10 under-the-radar club tracks you need to hear in July 2018

For Club Use Only is your one-stop guide to the best underground dance music from across the world. Each month, The Astral Plane’s Gabe Meier forecasts the next wave of sounds due to break through into the mainstream.

Some of contemporary club music’s most vibrant collectives have come out in force this summer. Fade To Mind has offered up an expansive full length from Rizzla, 11 brand new Kingdom edits and the second edition of Asmara and Venus X’s Putaria Maxima series, while Toxe’s arrival on PAN and Dinamarca’s Rinse debut have provided key developments for two of Staycore’s finest.

Meanwhile, Sinjin Hawke & Zora Jones have a collaborative EP on the way and will release Xavier Stone’s THIRST LP through their Fractal Fantasy imprint. On the mix front, Ifeoluwa turned in a high-octane selection for Discwoman, LOFT flipped Boiler Room on its head and SKYPE WILLIAMS nailed the sweaty mood for Papi Juice.


SOPHIE
‘IMMATERIAL X REVENGE X URQUIETA X PRECOLUMBIAN’

SOPHIE’s ‘Immaterial’ promises to be everywhere this summer and precolumbian has provided us with the gritty reboot we didn’t know we needed, blending Tomás Urquieta’s forceful take on Mun Sing’s ‘Revenge’ with the powerful original.


Jana Rush & DJ Paypal
‘Intergalactic Battle’

Jana Rush and DJ Paypal, two artists abstracting footwork into ever more exciting shapes, connect on a bass-heavy track that exacts a low end toll on the listener. Packed with sizzling sci-fi bleeps and womps, ‘Intergalactic Battle’ has surely emptied the recesses of the two artists’ sample banks.


Detente & Nevrland
‘Emia’

The more subdued of a pair of tracks recently released by Detente, Ssaliva and Munix (the latter two under the Nvrland moniker), ‘Emia’ is the sound of photosynthesis, all growth, energy conversion and sunlight.


Clara! (feat. DJ Coquelin)
‘Reggaetoneras 3 Intro’

The third edition of Clara!’s Reggaetoneras series dropped midway through June and has been on repeat ever since. Featuring an all-star cast of female artists that range from the legendary Ivy Queen to upstart La Goony Chonga, Clara! effortlessly dips into reggaeton’s past, present and future. It’s an instant summer soundtrack.


B.yhzz (feat. Dex)
‘Two Rooms’

Using “tools that once belonged to his grandfathers” (a woodworker and a farmer respectively), Intruder Alert’s B.yhzz has crafted a tactile masterpiece in ‘Two Rooms’, achieving a weightlessness that is not all that dissimilar from the doom-ier end of the heavy metal spectrum.


Color Plus
‘Litesowt’

Color Plus’s debut album on Los Angeles label Paxico Records is an masterclass in start-stop rhythms and dreamy tones, punctuated by a guest feature from frequent collaborator Izy and the heavy-lidded jungle of title track ‘Litesowt’.


Miss Kenzo
‘MK ULTRA BLEND’

The haunting arpeggiated vocals are the first striking element of Miss Kenzo’s ‘MK ULTRA BLEND’, but before long the jumpy kicks and frantic snares slide into focus and you’re lost in the track’s brilliant maximalism.


Anna Morgan
‘Tectonica’

Cybersonic’s third annual compilation is highlighted by Anna Morgan’s ‘Tectonica’, a spacious effort that brings the heft of dubstep and the indomitable roll of jungle to a more contemporary sound palette.


Don Sinini
‘smoke 2 much’

London’s Don Sinini emerged with a strikingly unique style on April’s Grove Centraal EP for Tobago Tracks, where he matched placid beats with an elegiac flow. ‘smoke 2 much’ is another example of Sinini’s prowess, showing off his gorgeous vocal technique over a crunchy, lo-fi backdrop.


James Nasty (feat. Dj Dizzy & Mario)
‘Keep On’

James Nasty, DJ Dizzy and Mario keep it simple on ‘Keep On’, getting the most out of stripped-down percussion (including a great hand drum polyrhythm), breaks and an anthemic vocal.

Gabe Meier runs The Astral Plane. Find him on Twitter.

Read next: Deep Inside – July 2018’s must-hear house and techno playlist

Latest

Latest



		
	
Share Tweet