TRENCH Radio: 10 Of The Best Mixes This Week

Photography: Jack Harvey

Another week closer to oblivion, but at least the music’s good. We’ve scoured the internet once again to bring you the latest and greatest DJ mixes and radio shows (providing they meet the criteria). As ever, we’ve gone through a range of sounds and styles, including rap, jungle, grime, house music, Jersey Club, Amapiano, gqom, bassline, Afro-tech, acid and beyond, it’ll just be more inclusive from now on. This week’s highlights include a lesson in Caribbean history, a Wizkid primer, and a “three-way cage match”.

So, without further ado, here are this week’s best mixes.

Coki

Photography: Douglas Yurinko

Kicking this week’s selection off is an absolute treat from dubstep originator Coki. Celebrating the sound’s roots in Caribbean soundsystem culture, the South London legend put together an exhaustive history lesson of cold reggae, ska, dancehall and digi classics from Barrington Levy, Super Cat, Cocoa Tea, Junior Murvin, Junior Reid, Junior Byles, Jacob Miller, The Jolly Brothers and so much more. Whether you know your stuff or not this is a masterclass no one should skip, and it’s all delivered like a proper sound man.

Uncle K

Image via Instagram

For those of you unlucky enough to have missed out on tickets for Wizkid’s Made In Lagos tour, allow us to rub more salt in the wound. To get everyone all fired up for Wiz’s three London dates (four if you include the show at Kentish Town Forum), Uncle K put together the ‘Wizkid Booster Pack’, a 42-strong sprint through the Nigerian titan’s hits and guest appearances.

Ronnie Loko

Photography: @i.rom6

On the subject of the Wizkid pre-games, you can bet your life there’s going to be at least a few of the hardcore revellers getting the vibe started at RECESS’s big one at Fabric tonight. And if you’re not going to see Wizkid and you need to get yourself fired up a little, Ronnie Loko’s put together this multi-faceted house mix. He’ll be spinning a madness in Room 3 and no doubt you can expect similar flavours of UK funky, Amapiano, Afro-house and the like.

DJ Priya

Photography: Jojo Jones

Thanks to people like Yung Singh, the Daytimers crew and the like, South Asian club selectors and producers are finally beginning to get the recognition they deserve. Another of the leading lights is DJ Priya, a DJ who came up via one of Jyoty Singh’s workshops for women of colour. As ever, this one marries high-velocity breaks and garage with South Asian floor-fillers from the likes of Swet Shop Boys and Ahadadream, as well as a good chunk of jams from Jayhaan, a DJ putting a Desi spin on Jersey Club.

ELEANOR B2B Tony G

Image via Instagram

Brooklyn-based Sorry Records has been kicking out unpretentiously tasteful bangers since 2015 yet they remain criminally under-appreciated. Tony G, who co-founded the label with Nick Boyd, stepped up to the decks alongside Local Action’s ELEANOR for a huge two-and-a-half-hour session of shuffling, shifting, foot-stomping club sizzlers from across the spectrum. They recorded the mix while Tony was in London earlier this summer, but kept the session under wraps until this week. The ideal primer for the Sorry Records family.

Morgan Hislop w/ Alya L

Photography: Jack Harvey

Still riding deservedly high after the release of his single “About 2 Be” with OhEm, visual artist, designer, DJ and producer Morgan Hislop welcomed Alya L for a g-mix. Living up to his rep for colourful and energetic club elixirs, he then makes way for the Bristol selector to let off some drum-heavy fireworks with just a hint of grumbling darkness creeping in at the end.

Paige

Image via Kindred

It was only last year that London DJ and visual artist Paige Bayley launched her Night Service Records and things are already moving at quite a pace. A series of free tracks kicked things off and a Foundation FM takeover followed earlier this year. Between all that, Paige has been an ever-present figure in clubs and radio stations, including this appearance at the Kindred record shop/radio station, her second in as many months. If you’re looking for a hint of what the label has in store, expect plenty of this slightly darker, bassier take on UK funky that still keeps that all-important bounce firmly in place.

Bandulu w/ Chimpo

Photography: @yamisees

Bristol and Manny collide for this special Bandulu Records show. You never quite know what you’re going to get with either Chimpo or the Bandulu boys, but for this surprise gift they’ve gone deep into the dark and dubby end of their respective crates, taking that theme and applying it to the worlds of grime, breaks, dancehall, and various rap strains from across the globe. And, as ever, they’ve kept a few dubplates and specials ready for the occasion. With any luck it’s a team-up we’ll hear more of sooner rather than later.

Spooky B2B Trends B2B Boylan

Image via Instagram

Spooky’s regular spot on Deja stands alone in the grime scene. An ever-reliable source of grime’s latest and greatest, it remains a beacon in the scene. Rather than fly solo, this week he welcomed Mean Streets dons Trends and Boylan for what Spooky calls “a three way cage match”. Just as punishingly heavy-going as it sounds, expect 140 thumpers from As.If Kid, E3 Breaks, Grandmixxer, P Jam, DOK, Mystry, Sukh Knight and a few of their own creations to boot.

Tim Reaper B2B Mantra

Between them both Rupture and Future Retro London have done astonishing things for the D&B/jungle world these past few years. So to have Tim and Mantra on the same set together is a special moment for lovers of the Amen break. Cruelly, it’s just an hour, but they pack in a lot, including plenty of filthy foulness from Adam F, Lemon D, DJ Ruffkutt and a rework of an old gem from the pioneering FBD Project.


Posted on November 26, 2021