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Results for: Best of 2017

Batu press shot surrounded by purple flowers

Timedance label boss, innovative producer and a boundary-pushing DJ, Batu was on an upward trajectory — but the pandemic made him question his motivations and examine his history. With his debut album ‘Opal’ marking a bold new chapter in his sound, he talks to Chal Ravens about burnout, reinvention, heritage and contributing to the Bristol scene that nurtured him

On a cool night in upstate New York in September 2019, the floorboards of a wooden hut at Camp Kennybrook are shuddering with bass. Somewhere...

With mental health and wellbeing one of the principal keynote topics at the International Music Summit (IMS) in Ibiza at the end of this month...

Flying high in the music industry can seem idyllic, but is there a price to pay? Coupled with the perceived glamour is a 24/7 lifestyle...

The Euphoria cover logo in green neon on a black background with green lasers

With the release of its first edition – 'For The Mind, Body and Soul' – via Telstar Records in early 1999, the ‘Euphoria’ mix compilation series quickly became one of the most popular and prolific of its kind, launching the big-room oriented trance, progressive and hard house sounds of clubland into the CD drives of thousands. 25 years later, Harold Heath looks back on its legacy, and on how its balance of clever commercial marketing and authentic live energy enshrined ‘Euphoria’ in UK dance music history

It’s 1999, and across the UK, countless car stereos and home systems are pumping out the planet-sized synth riffs of big-room trance. Tracks by Paul...

Neurodiversity in dance music lead feature image

Neurodiversity refers to a wide range of neurological conditions including ADHD, autism, dyslexia and Tourette syndrome. After being diagnosed with ADHD and suspected autism earlier this year, DJ Mag writer Harold Heath began to wonder: is there a particularly high number of neurodivergent people in the scene? Here, he embarks on a personal journey to try and understand the relationship between neurodiversity and dance music, and its wider relevance within the scene

I’m Harold Heath: music writer, former small-time DJ/producer, and life-long club culture fanatic. Earlier this year I was diagnosed with ADHD and suspected autism. Why...

Dave 1 and P-Thugg, better known as the sapid duo Chromeo, are about to release their most zestfully slick album to date, ‘Head Over Heels’...

Experiencing Chromeo is like taking a step back in time—but with all the luxuries and comforts of today. It’s in the duo’s music, which takes...

We talk pop, his transition to DJing and more...

Hotshot DJ/producer MK hit big with his UK No.1 remix of Storm Queen's 'Look Right Through', affirming both his studio skills and the immense popularity...

Photo of Arushi Jain wearing a beige dress with glove details against a brown background

Delhi-born, Brooklyn-based synthesist, composer and singer Arushi Jain’s modular explorations are guided by boundless curiosity, and a researcher’s sense of wonder. On her new album for Leaving Records, ‘Delight’, she weaves enchanting vocals, organic instrumentation and elements of Indian classical music into her unique electronic framework, reflecting on love, longing and the nature of beauty. Tara Joshi learns more

“I read this quote the other day that really resonated,” Arushi Jain recounts over a video call. “It was this idea that, without a practice...

Photo of RIOT CODE wearing a blank tank top in a dark room, with a large beam of light shining around him from the back

Over the past three years, the name RIOT CODE has become synonymous with a strain of hard, fast techno, landing on labels like Noise Manifesto, HOMAGE and NineTimesNine and hammered out at parties like Teletech. Formerly a duo, the Derry-based project is now an individual venture for Oliver Grant, who’s ready to lift the trademark mask and take things to the next level. Alongside a storming Recognise mix that capture’s RIOT CODE’s past, present and future sounds, he speaks to Olivia Stock about going solo, navigating the techno scene as a trans artist, and what the future holds

It’s New Year’s Eve 2023 in Belfast’s Bone Yard, and Oliver Grant is overthinking. After spending the previous two weeks restlessly rifling through his collection...

A selection of 8 press shots of artists featured in DJ Mag’s June emerging artists feature

The latest and greatest DJs and producers rising to the top this month. From bass-driven electro and jagged club experiments, to ’90s-styled house, punchy prog and beyond, here’s June 2024’s list of upcoming talent you should be keeping track of

Masaka Masaka’s new album ‘Barely Making Much’ is a woozy, dreamlike affair. Opening track ‘Mental Construct’ disrupts shoegaze guitars with scattered beats. ‘6pm Waiting On...

Boys Noize opines on following true love, searching for the perfect sound, meeting Skrillex and Deadmau5, and having a strange relationship with melody...

In Germany towards the end of the nineties, Berlin was synonymous with hard-edged techno sounds but Hamburg was flying the flag for a more traditional flavour of house music. So the young Alex Ridha grew up surrounded by influences from Detroit and Chicago, which provided the fuel for a serious life-long vinyl addiction.

The cover of beastie boys' 'Ill Communication' on a dark background, with a distorted yellow version of the cover marked into it

The release of Beastie Boys’ fourth album on 31st May 1994 signalled a new era not just for the New York trio, but for music at large. Fusing sampladelic hip-hop, punk and unruly rap rock with brazen stylistic experiments, it set a refreshingly eclectic tone after a decade of genre tribalism, and altered perceptions of the group on both sides of the Atlantic. Here, Ben Cardew learns how

‘Ill Communication’ wasn’t the biggest Beastie Boys album; that medal goes to the multi-million selling ‘Licensed to Ill’. Nor was it the New York trio’s...

From the Minimoog to the Roland TR-808...

Some of the most important innovations in electronic music came about by mistake. Whether it be the way that Roland's TR-808 and then the TR-909...

As healthier lifestyles have become more prevalent in the dance music industry, some have turned to the legal compound CBD for its benefits. But who uses it...

It’s Monday morning, and the painful cocktail of a weekend club life and weekday deadlines hits hard. Focus seems impossible and every platform is bleeping...

NERVO’s journey has always been about the music, and while it hasn’t always been a smooth ride, everything they’ve encountered along the way has become...

words: ERIN SHARONI pics: ANDREW RAUNER

“Hi! We’re at the airport again!” Liv pops up on the Skype screen, holding her phone at arm’s length...

Róisín Murphy is back with her fifth solo album, ‘Róisín Machine’. Carl Loben catches up with her to talk artistic exhibitionism, lockdown videos, her early...

When Róisín Murphy performed at the massive 10,000-capacity queer warehouse rave Homobloc in November, she was readying her latest solo album, ‘Róisín Machine’ — her...