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 Jersey Club slammers, high velocity garage and a dizzying rave on Rainbow Road.

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

Photography: Max Eru

Gently easing into the weekend, the mysterious, animated face of Boardgame James thawed us out with a calming and nourishing hour of upcoming and unreleased cuts from his 1000Doors label. If you’ve been clued into the label for the past few years you’ll already be well acquainted with their kind of melody, grime-inspired output. Featuring, among others, creations from Yamaneko, Kamran and the man himself, it also doubles as a handy shopping list of things you absolutely should be copping from the label’s Bandcamp in the year ahead.

Livestreaming in games is already a thing, but no one, not even Fortnite, is pulling it off with the as much ingenuity and attention to detail as Massie and his Truth Hz outfit. They’ve been hosting DJ sets and live shows in video game classics like Mario 64, Tekken 2 and The Legend Of Zelda for a few years now. This time last year Truth Hz launched as a label with a release from WIZE and the shows are only getting more impressive. The latest comes from Ronnie Loko and it puts him in the truly iconic setting of Mario Kart’s Rainbow Road track where he whips up an hour of immersive, slightly dizzying UK funky, tribal, amapiano and more. One of the few livestream videos where the visuals are a must!

Image via Instagram

Carnival season, at least her in the UK, is a little way off, but it’s also been several lifetimes since the Notting Hill Carnival. Through thick and thin, Hipsters Don’t Dance, aka Kazabon and Hootie Who, have kept the fire burning with their ‘World Carnival’ sound. Up until recently, their monthly NTS show was their main outlet, but even though they’ve been able to get back in the dance, they’ve still got a pent up energy waiting for a proper Carnival setting. Another heavy dose of soca, dancehall, Afropop and the rest, August can’t come soon enough.

Photography: BONMK1

As Roska, Wayne Goodlitt led the charge in the UK funky explosion of the early 2010s, honing in on his own unique drum sound that made was widely imitated but never perfected. His most recent work has been under the name Bakongo, an alias that draws from influences like Afro-tech and tribal house to form a much heavier new sound. Nearly half of the tunes here are his own productions and with an instrumental EP due next month, an album in the summer and a live show also in the works, this new mix should more than whet your appetite.

Photography: Rants

Earlier this week, Charisma took to Twitter to vow to “make DJing my life again”. Whether that’s some unduly harsh self-criticism or a reference to his recent brush with Covid isn’t clear. Either way, he’s back on fighting form with this no-nonsense care package of grime, garage and funky. Lately, he’s been getting into Club music and 4x4 garage and he’s stirred some of that into his latest show along with a decent dose of breakbeat, rounding out with a quick guest mix from Liverpool’s Jade Edwards at the end.

Image via Instagram

Taking over the Size? store on Carnaby Street alongside Nia Archives, Oneman, Arthi, Bailey Ibbs and Denaas, DJ Argue switched modes from his usual grime fare to give us an hour-long burst of blindingly bright and energetic garage. Sticking firmly to the pianos and female vocals end of the UKG spectrum, this one from Args should blast away any lingering January blues you might be feeling.

Photography: Tom Ham

There’s always a lot to love on Bristol’s SWU.FM, but Om Unit’s latest show just about clinched it this week. Occupying a spot in the mercurial no-mans land between garage, dubstep and breaks, he slips and slides between the three seamlessly for a mix that’s equal parts hypnotising, immersive and yet thoroughly energising. Look out for rumbling gems from Martyn, Hypho & Logan, Appleblim, and a couple of his own productions right at the top. By the way, if that hits the spot you can catch him at E1 tonight, January 21, for Exit’s 18th birthday alongside Neil Landstrumm, Chimpo, dBridge and more.

If you’ve been sleeping under a rock, you might have missed that Jammer has a new YouTube show right now. Lord Of The Mics 9 is reportedly in the pipeline, but new venture Top Producer’s a little different. A head-to-head contest for, as the name suggests, producers. Episode two just landed on TREND CENTRL and to celebrate, Jammer joined DJ Jedah for some good old fashioned barring.

Photography: @dreadthephotographer

Back in 2019, Brooklyn-based JADALAREIGN launched a donation-funded production workshop for women, non-binary and trans people of colour that has since grown into ‘In Sessions’, a week-long virtual bootcamp serving hundreds of aspiring producers. The thinking behind it was that she wanted to help emerging talent avoid the hurdles that nearly derailed her own come-up. Fortunately, she overcame them all to supply us with glorious mixes like this one, which raises a glass to ‘90s rave culture with an emphasis on the best that New York, Chicago and Detroit had to offer.

Photography: @cor3ycano

Technically, this was recorded last month, but it was only just uploaded to SoundCloud this week so it still counts. Part of Introspekt’s takeover on Threads—which also featured Sister Zo, Mal, Fiera Ferrari, Bored Lord and Kozee—Bianca Oblivion’s set was an absolute slammer from start to finish. This one has it all: Manny bassline, Yorkshire grime, Jersey Club, a Bel Biv Devoe refix and quite a bit more besides.