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 tribute to a grime hero, underwater techno and the under-appreciated wonders of Bhangraton.

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

After a packed year spent hosting a show on Foundation FM, a Resident Advisor podcast in partnership with Black Minds Matters, working with Black Butter Records and Don’t Keep Hush, Vanessa Maria kicked the season of Christmas parties off right. With a bottle or two popped, Vanessa called on a lengthy list of friends to help her celebrate, including Ayaya, DUO, Logik, LD Lore, Papaoul, Amelia Street, Freshta, Jedah, Oh Annie Oh and Shivum Sharma.

Photography: Jordan Core

A welcome addition to the new generation of garage producers and DJs jetting the sound into the future, Lebanese-born Bklava is about as dependable as they come. With the beaming enthusiasm and likability of Todd Edwards and playful energy of fellow new genner Conducta, she switches from the bright and colourful to the deeper, heads-down rollers with minimum fuss. And, if you’re lucky enough to catch her life, she’s prone to delivering those euphoric rave vocals live and direct.

In between holding down Critical Music’s SWU.FM show (an essential monthly stopping point for D&B heads), Manny-born, Bristol-based Sam Binga also runs his own Pineapple Records outpost. Running through all the sounds you’re likely to hear from the label, Binga skips through rap, D&B, garage, a couple of dubstep wobbles, some grime and a few club sounds that don’t really have a name. Redders is on mic duty for the most part, but label regular Emz and Welsh/Irish/Nigerian MC Magugu can also be heard jumping in the ring for a few rounds each, and the multi-talented Charli Brix even hops on the mic to sing a few bars.

Image via Instagram

One of the few positives this year is that South Asian underground club music has finally started to get the attention it deserves. The Daytimers crew and stars like Yung Singh have incredible work flying the flag, but if you’ve been sleeping on them then you’ve almost definitely been sleeping on the wonderful world of Bhangraton, the beautiful, albeit surprising, meeting point between reggaeton and Bhangra. Daytimers crew member Gracie T hasn’t of course, and her latest session features the hybrid sound prominently, alongside South Asian twists on UK funky, grime, garage and anything else that makes your speakers jump.

Image via Tim & Barry

Representing for legendary duo Tim & Barry, journalist and A&R (among many other talents) Ian McQuaid takes the wheel for the NTS show. Walking us through the latest and greatest from the drill scene, and as an added treat they’ve gathered together some gems from their ongoing No Miming series, including a very special one from NitoNB, before ending on some Baile funk… because why not?

Image via Pyro Radio

We’ve said goodbye to too many people this year. Sadly, we had to add Ruff Sqwad’s DJ Scholar’s name to that list. Between his own music and his long-running show on Pyro Radio, Scholar’s signature can be heard all over grime history and his work touched multiple generations. Unsurprisingly, the scene was devastated and tributes have been running all week. Twitter’s full of iconic sets and tracks for us to find comfort in, but this recent show from his good friend Jedah was particularly poignant, featuring a tribute mix and a good old fashioned barring session with Birmingham shellers T.Roadz, Mr Manage, Fiasqo, Ace1, Tornado, Deadly R3AL & Adotwiz.

Image via Instagram

When dubstep began to falter in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Dutch-born Martyn was a beacon of creativity. His take on the Croydon-born sound had always taken cues from his earlier passions for techno and jungle, but the past decade or so has seen those influences become more apparent. For this latest mix he balances all three, folding in touches of funky, garage and more for a well-rounded trip through the low end spectrum.

Image via Instagram

Continuing that theme is Henry Greenleaf who’s been feeding elements of jungle, footwork, dubstep, jazz and techno into both his productions and his DJ sets for a few years now. Most recently, he gave us the Rush EP, a slightly unsettling medley of queazy, warped melodies and inspired percussion choices that made for a hypnotising dance floor experience. It’s similar territory in his latest mix, plunging you into warped and woozy club rhythms, albeit slightly heavier ones.

Photography: Karla Del Orbe

Last year, NYC-based Ayesha made her auspicious debut with an EP on Kindergarten Records. A year later and she’s just dropped the thumping Potential Energy EP on Scuffed Recordings (a label having its own overdue time in the sun). A keen student of UK soundsystem culture, both her productions and mixes are driven by bass weight pressure. Here she cranks things up a notching, stirring in a bit of techno, some mutant dancehall, some Apache breaks, a few 4x4 slappers, and there’s even room for some atmospherics in there as well. As varied and versatile as they come, there’s every reason 2022’s going to be an even bigger one for her.