Eoin DJ now operates out of Berlin but has been grinding in the Irish queer party scene since the late 2010s. Their music has an intimacy that feels tailored to compact rooms brimming with joy — the kind of spaces where an arm’s length can reach from the booth to the doorway. Eoin DJ’s new EP for Spray’s promising Punctuality imprint, Ode To Beachball, puts a tasteful spin on tech house. It is enhanced by a remix from trance producer Bliss Inc, who pushes the pounding title-track into luminous terrain. This rework has a sturdy chassis, but Bliss Inc’s infusion of cosmic synth stabs and a bouncy bassline lends it welcoming leisureliness.

UK imprint Wisdom Teeth spent 2024 expanding beyond the burbly dance tracks it came up supporting. Releases from Tristan Arp and H TO O were formless and flowery, while the compilation Club Moss saw exciting voices in club music exploring their airy sides. Wisdom Teeth closed down 2024 with uplifting Tinashe edits from its bosses K-LONE and Facta. Both are a lot of fun, but K-LONE’s remix of “Nasty” is the essential between the two. A trap laced groove rests beneath a glitchy loop of Tinashe’s distinctive singing. Wisdom Teeth is now synonymous with optimistic experimentation, but K-LONE and Facta’s B2B DJ sets are celebrated for being euphoric. This tweaked version of “Nasty” is a reminder that the pair enjoyed a summer shuttling between sun soaked stages.

The Grid label is a destination for low slung tracks that dwell in an inky area straddling dubstep, club, and techno. The imprint is based between France and Austria, run by the artists Clad and Toupaz. Grid’s roster features artists from across the globe, many of whom contributed to the recent compilation Famille Recomposée. These 12 cuts are aimed at creating unpredictable partnerships, the most interesting of which is K Wata’s remix of the Ronan track “Shadowbox.” Both artists are formidable forces in the New York City underground, the former renowned for broken beat gloom and the latter a stellar purveyor of blue skyed house. It makes for an intriguing fusion, fractured percussion toeing around bass wubs and bloopy effects. Even after it has built to a climax, “Shadowbox” remains slippery and cavernous.

Amsterdam’s electronic community is thrilling to follow, climbing to a fever pitch over the last few months. From upsammy’s November ambient outing Strange Meridians to Dekmantel’s sprawling tenth anniversary compilation, exciting sounds are emanating from the Dutch city. Kalahari Oyster Cult has been at the core of the country’s scene for years, founder Rey Colino platforming albums that put a chic spin on progressive house and trance. Pinky Promise — a November EP from Berlin-based producer and DJ Blu:sh — embodies Kalahari Oyster Cult’s laser-y ethos, indebted to the swampiness of a bustling gathering. “Rave Up” is loping and hypnotic, built on a palette of sharp instruments and robotic vocal snippets. This one practically oozes sweat and perfume, embracing gaudiness.

Ambient techno is back in a stylish way, thanks to a crew of young artists orbiting labels such as 3XL, Motion Ward, and Peak Oil. Near the center of this movement is naff recordings, an imprint run by Montreal DJ royalty Francis Latrielle (aka Priori) and Adam Feingold (aka ex-terrestrial). naff releases from artists including healion, Cousin, and URA have put glittery updates on the dubby legacies of Jamaica, Berlin, and Detroit, built on gaseous pads and white noise. Feingold’s first album beneath the alias pondlicker, Soft Focus, offers a hit of cerebral discombobulation; the whole thing sounds as if it was constructed on a brittle percussive vertebrae. Gauzy persistence beams bright on “pluck,” which is centered on the taut thrum of a kick, hi-hat, and rimshot. Iced with a frosty, complex pad, the track makes me picture a winter moon cresting above some patch of northern woods.

Classically trained, Munich-based producer and DJ Lindsey Wang (aka Polygonia) is on a steady ascent, thanks to an eclectic formula that contrasts glassy melodic sequencing and firm rhythms. Her December track “Neon Oracle” sparked as an assignment for Ableton and XLR8R’s Editorial Feature Series. Wang’s naturalistic sound typically involves soily textures and the human voice, but “Neon Oracle” was developed entirely from Ableton stock plugins and sample packs. It opens with a half-time groove and dubstep bassline, evolving into singular terrain as mallet-y arpeggiations and a stuttering vocal chop offset the nocturnal pulse. “Neon Oracle” constructs an environment that is verdant, albeit imposing.

Jacques Greene established himself a master of sugary vocal manipulation following the rapid rise of his 2011 single “Another Girl.” His material since then has married faded keys, floaty voice snippets, and bold tech house beats. It is at once mesmerizing and accessible, making Greene a refined fixture of the big tent. He kicked off 2025 by dropping an edit of Addison Rae’s “Aquamarine,” which I added to this column before hitting play based solely on the number of music journalists I admire that abruptly texted it to me. Greene’s remix dials up the tempo, flipping “Aquamarine” into UKG. Traces of Rae’s original flicker over pumping 2-step drums peppered with muted leads and blasts of bass. This new imagination might arrive in a quiet month for going out, but DJs should earmark this one for crowd pleasing sets to come.

Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington’s project, DARKSIDE, debuted in the early 2010s with a formula that merged house rhythms, jamming, and sensual vocals. During a shadowy period in the wake of 2021’s Spiral, the duo became a trio that now incorporates drummer Tlacael Esparza. On the single “S.N.C.,” which arrives ahead of the February record Nothing, DARKSIDE lean into a disco influence. The song opens with strutting fretwork and a clopping beat sprinkled with snotty keys, reverb drenched guitar, and Auto-Tuned singing. “S.N.C.” is not quite as spiky as the DARKSIDE output that preceded it, better suited for rooftop lounging.

In my mind, there are three types of Aphex Twin pieces: those that are eerily beautiful (looking at you, “Avril 14th”); those that you want to slot in a DJ set, until realizing they are in a deceptively unhinged time signature; and those that are purely befuddling. Richard D. James’ new odds and ends collection for Warp Records, Music From The Merch Desk (2016 – 2023), lands somewhere between the latter two strains. Music From The Merch Desk compiles 38 tracks that had already been available as limited run pressings at live shows. The two-and-a-half-hour album probes Aphex Twin’s challenging crevices, but there are agreeably squelchy elements at hand, too. The best balance is struck on the track “MT1T1 bedroom microtune [London 03.06.17].” Dissonant melodies that seem generated in an alien scale smear over a techno beat. “MT1T1 bedroom microtune [London 03.06.17]” is as outré as James’ most inventive material, yet an approachable jumping off point for a tricky record flecked with brilliance.

Since he appeared on Basic Channel’s Chain Reaction label in the early 2000s, Shinichi Atobe has gone deep. The Japanese artist has a knack for simplistic, yet insistent grooves and plasticky synth sounds that pull from house, dub, and minimal. Atobe’s latest full-length for Demdike Stare’s DDS imprint, Discipline, seems subtly impacted by the generation of producers that he helped pave the way for. On the standout, “SA DUB 4,” moody, echoing pads interlock over clicky thumps and swelling hi-hats. “SA DUB 4” is simultaneously urgent and mysterious, as if melded from a blend of forest mist and fog machine liquid.