029: March's best music 🔥
Finding solace in club music as everything turns to mid
How to stay resilient when everything feels like a race to the bottom? I’m gonna double down on grassroots projects fuelled by deep passion and genuine communities. In my orbit that means Afterwerks, BUMPAH, Playbody, Kinetic, Club Soft, Planet Wax, Kindred, Pound & Yam, No Edits… The list could go on. There IS a way through this tidal wave of mid.
Makes sense that most of the music this month is direct and designed to make you f e e l something, from psychic discombobulation (Elmoe) to full rhythmic catharsis (De Schuurman).
We have new paid subscribers this month – I appreciate you <3 Paid subs are totally voluntary (and the price of a flat white per month) and the support goes a v long way to keeping this thing running. So respect!
The next 160 Unity is also just round the corner. There’s about 40 tickets left, so if you want to experience another historic footwork line-up in London, you know what to do. We’ll be announcing a free entry Q+A with Traxman and footwork dance workshop led by Tiger very soon too. If that wasn’t enough, the very first 160 Unity radio show is ready to listen back to and comes packed with new, exclusive high speed heat.
Happy digging!
Photo: THEMPRESS throws gunfingers down the front during Kode9’s set at 160 Unity
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Tracks & EPs 🔌
Danny Goliger ‘Exonym EP’ Jubilee’s Magic City label strikes again with four slabs of sub-loaded, flexi-rhythmic soundsystem music from Danny Goliger out of LA. The producer deals tectonic bass pressure in deft, supple ways, resulting in deep-but-funky tracks that push things fwd nicely Listen
Fast At Work ‘Hover Capsule’ This six-track crew EP will transport you to the whomping heart of Fast At Work’s LA warehouse parties, where the preference is fwd-thinking, bass-heavy club music that’ll make you sweat ‘til dawn. There’s a big link-up between Carré and Addison Groove, dancefloor freneticism from Baalti and Introspekt joins the FAW inner circle too Listen
Florence Sinclair ‘bandz’ After dropping one of the best albums of 2023 (‘departures, wonders & tears’), Florence Sinclair has quietly signed with XL and ‘bandz’ is the first fruit of this new partnership. Sinclair’s late-night-on-the-high-road storytelling dances across a distorted dancehall beat, peeling back the curtain for a glimpse of what’s to come Listen
Ill Groove Society ‘Amen Sister’ Raw breakbeat jungle and new gen ‘ardcore on this four-track, International Women’s Day comp, featuring VXRGO and Mixtress Listen
mirin doja ‘mmmhhhmmm’ Super sweet r’n’b flip that runs at 160 but has this greazy, darkside halftime groove to it. DJs take note Listen
MOLIY, Shenseea, Skillibeng, Silent Addy ‘Shake It To The Max (Fly)’ Plucked this from The Large’s excellent Substack. A dancehall banger that’s been doing the rounds this year and now has a bumper remix featuring JA’s A-list. Ice-cold, minimalist production with that perfect, boingy bass sound Listen
Oblig ‘Oblig Blends: 001’ Oblig does us a solid and drops four party-starting edits that’ll fit into your grime/techno/drill/funky sets Listen
Otus ‘Mata / Eva’ Slinky, syncopated 130bpm-ish club music out on God Colony’s Crack Copies imprint. Roving basslines and late night synth hooks seek out euphoria, further adding to God Colony’s growing vision of M62 rave. Proper UK clobber Listen
Shirley Temper ‘GXRL POWER’ Pingin’ jungle-techno that’s ripe for the reload. Shirley Temper, who’s blowin’ up the London 160 scene, also adds flourishes of ‘ardcore, electro and juke, as well as some of their own choice vocals Listen
Albums & Compilations 💿
aya ‘hexed!’ aya’s exhilarating sound design continues to evolve on the follow up to 2021 debut album ‘Im Hole’. This time her blistering deconstruction is paired with loud/quiet songwriting that draws confidently from mid 00s post hardcore and screamo, adding urgency and directness to her unique post-club sonics Listen
Bad Tips ‘Good Vibes Vol 2’ Full send from the Bad Tips label out of Lyon. Bass-loaded club music for the ‘floor, like BJF’s 150bpm grime, J LAMB’s backflipped breakbeat and DrumPhill & GoodMostlyBad’s percussive tear out. If you’re looking for that good WTF?! stuff, this is it Listen
Elmoe ‘Battle Zone’ Chopped ‘n screwed footwork that bends space and time. There’s a couple tracks for the ‘floor but this stuff is mostly high grade psychedelia, where samples melt like Dali’s clocks and the overall effect is one of discombobulation (respect to Joseph Francis for the shout out in the P4K review) Listen
Samurai Breaks ‘Cookin With Gas’ Nine turbocharged club tools from the heart of the UK’s mutant 160 scene. Each is a splurge of low-end gun finger energy, with taught percussion and tight chops ‘n drops that keep things nice and direct Listen
DJ Earl & King Agee ‘STEPBROTHERS 1 & 2’ Earl and Agee’s ‘STEPBROTHERS’ albums came out last year, but now a single album containing key tracks from both Bandcamp drops is out on DSPs and well worth celebrating. The pair keep it OG in the studio, opting for battle tracks drenched with soul and braggadocious vocal hooks, all wrapped up in the analogue warmth of fingers beating down on MPC pads. The whole thing will rank as one of the best footwork LPs of the year, but check ‘TRAKKLIKEME’ and ‘ZONE AGAIN’ for that classic, frenetic Chicago soul music and ‘LET THAT BASS BANG’ and ‘X’D OUT’ for ice cold, avant garde soundsystem bangers Listen
JANKA ‘YAMANOTE’ High speed dub meditations out of Poland. JANKA is Piotr Kalinski and Daniel Szlajnda, who marry dub techno and footwork to create long, lush tracks that fall somewhere between deep club and gorgeous ambient works. The pair have released on Japanese labels and the record also carries nods to the country, such as tributes to the Goodweather club and the Tokyo metro. Big, big tip, especially for fans of Loidis, Python, Workshop recs and AFX etc Listen
Kahn & Neek ‘Lupus et Ursus - Instrumentals’ Bristol’s finest unleash a set of instrumental versions from their recent album. This is a pandora’s box of lethal, uncompromising dub – you have been warned! Listen
YHWH Nailgun ‘45 Pounds’ Am I allowed to talk about bands? Been waiting for something as awkward and melodic and fun and angular as golden era Q And Not U for what feels like a lifetime (and, damn, maybe a lifetime has actually passed since then). Dizzy avant dance punk that’s where it’s at and really where it ought to be Listen
Zoë Mc Pherson ‘Upside Down’ Zoë Mc Pherson continues to experiment with the DNA of club music on this fourth album, which re-codes techstep, footwork, slo-mo chug and hard ambient into cyberpunk pop and euphoric experimental vignettes, like the sound of a wild night out in Neuromancer Listen
The Waste List 🚨
The Waste List playlist includes all of the artists that are featured here and is updated every month alongside each new issue of Waste Mail
DJ Mixes 🎧
Anna Morgan - Heads Know Anna Morgan goes full throttle on breakbeat bass, angular grime, mutant juke, turbocharged rap and futuro jungle. Music to make your bassbins rattle and your waist go low Listen
Beatrice M - The Dubstep-Tech House Connection Beatrice M throws back to the mid-to-late 00s to explore the relationship between dubstep and tech house, perhaps epitomised by Ricardo Villalobos’ remix of Shackleton’s ‘Blood On My Hands’. Love to see (hear?!) this kind of audio music journalism, including an interview with Appleblim, which is set to a backdrop of Beatrice M’s favourite dubstep-tech house crossover moments Listen
Bombo & Craic David - National Juke Clash Two of LDN’s most committed footwork DJs go head to head for two hours, aiming for the jugular with raw battle tracks that are designed to make footwork dance circles go crazy. This is the kind of footwork that is militantly minimalist and bass heavy, with the relentless motion of push-pull percussion right at the forefront Listen
De Schuurman ‘As The Dynasty Grows’ De Schuurman’s new gen bubbling sounds and feels cathartic, fun and crucial. This set of his own productions, put together with his signature lightning quick ‘n mad stylish mixing, must be played immediately and LOUD Listen
Farsight - Supplement 143 100% production mix from Farsight that showcases the Peruvian-American artist’s talent for bridging UK and US club styles. Tap in for some very sick, fwd-facing club workouts that’ll make you wanna hit the ‘floor Listen
Heavee - Pound & Yam Heavee’s session at Pound & Yam finalllyyy got uploaded! The Chicago footwork pioneer goes all in with mind-melting selections, with visuals featuring UK footwork dancers Tiger, Nik and Malt Beverage – the first time UK footwork dancers have featured on a footwork DJ live stream Listen
Hyas & Pura Pura - Miley Serious presents… Keep Hush Killer b2b from two French artists who rip through 140-160 club music, drawing for grime, US club, bassline, broken bass and footwork. The mixing is rapid and the blends are heavy, with the duo picking plenty of upfront releases, like LU2K’s ‘EZ Tool 2’, new Traxman and a killer footwork edit of Skream’s ‘Summer Dreams’ Listen
Juicyjards - IT’S JUICY BABYYY Found this mix in the UK footwork WhatsApp group (IYKYK!) and it comes from London newcomer Juicyjards, who whips together hard, fast party music that’s rooted in juke energy Listen
NTS guide to: Databass Records Manchester connoisseur Finn puts together two superlative hours of records released via DJ Godfather’s Databass Records. If you’re need a crash course in Detroit ghettotech heat, start here Listen
With Love from Tropical Waste ✌️
40 tix left for 160 Unity
The first episode of the 160 Unity radio show is live now and packed with new/unreleased footwork and high speed tracks
Also clashed with Dot Wav on Balamii. Check some spicy 160 blends here
