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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...

The endless evolution of Jersey club

With its high-energy beats, infectious dance routines and community ethos, Jersey club has become a global phenomenon. Tice Cin reports from New Jersey on some of the people pushing the sound forwards, the special moments they create, and their hopes for the future of the music

Over the past 20 years, Jersey club has become part of the fabric of its home state. Pioneered by DJ Tameil, the late, great Tim...

Photo of ANOTR floating in air against a sunset background while reading DJ Mag’s March cover issue

Dutch duo ANOTR have amassed a huge audience with their emotional house music and incredible club events centred around art and human connection. Ahead of their appearance in Miami at the DJ Mag pool party, they tell Amy Fielding how risk-taking, open-mindedness and collaboration are at the heart of everything they do

ANOTR are all about emotions. Enhancing them, recalling them, changing them, understanding them. Everything the Dutch duo do is intentional, produced to share how they’re...

Knucks is leading UK rap's new wave

A rapper, producer and head of the No Days Off brand, Knucks smashed into the UK album charts this year with his ‘Alpha Place’ project, presenting his ‘chill drill’ sound in all its evolved glory. His triumphant homecoming show at KOKO in Camden saw collaborators like Stormzy, SL, Youngs Teflon and Ragz Originale join him on stage. Here, Yemi Abiade meets the Londoner to learn how there are now no limitations on his future

It’s late May in North London. The sun is setting with a burning intensity that only a summer’s evening in this concrete jungle can provide...

Photo of CARISTA posing wearing a beige jumper, leather arm cuffs, and black tights

Utrecht's CARISTA is on a quest to bring club crowds together with her irresistible, energising DJ sets. Ria Hylton meets her to find out how her United Identities label is elevating new talent in the Netherlands, and how she’s branching into new areas of music.

No story of CARISTA would be complete without a recap of that 2018 Boiler Room X Dekmantel set, the one where she transformed a crowd...

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...

Photo of DESIREE wearing a purple hat and eye-makeup on an emerald background

Soaring ascents, the kind that can take an artist from obscurity to stardom in what seems to be the blink of an eye, don’t occur often, in dance music or elsewhere – those who are lucky enough to have that experience often disappear just as quickly. But there’s little chance of a quick fade for South Africa’s Palesa Desiree Shilabje, the DJ and producer known to the world as DESIREE, who in just a few short years has proved to be one of the international festival circuit’s most exciting new stars. Here, Bruce Tantum hears her story, and about how her evolution through music has been as organic as they come

“I’m finally home.” Those three words are among the first that the South African DJ and producer Palesa Desiree Shilabje utters when DJ Mag catches...

Photo of Louie Vega wearing a black shirt and hat with a white blazer

After four-plus decades of DJing and with a incredible list of releases — much of it produced with longtime partner Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez as Masters At Work — the pioneering Louie Vega would seem to have little to prove. Yet he’s working harder than ever, with the same energy he had as a young kid coming up in the Bronx. In the run-up to his date at DJ Mag’s Miami Pool Party 2024 at the Sagamore Hotel on March 20th, Vega took some time out of his hectic schedule to talk about how he got to where he is today

Sitting in his Manhattan studio on a weekend evening, wide-brimmed hat on his head and, behind him, shelves crammed with thousands of records — most...