96 Back proposes a new language for dance music with breakbeat complexes and fiery arps on ‘Made Me’.

SCURO CHIARO is a deeply cinematic drama, a striking work that effortlessly draws together disparities into a complete and immersive picture from an inimitable talent in electronic composition.

Inspired by scientific events Alva Noto’s audio-visual language searches for a form binding the scales of astrophysics with digital mechanics in order to capture incalculable phenomena.

Not too many artists can string together auditory nods to Cocteau Twins and grime into a cohesive record while stopping off at a hundred pleasant points en route. A greyscale techno masterpiece with all the emotions and feelings of a year spent in lockdown seeming to fit perfectly with his sound palette and afflicted take on electronic music.

Anz shows off her multiple influences, talented production skills and incredible ingenuity, here as unpredictable and infectious as her skilful DJ sets. The A-side closes with the uplifting skittering breakbeats of Real Enough To Feel Good supplying buoyant pre-rave anticipation.

On ‘Cruise’, Ausschuss joins the dots between hybrid UKG, dembow, and industrial dancehall styles, blending classic club sounds with forward-thinking dance music in a way that is stripped-back and playful.

Hyperreal ASMR and treated vocals collide with explosive bursts of rhythm held together with abstract jitteringu synths and contorting sound design pulling apart the conscious.

Opener ‘Signal from the Noise’ does what it says on the tin - the beginning of the track takes inspiration from the soundtracks of Alan Howarth, drawing the listener into a heady mix of deep infernal synth work which quickly bursts forth into a manic improvised jam of grand scale.

Cruising is a hypnotic circular breathing environment inspired as much by Bendik Giske's electronic revelations experienced in his adopted hometown of Berlin as the “corporeal states and divergent behaviours” he continues exploring in his queering of the saxophone. Simply put, it's also a much needed mesmerising space to wander into and surrender oneself.

Isles finds Bicep incorporating influences that range from old-school rave tunes to the tender, R&B-indebted sounds of post-dubstep. The album’s shimmering synths and buoyant beats transport you to the last dance of the night, or perhaps to the sun setting over a festival skyline, even as you enjoy them through headphones or hi-fi speakers.

Opening barnstormer John L sets a chaotic tone of screeching violins and brown-noise guitars, its lyrics crushed and squeezed into verse-like form by Geordie Greep.

Blawan releases another disc of no-nonsense heavy hitters on his own Ternesc, taking a slight left turn from early 2021’s Make A Goose, by in pulling back the dark atmospherics — but only slightly.

On ‘Hey Boy’, Brijean Murphy sings as though draped over a deckchair, cold drink in hand while the rhythmic underpinning weaves an irresistibly sunny atmosphere from a fabric of sun-kissed synths and Latin-influenced percussion.

Casanova’s of the UK soul scene, Children of Zeus return this year in fine form with lush single No Love Song off their highly anticipated album Balance.

The sonic imprint across Songs of Vienna sees Cid Rim densely packing huge ideas into every detail. The frenetic energy in the likes of ‘Friday’ in which rave intensity and kosmische scope spars with heavy swinging hip-hop production and effortless grooves.

True to form, the Texan producer does not disappoint with his thrilling electro EP, which simultaneously showcases the uniqueness of his relationship with CPU and the shape of electronic music to come.

Black Metal 2 is a collection of fresh reimaginings of modern and legacy pop culture by a shapeshifting, generational British talent. Full of emotional peaks, the soaring ‘Sketamine’ sounds like Grouper scoring the end credits to a beautiful imaginary film.

MCR taps into that sweet deeper side of 90s acid soul, retro-futuristic bleeps and synth leads circling tough drum machine structures.

DJ Muggs the Black Goat’s third proper solo LP has something of a deathly stench which is well presented in Nigrum Mortem, a heavy slice of psych-rock à la Black Sabbath, transformed into a bellowing beast by cavernous jazz drum hits.

Precisely the kind of self-reflexive dance record we need to hear in 2021; a striking reminder that brighter days are on the horizon.

Don Zilla presents his unique and future-facing take on leftfield club music with full force, flying the flag for East African contemporary electronics on his debut album.

Baroque harmonies, half-heard choirs and gently tumbling kalimbas ricochet off empty stairwells and streets. It’s often unclear where Keszler’s field recordings of pandemic-hit NYC end, and his meld of synth swells and pitched percussion begin. Whether undergirded with faltering slo-mo beats or faintly-detectable church bells, the entire atmosphere is humid and rich, curlicues of fog and steam coiling up toward the sky.

Brutal in tone and brutal in subject matter, it’s no exaggeration to call this collection of songs some of the greatest of Endgame’s long and prolific career.

As far as a leading shaman for the current generation goes, Eris can’t be beat. 'Quivering In Time' articulates why: by tapping into and nurturing dance music’s roots, she allows a vibrant new branch to grow.

Facta reaches the modest dance zenith with Parris on ‘Diving Birds’.

A first-class outing from South London producer Fiyahdred on Hyperdub, part of a new generation exploring fresh sounds between UK funky and amapiano.

Sanders’ performance of air and fire here is sure to spark ideas and inspiration amongst jazz’s vibrant new generation. It makes “Promises” not just a link to the past, but a bridge to the future.

Given his noted love of anime, scoring a fantastical retelling of a 16th-century samurai warrior of African descent serving under a Japanese daimyo, must be a dream project for Flying Lotus. But as we’ve come to expect, taking in his vast ouvre so far, Steve Ellison is anything but predictable.

There’s usually a hesitation involved in revisiting our teething stages, but if 1994-20/3 proves anything, it’s that Modeselektor's Sebastian Szary and Gernot Bronsert have always been a titanic talent of rhythm.

Quirky samples cross paths with lilting rhythms and living room melodies, forming a joyous musical connection between West Africa and the UK.

A lost gem of the DIY golden age, a scintillating mixture of the post-punk belligerence and the earliest remnants of avant-garde electronic music borne out of industrial music.

Hiatus Kaiyote paints in brushstrokes of Rhodes piano, warm instrumentation, and steady percussion which has the capacity to explode at a moment’s notice.

To revisit critical 1988 dance single ‘Stakker Humanoid’, the first decisive UK acid techno record to break into the mainstream, De:tuned’s reissue invites personal favourites Autechre to rework Humanoid’s equally classic cut sT8818r.

An enigmatic figure truly embodying his enigmatic output of fuzz-encrusted lo-fi techno. IVVVO’s Archive 2010-2015 cheekily alludes to his decade-long proclivities for pursuing fragmented beats through dense fogs of electronics.

Scottish hip-hop producer Jaisu serves up laid-back, soul-tinged beats fresh from his MPC on AOTN’s first-ever beat tape.

‘Groundbreaking’ is a term not to be used lightly, but it is definitely appropriate when describing the work of Jana Rush, who is at the forefront of a new frontier of avant footwork and juke that really is setting new boundaries.

Jason Sharp fulfilling his label's namesake here, creating whole new celestial spheres of sax circulations and synth cloud on the nebulous 'Blossoming Rest', beaming us directly to the event horizon.

Always gestural, never rigid, this remix sticks to the mantra emblazoned on the green screen printed cover - "To define is to kill. To suggest is to create."

'Secret’ recalls the likes of Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye if they collaborated with D’Angelo’s backing band as Brandy’s producer mans the mixing boards.

Footwork pioneer Jlin delivers signature high energy, forward-thinking club music on title track ‘Embryo’ from her latest standout release on Planet Mu.

The celebrated composer/director hits the synth-music sweet spot again with this latest LP of atmospheric, detailed and stirring eerie synthscapes littered with technoid pulses.

‘Icing’ calls back to the rippling harp and car-door-slamming percussion of turn-of-the-century R&B favoured by superproducers like Timbaland and Darkchild which masks the agoraphobia of social environments.

Essential business, like pretty much everything Joy O has crafted so far. ‘Better’ featuring the velvet vox of Léa Sen is his smoothest house cut since ‘Donell’.

'In Love With A Ghost’ acts as a suitable primer for the full-length album. Lulling us in with monolithic, scorched post-rave pads, the palette gradually etches towards a darker monochrome - distant industrial chimes underscored with a fierce droning intensity.

Coming in hot on the tail of his Editions Mego debut Peel, Nairobi born and Berlin-based ambient creator Joseph Kamaru aka KMRU signs to Injazero to tell the story of the old days, back when he was still self-releasing his richly textural washes of bilious drones and simmering arps adding a certain poignancy — and menace — to the innocuous chatter of everyday life.

The opener to a gorgeously seductive EP, French multi-instrumentalist LaBlue enlists the effortless and sweet vocals of Astrønne on 'Blue'.

Tirzah and Coby Sey collaborate on an imaginative remix of a track from Lafawndah’s album The Fifth Season, contrasting printer-like jerky beats with processed but soulful vocals bathing in warm electronic ambience.

The spirit of euphoric deferral runs deep throughout Rare, Forever, as rhythms start and stop — or transform into different shapes entirely — to keep would-be ravers on their toes. Vynehall further demonstrates the flexibility of club music and shows that he can rearrange it any way he likes.

While the LP is the precious child of two production visionaries, LNS and Sotofett make way for Wania comrade E-GZR to ride the modulators with ‘K.O.’

'Former Things' comes off as a record of isolation; without backing band and without intrusion. Remarkably, it’s also LoneLady’s most unapologetically pop-minded release to date.

The beats prang and shuffle, synth notes warp out of shape, bass stabs licked with snarling distortion.

The sluggish synths and creased, emotive vocalisations of ‘Come Unto Me’ find the perfect counterpoint in the project's throttled pseudo-baião rhythms.

A set of unruly re-routes of Detroit machine funk, the epic immersion of ‘Episcopi Vagantes’ blooms with melody over its 16-minute length, driven by a menacing forward motion.

'Turn of Phrase'’s natural state is fluidity, both in oozing textures and in the way Sterling’s music appears to ritually de- and re-assemble an orchestra, instrument by instrument and player by player.

An esoteric, spirited club excursion in an experimental dub style from Berlin-based MMM (Errorsmith & Fiedel) from their highly anticipated debut album, 'On The Edge'.

Scottish post-rock survivors Mogwai continue to thrive well into their tenth LP, and they’ve lost none of their verve for big room atmospherics and watertight tension. Another top tier Mogwai track proving that there are still plenty more planets for them to conquer.

A no-frills rediscovery of the music which informed their youth, Moot! is the culmination of 3 visionaries stripping things back to the essential elements.

Murcof’s visionary double album produced in collaboration with Geneva-based dance company Alias pushes his finely tuned meticulous sound design in an abstract new direction. Modular synthesis combined with organic elements of field recordings, treated vocals and metallic percussion to form stunning extraterrestrial compositions.

Composer, producer and musician Nala Sinephro showcases her visionary credentials on Space 4. We’re hard-pressed to think of a sound world this cohesive and expansive, a higher realm of composition with ecstatic freedom at every turn. One where each drone, melody and cacophonous crescendo equates to a collective feeling of release.

'Shout Out! To Freedom…' is the finest example of the Nightmares On Wax experience George Evelyn has produced to date, created in isolation and yet bolstered by a deep sense of collaboration.

Mancunian newcomer Nina Cobham provides a devastatingly catchy Bossa Nova-tinged outlook on appearing boring to potential suitors.

Irish musician Olan Monk brings a new strain of woozy gothic dirge to the table with originality and flair, bridging the gap between experimental music and songwriting.

This expressive collaboration between Oneohtrix Point Never and dream-pop icon Elizabeth Fraser sees a synthetic palette of arpeggiated harpsichords, plucked strings and warm, indecipherable vocals whirled together in a heady concoction of abstract, otherworldly and fantastical electronics.

Overlook and Karim Maas bring signature high production values and murky, atmospheric D&B to UVB-76 Music - a wave-making pioneering Bristol label currently setting the highest bar.

A unique assemblage of unusual and highly original experimental electronics from Phillip Jondo in collaboration with double bassist and composer Maxwell Sterling on Dekmantel, flitting between avant, ambient and collage.

Swirling soundscapes and respondent bleeps on the opener, ‘Lunch’, make for some calm, pensive music with which to think deeply about life.

The ultimate meeting of Newcastle and Pori, Finland's greatest minds. The music video for this one is also highly recommended, featuring a lad who's rather good with a snooker cue.

Born as a result of forced isolation, Rosie Lowe bears her heart to her lover and audience alike in the soul-soothing 'Paris, Texas.'

Across Exshaw, it’s easier to imagine shadowy woodland raves than sweaty warehouse throngs. The cinematic intonations of breakbeat mangler ‘KAKI PROMETHAZINE MIX’ Exshaw its complex character, knotted with moments of striking euphoria and the slightly eerie atmosphere of losing yourself among the trees.

Veiled in a cloud of sensi smoke, the Manila-via-British Columbia sample miners give us one million ways to die with the rudest flex on SoundboyThunderbolt. Lighters!

Harking back to an earlier frequency spectrum, anyone who first discovered his work via the hallowed Skull Disco days will find much to become joyfully trapped underneath here.

Shanique Marie from Jamaica’s most exciting forward-thinking music collective Equiknoxx blends reggae, jazz, r&b and hip-hop in her own unique style.

'CZ3000 Dub' is subby, melodic techno built around tubular bell jangles. Yet another flawless release from the genius mind of Skee Mask; the sound of an artist doing absolutely whatever they like, traversing a multitude of realms and dimensions and excelling throughout.

An unforeseeable historical cycle surges through this release, as Autechre simultaneously nod toward their own legacy in addition to the immanence of SOPHIE’s.

Artist, journalist and cultural theorist Speaker Music aka DeForrest Brown, Jr. uses drum machines inspired by percussionists Rashied Ali, Max Roach, Metro Boomin and Steve Poindexter for a series of excellent avant-techno percussion experiments.

It’s rare for an artist to go from synth to full-blown orchestral pop, but Tia Cabral aka SPELLLING is a very uncommon artist. Magic Act presents an off-kilter Pet Sounds-esque chamber atmosphere of strings, horns and woodwinds — over which Cabral’s gorgeous voice is able to soar.

Romantic vocals and layered guitars tinged with a Phil Spector-esque production style rise and peak in a satisfying, grand crescendo on this new indie pop track from renowned navel-gazers Spiritualized.

To say Tom Jenkinson's work on 'Deep Fried Pizza' was ‘ahead of its time’ feels unsatisfactory, and almost chronologically inaccurate - the wild array of styles it blends makes it seem to exist in a time and space continuum all of its own. Maybe there really were UFOs over Leytonstone?

Squid’s lucid and deeply satisfying collagist approach harks back to countless avant- and alt-heroes of years past, without ever feeling like slavish retromania. The kids aren’t coming up from behind anymore — they’re miles out in front.

An inspired partnership, Sully presents 2 of his toughest cuts yet on the unstoppable Over/Shadow. ‘5ives’ is a densely layered track full of urgent breaks, skittering zither-like melodies and vertiginous stop-start melodies.

Darkstep kingpin Technical Itch breaks out on Over/Shadow for an absolutely stellar amen slice up session, the veteran producer showing us how it's done with his impeccable form here on this raging roller.

The turmoil of the outside world mirrored internally, Dub abstractionist Kevin Martin aka The Bug completes the incendiary urban triptych he began way back in 2008 with London Zoo, and continued with 2014’s Angels & Devils. Delivering another deft round of soundsystem-blowing ammunition, Fire brings to light exactly how epoch-defining Martin’s infernal craft truly is.

Throughout the last 18 months, time has often stood still. It has also proven to be a flat circle with Thom Yorke doing the entirely unexpected, coming right back around to ground zero Radiohead for this beautiful love/hate relationship rework of their most (in)famous song.

Tirzah’s smoky delivery goes back and forth with Coby Sey’s gauzy vocals on ‘Hive Mind’ floating over a stunted drum track and booming bassline, bringing to mind a worn-out R&B call-and-response sparring.

Dusty, woozy neo-soul from Londoner sitting comfortably, somewhere between Cleo Sol, Fatima’s outings with Floating Points and the dope low slung instrumentals of Sub Luna City, Pisces Problems marks another strong step as TYSON quietly blazes her own trail.

Venus Ex Machina’s Lux is an album that moves between widescreen electronic sound design, ominous dark ambiences and driving rhythm tracks that pitch up in various leftfield techno outposts as heard in the metallic mid-tempo strut of ‘Mysterium’.

Gritty in both the emotional and aesthetic sense, the soul-baring qualities on offer here are often amplified by juddering low-ends and distorted atmospheres.

Whylie’s contribution then splits the difference between the junglism and ornate IDM style also present on Brabuhr Q-ih, a compilation by the fledgling Lith Dolina label.

Joined by guest rapper Earl Sweatshirt, ‘All I Need’ offers a cerebral performance from New York’s Wiki.

Esteemed imprint Workshop welcome back producer and DJ Sophie Wilson aka Willow for another disc of house elegance, with the likes of ‘Squirrel City’ having more than a hint of decay-drenched dub present, as whip-smart hi-hats trace out the skeletal underpinning of the delicate house rhythm, recalling a quietly bustling dance under a sky full of stars.

Lead single ‘Jackie’ is a dreamy track with cadences of classic pop and vintage glam, instantly imaginable on a glittering stage any time between 1970 and today, and yet completely existent within its own rock continuum.

Tracks like ‘Cleaning’ channel the classic future-shock vibes of his earlier work in the form of frenetic dark electro productions, although Paradinas shows restraint, rather than pushing into sonic extremes as he might once have done. This is the µ-Ziq sound rebooted and retooled to both satiate a classic audience and greet a new one.