my favorite dance mixes from 2025

11/20/2025

full disclosure im sick rn & miss dancing .. after being on hiatus for a few months, by choice, now having to stay in against my will is maddening. so im doing this in the spirit of fun & nostalgia from this past year of danceeee. i listen to mixes a lot in my spare time, either working at the computer or while cooking, mostly. i like locals best! and included many on this list but in that regard ive neglected basically the entire scene. i think it would b worthwhile to catalogue mixes from the locals but thats not what im doing. this is just some funsies teehee head empty lets talk abt techno vibessssss (:

overall favs

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this dropped right when i began my hiatus from rave & socials, a period of deep instrospection. and this is music for introspection. a prayer to the dancefloor. it ends too suddenly & too soon but ive had it on repeat, nonstop for months. i alos learned so much from listening to it: how bass frequencies can travel, when to bring a kick drum forward or back, probably more but ive lost count. without a doubt my most listened to mix all year, tho i kind of refuse to put it on between like 11a - 7p. idk.

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those long blends .. those aching chords. love that it stops in the middle (is it even a sequence event if the power doesnt go out at least once??). but for real those blends 😵‍💫 she basically creates her own songs in between songs. its in this way rosei really shines as a story teller .. it also gives a strong sense of transit. sitting between familiar points, it becoming its own space in the between. i kno that sounds like basic dj shit but its uniquely her style. rosei is a never miss.

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this was actually the first time i ever saw tommy dj .. which was already special for me. but after a long (amazing) night of minimal/dub, the infusion of energy these two brought to the space was exactly what was needed. dont forget, huerco opened for these two!!! its the best of both their styles, too. i was actually kinda bummed to only have seen tommy do b2bs this year, except for this collab. the others were fine fs, just, u could definitely feel that he wasnt quite able to find the same synergy as w jupiter. actually i dont listen to this mix very often. im extremely glad to have it, bc it was my #1 rave memory from the year. but i only listen when in a sentimental mood.

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bass lines affffff. in a world of hypnotic techno sometimes i just want a groove. honestly every thing they do is peak, but i chose this mix in particular bc of the synths. lots of rich timbres, melty sticky kick drums, sludgy bass lines .. a murky euphoria for slippery dancefloors. also the last track is soooooo vibey .. need to shazam it ..

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i do still like hypno shit tho esp when theres as much personality behind it as there is w pink concrete

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uttaraa did a lot this year that i liked .. their women in dance music set in particular was neat. both of their nerve damage mixes are blockbusters. but this set resonates more than those, for whatever reason .. maybe bc its simpler? i just really like how they work in the sub-frequencies. feels very clean to me.

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including two servito mixes bc really, this entry is just "mike servito" rather than any one of his mixes in particular. im just eternally happy this type of techno still exists in the world. if i had any kind of means to travel id save it for something in detroit ..

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actually i said this abt rosei, but dev also likes to play w the recordings. not quite the turntablism of rowena, and not the languid transitions between rosei cuts, but something kinda like both. i like seeing dev in person, better, bc it feels like theres more space to express their ideas. in fact i think they shine best with extended sets .. the all nighters are my favs. so this mix feels kinda like a bite size version of what he usually does, tho is still great. is it annoying of me to call a one hour mix short??

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i sought out & listened to a lot of opening sets this year, bc opening sets are my favorite. and this is one i found during that search! i love it. its not my favorite kind of opening, for that i often listen to one of nick's incredible openings .. but as far as ambient, minimal, hypnotic openings go i really like this one!! rare to find long mixes like this recorded, too. has been my go-to for working on the computer type shit.

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similar to servito, this entry is just "nd_baumecker". the in store session was my go to driving music for a long time. but actually its really groovy. the fancy ferienlager set is exactly what it looks like from the cover: bright, dancy, daytime house music. i love everything he does.

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u kno who reminds me of baumecker, a bit in style?? i like vitalik's shit better tho bc theres a stronger sense of sadness to it.

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fav live recordings of sets i saw irl

my favorite lucia set was actually her close @ the oven after juana, but this opening set was by far the best night ive had a kingdom this year. floating around an empty dance floor to the opening two tracks, letting the drugs take hold, then feeling that first kick .. so beautiful. also it takes guts to include a 20min spoken word interlude while opening for one of the most renowned techno djs this side of the atlantic, an hour into the set when most of the crowd would be arriving .. but thats what i admire so much about lucia is that she takes risks whenever she can. and the way sewa's track brought me RUNNING back to the dancefloor .. ill remember that night for a long time.

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not even sure what to write about this one. it was one of those truly special nights u kinda just had to be there to understand. it was cold, wet .. small crowd. i hadnt made most of my (local) rave friends yet, but many of them were there dancing alongisde me. then vitalik left just a few weeks later. actually their last set in atx, at community garden, was the best night ive had at cg .. why does nobody ever dance w me at cg .. but that night the entire room was locked in. vitalik is unequivocally one of the best djs ive ever met / danced to. maybe hed push back a bit on that bc hes always striving for better. but he really is it.

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the elation of "make your transition" dropping halfway through the set ..

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