Norwegian-Algerian artist Karima F (@karimakarima) doesn't fit in with the usual Scandi-disco stereotype. After many years of work on her local scene in Oslo, she broke out into the wider European scene playing soul, hi NRG disco, broken house, hammering breakbeats and plenty more. She holds down resident duties at Jaeger Club and also famously runs Schloss records from a defunct Porsche repair shop together with Ida Ekblad. "I want to be traumatised to work," she has said before, which explains her often dark, heads down approach to making you dance.

There is a lot packed in to her far-travelling mix, which is every bit for listening to as much as it is for dancing. From the kinked techno rhythms of the first half to the spoken word oddities at the mid point via loose limbed drum work scattered in between, Karima twists and turns her way through a leftfield world of sound that is very much her own.

Former military man and marching band member @jamesbangura is an artist who has roamed the world and picked up musical influences at every stop on the way. Be it drum & bass in Alabama, blog house in California or the rich house sound of New York, this Washington DC native is now distilling all those references into his own searing sounds. They have come on labels like Mister Saturday Night and can range from sauced out to brutally energetic.

And the latter of those two is what defines his unrelenting mix for us. It is a hard hitting collision of raw, decaying textures, pummeling drums and stark, post industrial atmospheres that are thrillingly harsh. The rhythms roam from the fringes of techno to the heart of jungle and on to an icy but powerful minimalism that very much consumes your body. So strap in, cause this is one helluva ride.

DJ Autumn (@autumn-bpr) plays various pivotal roles in the UK dance music scene. Firstly, he is label manager at Banoffee Pies Records. It's a buy on sight imprint and network of various sub-labels such as Otaku, Beats, Limited Series and the ambient Sonder Series that plots an always tasteful path between broken beat, garage and minimal clubs sounds from cutting edge artists. Those sounds also characterise his own DJ sets and radio shows everywhere from Worldwide FM to NTS to the BBC. From high tempo intensity to tripped out atmospherics, he's an ever present vibesman who also founded his own Headroom Festival in 2019.

His mix for us this week is a stripped back and dubbed out winter warmer. Always oozing a sense of cool and control, it builds through the most cavernous of bass spaces and icy sci-fi sonics towards a skeletal jungle workout that gets you on your toes. The sounds are always rich and soulful so pull you deep into a comforting musical world. And we can all make time for that right now.

BSS (fka @beesmunt-soundsystem) is Amsterdam born and bred artist, DJ and producer Luigi Vittorio Jansen. Over the last decade plus, formerly as a duo but now a solo concern, BSS established a sound with residencies at key Amsterdam clubs and radio stations plus the Opium Club in Vilnius, and with releases on the likes of Hivern Discs and Honey Soundsystem. The music is always about musical adventure so spans a wide remit from lush downtempo weirdness to tropical electronics via proto house grooves. 




The warmth and sensuality of the BSS sounds runs right the way through this week's mix. It slowly builds through ever more expansive synths and long legged drums to wake you from your post weekend slumber. It remains charmingly deep and hypnotic, with sinewy pads, frazzled synths and soft acid motifs all bleeding in and out of the mix to add detail to the trip. It's as mindful as it is subtly physical and leaves you feeling ready for action.

@cassius-select is a rhythm master. His grooves twist and turn you inside out and contort themselves into bold new forms. Drawing on the weight of bass music and the skip of garage, he has landed on labels like Matthew Herbert’s Accidental JNR and Banoffee Pies over the last few years. The Canadian - who is also one half of SUMAC Sound System - is now based in Hong Kong and continues to serve up killer club tracks with eerie vocal sounds and alien sound designs that make each and every production standout.

His mix for us is just as unique. It starts off by skating on low riding skeletal rhythms, bumping on stripped back bass and drawing you in with a rich array of vocal, percussive and synth details. Just as you think it’s all set to explode, the dexterous DJ draws back to a murky world of bass and dub then rebuilds with a more high pressure sound before ending on some blissed out r&b. It’s dark, sweet and thoroughly seductive.

Renata Do Valle (@hellosailornyc) was born on an idyllic island in the south of Brazil but is now based in Brooklyn, New York. Her vast music collection reflects the heritage of both places but largely draws on Brazilian sounds, be that samba, MPB, electro or soul. She also expertly curates her own Hello Sailor label and has a knack for transporting you from Brooklyn to Bahia and back again whenever she plays one of her expressive and eclectic sets.

This week's colourful selection is one packed with familiar cornerstones like electro, disco and house, but all reimagined through a Latin lens and served up with plenty of South American flair. Joining the dots between the old and the new, the classic and the unknown, it's a steamy and sunny mix that is perfect for parties inside, outside, online or in your headphones. It's such a sweet and full flavour mix that when it's playing you can almost taste the caipirinhas on your lips.

@khotin has served up a free flowing range of multi-genre experiments since announcing himself with a soft-hued acid album on 1080p back in 2014. Now involved with running Normals Welcome as well as releasing on DFA, Pacific Rhythm and Public Release, his music is united by a distinctive take on melody, post-club melancholy and love for downtempo sounds. He crafts blissful songs filled with nostalgic feelings and is exactly the sort of artist in whom we can all find some sort of solace.

And this mix is a perfect tonic for reluctant bodies with its slowly cascading rhythms and soft focus melodies serving as a gentle New Year wakener. It's laced with perfectly dreamy pads and ramshackle drums that are never too forceful but always compelling. While often invitingly sombre in mood, the clouds do break along the way to bring moments of real lightness and joy just when you need it.

@vtss is as fierce and direct as they come in the DJ booth. She came up in Poland's most edgy clubs and since moving to Berlin has been an unstoppable force who has made her always ravey mark on the wider European scene. She's collaborated with Randomer as Body Sushi and with Varg as VARGTSS, and always offers a thrilling barrage of hardcore, EBM and caustic techno from across the ages.

It seems fitting that VTSS takes care of the last podcast of the year because she imbues it with the same pent up tension, confusion and unknowing that has defined the last 12 months. Her selections confront you head on and never let up whether reaching for strobe lit rave, hype speed techno or warped broken beats. Controlled chaos is the best way to describe it, so strap in and prepare to cut loose.

MSJY (formerly Miss Jay)(@jockey_jay)has a foot in many different scenes and brings them together in bold, brazen sets. A core part of the team at OOST club in the North of the Netherlands and with former residencies at Noorderling and Griessmuehle, her sonic character continually changes. She often weaves bass heavy sounds, dark vibrations and dense IDM into logic-defying musical journeys that counter the dark dark and light sides of her personality in compelling conceptual ways.

Ahead of putting together this week's mix, the artist rewatched the newest Blade Runner and got inspired by the scenic shots. "I tried to imagine what my soundtrack to adventures in that world could look like. I guess you could call it post-apocalyptic dystopian energy with a hopeful end but approachable sound." The result is a cinematic mix that uses atmospheric ambient and minimal drum & bass rhythms to set the scene, build the tension, and take you from moments of thrilling intensity to brain cleansing calm.

@nabihahiqbal’s music is informed by a much wider world of reference than most. The pioneering artist has a Masters in Philosophy focused on African history, has studied ethnomusicology and has experience working in human rights law in South Africa. She has an academic approach to the way she builds her music - and her vital NTS radio shows - that unites strands of sound from all over the world into woozy pop lullabies, late night synth soothers and heartbreaking, guitar licked vocal dreamscapes. A new album was due from her in 2020, but a studio break-in meant Iqbal lost a whole heap of music.

The album will now come in 2021, but in the meantime she has given us a snapshot of where she is at with a one hour mix that is truly pan-global. It’s a characterful selection of party sounds featuring pop music and Sade covers, worldly funk and 80s synth jams that sound familiar but are never quite what they seem. This is a mix with the unmistakable stamp of Nabihah Iqbal’s very unique musical identity running all the way through it.