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Daniel Avery has made the defining album of his career to date with ‘Ultra Truth’. Incorporating everything from techno and ambient to jungle drum & bass, it features contributions from SHERELLE, HAAi and Kelly Lee Owens, among others, and is simultaneously raw and beautiful. Anna Wall meets him in a North London café to talk about collaboration, staying true to himself, and the enduring influence of Andrew Weatherall

It’s an exciting time to be both a new and old fan of African music, but how does it feel for African artists raised and working in the diaspora? As producers and consumers, these artists have a unique vantage point on this cultural shift. Jessica Kariisa speaks to Nazar, Hagan, Juba and Chief Boima and asks: what does music from “back home” mean today?

Introducing the artists set to make waves this year: From Jersey club, Afrotech, and hardcore to UK rap, Brazilian grime, Ghanain asakaa and beyond, these are the DJs, producers and MCs pushing tomorrow’s sounds today

Lifting the vocals from Jah Screechy’s reggae standard 'Walk & Skank’, SL2’s‘On A Ragga Tip’ surfed the hardcore rave wave at the turn of the 1990s before crossing over to bring breakbeats and bass into the pop charts. The track has transcended genres and styles to stand alone as an enduring dance classic. Joe Roberts calls up Slipmatt, aka Matt Nelson — the ’S’ in SL2 — to learn its story

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

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