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Turntablist NikNak has a unique style, cutting and scratching field recordings and samples into ambient tracks — but her latest album finds her leaning into the dance music you might hear in one of her club sets. Ben Murphy speaks to her about Afrofuturist sci-fi, trip-hop, pop, and why she loves found sounds

South African house DJ and producer Themba has become a global star in recent years. Alongside a mix of thumping and emotive house for the On Cue series, Kristan J Caryl chats to him about his childhood obsession with collecting music, his ambitious 2021 album ‘Modern Africa Volume 1 (Ekhaya)’, and uplifting African artists around him

Over the past few years, against the backdrop of the cost of living crisis and austerity, an energised crop of community-focused collectives, promoters, and venues have emerged in the UK capital. Against some tough odds, they are fighting to keep the city’s electronic music scene not only alive, but thriving. Here, Georgia Mulraine looks at how promoters and partygoers are adapting to this new landscape, adjusting their expectations of what going out looks like and, ultimately, asks: what is the future of London clubbing?

1st May 1994 was the first big London protest against the looming Criminal Justice Bill, the piece of legislation that first proscribed a genre of music — rave music, “wholly or predominantly categorised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats” — in law. Despite widespread demonstrations at what was seen as draconian power-grabs by the UK authorities, the Bill became law later in 1994. Here, Harold Heath looks back at the reaction from the dance music community at the time, and the Act’s lasting impact on the rave scene today

This year’s Whole Festival marked the biggest underground electronic music-focused queer festival on the planet, bringing together LGBTQ+ collectives, artists and ravers from around the globe. Marke Bieschke heads to Germany to find out how Whole has created a world of its own