#14: Best Electronic Music of 2024
An attempt to catalog the best club / dance sounds of the year
Happy new year to all, kicking off list season off with my favorite electronic releases of the year. In the coming week I’ll round things out with a list of albums I’ve spent far too much time on and then some EPs and live highlights.
Many of these picks have been highlighted throughout the year but I tried to pull the cream of the crop for this transmission. I recycled some copy because the album list has really consumed my time and these are already late. New inclusions not featured in a past month denoted by **
For easy listening this Buy Music Club features everything on this list or the following playlist on Spotify does the same alongside some standout tracks of 2024.
Electronic music is made for the mix and I know readers won’t make it to the bottom so I’m pulling these to the front.
Mixes
Freerotation 2024 : The House Of Crocodiles Part 2 (Live Recording)
I know this is like the consensus mix of the year which felt obvious from the first listen, if you’ve somehow avoided it until now then strap in.
Nono Gigsta's latest offering live from Freerotation 2024, “The House of Crocodiles Part 2," is a masterclass in tension and release that defies categorization. From the moment the needle drops, Gigsta propels us into a sonic whitewater adventure. Like a skilled river guide, she navigates us through genre-defying rapids, each track a new bend in the stream. By mid-set, the energy pouring from Room 2 is palpable – a crescendo of collective ecstasy. This isn't just a mix; it's a journey through sound, where Björk, Miles Davis, AC/DC, and gut-twisting dubstep coexist in perfect harmony. Gigsta doesn't just play tracks; she weaves a tapestry that must be experienced to be believed. This is mix that demands your full attention and I’m sure it’s one many DJs will be thinking about and aspiring to for years to come.
See also: Gigsta explores bell sounds for the March edition of Fictions in a mix that’s a calming balm for any stressors you may have.
My favorite DJ set of Unsound Krakow (read our full festival review here). Gummi weaved together grimy ambient and varieties of r&b / rap with jungle, DnB, dubstep, and all flavors of bass weight in between.
Julie: Each blend indistinguishable, nothing disturbing, everything exciting. She mixed with precision and grace, with a deep understanding that the remaining hundred people on the dance floor were hanging on to every last beat.
naffcast002 ⦾ Special Guest DJ @ Osmosis in the trees ⦾ Club Membrane **
This feels like the spiritual predecessor to my introduction to Shy in the Grove at Sustain in 2022 as its a live recording of Shy's set at Osmosis fest recorded in the trees. Chaotic forest dub and in his words “beat play (kink), backwards and forwards, rough n raw wild card pressure from the start with sewn leather to korn at the finish line.”
DJ Plead - Sustain Release Year 9
A quick read through the comments should tell you all you need to know about this mind bending set from the Grove at Sustain Release this summer. A true standout moment from a festival with a very high bar for sonic hedonism.
Top sustain set…ever - Baby Leo
—- “Top festival set ever…” -DJ POSSUM
Mix of the year confirmed - Sputnik One
Unsound Podcast 100: phil in a maze
Phil In a Maze’s set at the Unsound Closing Party harnesses the power of tech-inflected dnb and the impressionistic sophistication of dub. It's a game of tempo division and multiplication, featuring stuttering drum patterns and sludgy dancehall.
dBridge B2B Ehua at Draaimolen Festival 2023
Titans in their own right, this pairing exceeds expectations with a live recording from Draimollen, a festival in the Netherlands known for interesting b2bs among immaculate lineups (e.g. Blawan b2b Skrillex & Darwin b2b Mala). The pair deliver a particularly lethal second hour as they take a turn towards darkness and really lock in.
New Year's Nonstop - Jan 1 2024 by DJ Voices
A good DJ set should tell a story and many have tried but few in recent memory tell such a vivid and legible journey. It was halfway through the month hearing this mix that finally kicked my ass into gear to start on this newsletter finally.
A high energy hour of weird swampy sounds, eery melodies & intricate detail, put together with so much love and care it feels like one full track. Shoutout kinetic <3
Neffa-T with Manga St Hilare & Micofcourse
Filthy grime and dubstep mixed by the maestro Neffa - T with MCs Manga St Hilare & Micofcourse spitting on top like mad men. I’ve truly never heard MC’s spitting like this with the two gliding in and out with unparalleled precision, velocity, wit, and plenty of laughter.
Edwin N°124 - Darwin
Sustained bass-bin shattering sub and what feels like her Nowadays’ set folded into a tight 46 minute mix.
Outsiders: Minor AM w/ Razrbark @ Kiosk Radio 28.02.2024
Razrbark weaves across sludgy slowcore, freaky neo folk, detuned shoegaze, spoken word, dream pop and more in the first half before veering into electronic territory in the back half. Her deft touch and precision when jumping across such sonic variety is nothing short of masterful and she’s quickly becoming a favorite selector of mine.
Daydreaming w/ Shorlax @ Kiosk Radio**
A daydream of tripped out music across every genre kicking off with washy, liquidy ambience. Shorlax glides from jungle to trip hop to art pop and back to trippy heady techno all in a tight hour.
ani/live Fifty One: Ophélie @ Floorless Festival
An incredible mix from Ophélie live from Floorless Festival, this would have been so much fun on the dancefloor. Often holding onto tight subby loops for a long time in what sounds like dexterous 3-4 deck masterclass.
Faery ❍ Live at Exchange, Bristol [17.05.24]
Mesmerizing dnb and uk bass mutations live from Bristol.
Tim Reaper b2b Dwarde at Parameter 2024, San Francisco
Live recording from a massive b2b set at Parameter 2024 in San Francisco - Utter "Mayhem", "Insanity", and "Madness”.
100% Chinese Shoegaze - maxiu - 20 Sep 2024
New wave shoegaze is all the hype lately but I assume few people are on the Chinese shoegaze wave, Maxiu is here to change that with a beautiful sampling of the scene.
If you liked this list you can find my complete list of mix highlights here.
EPs
Bukkha - Solace [Five Alley]**
Heady, dubby soundsystem music that wobbles in the best way possible.
Dark 2-step mutations produced to perfection, “rhythms of postmodern realism”
Dark, psychedelic mutant bass of the highest caliber oscillating between percussive grooves and deep atmosphere.
WZ - IMRV041 [Innamind Recordings]**
Skanky tuff as hell dubstep giving an old school sound a modern twist.
Slinky, wonky, slightly proggy dubstep from the Fast at Work boss.
As 50% of SLINK (along with Simisea and rrao) the duo worked together for years throwing events and honing a sound before working together in the studio.
These tracks emerged from a series of late night sessions marked by “what if?” wormholes and “why not?” arrangements for a live set at Sustain Release in 2022 and refined over the following year.
Joey - Ten Sixty [Elicit Records]
A masterful blend of innovative soundscapes, complex textures and trippy, percussive madness from the rising NYC-based artist, Joey.
One Hundred and Fifty Steps VEP [Bait]
French imprint Bait by Beatrice M is a label focused on the crossover of two spheres: snare heavy bass-music and immersive mental techno. The outcome is psychedelic, contemplative and at the same time calls for gun fingers and backspins. Bait’s second VEP is a 4-track dive into a rather modern phenomenon: 150bpm dubstep.
Simo Cell’s young brother Maxime makes music as Less-O and this mini album is bursting at the seams with fresh ideas as he traverses high definition, percussive, rolling club music across various tempos. The title track in particular is a standout.
Slolek - Object Desire [Of Paradise]
Slolek, returns to Of Paradise with Object Desire, a 4-track collection of saturated electronica, experimental bass, and fractured jungle.
‘A cinematically tinged journey across arid landscapes and through cavernous rooms, Object Desire is a desert-kissed masterpiece of expertly harvested sounds, an incredibly majestic and thought-provoking journey with a darkly ambient core.’
Sparkling, floaty, beautiful, dubby ambience that I could see working functionally in so many settings as a DJ. ‘Verb — Z’ cradles you like a forgiving goddess of bass, luring you into a floaty trance before turning off the lights about 2/3rds of the way through for a more muted and broken outro well suited to the EP.
Deep sound system exploration and innovation delivered the way only VIVEK can, essential dubwise listening.
TMSV delivers four killer tracks of relentless subwoofer shaking wobbles and dubby percussion; bass face guaranteed.
Cristoph De Babalon - Ach, Mensch
Christoph de Babalon continues to innovate pushing the boundaries between his shadowy and haunting variant of breakcore, drum 'n bass, jungle, drone, and dark ambient. This EP is Christoph's continual evolution into territories few will dare risk.
Albums
I’m featuring some electronic leaning albums on the top albums list but these are some other full lengths that stood out.
A collection of hand picked tracks by genre nomad and bass innovator Martyn, made between 2005 and 2015, remastered for release on 3024. A document of UK inspired dance music where ideas, genres, tempos and scenes rapidly merge and splinter off.
CHANTSSSS - Shyness [Theory Therapy]**
“Over 10 tracks of spacious, sub-aquatic ambience, CHANTSSSS pulls you deep into his vaporous sound world. The songs themselves, a blend of ambient pop, chamber music and pulsing low end rhythms, feel cloaked in mystery. Layers of reverb and zonked vocals float in the atmosphere, moving between and through one another, mist on mist.”
Priori - This but More [naff recordings]
Jlin transforms footwork into high art, weaving dizzying rhythms with classical sophistication. Her percussion programming dances between genres while collaborations with Philip Glass and Björk amplify rather than overshadow her vision. The result is both cerebral and visceral - unpredictable club music elevated to the avant-garde.
A nocturnal journey of watery, dubbed-out electronica. Crackling field recordings, mesmerizing atmospheres, and jazz-tinged melodies coalesce into a weightless, mind-tingling bliss.
A flurry of experimental footwork dealing in drugs, depression, domination and darkness from Blood Frenzy Records boss & maintainer of grimearchive.org, Fury.
Recorded in 2018, primarily during a caffeine-fueled all-nighter, 44 minutes, is a manic but precisely produced smattering of samples and mashups like ‘Marshalsea’ featuring spliced lines by Lana Del Ray and Lorde pitted against each other along with the occasional bark and a fury of subby percussion.
Lay2g is a frenetic, genre-defying album that blends elements of blog house, EDM, donk, and hyperpop with nods to new wave and industrial music, a sonic landscape that's both nostalgic and futuristic. Lay2g masterfully balances destructive rhythms with emotional melodies, offering a punk-inspired approach to dance music.
Born in his grandmother's countryside sanctuary, Toma Kami's 'Missed Heaven' trades his signature club thunder for crystalline detail, weaving hyperpop euphoria, sweeping pads and rhythm, and breaks into pristine emotional landscapes.
J. Albert - I want to be good so bad
Bandcamp user stoneinfocus describes this better than I could ever dream to:
“A dash of Basic Channel, a sprinkle of Shinichi Atobe, a little bit of Huerco and a healthy serving of whatever magic sauce J always seems to be cooking with to bind it all together, and we've got something truly special.”
Xenia Reaper - Luvaphy [INDEX:Records]
It’s unknown who’s behind the Xenia Reaper alias but it’s clear they’re a masterful producer. Luvaphy is a warm hug, a vast and weightless excursion through sonic space.
Aroma Nice - Old Haunts [YUKU]
A trip down memory lane of breakcore, jungle, DnB and mid-to-late 90s IDM offering a bonanza of breakneck breaks, earth-shaking bass and floaty melancholy pads. A surrealist tale told through a whirlwind of eclectic, sub-heavy dance styles that pummel with hardcore drive and club-focused sound design, ultimately delivering in the words of bandcamp comment “technicolor breaks-phoria”
Shouts to
with the tip on this, he wrote about the album (his AOTY) and interviewed Xylitol on his substack here.TURQUOISEDEATH - Kaleidoscope**
Gerald Cleaver - The Process**
Comps
Blank Mind ‘Lost Paradise: Blissed Out Breakbeat Hardcore 1991-94’
A compilation of deep cuts that’ll remind you of every time you saw the sun rise and/or felt the sun on your face at 6am after experiencing a full-bodied rave epiphany.
With an intrigue for a particular niche of old UK hardcore which takes cues from Sheffield bleep ambience, heady rave futurism and soft, almost new age synth pads, Blank Mind presents ‘Lost Paradise: Blissed Out Hardcore 91-94’
A perfect blend of atmosphere, low end and tricked-out drum workouts in proper Bristol style.
Explorative bass music meets hypermodern techno and hypnotic dubstep explorations on the latest V.A. from Of Paradise. The comp brings together a cluster of artists hell-bent on shaking up the underground with music that bubbles through the aether and then demands you sit up, listen, and take notice.
Woozy’s annual compilation gathers for its fourth installment, celebrating 9 artists of dubwise disposition that maintains the label and its founder EMA’s spellbinding tradition in futurist soundsystem music.
The second of three compilations featuring artists from Martyn’s 3024 Mentoring Program released in the past three months exploring what a record label can be in 2024. All three comps are worth listening through, sheesh.
That’s all for today, if you found some music you loved here I’d really appreciate if you could share this list with a friend. Stay tuned for the best in non-dance music the rest of this week, it’s a super diverse mix of sounds coming your way.