In each volume, I played on the subtle balance between popular releases and lesser-known cuts. I wanted you to hear the craftsmanship of the selection, to feel the human hand rather than the algorithmic one. Occasionally, I admit I sought nerdiness to an excessive degree, excluding excellent but already trendy tracks in favour of left-field pieces, but overall I’d say I achieved my goal. Another side of the same coin was the precise choice to include the most prolific artists with nauseating regularity. The presence of Juche’s releases, for instance, soon became a recurring inside joke, but fit perfectly into my search for realism. Artists like him, or MRJay have been, in some ways, undisputed protagonists of 2024, so why not represent this trend? Ignoring, at the end of the year, all this effort in favour of a more classic ranking seemed unfair, even if it meant to exclude high-profile releases.

Before jumping into the list, I’ll indulge in some general reflections on the macro trends that have marked (in good or bad ways) the wave movement. I’m going to start with a response to all the people who complained about the lack of ‘og wave releases’ on Reddit, X, and Discord. Look harder. Get out of your bubbles and learn to scour the web better. The songs you’re looking for are there. They’re just waiting to be found. Besides, if you miss the early days of the genre, I don’t think you lack material to listen to. If your culture only gravitates around wavemob’s compilations and little else, that’s on you.

Moving on, we’ve witnessed the definitive lofi-zation of wavephonk (yes, I vouch for this term). Despite being the majority current, in terms of volume of releases, the creative offering of the combo of rap vocals and wave instrumentals has proved sterile, relying mainly on stereotyped formulas and copycat solutions. As in the case of lofi, it has mainly become muzak, perfect for passive listening while doing something else, like playing or driving, or a stylistic choice that artists fall back on for promotional or economic purposes.

Speaking of driving, it can be said that ‘Nightdrive’ has officially become a sub-subculture of wavephonk. skeler is clearly the undisputed father figure of this niche, which however remains, to a large extent, a pale imitation of the Australian artist’s style. With his NightDrive 4 mix he has further demonstrated that he’s in a league of his own and at this point, the car-based imagery might be the only contact point between him and most of the other actors in this space. It’s not all doom and gloom, of course. Everything goes in cycles, and although wavephonk is at a standstill, I’m sure it’s creating the hummus for the new sounds of tomorrow.

At another point in the wave universe, Hardwave 2 became a thing. A real thing. Yes, the name may sound cocky or, on the contrary, overly formulaic, but it represents the group of producers I have enjoyed following the most this year. If the Hardwave has always been the noisy twin of the wave, the Hardwave 2 is its punk cousin who snorts lines of coke at family dinners. Over the years the definition of hardwave had already expanded (watered down some would say) to embrace tracks that flirted significantly with riddim, colour bass, and other bass sub-genres. Hardwave 2, however, bypasses simple flirtation and shamelessly jumps into sonic orgies where the Y2K trance component reigns supreme. Hardwave 2 is loud, massive, irreverent, fun, and, last but not least, emotional. It’s exactly what I’d expect to hear if Armin Van Buuren played Lost Lands. Artists like crowit, Altered Soul, Exodynamix, CNQR+, KENOK, and Teneki are responsible for the most daring and unpredictable releases I heard in the wave space in 2024. Hearing trancey arpeggios side by side with dubstep snares or amen breaks blows my mind every time. All that glitters is not gold though. Many Hardwave 2 tracks are still experiments from a technical or writing point of view but this is the kind of creativity I’m looking for. The kind that can stop me from scrolling and make me say “something is happening here.”

To cap it all, let’s take a quick look at the list. Again, these are the best songs picked from the eleven editions of WAVE Monthly I compiled through 2024 and they are placed in no particular order. In addition, some tracks that met the criteria were still excluded because they’ve been already included in our Top Songs Of The Year list. Most of the wave scene’s pantheon is present though. skeler, barnacle boi, Juche, Sibewest, enjoii, Klasey Jones, Pholo, vowl. have continued to develop their respective styles, further consolidating their leading position in the international scene. Some of these songs, in my opinion, must be considered among the best of the genre ever.

In the spectrum ranging from og wave to neo-grime, you find the future-garage-esque collab by calicry & FIVESUN ‘hamadryad’, Planet V and LOSTMANE’s ‘Immersion’, EVERYST and BACKWHEN with their beautiful ballad ‘Lovespell’, Gladkill’s ‘Future Unknown’, ‘Water’ by EONE and forget, MYSTXRIVL and Soko’s collab ‘Pixel’, SHXPE with ‘SOUL’ (the only 4/4 entry in the list), ‘Redemption’ by ovmegacvrse and heimanu’s bootleg of  ‘Red Stars’ by The Birthday Massacre. Among the best bangers of the year are Affectwave’s ‘CODE:NIGHT’, ‘Decrypt’ by crowit. and Exodynamix, the dreamteam REMNANT.exe and Noah B with ‘TRANSMIT’, MRJay’s ‘Break Away’, Teneki and CNQR+’s ‘Mirage’, ‘Broken Dreams’ by MitroWave and KENØK’s ‘LOVE AI’.

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If December is canonically a month monopolized by throwbacks and charts, January is the month devoted to IDs. As expected, in the past few weeks SoundCloud and YouTube have been flooded with unreleased-original production-deep dive mixes, stuffed with songs that could become hits in the next twelve months… or never see the light of day. It’s always a fun yet tricky game to play. You could spot an early banger whose knowledge you can flex to your friends at the next rave or find your new obsession that will never be available to buy or play on streaming platforms.

If you’re willing to get involved in this wicked game, we have handpicked eight unmissable mixes, spanning UKG, wave, trap, club bass, which altogether will feed you more than 100 IDs.

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Let’s start in the US, where Sidewalks & Skeletons and Brothel have been touring throughout all of October, bringing their bewitching show along a series of exciting openers such as Kota Kira and tomkillsjerry. ‘Phase 1’ of this tour features a few more dates in the States later this month before moving to Europe. If you’re in Los Angeles, Seattle, or Portland, check here for more info and tickets.

Talking about Europe, ADE 2024 was a quiet year for wave, with no dedicated events. It fell to skeler to represent the whole movement with a set at the insane VISION x Kompass Music Group boat party and, from what I’ve heard, he didn’t disappoint. “It was really surprising to see skeler on an almost exclusively Drum & Bass lineup” was the first thing that crowit., who attended the event, told me, adding that “this is also what made the set feel really special. Coming from high tempos and gnarly basses into a melody-driven Wave, Phonk & Hardwave set was like a needed breath of fresh air in the middle of the night.” crowit. also reported that “skeler’s set was a good mixture of his signature hardwave sound, his newer wave/phonk tunes” and, as expected from him, “a couple edits I haven’t heard before”.  “My highlight of the set was definitely the ending, where he played Tel Aviv and right afterwards an edit of it, with a mindblowing four-on-the-floor section”. 

After finishing writing the previous paragraph I realized how fantastic it is that the news I report in this monthly column is increasingly related to tours, festivals, and shows. We’re in a new era for the wave scene. We’ve been in for a while, to be honest, but sometimes is important just to say it out loud. Almost ten years in and the movement is going strong, eyes on the future. Plastician himself recently tweeted his call for a 10-year celebration event next year. Nothing is settled at the moment, but keep an eye on his and our social accounts to see how this plan will unfold. 

Moving on from live to recorded music, October’s playlist is, not surprisingly, a little bit spookier than the previous ones. I know Halloween is behind us at this point, but come on, true waveheads are into spookier vibes all year round.  For the first time in 2024, you won’t find a Juche song featured. Feels weird? I agree, but we actually got no releases from him this past month. MRJay didn’t break his streak instead, unveiling a new collaboration with the one and only Kareful. The good people at Harmony Heaven published an horror-themed compilation, excerpts of which you will find in the playlist, alongside tracks from Nick Neutronz, Heimanu, Altare, HAIKU, Tokyo Tears, almogfx, MYSTYK, nibiru’, and many more.  

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As for September’s playlist, the spotlight is deservedly occupied by Sibewest and his brand-new album Fallout. Presented as “the epitome of the past year of my life, my condition, thoughts, attitude and inner struggle with myself. Self-disappointment, emptiness and weakness”, the project indeed sounds like an emotional autopsy that lays bare the Russian producer’s inner self. Conceived by Sibewest as a story divided into chapters, Fallout oscillates between moments of contemplation characterized by wave and ambient tropes, and tumultuous segments that embrace electro and post-rock influences. The ten songs compose a journey that unfolds through passions, nightmares, and epiphanies, and which serves Sibewest (and all of us) “as a reminder that even after the darkest times, the light ones will surely come“. Excluding the tracks already published during the rollout, ‘Thunder’ seems to have quickly become the fan favorite cut. If you don’t feel like listening to the whole album, this is a single not to be missed.

Other personal highlights among the thirty songs featured in the tracklist are MitraWave’s ‘Last Call’, vowl.’s ‘The End’, and ‘Gateway’ by HAIKU. This month we also have a solid remix and bootleg section courtesy of lvst, Førgøtten, DIGITAL ENTITY, MIRAJ, and Myrmax. rvnti’s wave arc keeps getting better and better as well as Heimanu’s recent release streak. Juche showed no signs of letting up and dropped three releases in September as well.

Out of the blue, MYSTXRIVL and Sokos decided to release (or re-release) their 2017 classic, ‘Pixel’, on SoundCloud. I have no idea if there is a deeper meaning behind this choice, but in the meantime, I didn’t miss the opportunity to sneak such a timeless masterpiece in between all the new releases.

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In terms of releases, the spotlight goes to cali.xo’s brand new EP ‘luv‘. This new concept project from the American singer and producer taps into wave, but goes beyond drifting to more instrumental and ambient soundscapes that highly remind me of one of my all-time favourite wave-esque albums. With ‘luv‘ cali.xo shows once again her strong artistic personality and her unmatched ability to create intimate and vulnerable atmospheres. The playlist features many other slow-burning pieces from Gladkill, Klimeks, søul., Cirrus Minør, Blut Own, and many others. Juche included.

August sees the long-awaited second edition of Arcadia festival. The first show is happening this very weekend in Moscow, while at the end of the month, it will be St. Petersburg’s turn. The lineup is simply immense and you can probably understand how much it pains me that I’ll not be able to attend either of them because I’m on holiday in the weeks between the two dates. Last, but clearly not least, Night Drive IV is coming next week. Should I add something? I don’t think so. If this playlist (and the previous ones) aren’t enough to get you through till the 7th, you can watch some spoilers to fight the FOMO.

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As a result, reflections is an EP you should listen to straight through in order to get the full effect.

In short, if you are unfamiliar with mvrina and her music, reflections serves as a bit like a musical foil to cry, cali.xo’s dark debut EP. While the general mood found in their music can differ, both artists create gorgeous airy atmospheres that deliver a powerful emotional punch.

Let’s ‘reflect’ with mvrina

The first track, ‘promises,’ feels like taking a stroll through a daydream, or sunbathing in early morning light. It’s the epitome of peace. This peaceful vibe is more or less preserved through ‘changes,’ which feels much like a continuation of the first song without being repetitive. By the time we get to the third track, ‘fears,’ there’s still a bit of peace there, but with something anxious or unsettling breaking through, as hinted at by the title. This song has a bit more energy to it as well–albeit, nervous energy.

However, the mood takes a bit of a sharp turn by the time we reach the titular track, ‘reflections.’

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Up until this point, we’ve been moving through the phases of a broken promise: the peace that comes with a settled matter, or a promise made, followed by the slight tension caused by changes to what’s already been agreed upon, and then finally, we reach the fear that follows the recognition of a broken promise. The final track, ‘reflections’ serves as both the climax and the resolution of the ‘story’ that’s been built up in the last three songs.

In ‘reflections,’ we realize that retrospect is 20/20. Perhaps that promise was never going to be kept–perhaps there were warning signs that went unnoticed. The chopped vocalization throughout this track feels very much like how it would sound if one’s literal reflection tried to call out from the mirror, warning against a particular course of action (like believing in the promise of a known liar). The beat of silence immediately before these distorted vocals mimics the way one’s stomach may drop once, after some ‘reflection’, we realize something is amiss. It’s the most powerful moment in the EP, but is only powerful because of the way that mvrina built the moment up—slowly, over many minutes–the same way one might build up years of experiences before reflecting upon what it all means, or how it all went wrong.

promises… changes… fears… reflections…

After spending some time with reflections, we reached out and asked mvrina about this project. Here is what she shared: 

“I didn’t intend to make an EP when I started the tracks on ‘reflections’ – I just forced myself to get back into creating one weekend after not having much motivation, and then suddenly (literally within a couple days), I had four tracks that I felt flowed together way too nicely to not be released as an EP. This is the perfect representation of where I want my music style to go and I highly recommend listening to these tracks in order to really get the full experience! […]

The tracks, in my head, flow sort of like relationships; slow and hopeful at the beginning, abruptly changing to fully immersed, fears of losing that spark, and then reflecting on what was.”

The post mvrina Shows Us How Retrospect Is 20/20 With Her Wavy Debut EP ‘reflections’ appeared first on FUXWITHIT.

skeler wasn’t the only one cooking though. Thirty days is a long time frame in the modern music industry and June was another month filled with freshly baked songs. June also means it’s time for the traditional mid-year reports and I was glad to notice how this column makes this process incredibly fluent. I won’t geek out and bring up stats and analysis here, but take a few minutes to go through the previous playlists if you want to get a more three-dimensional picture of the scene over the past six months. You’ll find interesting creative and release patterns that otherwise are hard to spot in the boisterous Friday-to-Friday routine.

If I had to highlight two artists who have stolen the show over the past six months, I would select Bafu and Juche. Bafu wasn’t a new name for me, but with a superlative streak of devastating remixes and originals, he rightfully became the unpredicted hero of the first half of 2024. On the other end, Juche‘s massive impact on the scene was everything but unpredictable. He’s already a superstar, but despite his status, he deservedly earned this shout-out for having released a staggering total of fourteen original singles so far (collab with Sublab included).

In addition to tracks from these two champions, in this Wave Monthly playlist, you’ll find charming and introspective tracks from STATIC ANGEL, BL1THE and cali.xo, glyte and Øtherside. SBU, Teneki, crowit., ZETMO, KENØK, Exodynamix, and the dream team REMNANT.exe & Noah B brought in some hardwave-ish energy while if you’re eager for obscure and mental cuts you have to check Cirrus Minus, GAZHELL and SAGE & KYLLER’s collaboration.

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Kicking off with the newest single by barnacle boi, ‘KNOW Ü’, our Wave Monthly playlist offers the usual dive into the best in wave, hardwave, phonk, and everything in between.  We have a gritty edit of ‘Baby again..’ by hyperforms and more flips and remixes from obey, haydys, deadcrow, and MYSTYK.  For the more soft-hearted, there are plenty of vocal and instrumental ballads such as niburu’s ‘TOGETHER’ , etsu’s ‘Continuum’ or TYLER BREAKS’ ‘angel’. For the lovers of hardwave or stumping phonk-inspired beats, KTrek, KYLLER, kim & limedisx, FATE, Bafu, SBU & MRKRYL and DRIVERAVE got you covered. There’s even space for a couple of liquid drum&bass and jungle crossovers to cap off the playlist.  For the first time since the beginning of the year there’s no Juche music, but only because his two new tracks weren’t uploaded on SoundCloud. You can check them on Spotify.

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Kickstarted by Yama in 2020 as a way to push resilience among producers during the “Covid years”, wardubs have now become an annual fixture for the wave community. “Wardubs was birthed from the first COVID quarantine lockdown and the combination of boredom and being terminally online that it brought” the Seattle-based artist told Mendowerks. “Right before COVID hit, our scene was on a massive upward curve and everyone was riding that high, only to get smacked back down to earth with events and tours being cancelled all over.” But what exactly happens in wave’s wardubs?

Step one. If you’re called out by a producer friend, you have 24 hours to come up with a response. Whether it is a complete track or a one-minute beat is trivial. What matters is not to let the challenge fall on deaf ears.

Step two. Once published, it’ll be your turn to call out other artists, creating a hypothetically endless chain reaction. In short, the same mechanics behind the old-fashioned message chain of the 2000s. That’s it. Easy as it sounds.

And that is precisely wardubs’ winning point. While on one hand we feel increasingly stifled by the excessive perfectionism demanded by parts of the music industry and the cries for help for a return to a less institutional status quo are multiplying, wardubs focuses on immediacy and sociality. It’s a playground of its own, where creativity, irony, and provocation often play the leading role (it’s not rare to find hilarious titles that directly diss a producer). It’s a space and a moment in which a healthy kind of competitiveness is cultivated. A feeling used as a propellant and motivator, to exalt oneself and exalt others.

It’s a win-win situation for both artists and fans. The former are given an anarchic context to fight writer’s block or experiment without prejudice. We, as fans and listeners, just have to sit back, grab some popcorn, and enjoy tons of original and unpredictable cuts released on a daily basis. It’s a perfect way to effortlessly discover new artists, new sounds and fire up discussions about music.

Despite its roots in the past, the wardubs format is perfect for these current times. First and foremost, seriality in media publishing is something we all enjoy and are well used to thanks to TV series, content creators, or even manga. Moreover, its ‘social’ nature takes the most out of SoundCloud’s social features. Despite the general technical sluggishness of the platform, when it comes to music sharing it remains the undisputed leader. A well-curated SoundCloud feed still works miracles and seeing it used in a game-like way for wardubs is a much appreciated (and needed) breath of fresh air. Art is hard, the music business is a tough place but wave’s wardubs are an an oasis where we can enjoy music for music sake, have fun with friends, and share honest feedback. In other words, everything that doesn’t happen during New Music Fridays.

WARDUB SEASON 5 has recently ended and now you can easily dive into more than two hundred submissions courtesy of crowit.

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To begin with, I must mention the arrival of the notorious ‘Look Forward at 2024‘ mixtape. Curated and mixed by Brett from vibe.digital, this mix series (which in this edition features around 100 tunes from 60+ artists) is comparable to an annual religious fixture for all of us in the wave scene. Like Ultra Music Festival for the EDM scene, it’s a proper trendsetter that shows what the hottest sounds are and hints at how the rest of the year will unfold.

Talking about festivals, following the tragic events that occurred on the 22nd of March in Moscow, IMMINET’s crew postponed the second edition of their ARCADIA festival, which was set to be the biggest wave event of the year. The new dates are yet to be announced, but for real-time updates you can join their Telegram channel.

At the beginning of the month, Ravescoon’s first ever Wave & Rave curated event took place in Denver, featuring performances by barnacle boi, brothel, Ktrek b2b Remnant.exe, Djedi b2b w/out (plus a two-hour set by Ravescoon himself). Rumours say that the video recordings of all these sets will surface on YouTube very soon, so keep an eye out!

Last but not least, my fellow writer Ambur Masen published an excellent report on the state of the wave scene on Electric Hawk. I can’t recommend this article enough as it’s filled with essential insights and contributions and provides the basis for understanding and approaching the movement in 2024.

Going back to the music itself, I guess no one was surprised to see Juche dropping two new songs in March too, bringing up to nine the number of official releases in 2024 so far. Besides his collaboration with Sublab, in this Monthly Wave playlist you’ll also find extracts from aeral’s final project LOOSE // ENDS and Just Connor’s new EP Another Realm. Remixes of fred again’s ‘stayinit’ and skeler’s ‘AYEN’, an 8-minute fusion experiment of trap, wave, and French underground rap (it’s not even the only eight-minute track this month), and dozens of new singles from Affectwave, Aekae, axiøs,  lvst, MIRAJ, Klasey Jones, Krull (his debut release) and many, many more.

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