Jungle Gym Records releases straddle atonal experimentation and luminous house, in the vein of West Coast spiritual forebears such as 100% Silk, Mood Hut, and Pacific Rhythm. The Los Angeles label maintains a fairly low profile, but is a prolific purveyor of wonderfully dusty oddities. One of my favorite projects on the imprint is Lac Seul, an understated duo from Jungle Gym co-founder Jared Carrigan and Tyler Losinski (aka Tile Plazas). Lac Seul’s shimmery new record, Destinations, is tailored to Pacific Coast Highway drives and cozy listening spaces. “Under The Wing Of Time” unfurls with lofi pads and a celestial lead, before a compact drum machine and acid bassline emerge in contrast to the wondrousness. It calls to mind Larry Heard covered using simple instruments from an elementary school classroom.

The Scottish label Craigie Knowes typically platforms no frills progressive house. But the imprint has hinted at an eclectic side on releases like Danny Daze and Jonny From Space’s Tumbadora and No Moon’s Infinite Dreamz. Craigie Knowes’ first EP of 2025 arrives via Sub Club veteran Dominic Capello, who serves up four slices of disco-inflected electro on Sceptical Soul. “Amber City String” is the gentlest cut, with its airy pads and swirls of pearly treble. Shuffling hi-hats push things towards a peppy climax, which makes me imagine a cosmic poolside party.

Voice Actor crept up from an arty corner of the UK underground, orbiting elusive venues like Ormside Projects in London and the beloved online radio station NTS. The duo, led by Noa Kurzweil, initially skewed towards ASMR ambient, guided into the dingey ether by former Voice Actor member Levi Lanser. Now aided by production from mysterious Welsh musician Squu, Voice Actor’s new album, Lust (1), splits the difference between misty atmospherics and distant beatmaking. “Nekk” is carried by a filtered 2-step skitter, peppered with Kurzweil’s dubby talk-singing. Though certainly cryptic, this is the most tangible glance at Voice Actor we’ve gotten yet.

An upsammy remix of DIIV is almost suspiciously up my alley. A recovering dream pop head, one of my first Stereogum assignments involved waxing about my deep connection to DIIV’s 2012 debut, Oshin. Meanwhile, upsammy’s naturalistic IDM opus, Germ In A Population Of Buildings, landed on my Best Electronic of 2023 list. On a rework of the Los Angeles band’s 2024 Frog In Boiling Water cut “Brown Paper Bag,” the Amsterdam-based producer and DJ disintegrates the shoegaze-y original into free-flowing sludge. Twinkling digital chimes and intricate drum programming outline DIIV front person Zachary Cole Smith’s glitched out vocals. The end result makes me imagine Kid A-era Radiohead composing a children’s lullaby.

I spent the first week of this month journeying around Spain and Portugal and was blown away by the quality of the record shopping I encountered on the Iberian Peninsula. Pressings that linger in the back of bins at shops in North America were prominently displayed, suggesting a region of the world where the baseline tolerance for left-field electronic music is enviably high. Walking into Lisbon’s long-standing Flur Discos, I was immediately taken by the album they had bumping. Thumbing through Bandcamp after my travels ended, I serendipitously discovered that it was Blacksea Não Maya’s Despertar — the latest LP from the project predominantly helmed by DJ Kolt. The Príncipe-issued LP injects doses of dembow, footwork, and trap into the polyrhythmic regional strain of tarraxo; floaty guitars and piano fizz over brash, lumbering beats. On standout “Kirraxo” a throaty melody descends over rattly percussion. Like the best Príncipe material, the track weaves familiar textures into chunky, baffling shapes.

Due to a confluence of work and procrastination, I woefully missed both Making Time and Sustain-Release in 2024 — two of the East Coast’s premiere summer electronic festivals. The recurring takeaway I got from friends who attended is that DjRUM’s sets at each were exceptionally brain-warping, packed with bizarre, energetic turns and zippy drum and bass selections. It’s surprising that the British artist born Felix Manuel would gravitate towards such driving sounds, as his recorded material tends to be fairly jazzy and organic. On his first track of the year, “A Tune For Us,” Manuel dials down the tension. The piece eschews time signature, and features stringwork from London-based cellist Zosia Jagodzinska. It opens with burbling keyboard flourishes that recall Alice Coltrane, until a delicate breakbeat peppered with earthy cymbal brushes punctuates the bliss. Manuel is a classically trained musician, and “A Tune For Us” offers a reminder of his scholastic tendencies.

In the first installment of this column, I chatted with the legendary Amsterdam label and festival Dekmantel about their massive 10th anniversary compilation. A few months on, the imprint has revived its ultramodern UFO sub imprint with a pair of EPs from Wata Igarashi and Piezo. Both are admirably rhythmic and taut, built on forward-bound techno grooves and metallic sonic design. The Igarashi track “Interweave” is the highlight of his Kaleidoscopic EP, capturing the arpeggio master’s knack for layering at its finest. Thick, sinewy leads blossom above an agile, four on the floor beat. Igarashi is a staple of clubland’s steeliest bunkers, but “Interweave” seems indebted to the contours of everyday life.

FKA twigs’ inescapable new album, Eusexua, straddles retro-futuristic pop and dance music. The record is underlined by a chic, ’90s-laced trance influence that distances it from the whispery deconstructed R&B FKA twigs came up exploring. The most interesting moment comes on “Drums Of Death,” a collaboration with enduring FKA twigs producer Koreless. Koreless’ instrumental sparked while he was on a flight to perform at Berghain, and it retains his stuttering, albeit melancholy signature. FKA twigs’ striding vocal gait enhances the stylishness — like her best output, “Drums Of Death” begs to score an alien fashion runway.

For an artist who minted the post-dubstep blueprint with his 2009 breakout track “Hyph Mngo,” Joy Orbison is just now reaching his full potential. His star rose high in 2024, thanks to the growling single “flight fm,” which dominated summer festival mixes; yielded an unlikely Fred again.. re-edit featuring Lil Yachty, Future, and Playboi Carti; and earned Joy Orbison the award for DJ Mag’s Best DJ of 2024. Joy Orbison has eased into 2025 with the song “bastard,” a collaboration with slick UK rapper Joe James. Pensive and smooth, it came to life in a quick session and teems with gloomy introversion. Thick, stuttering synthesizers and a clicky snare support James’ smokey verses, which were recorded with a poorly set up microphone in one take. Even as he experiences a renewed ascension beneath the big tent, “bastard” is a testament to Joy Orbison’s nuance.

The last we heard from Barker, he was pummeling us with kicks on the low slung EP Unfixed. It was a strange pivot for the Berlin-based hardware virtuoso and Berghain resident, whose schtick had previously revolved around crafting beatless techno. “Reframing” — Barker’s new single ahead of his ruminative sophomore LP Stochastic Drift — is something of a return to form. It’s centered on a subtle pulse that, in the hands of a less skilled producer, might resemble a metronome accidentally left activated in mixdown. Toothy leads sprawl atop unmoored vibrations, the whole track seemingly molded from slippery liquid. In the rare bars that “Reframing” inches towards sensibility, it abruptly slithers back into a mesmeric coil.