As is fitting for the last weeks of summer, many of August’s finest sets went slow, languid, and stretched-out, prizing haze over anything too sharp. Melbourne selector DJ Sure went deep on sun-baked rock-and-roll and slow-rolling electronics for their Space’d entry, and Voidal went wider still, reaching for all manner of funk, pop, and jangled-up who-knows-whats. New York selector Enayet turned in a masterful sort-of-opening session that ran a million gamuts, and Nick Boyd turned in a peak-time set that was nevertheless downright delirious. Parisian DJ Duane explored the lines between dub and dubstep in a lights-out special, and Carl Luis turned in a far blearier session of dub and reggae tools for Good Morning Tapes. Vladimir Ivkovic and Chez de Milo imagined high-energy club tools as something far woozier, and Marylou turned in a straight-up horrible trip of ambient music and UK club idioms. SnPLO, DJ Frog & roadkill’s b5b presents tech-house at its trippiest, and batida power-trio O Ghettão took the rough-and-tumble drum music to a space that felt outright incantatory.
It’s not all so sludgy, though. Yu Su’s Gop Tun Festival offering is a masterclass in head-spinning techno and breaks, and DJ Land Reform went full-bore on a Rolodex of trance records, to winning effect. A minivan’s worth of DJs flooded the Pacific Northwest with all manner of club (and non-club!) sounds from this year’s Lodge festival, making for some of the most essential (and ungoogleable) listening you’ll find this year. Drum scientist upsammy pushed her craft ever further at Parameter Festival, and DJ Plead and Baby Leo turned in one of this year’s most madcap back-to-back sessions yet at the same event. Angus Mills’ Drip mix shows off the everything-goes energy that makes the mix series essential, while Hank Jackson’s naffcast is electrifying, white-hot, and a bit maddening. boxofbox turned in their once-a-year marathoner of a session, whipping between old-school R&B, Euro house, and new jack swing; elsewhere still, DJ Possum nodded towards the new season with a mix of starry-eyed dance music.
Here are some of the best DJ sets August had to offer.
Angus Mills and Hank Jackson
Though the Drip series is relatively new, it’s left a marked impression. Angus Mills delivers a set that is appealingly loose-limbed and playful, never losing track of the dance floor but always willing to toss a curveball. In Montreal, NYC mainstay Hank Jackson goes deep on naffcast022, making something that’s at once delirious and hyper-focused. If the Angus Mills set is the warm-up, consider this peak-time.
boxofbox and DJ Possum
boxofbox, a.k.a. Durham selector Johnathan Lyon, delivers a five-hour marathoner that feels like a best-case scenario for a dust-covered CD found in the attic. Meanwhile, DJ Possum’s Butterfly Wings is a kaleidoscope of blissed-out club tracks, stretching out and slowing down to find a million flavors of unrushed joy.