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Keith McIvor and Jonnie Wilkes

Keith McIvor and Jonnie Wilkes, aka Optimo (Espacio), have helped define Glasgow’s musical landscape for over two decades with their eclectic and dynamic dancefloor selections. As 2022 marks Optimo’s milestone 25th anniversary, a tour of their home city reveals the ethos behind their inimitable sound

A love of dancing runs deep in Glasgow. And no one better embodies the city’s enduring passion for getting together on the dancefloor than Keith...

Loyle Carner

Though never afraid to show vulnerability before, Loyle Carner opens himself up more than ever on new album ‘hugo’, shedding the image of UK hip-hop’s perfect ‘nice guy’ to explore his reconnection with his estranged father and his Black heritage, and what it means to become a dad himself

In the summer of 2014, as resurgent grime anthems like ‘German Whip’, ‘Take Time’ and ‘That’s Not Me’ soundtracked a new generation’s joyful block parties...

Exploring the rich raving history of East Anglia

The dance music history of East Anglia is rich, multi-layered and messy  — and little documented. Matt Anniss chats to some of the scene’s longstanding figureheads about the region’s airfield parties, seaside throwdowns and forgotten clubs, discovering a vital but rarely discussed stage in the UK’s rave evolution

It’s just gone midnight and the dancefloor at Mossy’s, a two-floor nightclub above the Harbour Inn in Lowestoft, is heaving with life. Andrew ‘Richie’ Riches...

Paranoid London’s acid reign

Acid duo Paranoid London new album boasts a beefier sound than ever, and a host of new collaborators. Here, Joe Roberts meets them and learns how a chance meeting, faster tempos and the politics of the moment have shaped their new approach

It’s a dark, wintery evening in far North London and Paranoid London are in full flow at DRUMSHEDS, London’s latest super-venue. Opened on a former...

Progressive house champion Cristoph shows us round his Newcastle haunts, and tells us how his friends and family, and the patronage of Eric Prydz, have...

Cristoph is leaning on a railing overlooking Tynemouth Bay as the sun beats down. He often comes here to walk. At 25C and rising, though...

Photo of François K on a white background

After nearly five decades in music, nobody could blame François Kevorkian for taking it easy. But that’s not in the France-born, NYC-based polymath’s DNA. Shortly after celebrating his 70th birthday, Bruce Tantum hears his story, and learns about the curiosity and drive that keeps him going

As soon as he sits down for a long conversation with DJ Mag, François Kevorkian, the NYC-based dance-music polymath universally known as François K, brings...

Collage of various images from panels and parties at ADE 2023

Amsterdam Dance Event returned earlier this month, with the world’s biggest electronic music conference delivering its usual, unrelenting whirlwind of parties, panels and so much more. Here’s a handful of highlights from DJ Mag’s week at ADE 2023

DJ Mag’s involvement with the ADE Lab — the conference’s four-day tech-focused programme that takes place in and around the Flemish Cultural Center de Brakke...

history-of-bassline

From its beginnings in Yorkshire clubs to becoming a nationwide dance music phenomenon and chart success, the bassline sound has survived and thrived, despite the efforts of the police and club licensing authorities. Matt Anniss charts its rise, fall, resurgence and influence on a new generation of DJs, producers and ravers

A quarter of a century ago, a record slipped out on Rumour Records that would change the course of UK dance music history. Created by...

During a year decimated by lockdowns and venue closures, our need for sonic connection has sparked the resurgence of independent radio across the UK. Here...

16th March 2021 marks the grim one-year anniversary of Matt Hancock’s statement to the House Of Commons that all “unnecessary social contact” across the UK...

The Horse Meat Disco logo on an orange background with dancers

Horse Meat Disco held their first party at what would become known as The Eagle pub in Vauxhall, London on New Year’s Day 2004. As their weekly Sunday night queer party grew, so did their international reputation, and they haven't stopped since. Here, Andy Thomas charts the soaraway success of the disco house collective over the last two decades

“It’s Princess Julia stretching across the stage in smoky mascara and emerald green stockings. It’s classic Amanda Lear videos playing on the wall as three...

The votes have been counted and the winners in this year’s DJ Mag of British Awards have been announced

This year marked the 13th edition of DJ Mag's Best Of British awards, our annual celebration of UK talent. Positioned as a counter-balance to the...

Counting down the 2010s, we round-up the albums that defined the decade in electronic music

How do you rank a decade’s worth of music? The truth is, you can’t. An album that meant the world to you might make someone...

Italo disco’s eternal evolution

Italo disco is everywhere again. But what does Italo even mean today, and is it at risk of being diluted into a catch-all term for anything with an '80s disco sparkle? Joe Roberts dives into the genre's history, and chats to some of its new devotees and longstanding champions about its ever-evolving sound

It now sounds like a DJ mix of the most widely-known Italo disco classics, but when it was released in 1999, I-F’s ‘Mixed Up In...

Salute looking straight at the camera. They are wearing a multi-coloured fluffy sweater and leaning with their hands placed on a pool table

Vienna-born, Manchester-based salute’s DJ sets and productions shine at the intersection of garage, French house and ‘80s synth styles. Ahead of the release of their star-studded debut album on Ninja Tune, they tell Kamila Rymajdo about their musical upbringing, flying the flag for Black artistry, and their joyful sound that, simply, makes people feel good

salute is thinking about their legacy. “I want to make music not just for the sake of making music, I want to do it because...

Soundsystem artwork 1

Sound systems have driven the development of music in the UK, powered by hard work, passion and innovation. But preserving UK sound system culture, its knowledge and history, while also pushing it forward, is no easy task today. Ria Hylton traces its path through ska and reggae at blues dances in West Indian households, to soul, boogie, hip-hop and house in ’80s warehouses and at the Notting Hill Carnival, to nationwide tours and global popularity, and finds out how initiatives like the Sound System Futures Programme are seeking to secure its future 

It’s the Thursday before Notting Hill Carnival and Linett Kamala, board director of Europe’s biggest street party, is weaving through the streets of Kilburn. Her...