Words by Amar Gera / RÜFÜS DU SOL image via rockatnight.com / REZZ image via insomniac.com //

I can’t put into words how much we’re missing EDM events…

How are all you music lovers doing out there? Are you rewatching old Insta stories and videos from your favourite festivals and gigs, trying to remember what live music is like? Us too. We’re missing live music like crazy man. Everything from the fear of god inducing death pits to the annoying six foot eight guy that has to stand right in front of you in the mosh. We really, really miss it all. And even though it’ll be a while before we’re all back there, artists from all genres have taken to the virtual stage, with everyone from local bands delivering wholesome acoustic shows to the worlds most in demand EDM acts delivering insane DJ sets.

It’s fair to say those very sets have been absolutely saving us over the last couple weeks. And although there are countless out there, we decided to make a list of the top ten DJ sets that have been giving us the dose of groove and bliss we need to get through self-isolation. Check it below.

Disclosure

The superstar production duo are responsible for some of the biggest EDM bangers of the 2010s, with tracks like ‘White Noise’, ‘Latch’ and ‘When A Fire Starts To Burn’ becoming a part of the soundtrack to modern EDM. And not to mention, they’re absolute badasses behind the decks, with their Shanghai Boiler Room set from 2016 being one of the most beloved Boiler Rooms of all time. Although they don’t live together, the boys have still been pumping out hard hitting sets by themselves, delivering gorgeous house, disco and pretty much every genre under the sun.

REZZ

The Ontario New Beat and Techno producer is one of the most in demand and exciting acts in the EDM world right now. Since absolutely murdering her headline slot at Touch Bass last year, she’s continued to go from strength to strength, from hosting a virtual reality listening party for her Beyond The Senses EP to releasing countless collaborations with her peers (our personal favourite is the mind bending ‘Criminals’ with Malaa). She’s without a doubt a true breaker of boundaries, and her 43 minute isolation set is clear proof of that. Taking us through all the gorgeous highs of a classic REZZ set, she manages to turn our living rooms into rave caves of the highest quality.

Hayden James

The Future Classic trailblazer is an absolute hero on the Aussie music scene, from giving a platform to rising talent around the country, to linking up with EDM juggernauts like Chris Lake to raise tens of thousands for bushfire relief. He’s a true good bloke in every sense of the word, and Aussies around the country have been absolutely loving the backyard live streams he’s been posting every Saturday (which features one of the nicest looking backyards we’ve ever seen, like damn). If you’re ever out of ideas for what to do on a Friday or Saturday night, you should definitely load up one of these gorgeous babies and kick back with a nice glass of red or your beer of choice. Old mate has definitely got you covered.

Nina Kraviz

Taking to an empty Moscow venue, Russian techno/ tech house DJ Nina Kraviz definitely provides some top notch entertainment with gorgeous murky bops that perfectly match the dark aesthetic of the Mutabor. Not to mention, she’s using vinyl turntables as well which is just dope on its own. It’s so strange but cool to see a DJ performing to an empty venue, but hey, she more than pulls it off, and it really makes us feel like we’re getting a classic boiler room minus the occasional odd character or underwhelming crowd in the background.

RÜFÜS DU SOL

You can always rely on the Sydney EDM mega group to bring you all the hype, feels and euphoria that makes seeing live music so damn special. Showing up for Beatport Live, the group definitely manage to give fans a bit of a reprieve from the outside world, delivering a solid hour and ten minutes of mellow EDM tunes that soothe our souls the way only RÜFÜS knows how. If you’re trying to find a way to escape all the craziness for a bit and reorient yourself on the important things in life, try popping on RÜFÜS DU SOL’s isolation stream for peak calmness and zen.

HAAi

Aussie hero HAAi is an absolute beast on the decks, continuing to push the boundaries with gorgeous experimental bops that are impossible to confine to a single genre. Her isolation set sees her mixing live from her apartment in London (which features some super aesthetic plants) as she shows us a true master in action. And the vid itself is pretty cool, with the world outside going from day to night, as HAAi stays delivering us quality tunes (downing the occasional glass of red down in between songs of course).

Duke Dumont

Just two instructions: when I say “Duke Dumont”, you say “incredible producer that never fails to bring the heat”. For real, Duke is an absolute wizard, and you would know if you’ve ever seen him live that his sets are always a time and a half. In classic Duke fashion, he’s got a dope af green screen behind him delivering some crazy visuals. Props to the British EDM extraordinaire for making it just that much easier to pretend we’re at our favourite festival with our best mates, as opposed to in our room wearing a dirty pair of trackies whilst devouring mi goreng. Now, when the strobe light hits, we want you to move, well, around your room, since you’re not really allowed to move anywhere else hey? (sad reacts only).

Amelie Lens

Belgian techno superstar Amelie Lens is in no short supply of hard hitting tracks to electrify the inner raver within. Going just as hard in her apartment as she would at a club or big venue, Amelie proves that techno is just one of those genres that never fail to transcend time and place. Within mere seconds she has you absolutely sucked in, held hostage to the glorious ambience and euphoria…

Mall Grab

Newcastle-born Mall Grab gives us a reminder of why he’s in such high demand in the EDM world, blessing us with an hour of completely original material, new and old. Set up in his London apartment, he makes performing to essentially an empty crowd look completely effortless, seamlessly blending everything from tech house to techno, looking cool as hell while doing it. A really good set to pop on if you just want to appreciate quality mixing and song selection, Mall Grab’s isolation set is the one for you.

Alison Wonderland

Okay, technically this isn’t an isolation set but this is way too awesome not to mention. Besides, Alison DID do an isolation set (which had her trending worldwide on Twitter!) but sadly it appears it hasn’t been uploaded to YouTube yet. But regardless, feast your eyes (and ears) upon this dope VR show at Red Rocks a little while back. This is without a doubt the most transportive set on our list, as the VR nature of the set literally gives you the viewpoint of a festival goer as the camera organically takes you through the adoring crowd. With the fire visuals, insane track selection and absolutely electric energy, it’s hard not to feel like you’re there, giving you some type of escape from this crazy world we’ve found ourselves living in.

Well, I hope those all help you all pass a bit of the time while in lockdown. If you somehow burn through all of them (don’t worry we did too), there are countless more isolation sets on YouTube right now, with more and more being uploaded every day. But trust me when I say we’re all missing those events just as much as you are. Fingers crossed we’ll all be able to enjoy some soul invigorating live music together real soon…