Waste Mail 018: May's best music 🔥
Unruly basslines, vapourised r'n'b, peak-time batida & heavy battle tracks
Welcome to Waste Mail, the newsletter that’s dedicated to cutting-edge club music and is written by Seb Wheeler for Tropical Waste 🔥
I’m calling it: May was the best month for music so far this year.
Landmark albums from Big Dope P, Jawnino, I. Jordan and Suzi Analogue, plus genre-defining comps from Obligated, Nehza and Bait. Life-affirming club mutations from BFTT, SLACK 1NE and SUUTOO, and (for me) new discoveries in the likes of naemi, Ulla & Ultrafrog and XENIA REAPER. Not to mention the usual slew of sick DJ mixes…
Shout out to my latest paid subscriber 🏆 There’s no obligations here, but every paid sub makes the workload a little lighter. So thank you for your support, legend! (Check out all the ways you can hype Waste Mail below 🙏🏻)
I got pretty gassed putting this together. Maybe it’s the mid summer energy?! I hope the writing reflects the enthusiasm and puts you on to some music that gets you stoked too. Nothing beats the thrill of the new, does it?
Photo: Manuka Honey at the controls, Tropical Waste x Hypnic Jerks, May 3, Ormside
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Tracks & EPs 🔌
Bait ‘One Hundred and Fifty Steps’ Dubstep evolutions on French label Bait, which ups the tempo to 150bpm and lets a clutch of new school producers, including Waste Mail fav Carré, fire out speedy, sub-low tracks. Nice to see the dubstep revival boosted by fresh energy Listen
BFTT ‘Horsin’ Around’ Properly backflipped club music from BFTT out of Manchester. Type of stuff that can melt a soundsystem before your very eyes and make your hair stand on end like you’ve just been electrocuted. Come for the immaculate sound design and head-spinning track arrangements, and stay for the moments of unbridled euphoria. Like on ‘Way U Do’, when gorgeous 90s rave keys appear amid the turbulence of a particularly unruly bassline. This kind of avant-garde ecstasy is reminiscent of Mark Fell, and the way classic house informs his brand of angular electronics Listen
Daviaa ‘about tonight / niebla’ Daviaa co-runs a label/party/radio show called Love In The Endz that platforms global club music. Lisbon-born, London-based, this double-A side sees Davaa link up with JUAN10 (aka fellow LITE co-conspirator Blue Canariñho) for a colourful guaracha-trance hybrid and Lima producer Vudufa for a dark, hypnotic joyride Listen
ezmerelda ‘Ruido y Flor’ The TraTraTrax label’s dual love of The Club and experimental electronics is one of the things that makes it so exciting. This is the debut from sub-label Ambie—Tón, which will dive into the crew’s taste in deeper, vaster forms of electronic music. First up is an extended EP by ezmerelda, a gorgeous meditation on loops, field recordings and the ethereal beauty that can be found therein Listen
James Massiah ‘True Romance’ James Massiah’s poetry reflects the joy, pain, hedonism and romance of (London) nightlife. The fleeting poignancy of kitchens, Uber rides and bike rides home from the club. This is his best music yet, irreverent lyricism gliding across neon-hued riddims that reflect his love of 80s and 90s dancehall Listen
Kamixlo ‘One More Night At The Line’ The Prince of Brixton returns to solo endeavours after spending a while out on tour and in the studio with Isabella Lovestory. Out via PAN ahead of a bigger album project, ‘One More Night…’ sees Kami settle in to a juggernaut 116bpm groove that’s spiked with trademark, demonic synths. Excited to hear what’s next Listen
SELVAGIA ‘RUGIDO LATENTE’ Rebote Discoteca is one of the labels keeping deconstructed club dream alive, throwing caution to the wind and blasting out dance music that’s fierce and distorted. Check out the way Peruvian producer SELVAGIA chops up percussion and a horn riff on ‘LATENTE’, a cascade of rhythm ‘n bass not dissimilar to the bed-squeak bounce of Jersey Club. There’s a banging Precolombian remix too Listen
Sknit ‘Loop EP’ Turbo-charged juke out of Poland, from one half of Bandcamp rave edit duo We Rob Rave. This EP is fast, in your face and the right kind of unhinged. Tip for anyone looking for 160 mutations Listen
SLACK 1NE ‘Chemistry’ Super exciting club music from an Australian producer who seems to be channelling the unpredictable spirit of labels like Hemlock, Fractal Fantasy, Night Slugs and Decisions. Four tracks and a remix bend and bounce, zapping between elements of UK techno, deconstructed club, Jersey, baile funk, instrumental grime and hyperpop. This is what club tracks in 2024 should sound like Listen
SUUTOO ‘EXTRA / LOUD’ Maximalist club concrète and seismic shoegaze from SUUTOO, who I vowed to stan after seeing them play a thrilling swirl of noise and kuduro at Kelela’s RAVE:N party. ‘EXTRA’ collages techno, highlife, noise and the beat blasts of breakcore while ‘LOUD’ unfurls an unholy riff that Kevin Shields would be dead proud of. Killer stuff Listen
Albums & Compilations 💿
Big Dope P ‘Toto La Castagne’ Big Dope P must be a busy dude. His label, Moveltraxx, pushes a constant stream of juke, footwork, ghetto house and French Touch-inflected club music. And now he’s produced a short, sharp album of party anthems that reflects the music he loves and his ear as a tastemaker. Many of the tracks are collabs with producers and vocalists, situating the LP at the heart of the Moveltraxx network, with incendiary results like juke-drill hybrid ‘Top Shelf’ (with Littlez from Smoke Boys!) and the industrial spank of ‘Stomp Yo Ass’ (with Katie Got Bandz). Solo outings like ‘Benzocaine 18’ and ‘2089’ reveal Big Dope P’s love for sparkling French Touch and 80s funk, and it’s these longterm influences that pulse through the album, making ‘Total La Castagne’ an exciting addition to this year juke and footwork renaissance Listen
I. Jordan ‘I Am Jordan’ The debut album from I. Jordan is a celebration of trans joy as well as the expression and connectivity of the dancefloor. The production is big, bold and colourful, I. Jordan’s love of peak-time energy funnelled into workouts that nod to UKG, techno, trance and harder dance styles. There are also some epic beatless moments that offer a little respite, natural breathers that reflect the ebb and flow of the euphoria of a Big Night Out Listen
Jawnino ‘40’ After a series of singles, ‘40’ is finally here. The debut album from London rapper Jawnino has taken just the right time to arrive, building on the cult status of his now seminal banger ‘It’s Cold Out’ and delivering a couple other nailed-on hits in the run up (‘Westfield’, ‘Wind’). The vocalist is often touted by the press as a new wave grime MC but that undermines how he shows up on record. ‘40’ is full of UK innovations, like a British form of cloud rap that pulls in elements of grime, road rap, trap, jungle, garage and sends them up in a puff of smoke that perfectly encapsulates Jawnino’s dry wit and irreverent couplets Listen
naemi ‘Dust Devil’ A long, blissful excursion into contemporary ambient. Helmed by naemi, who invites an impressive list of collaborators, ‘Dust Devil’ is an expanse of vapourised r’n’b, bedroom shoegaze, disintegrated sampledelica and warm, blurry collage. I can see this soundtracking a lot of my downtime, and becoming a cult classic like PAN’s ‘mono no aware’ Listen
Nehza Records ‘Transmental’ Nehza’s last compilation, a link up with Porto’s XXIII, was a total revelation. Here were two imprints cutting through the BS with new, exciting, cutting-edge club music. That was in autumn of 2023. Now it’s summer 2024 and Nehza, run out of Paris by DJ/producer RONI, comes once again with the curation that’s two steps ahead. Waste Mail faves Burna, Jdotbalance, SLACK 1NE, BJF and Burna all feature on a tracklist that comes brimming with ideas. Full trust in RONI, who also worked the Tropical Waste dancefloor back in February Listen
Obligated Records ‘Obligated Records Vol. 1’ Oblig’s been mixing up grime and techno and his mixing style takes the form of a full-bodied label compilation featuring some big bass hitters. The most convincing grimey techno mutations come from JLSXND7RS and Jossy Mitsu, while Bianca Oblivion, Sister Zo and MJK & Impey contribute techno-adjacent club music and Lozzy and Skee Mask send in fierce instrumental grime. Swimful’s grime-ama-club fusion is also a banger Listen
Ulla & Ultrafog ‘It Means A Lot’ Grabbed an ID off this album from BFTT’s NTS mix, which I featured last month. It provided a portal into a larger body of work that is spacious and emotive, a dawn chorus of strung-out keys and guitar strums, synthesised siren calls and digital dew drops. An absolute gift Listen
Sisso & Maiko ‘Singeli Ya Maajabu’ Red hot collab from Sisso and Maiko out of Tanzania. Two laptops, a controller keyboard and an electric keyboard. A whirlpool of drumbeats and sonic fizz. Working the singeli sound like a remix machine, breakneck rhythms reworking rave and folk traditions, and spitting them right back out for you to freak out on. Dress to sweat, live to dance Listen
Suzi Analogue ‘ONEZ’ A brilliant mixtape from Baltimore-born, Florida-based producer Suzi Analogue, who serves up highly innovative and crazy fun club music across 12 tracks. ‘ONEZ’ takes heavy inspiration from footwork and juke, re-angling those genres’ tempo and beat pattern to incorporate elements of rap, r’n’b, techno and, of course, B-more club. There are some perfectly executed samples (Normani flip ‘Wild Blend’ is an instant banger) and collabs with INVT, Jlin (!) and King Britt (!!) And while there’s a multitude of ideas on ‘ONEZ’, it’s held together by a warm, textural production palette that sounds unique to Suzi Analogue Listen
Wh0Wh0 ‘groove 16’ Polish drummer Wh0Wh0 is invited to contribute to Polish label Outlines’ groove series, which invites musicians to respond to the blueprint of Chicago footwork. Wh0Wh0 goes for the psychedelic route, opening up a chasm of dub that pulsates at 160bpm Listen
XENIA REAPER ‘Luvaphy’ Every so often there’s a glitch in the algorithm and I’m presented with a no-context record that bears few clues as to where it came from or how it made its way to me. This one’s an album of ambient IDM by XENIA REAPER, where haze and low-end create a fog around the skitter of hypnagogic breakbeats. A memory of rave as we travel somewhere far more ephemeral than the feed 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 🎧
BAMBII in The Lab LDN - Mixmag BAMBII has elevated the art of the party set, selecting remixes, edits and originals in a way that recontextualises tracks and brings together genres in a way that keeps you guessing, makes you sweat and never, ever gets boring. BAMBII is in the top percentile of DJs who can rock the floor while also schooling everyone in attendance Listen
DJ Haram and Yas Meen Selectress - Lot Radio A great episode of Haram’s Monday Night Raw show. Haram warms up with a hybrid live/DJ session, with the live part moving toward distorted, muscular drum workouts, before Cairo’s Yas Meen Selectress serves up crackling experimental club music that’ll appeal to fans of Toumba, ABADIR and Safety Trance Listen
Dogheadsurigeri - Crack Mix 573 The Polish artist bangs the box with trance and techno, evoking the spirit of both the Berlin Love Parade and contemporary Gen Z raves at London’s Corsica Studios. Things run fast and psychedelic, a portal to another dimension that certainly isn’t for the faint of heart Listen
Dr Mystery - Just 4 U Latest drop of Dr Mystery’s Just 4 U mix series, which airs via the Manchester-based DJ’s YouTube channel. A slick blend of lithe, speedy techno that slowly mutates into warped basslines and breakbeats Listen
Emma Korantema - I AM ALIVE Emma Korantema is the LDN DJ-to-watch if you’re seeking cutting-edge club music that gets the party going. This 40-min blend is a good place to start, and it comes loaded with rhythm, low-end and irresistible vocal edits, as well as a bunch of crucial new releases Listen
Four Tet and friends with Nídia Nídia does a number on NYC as part of Four Tet’s internet-breaking takeover a few weeks back. Great to see the Lisbon artist on such a prime bill and she responds with peak-time batida that draws the crowd in with well-timed edits and then pushes the dance to new, rhythmic limits Listen
Joe Milli 100% production mix - Rinse Joe Milli closes out his Rinse residency with a set of his own productions, firing out angular UK funky and energetic, low-end UK techno. Milli’s sitting on some secret weapons, some of which are already out and others that are forthcoming – don’t sleep on this set Listen
Karen Nyame KG - RA.936 A meticulously well mixed hour of afrohouse, which simmers and bubbles toward boiling point. The sound of a DJ fully in the flow, showcasing a grown ‘n sexy sound that’s ripe for summer Listen
Surusinghe - G-FORCE 003 Surusinghe contributes to motorsports-themed mix series G-FORCE (run by Chanel Kadir, who writes Untitled 909 and also curates Wav.World). The DJ hones in on club music that sounds like an engine moving up through the gears, picking tracks built from gleaming, mechanical percussion and exhilarating jolts of low-end. An ode to F1 with a tracklist perfect for those seeking fresh new club tracks Listen
Vanishing Patient w/ Footwork Monitor - LYL Footwork Monitor is the footwork curation account and is now doing a fine line in DJ mixes. Been meaning to feature one for a while and now the time seems right; FM has just come back from a research mission to Chicago and has blasted out 60 mins of heavy battle tracks. Sick! Listen
Tropical Waste x Kindred ⚡️
60 minutes of new, unpredictable, cutting-edge club music for Kindred 🔊 Runs from 130-160bpm
With Love from Tropical Waste ✌️
Jeneen’s footwork and juke mix live from Tropical Waste here
Seb b2b Tom Moon closing set live from Tropical Waste here
Seb plays an hour of footwork on Pound & Yam here
Next Tropical Waste party takes place in September