She’s only got a few productions to her name, and she’s only been spinning seriously since just before the pandemic — but Palesa Desiree Shilabje, better known as DESIREE, is already a player on the world stage, working her magic at clubs and festivals along the lines of New York’s Avant Gardner, Ibiza’s DC-10, the UK’s Lost Village and Egypt’s Sandbox gathering. It’s not hard to figure out why, as she’s supremely good at what she does. Those releases, and those DJ sets, ring with a sound that takes the Afro-house of her South Africa home and seamlessly merges it with a pan-global house style that serves as an immensely seductive calling card. Though she’s risen through the ranks in what seems to be the blink of an eye, we have the feeling that DESIREE is just getting started — and DJ Mag caught up with her at her Johannesburg home to find out more.
On the other end of the time-tested spectrum, there’s François Kevorkian. From spinning at the iconic clubs of the disco days while helping to create the music that got played in those clubs, to working with the likes of Depeche Mode and Kraftwerk, to the Body & Soul and Deep Space parties to his current focus on live-stems mixing, his five decades in the music business have had an impact that rivals that of anyone you care to name. At age 70, he has absolutely zero thought of slowing down, and we’re all the luckier for it.
Elsewhere, on its 15th anniversary, we take a look at Mister Saturday Night, the party that spawned the NYC underground locus Nowadays; The Paranoid London duo and their loose collection of collaborators, who have been busy at work transforming their straight-ahead Chicago- style acid into something even beefier; and Youngsta, the foundational dubstep artist who’s been honing his sound since the ripe old age of 12. There’s plenty more, of course, including our usual full menu of reviews and tech news, all here for your perusal.
Bruce Tantum
Editor