There’s a magic in a great groove that sticks to your bones and the trio has touched upon that enchanting kind of moment. Sandy’s soulful swagger accents all the right notes above pulsating, airy synth stabs. In a time when most of us can’t dance inside a dark, sweaty warehouse, “Just Look” takes us back there – at least in spirit. Gomi, Ivy, and Sandy B have captured the blissful ethos of early rave and transported it into a post-rave world.

Each of the three NYC-based artists has a proven track record in dance music. DJ Gomi, a consistent fixture in dance music for nearly three decades, boasts remixes for the likes of Madonna, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Celine Dion. NYC native Mike Ivy has in the last decade appeared on stalwart labels like Toolroom and Skint, and Sandy B first reached number one on Billboard’s dance charts with “Make the World Go Round” and “Ain’t No Need to Hide” in 1996, and 1997, respectively. Since then, she has become a regular of the Nervous Records family.

“Just Right” is available to stream and download across platforms here.

The song’s chorus – a duet between Miller and Anderson .Paak – undulates softly in the background for a completely different take on the modern breakup song. Remixes are at their best when they reimagine a song within a new context. SÖTTO and UNDTKG realized the rhythmic groove of Miller’s flow and allowed it to shine atop thumping percussion.

SÖTTO and UNDTKG are part of a league of young house producers that hail from Brasília, Brazil. Like their friend MKJAY, who’s spent the last few years destroying the charts with groundbreaking productions on Insomniac Records and Dirtybird, SÖTTO and UNDTKG have found the balance of bass-forward beats and classic house grooves.

“Dang” (Remix) is available as a free download via Soundcloud.

Phinnegan and Madrush both hail from the U.K., and on account of the COVID-19 pandemic they haven’t had the chance to test this out on a real life crowd. New Zealand duo Melt., however, have returned to playing shows in front of real people, and have seen the damage this belter can do to a dance floor.

The ghostly intro smoothly swells into an absolutely filthy, crushed reese bass line. The modulating low-end wobble that has been synonymous with drum and bass since its inception still packs a powerful punch to the gut. Madrush MC’s slick vocals provide just the right amount of organic balance for a wall of halting amen breaks.

The trio masterfully demonstrate what makes drum and bass such a compelling genre. Its stark elements allow the body to experience the rhythm in a way that’s visceral. It feels fierce and chaotic, yet the drum programming is so subtly delicate and precise.

“Everyone” is available as part of the onesevenfour Vol. 1 compilation.

The trill of haunting chords sets the tone. As a syncopated backbeat begins to breathe life into the song, the female vocal slithers in. With such a sensual start, the crisp and punchy drums catch you a bit off guard. As thick as they are, though, their weight turns the sultry, R&B-tinged number on its head. The result is thumping, raw, and sexy. Funk carioca is an amalgamation of sounds, and Jaca pulls that thread with a compelling, modern twist.

Favela funk’s popularity rose alongside that of hip-hop and dance music. In the ’80s Miami bass, hip-hop, and freestyle dominated South Florida record stores. It was a sound that already had deep roots in the diaspora. It’s easy to see why DJs from Rio returned with those records after traveling to Miami. The sound evolved as it merged with Samba and was further influenced by Afro-religious music that was popular among Black communities in Brazil.

Like hip-hop and Miami bass, favela funk was popularized in Rio De Janero’s predominantly Black favelas. By the mid-’90s it had gained mainstream acceptance in Brazil. With lyrics that delve into race, sex, violence, and social inequality, the parallels between it and hip-hop are stark. The genre has come under similar cultural criticism for its glorification of violence and degradation of women. While the lyrics often push the limits, it can be seen as an authentic representation of life in the favelas.

“Faixa Preta” by Jaca Beats is available as a free download.

The original mix opens with two minutes of uplifting melodic bliss. Thumping kicks, syncopated percussion, vocal shouts, and a joy-inducing arpeggio set the tone. While the vocal is teased to great effect several times, the dancefloor-blazing drum breakdown leading into the full vocal is a moment that would undoubtedly bring any dancefloor to its knees. And then with a near-perfect blend, the chugging melodic ecstasy returns again.

Mijangos’ “Afro Latin Remix” amps up the energy and ads a splash of tech. Because he’s spent the majority of his career pushing a sound that has his Latin roots at its heart, he was the perfect producer to enlist. The drums, while mostly pulling from the same elements as the original, have an added sparkle – they are the centerpiece of this remix.

The package is rounded by a heavy “Drum Dub,” also from Mijangos. On this round, the bass line comes out full force with far more rhythmic vocal accents than before. The melodic elements are purely accents in this remix, while Mijangos pays full attention to a rhythm that hits you right in the chest.

You can stream and download “Baila Gana” across platforms here.

“Can I Turn Too,” features the hallmarks of the Bay Area-born artist’s trademark sound. It opens with a tuned-down soul sample, almost foreboding, and all at once, a sultry wall of Rhodes offers a stark juxtaposition that doesn’t feel out of place in a year like 2020. “Can I Turn Too” is really a marriage of the deep house cuts that brought her into production and the more hard-edged Berlin sound that she’s picked up while living there. The synths and bass line are bright and airy, but the beats are heavy and throbbing.

Lady Blacktronika’s music runs through waves of darkness and light. It’s music indicative of a life that has been met with intense joy and extraordinary heartache and austerity. She was born and raised in San Jose, California, and throughout her life, she has experienced periods of drug addiction, homelessness, and prostitution. Through it all, her music was a solace.

In the late 90’s Lady Blacktronika got her start lending her vocals to numerous house records that never saw the light of day. After years of feeling left out of the writing process, her own smoothed-out deep house cuts were discovered by Mike Huckaby on MySpace, and he introduced her to the world in 2007.

“Can I Turn Too” and the entire Drum Control EP are available via BandCamp.

The legendary club’s dance floors have laid dormant since March due to COVID-19. In the absence of throngs of black-clad dancers, Studio Berlin has stood in to occupy the space. This was where the owners of Berghain’s imprint came across Ogboh’s work. His latest installation, Ayilara, expands on his work with the sounds of Africa’s most populous city, bringing visitors on an aural journey through its red-light district.

Not only were the staff of Ostgut overcome by Ogboh’s work – they were shocked to find that he didn’t fancy himself a producer and had thus never considered an album. Resident Advisor reports that Beyond The Yellow Haze will feature the sounds of the Nigerian artist’s first solo exhibition from 2018, No Condition Is Permanent. Lagos is a city that is awash in sound. Public markets, street conversations, and the din of traffic are the backdrop of the album, beautifully married with rumbling drum lines and ambient synths.

Ogboh’s work can be viewed as love notes to his city, one that he misses dearly. He normally splits his time between Germany and Nigeria, but due to COVID-19 travel restrictions has been stuck in Berlin since March. While he loves Berlin dearly, as he told TateShots in 2017, “Lagos is a city that is never silent, so when I first started living in Berlin I found it hard to sleep because it was quiet. In Lagos we live every day with, I stopped calling it noise, this is really like sound. The city composes. This really captivated me to work a lot with sound.”

Beyond The Yellow Haze is available for pre-order on the Berghain website.

It’s apt that Jefferson and Brightledge have chosen Smeddles to help provide a modern twist for this house classic as he’s not strayed too far from the feel-good piano house style of the original. Smeddles has reimagined “It’s Alright” for the modern dance floor, with some added punch in the drums and bass line. While the original maintains an air of nostalgia, after all, the mix and master leave something to be desired in the context of contemporary house music.

1987 was yet another tumultuous time in the world, and Brightledge’s vocals spoke to that: “Dictation being forced in Afghanistan/Revolution in South Africa taking a stand/People in Eurasia on the brink of oppression.” Meanwhile, the song’s bright and uplifting piano riffs support the overall message of hope. Brightledge joyously sings that “Music will last/Never dissipating, but giving us strength.” It’s surely a sentiment that we can all use in a year that has been rife with uncertainty.

A portion of the royalties from “It’s Alright” will be donated to St. Catherine’s Hospice, located in England’s northwestern city of Lancashire. The palliative care facility helped a close friend of Smeddles who passed from cancer last year.

“Last year, I lost one of my best friends,” Smeddles said in a statement to Mixmag. “He spent his last few weeks in a hospice and from spending time there with him it completely shocked me to find out how selfless, gracious, and humble these people are that work there. The attention and care Matt received at St Catherine’s Hospice was seriously out of this world.”

“It’s Alright” is out now on Ultra Records.

Now, we finally get to experience the full span of her journey into the broken with the Dance Night EP. It’s out now on Christian Martin’s Trippy Ass Technologies.

The title track, “Dance Night” is a spacious foray into classic electro. The drums are dirty with a bit of extra weight on the 808. VNSSA (real name Vanessa Barnes) toys with a multi-faceted array of psychedelic melodic motifs with a gritty 303 at its core. A hallmark of VNSSA’s tunes and a source of their allure is her own voice giving the song a hook. It’s worked so well on hits like “Word” and “Rave Grave,” and she continues to prove her songwriting ability by crafting a fun spoken word that only adds to the quirkiness of “Dance Night.”

She continues the electro onslaught with “Out Of My Head” featuring Bianca Gardner. This one has a heavy dose of acid and a spicy countermelody. What’s most fun about it is the balance of crispy clean drums and increasingly dirty and wonky synths. It’s the best kind of weird.

Label head Christian Martin joins brother Justin on the final tune to remix “Out Of My Head,” Evening out the EP with a bit of 4/4 action. The boys grab the melodic elements, make them even dirtier, and then repurpose them as a rollicking bass line, offering a perfect example of paying tribute to the original while making it the remixer’s own.

Dance Night is available via BandCamp, Spotify, and Beatport.

“Skull Island” showcases the young producer’s ability to tell a story in sound. ’96 was asked to write this one for the launch of the Mad Ape Records imprint. With the name of the label in mind he set to work crafting something with a jungle theme.

With a thunderous kick as its centerpiece, “Skull Island” tells the story of the tribespeople of the mysterious island. As they beat on their bongos and chant in time, you can envision the steam rising as a monstrous ape looms in the distance. The tension builds as their drumming intensifies with chords building in anticipation of the arrival of the island’s gargantuan monarch.

Those living in and around San Francisco can catch ’96 Vibe live on November 17th for the Space Yacht Open Air. The outdoor gathering is at The Midway SF, San Francisco’s largest socially distanced event. Find “Skull Island” as a free download here.