This summary is part of a series, posting between 30th December 2025 and 3rd January 2026
DJ Bone – DJ Bone XXXV: The End of Never (Further)
Detroit comes on strong in this no-nonsense funky techno jams arising from his Further club night. Play They Flew Away. That beat is off the chain, that boss drum insistently nutting you in the face. It's full of soul too, and his work has been bigged up my Laurent Garnier and Carl Cox. Another chapter and another success for Detroit.
Hieroglyphic Being – Dance Music 4 Bad People (Smalltown Supersound)
Jamal Moss has two albums in my end-of-year list, in two different subgenres. This collection, which sees him joining the Smalltown Supersound label, is inspired by disappointment with the dancefloor. Good job, because there are few straight lines in this splashy, broken techno. An inventive and entertaining addition to his catalogue.
Paul St. Hilaire – w/ The Producers (Kynant Records)
The dude also known as Tikiman brings us a dubwise selection of foggy sound system techno. He's used a different producer on each track, including Timedance label boss Batu. He really is w/ the producers. St. Hilaire's voice echoes and ricochets throughout, adding to the whole nocturnal flavour of things. One to play as the daylight fades.
Sandwell District – End Beginnings (Point Of Departure)
After many years away, Regis and Female reform Sandwell District for a more human take on their usually severe techno. Amid those clockwork drum loops are screes of mechanical harmony. It's a cracking listen, and surprisingly listenable for a new audience. Spacey final track The Silent Servant is dedicated to their bandmate John Juan Mendez.
Slikback – Attrition (Planet Mu)
I think Slikback is my favourite music artist named after a hairstyle. His arrival on Planet Mu is noisy, wonky, playful and sometimes terrifying. Staccato rhythm onslaughts, strobing drum meltdowns, malfunctioning robot clankery, and hyper-footworkery that nearly made my trousers fall of. Not. A. Dull. Moment.
Valesuchi – Futuro Cercano (Discos Nutabe)
That last record was from Poland via Nigeria. Now we jet to Brazil, Chile and Portugal for the very international DJ Valesuchi. Her second album was made by "cyborging my friendship with the machine", which is a clever way of saying: a bunch of squiggly computer music, busy and bobbling beats, and cheeky melodic circuitary. It's like LFO gone YOLO. Ace.

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