Mix Up Look Sharp: The Best Mixes Of The Week

Our pick of the best mixes from the last 7 days.

Here at Complex, we understand the grind of listening to the best music each week. There's so much new music uploaded to every single platform, every single day, that following just one of your streams can become a dizzying, life-consuming task. To help you out on at least one front, each and every Friday, our music team will trawl the depths of the internet to bring you the best mixes from the past week. House, hip-hop and bass, grime, trap and techno—it'll all be represented in our picks to get you warmed up for the weekend. So let us do all the hard work; click through below and enjoy.

DJ Maximum's Mix For Ministry Of Sound

Much has been made of grime's ever-expanding influence over the past two years, so it really doesn't need to be reiterated. Since 2008, Maximum has been the DJ force behind one of grime's biggest crews: Boy Better Know. Though he's one of the crew's quieter members, his role cannot be understated; if you've ever seen Maximum behind the decks, with or without the BBK boys, you'll know how hard his selections are. Featuring some of grime's most recent heaters, look out for Sir Spyro's "Side By Side", Chase & Status' "Funny" with Frisco, and of course Skepta's "Top Boy", don't you dare sleep on this one.

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Josh Butler's Mix For Cajmere's Cajual Podcast

Featuring tracks from his Portable EP, this Josh Butler mix gives you an insight into why so many people, including the legendary Cajmere, have fallen for his brand of bass-heavy house music, particularly those who aren't particularly big fans of dance music.

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Lil Tantrum's Mix For Mixpak

Electronic music right now, brilliant as it is (for the most part), can get rather cold with its icy synths nods to Eskibeat. One DJ (and occasional producer) looking to buck that trend is the amazingly-named Lil Tantrum. If you've been paying attention to Classical Trax this year you may already recognise her from her "Aggressor" production which the CT crew featured on the Jamz! comp. For the most part, this is a Latin-soaked club romp but there's a few touches from UK dons like Gundam and Murlo ("Moodswung" taken from the latter's excellent Odyssey EP) and US hitters like Ynfynyt Scroll, False Witness and Riobamba.

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House Of Black Lanterns' Mix For Data Transmission

As King Cannibal, Dylan Richards released some of the most gut-churning, brutal electronica that owed as much to metal sub-genres like doom as it did to electronic variations like breakcore or glitch. Nowadays, Richards goes by the House Of Black Lanterns moniker and his current productions stand in stark contrast to those early KC monsters. This mix goes even further than the rich, atmospheric productions he would normally be responsible for, instead opting for all-out ambience. Perfect.

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Venice Calypso's Mix For A1B2

This Venice Calypso blend of pounding techno is not for the faint hearted. You've been warned.

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J-Cush's Mix For Clash

We all know and love NGUZUNGUZU and Future Brown, but besides his Rinse show, it's rare that we hear from J-Cush on his own. If you've ever been lucky enough to catch J-Cush live, you'll know he's a master of just about every strain of club music, effortlessly weaving together skittish footwork, rich UK garage, and rugged grime and hip-hop cuts. 

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Letta's Mix For Birds In The Sky

Letta's Testimony album this year was one of the big surprises this year. Few artists can come out of nowhere and release a full LP as their debut release, but that's precisely what Letta did and it paid off immeasurably. The album earned the adulation of fans and critics alike, not just because the music was good, but also because the album came from such a dark place and presented us with an artist who raised himself up from a difficult situation to make incredible music. Here Letta celebrates contemporaries like Murlo, Finn and more in a maelstrom of off-kilter beats and the roughest grime going.

 

Mella Dee's Mix For Feel My Bicep

Mella Dee has recently been churning up jungle and old school rave sounds for some breaks-heavy releases and DJ sets. This time round, however, he's eased up on the breaks slightly and put a heavier emphasis on classic house and techno, all taken from new releases. As the man himself explains, "it's quite dark and heavy in general, which tends to be the way that I play."

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Artwork's Mix For Boiler Room

"This whole thing is being filmed. There is no need for fucking phone cameras." Well said, Artwork. Well said. So put your phone away and indulge in some uplifting house and disco sounds from one of music's wittiest producers.

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