As we countdown the final moments of 2024, the electronic music industry has entered its brief annual period of hibernation.
Outside of approaching New Year’s Eve events, festival stages have been swapped for nightclubs, and during the holiday season, many of the world’s biggest touring DJs are enjoying a brief respite from life on the road.
But that doesn’t mean the music has to stop. As we enter the quieter winter weeks ahead, we’ve put together a shortlist of five new house and techno mixes from the last month, so you can keep the party rocking until spring.
Whether you’re looking for house grooves to set the vibe for your New Year’s Eve gathering, thumping techno kicks to jumpstart your fitness resolutions, or cutting-edge radio selections from the scene’s leading innovators, we’ve got you covered.
Listen to five of December’s best house and techno mixes below to start your new year on the right foot.
John Summit Live @ Experts Only Miami Art Basel
After dominating the headlines this year with the release of his debut album, a massive arena tour with gigs at Madison Square Garden and the Kia Forum, and the continued success of his Experts Only label, John Summit returned to Miami for a de-facto homecoming during the city’s famous Art Basel party week earlier this month.
Headlining the Experts Only showcase at Miami’s Toejam Backlot as a surprise special guest, the house and techno superstar returned to his tech house roots with a two-hour, on-the-fly set full of 4/4 heaters from the scene’s best, including Deeper Purpose, Layton Giordani, ChaseWest, Kyle Walker and many more.
Along with his monumental hits like the viral “Gas Pedal Remix,” “Hungover,” and “Shiver,” Summit also tested out over a dozen of his own new demos, giving fans a sneak peek of what’s to come in the year ahead.
Marlon Hoffstadt – Daddycation at Awakenings ADE, Gashouder
After a career-defining year, Marlon Hoffstadt took the stage at Amsterdam’s famous Gashouder for one of the most anticipated events of this year’s Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE).
Bringing his Daddycation show concept to the former coal gasification plant for Awakenings’ annual ADE showcase, the Dutch techno producer and DJ delivered a scintillating two-and-a-half-hour set, packed with high-octane Eurodance cuts from his Club Heart Broken label and plenty of his lively DJ Daddy Trance edits.
With tracks running the gamut from Hoffstadt’s hits like “It’s That Time” and “My Mama Dropped LSD in the 90’s” to dancey reworks of Brittney Spears and Charli XCX, the performance perfectly encapsulates the allure of Hoffstadt’s brand of trancey techno: non-stop fun.
Four Tet @ The Lot Radio 12-01-2024
Four Tet has stopped by Brooklyn’s famous nonprofit community radio station to play a set on the 1st of December for each of the last three years, and his latest for The Lot is another trademark showcase of the heralded producer and DJ’s curatorial prowess.
In typical Four Tet fashion, the hybrid vinyl-digital mix winds through a maze of underground house, garage, and UK bass tracks, cut with ambient sounds ranging from the clacking of a typewriter to the crashing of ocean waves and his “new seven-inch frog record.”
Kicking off the meat of the mix is Four Tet’s new collaboration with Champion, Skrillex, and Naisha, “Talk To Me,” flowing into a bass-heavy flip of the track by Hydraulix. Peppered throughout the rest of the two-hour set are unreleased heaters from Joy Orbison, Sammy Virji, and Anish Kumar, alongside a bevy of Four Tet’s own boundary-pushing edits.
KI/KI – Warsaw – Mixmag x Burn Energy Tour
Though this one technically hit YouTube in late November, KI/KI’s performance for Mixmag’s Burn Energy Tour in Poland deserves year-end recognition on this list. It may have been one of her best of 2024, and there are plenty of contenders.
In a year that saw the Dutch star and slash label boss explode on the global techno circuit with huge gigs for Boiler Room at AVA Festival, Awakenings at the Gashouder during ADE, and many more, her latest recorded set stands out as an hour of punchy acid techno paradise.
Recorded from beneath Warsaw’s historic Palace of Culture and Science, the set is choc-full of speedy beats from underground producers like DJ Gigola, CIS, and Ueberrest, plus a ton of KI/KI’s high-octane productions like “5 Mins Of Acid,” her beloved remix of Charli XCX’s “Guess,” and a gauntlet of unreleased IDs.
A-Trak – Open to Close @ StereoBar Montreal
Not many DJs can set a vibe quite like A-Trak, and there’s no one we’d rather have kick off our 2025 on a classic house tip.
There aren’t many heralded nightlife institutions where the trailblazing spinner and Fool’s Gold label boss hasn’t played, but last weekend A-Trak crossed yet another historic venue off of his performance bucket list, playing a five-hour open-to-close set at the renowned StereoBar in his hometown of Montreal.
Broken into three parts on SoundCloud, the marathon mix features over 90 selections from artists such as Todd Terry, Tiga, Jamie Jones, East End Dubs, Shermanology, Roger Sanchez, DJ Mehdi, Overmono, Prunk, and Kölsch, among many others, as well as A-Trak’s classic solo hits and iconic Duck Sauce tracks.
He once again manages to touch nearly every subgenre corner of house music. Press play and let A-Trak do the rest as we groove our way into 2025.
Featured image courtesy: John Summit. Credit: Nat Goldie.
