fiery ‘All Or Nothing’ EP for Involve Records, released in April, the Argentinian DJ and producer returns with another suite of deep, dark and …