The days are getting longer, the temperature is getting warmer and Spotify Wrapped is coming (we’re loosely guessing Nov 29???). Why not finish off your 2023 playlists with a couple of guest selections from our presenters.

Emily Elvish, presenter of Thursday Up For It!

Dyan Tai – Hantu

Everything Dyan Tai touches turns to gold. The soundscape that runs throughout ‘Hantu’ balances haunting vocals & instrumentation with light-filled production, and the result is so incredibly mesmerising. An essential listen.

700 Feel – 5D Dub

The week after 700 Feel dropped this track, it was all I listened to. 7 days, 24 hours. Nothing else. Bus, club, another club, next place, all I heard was ‘5D Dub’. Safe to say this release has permanently altered something in me. The production is hypnotising, it ebbs and weaves so seamlessly. The perfect track to float away to.

Glenn Hopper – The Well

Glenn Hopper’s debut EP, Something About The Weather, is a warm hug on an unseasonably cold day. Every song on the release pulls apart the familiar uncertainties that plague our everyday and finds quiet moments of beauty in them, but none more so than ‘The Well’. The track nestles itself in these comforting spaces, floods them with the warmest, organic instrumentation and wraps you in a big, fluffy blanket.

Rina Evangeline, presenter of 10 Foot Heavy

CYNTHESZR, JHL & Type R – End Of Time

This international collaboration between CYNTHESZR (US), JHL (NZ) and Type R (AUS, Boorloo) dropped on Millennium Strike’s (free!) compilation Demo Disc 4 halfway through the year, and on first listen felt destined to claim the throne as my favourite track of 2023 (and it hasn’t budged an inch since). CYNTHESZR’s steel-plated schranz techno backbone and Type R’s virtuosic trance synth work weave the perfect canvas for the anthemic vocal layering of JHL to bloom. Already feels timeless.

Cherry Chola & Adrian Asher – Apocalypse Kitty Trance (Ashers Remix)

adrian asher and cherry chola captured neon lightning in a bottle on their collaborative EP Apocalypse Arcade, proving exactly why both of their stars are rising real quick. This track is a mashup remix of all three songs on the EP, which serves as a testament to how malleable the chops of both artists are – tracing the line between razor-edged pop and headrush-inducing club-ready belters before melting it down into liquid gold.

Zip Disk Crew – Angels Are Watching

This one comes as the first release of a side project of local producer Loopsnake, and presents an immediately fully formed take on the jittery, hypnotic trance-hardcore hybrid which I’ve been obsessed with of late. ‘Angels Are Watching’ dunks seasick synth stabs into warehouse shaking bass drums and driving breaks to simultaneously suck all the air out of the room while kicking you full force in the face. In the most desirable way possible, of course.

Vanessa Andres, presenter of Tuesday The Bridge

Foshira – Hot

‘Hot’ is off Eora-based band Foshe and artist Indira Elias’ new collaborative project, Foshira. This cut features Foshe’s signature improvised jazzy house blended with Indira’s ethereal vocals as they capture a moment in so-called Australia’s jazz scene. They recorded this hazy track on a sweltering day, when the studio’s air conditioner lost the battle against the heat. The artists share the warmth of the experience, with the song feeling as if the heat permeated through their instruments, into their tech and into your bloodstream.

Sevy, BAYANG (tha Bushranger), Uncle Kal, Grasps – GIMME UR LOVE

You can count on Sevy, BAYANG and Uncle Kal to bring the cheeky side Western Sydney rap. The baile funk sample on the bouncy, jersey club inspired drums and kalimba-like melody by Grasps provides the perfect platform to lift off into a genre-bending journey.

Cherry Rype – SHE LIT UP MY LIFE

I’m quickly learning Cherry Rype has the uncanny ability to package her melancholy, unfiltered reflections into glimmering adventures in sound. On ‘SHE LIT UP MY LIFE’ – one part of a two-track surprise drop – we hear her effortlessly glide between house and breakbeat. It’s the kind of song you could easily lose yourself in, anywhere from the couch to the club.

Sereen – West

Sereen is a Palestinian producer and filmmaker living and creating on Dharug land. Her song ‘West’ is a snapshot into the modern Palestinian sound – hypnotic lofi beats adorned with the plucking of the oud.

Like what you hear? Tune in to 94.5FM to catch more great selects from Emily, Rina, and Vanessa. Also be sure to check out our Monthly Mixtape megalist on Spotify below.