We’re already in December, so it’s time to reflect a bit on the absolutely amazing year we’ve had for unconventional club music. Between Djrum’s first EP in six years, three albums by Skee Mask on Ilian Tape along with tons of wicked releases on the label, TraTraTrax pushing cracking latin sounds from Columbia, and Joy Orbison’s bassy anthem, we’ve been nothing but spoiled with quality tunes in 2024.

I’ve kept a (rather long) list of releases that stuck with me this year, with a few of them discovered through the wonderful /r/TheOverload sub (credit where credit’s due). Not here to make any sort ranking—I’ll let RA and Mixmag do just that—but simply wanted to highlight some favorites, with bold indicating my personal favs. The focus is mainly on genres such as UK bass, left-field, house, garage and minimal techno, which is what I like to play.

As always, if you want to support your favorite producers and DJs, please consider buying their music, especially on BandCamp Fridays.

Original tracks

• Adam Pits – TipToe
• Batu – Zeal
• Bufo Bufo – Sargassum
• Burial – Phoneglow
• Caribou – Honey
• Djrum – Crawl
• Dual Monitor – Switch It
• Felipe Gordon – Flutes of Gold
• Floating Points – Del Oro
• Four Tet – Skater
• GiGi FM – Gabriella
• INVT & K-LONE – Ascenso Dub
• IsGwan – Phishing
• James K – Blinkmoth (July Mix)
• Joy Orbison – flight fm
• Justin Jay, coldsweat & DJ Deeon – Back to the Groove (feat. DJ Deeon)
• Koreless – Deceltica
• Leod – Untitled 06
• LU2K – Ez Tool 2
• Megra – Open Up The Door
• Mr. Ho – 000 Baby
• Nick León & Erika de Casier – Bikini
• Notion – TV Dreams
• Objekt – Chicken Garaage
• Pearson Sound – Hornet
• Plus One – Bonk
• Polygonia – Signo
• Priori – Wake (feat. James K)
• Priori & Bambounou – Dub Affectif
• Rhyw – Drool
• Shanti Celeste – Ice Cream Dream Boy
• Shinichi Atobe – Dub 6(six)
• Skee Mask – Dub Shneider / The Bills
• Tom VR – Function
• Tommy 2000 – Music for a While
• Verraco – Sí, Idealízame / 0∞
• Villager & Waleed – Pig
• Wax – 90009A
• Young Marco – How Does It Make You Feel

Remixes & Edits

• Bella – Odd Symphony (Olsvang​è​r Remix)
• Bertie – Carabiner (Ciel’s Reoriented Dub)
• Björk & Rosalía – Oral (Olof Dreijer Remix)
• Charli XCX – 360 (Tom VR Edit)
• Daboor & Shabjdeed – Inn Ann (Human Movement SYG Edit)
• Doctor Jeep – Macumba (Wata Igarashi Remix)
• Jasper Tygner – Eyes (Villager Remix)
• Koreless – Seven (Jorg Kuning Bicton Barns Mix)
• Martyn – Masks (Pino Peña Remix)
• Martyn – Vancouver (Verraco’s MDE Reshape)
• Muskila – Ok, Fatma (Siu Mata Remix)
• Objekt – Ganzfeld (Piezo Remix) / Ganzfled (Djrum Remix)
• Priori – Sub Lux (Sansibar Remix)
• Regularfantasy – So Sweet (Spriitzz Remix)

EPs

• Atrice – Multiplex
• Bambounou & Priori – C.R.U.S.H.
• Batu & Nick León – Yiu
• Carré – Air Sign
• Carrier – In Spectra
• Ciel & CCL – Tilda’s Goat Stare
• CCL – Plot Twist
• Cloudsteppers – Aqua Hotel
• Croft – Worktops
• dBridge & Forest Drive West – dBridge vs Forest Drive West
• Djrum – Meaning’s Edge
• Doctor Jeep – Mecha
• Facta – So is the Sun
• H TO O – Cycle
• Harba – Despair
• INVT & Introspekt – Tectónica
• Kangding Ray – Polar
• Mantra – Burn & Heal
• Nectax – Body Talk
• Olof Dreijer – Coral
• Outrage & Sonar’s Ghost – FR040
• Pearson Sound – Which Way Is Up
• pondlicker – Soft Focus
• Rhyw – Melt In Unison
• Shed – Applications
• Special Request – Portal 3
• Struction – Basis
• Verraco – Breathe… Godspeed
• Villager – Sculptor
• Villager & Waleed – Big Fish

LPs

• Actress – Statik
• DJ Lycox – Guetto Star
• Floating Points – Cascade
• Loidis – One Day
• Low End Activist – Municipal Dreams
• Monolake – Studio
• Nala Sinephro – Endlessness
• Nia Archives – Silence Is Loud
• Nídia & Valentina – Estradas
• Priori – This but More
• Qoa – SAUCO
• Skee Mask – Resort
• Syclops – Black Eye
• Tim Reaper & Kloke – In Full Effect
• Two Shell – Two Shell

VA compilations

• Dekmantel Ten – A Decade Of Dekmantel Festival
• Fever AM – It’s Elastic
• Nehza Records – Transaere
• PHTM – VA 3
• TraTraTrax – no pare, sigue sigue 3
• Twenty Twenty London – 20​​​/​​​20 Volume 3
• Wisdom Teeth – Club Moss

Mixes

• Avalon Emerson – All Night Long @ The Cause
• Ben UFO – Hessle Audio (10 Years of Sinai Soundsystem at Trinity Centre)
• Ben UFO – Kiosk x The Lot Radio x Horst Festival ’24
• Ben UFO – Sustain Release ’23
• Ciel b2b Priori – BFC Summer in the City ‘24
• DJ Python – BBC Radio 1’s Essential Mix
• Eris Drew – BBC Radio 1’s Essential Mix
• Eris Drew – Mystery of the Motherbeat, Part 2
• Floating Points – Boiler Room: New York
• Ian Pooley – The MUDD Show
• INVT b2b Skee Mask – Climate of Fear ’24
• Laurine & Cecilio – Dimension Festival (DIM300)
• Objekt – Live @ Nowadays
• Priori – Dekmantel Podcast 459
• Sam Goku – Textures (Far Blue)

Despite most not being recorded, here are the best sets I attended this year. If you have a chance to see any of them in your city, please do yourself a favor and grab a ticket.

• Aurora Halal & DJ Nobu @ Midnight East, Tokyo (07.12.24)
• Avalon Emerson & Friends @ Under the K Bridge, Brooklyn (04.05.24)
• DVS1 @ Stereo, Montreal (14.10.24)
• Evian Christ @ MUTEK, Montreal (23.08.24)
• Felipe Gordon @ Public Records, Brooklyn (26.10.24)
• Jennifer Loveless @ Panorama Bar, Berlin (20.06.24)
• Hector Oaks @ Vol. X, Montreal (24.11.24)
• Octo Octa @ MUTEK, Montreal (21.08.24)
• Skee Mask & Objekt @ SAT, Montreal (27.09.24)