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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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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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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In conjunction with the beginning of his USA tour, today skeler debuts the highly anticipated third chapter. You know the drill. Be ready to dive into two hours filled with over forty brand-new IDs.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4ALDytLAXQ]

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‘Control’ is the title chosen for what was, up until now, universally baptized as “the opening track of Night Drive vol.1.”  While ‘Arcadia’, ‘Tel Aviv’ and ‘Tokyo’ are his biggest hits, as the opening track of his iconic first all-ID mixtape ‘Control’ has been the soundtrack that welcomed legions of listeners into the skeler universe. It definitely lacks the epicness of the aforementioned classics, but I consider unfair the critics I’ve seen spread around. Put in a context like 2020 where “drift phonk” wasn’t this overcompressed, stereotyped subgenre, ‘Control’ was for many (me included) an innovative sound. Not only that, compared to what can be found in the most popular playlists of the genre today, ‘Control’ is still in a league of its own.  It may be presented with a dark, punk aesthetic, but its sound is incredibly soft and gentle, almost a massage for our eardrums. It’s a beautiful, hypnotic lullaby that will hardly light up the dancefloor, but still will be the perfect soundtrack for more meditative and cathartic moments.

Stream ‘Control’ below or buy it on Bandcamp and be sure to also check skeler’s new remix here.

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Its perfectly balanced oscillation between intimate atmospheres and uplifting festival drops, makes Rez.One a 6-tracks journey rich of suggestions and inspiration. One is the peculiar vocal sample, the other the thrilling synth, another one an unexpected twist in the ryhthmics: each every track has its own glimpse that highlights their full potential, making them formidable both inside the album’s frame but also as standalone.

Stream Rez.one below and buy it on Bandcamp here!

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As anticipated in the ‘Hardwave‘ mix, ‘Flow Away’ has arrived early this month with its massive emotional and adrenalinic charge. A quick glance in the comment section will show you how powerful this song is: “this tune give me hope in a hopless world,” “your music it gets me through even the hardest of days,” “If you ever wondered what heaven sounds like,” are just some of the fans’ statements you can read. Believe me, as many of them, you won’t need to understand the Russian lyrics to feel the moment. Independent from the language, the angelic voice of the alternative Russian singer ELLA (the sample comes from her 2019 hit ‘NBA’) can be enjoyed also as a instrument on its own. Its delicacy stands out among the massive sonic wave made of icy synths and endless reverbs like a sandcastle proudly withstanding the morning tide, shaping with its fragile presence that mystical space where the sea meets the land, where our dreams clash with the reality.

After the 24th listen, I still can’t say if ‘Flow Away’s extremely short length is a positive or negative trait. What instead I know for sure is that I’m obsessed with this track, and when the sun goes down, I press that repeat button on SoundCloud and I let it flow again and again.

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Let’s start with ‘One Day,’ his first self release in four months. Although sober and relatively minimalist, the base, with its technical perfection, can be a pleasant surprise for those who are more accustomed to design finesses. However, it’s with the vocal section that skeler manages to make the breakthrough and magnetize our utter attention. After remixing trance, big room, and house classics, this time he put his magic hands on the goddess Enya. The marriage between the digital wave elements and the angelic voice buried under layers of delay and reverb is a gorgeous rhapsody.

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The second one, titled ‘GLEBIA’ (abyss/profoundity in Polish) has been instead released via the Krakow based collective ‘CZELUŚĆ’ as part of their #4 compilation album. Same formula, another hit. The hypnotic voice whispers about doomed love while the instrumental part, this time able to smash on its own, makes the atmosphere electric and tense. Like when a black stormy sky unleashes thunders and lightning.

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Hontis

Rhys Gillander, more affectionately known by his musical persona Hontis, possesses a remarkable talent despite his humble following of just over 600 on SoundCloud. What the Calgary native lacks in his fan base, he more than counterbalances with the depth of his sound, which carefully borders the line between trap and future bass. A deliberate emphasis on production assures that each track packs a punch, while the sheer range within his style brings something new to the table with each release.

Strap in for remixes of LUUDE’s ‘Don’t Leave Me’ and ‘Bottom End’ by What So Not & Dyro, which adopt a heavier, production-heavy guise, while a collab remix of Billie Eilish’s ‘Lovely’ with Yancey demonstrates a more sentimental side to Hontis. Don’t let the astounding collection of remixes fool you, Rhys is on the verge of discovering the true direction for his own sound, which he illustrates in his latest solo releases ‘Stims’ and ‘Pesanta’.
-SL

memphis

I’ve been hosting my own blog and radio show for more than three years and I can honestly say I’ve never come across anyone with the prolific output that Toronto’s own memphis can boast. A quick scan through my library shows at least 32 tracks released this year alone. So it while it’s safe to say he’s been making massive waves with this kind of turnaround, you can also say he’s been making wave singular, as in the genre. Often working with fellow Canadian and wave-maker MRKRYL (a pairing I deemed the magnificent M’s), their tracks have an indescribable allure. And that seems to be the thing about wave: there’s just something inexpressible, almost spiritual or transcendent at its core. While of course the choice of his more wave-centric tunes is large, my favourite comes in the beautifully haunting ‘Beyond The Waves’ with Codxinx and Djedi. All that said, lately memphis has been moving more towards trap and to great avail I might add. One of the most recent and momentous examples coming in ‘Zeus’ with Keiden. You never know what he’s going to drop or when, so keep a close eye on what this prolific producer will do next!
– OJ

Protial

Despite a solid SoundCloud following of over 3000 and support from bass music’s hottest names such as TYNAN, WHIPPED CREAM and PEEKABOO, Protial‘s name is not widely known due to his minimal social media presence. Nonetheless, he’s definitely an artist that should be on your radar, as his unique approach to bass music is truly unparalleled. First catching my attention almost two years ago with his heavy track ‘Below’ before truly amazing me with ‘No Signal’, Protial has continued to release astonishing tracks over the years, and is showing no sign of slowing down. His style is consistent, often using repetitive vocal samples layered over heavily distorted bass to create eerie, bass-face inducing soundscapes. A recent favourite is ‘Asterisk’, as it showcases this distinct technique to a tee. Keep an eye on Protial as he’s bound to make waves in the bass world sooner rather than later.
-SC

skeler.

Originals, remakes, collaborations, flips, there are no limits that can contain skeler.‘s genius. In case you missed it, during the past couple of years he has pushed some extra fine bass music from down under. Whether it’s trap, eurobass or wave, this young Aussie producer crafts only quality products. In this last act of 2018 he hasn’t slowed down in the slightest, ending up under my radar with two lush pieces: a remake of Hardwell’s dance hit ‘Arcadia’ and a brand new (long awaited) original titled ‘We’re Burning’. Both the tracks got put out under the ‘hardwave’ tag, etiquette that reflects the high tension of which the songs are pervaded. They are electrifying, uplifting, galvanizing, proper musical chimeras that embody bass music and trance in single, manifold bodies. If you’re looking for a rip-roaring adventure for your ears, skeler. is your new trusted dealer.
-AA

yojas.

If you’re wondering who to look out for in 2019, look no further than yojas. He first caught my ear with one of the standout tracks on Below The Surface’s SFBV4 in ‘Charisma’. A release that possesses the heat and intensity of a volcanic eruption and he hasn’t slowed up since. In the past month alone he unleashed two of the wildest rap flips to grace my ears in ‘ybn.’ and ‘x’. Both take familiar rap vocals, from YBN Namir and 21 Savage respectively, and drag them into a bass-laden dungeon. Standing above all of his releases is his latest ‘Apathetic’. Released on Quality Goods Records’ latest compilation, the track is the perfect display of his signature sound. The balance of brutal bass with punchy samples makes for something special. yojas.’s music packs the simplicity of early trap with the gritty sound design and wild bass we’ve fallen in love in 2018. yojas. is a must for any trap lover.
-CV

Get familiar with them all through our Focus Five Volume Eleven playlist below.

Words by Alessio Anessi, Colin, Oggie James, Steph Contant & Sam Lewis

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