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The funding of independent radio stations is always precarious, but the current cost-of-living and energy crises threaten their survival. Following the shuttering of Worldwide FM and Bristol’s SWU FM, we look at the challenges facing these beloved cultural lifelines

UK independent radio is one of the most important aspects of DJ culture and the dance music scene. It plays a vital part in driving...

Ron Trent sat at a table in a high rise building

Ron Trent has a deep understanding of electronic music. Beginning his production career in his teens, the venerated Chicago resident has travelled through techno, deep house and Afro house over the years. His latest album ‘WARM: What Do The Stars Say To You’, produced with a live band, demonstrates the duality of his work: it’s futuristic and somehow ancient, cosmic and aquatic. DJ Mag's Ria Hylton catches up with the Chicago house legend to learn more

In October 2019, Tama Sumo and Lakuti held a Your Love party in east London’s Moth Club, and somewhere in the final hours of the...

Already part of some major DAWs including Logic Pro, AI and machine learning is becoming a staple of music studios through technology from assisted mixing and search...

In part one of our AI Futures series, we discussed the looming threats and opportunities around ‘deepfakes’ or style transfers using AI. We spoke to...

We've switched up our end-of-year coverage this year. Instead of ranked countdowns, we've asked 40 contributors to pick their favourite albums, tracks and compilations from...

For a glimpse into drum & bass future, you need to look at Invicta Audio. Founded as an event, Invicta had such a strong following...

Dedicated to breaking down cultural binaries and taking on the music industry juggernaut, SOPHIE has obliterated the lines between underground dance music and commerical pop...

It’s a blistering afternoon in Ibiza, and the sun feels laser-trained on the Hard Rock Hotel, where the International Music Summit is taking place. The...

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...

A press shot of Flume in a striped jumper, holding a bunch of white flowers against an orange backdrop

Caught between the demands of being an internationally-renowned performer and his desire for a quiet life, Australian producer Flume found balance upon returning to his homeland. Amongst nature, and with a restored sense of wellbeing, he completed his most ambitious album to date, 'Palaces'. Megan Venzin learns its story

Flume fills arenas, smashes stage props with sledgehammers, and builds booming soundscapes with the high-tech gear that fills his ever-expanding studio. Harley Edward Streten, on...

Inside the UK Afro house renaissance

The Afro house sound is an ever-growing presence in UK dance music, with new labels, club-nights and a dedicated radio station springing up. Alongside a mix from Mr Silk, Ria Hylton explores the sound’s history, and speaks to some of the scene’s key players about forging strong connections with their growing audiences, and their aim to nurture a unique UK Afro house identity

Afro house is steeped in the percussive materials of South Africa’s townships. For decades, its polyrhythms played out on traditional African instruments — bongos, congas...

With his new album, ‘Fragments’, on Ninja Tune, English electronic musician and DJ Bonobo has delivered his strongest, most versatile album since 2010's 'Black Sands'...

Sat on a sofa in the Ninja Tune offices, somewhere in Kennington, South London, Simon Green, aka Bonobo, is pondering the question of why his...

2019 saw dancefloors embracing fast, syncopated and experimental rhythms, with jungle breaks and sounds from the Global South invigorating DJs and producers across the genre...

Dancefloor trends come and go. Familiar genre tropes, motifs and tempos reinstate themselves as dominant themes in clubs and festivals big and small, while inventive...

Independent record labels are thriving by adapting to new models and branching out into management, distribution, publishing and clothing. DJ Mag finds out more...

If there’s any sector in dance music that has had to be genuinely run ‘for the love’ and ferociously adapt to survive the music industry’s...

rj

After the 2014 release of ‘1021,’ London-born, Toronto-raised, and LA-based artist Rochelle Jordan went through years of business and health-related difficulties, finally coming out the other end with last year’s emotion-drenched ‘Play With The Changes.’ A new remix album, featuring brilliant work from DJ Minx, Byron The Aquarius, Machinedrum and other notable acts, lifts Jordan’s theme of rejuvenation into a thrilling new phase

Rochelle Jordan is sitting in her car, the AC whirring in the background. It’s the tail-end of LA’s latest heatwave, and though you wouldn’t know...

How X-Press 2’s ‘Lazy’

Released in 2002, a dream collaboration between UK house heroes X-Press 2 and Talking Heads' David Byrne, ‘Lazy’ lit up clubs and the pop charts alike. Here, Dave Jenkins talks to the group’s Ashley Beedle, Rocky and Diesel about how the track transcended generations and genres to become a timeless hit

“Who even writes a bloody dance tune called ‘Lazy’?” laughs Ashley Beedle. Fellow X-Press 2 founders Rocky and Diesel chime in with the chuckles, as...

A year-and-a-half after his near-death accident, Paul van Dyk returns to trance stronger than ever, with a new album, new live show, and new perspective afforded to those who have grazed the...

This isn’t your average comeback story. And Paul van Dyk isn’t your average comeback kid. The Grammy-winning German DJ/producer is a legend in his own right, hailed as...

He was the Electrifyin’ Mojo of the indie disco. The bootleg king. The electroclash god. But when each of those scenes imploded, Erol Alkan stepped...

Erol Alkan was 27 when he received his first album offer. Kylie Minogue had just performed his ‘Can’t Get Blue Monday Out of My Head’...