Welcome to the May section of our best DJ mixes of the year 2021 rundown — read the full list here

There’s so much going on in this mix from Swedish composer Klara Lewis. Any given moment taken in isolation feels like it could be from a totally different mix: the first segue sees crunching guitars reverberate into the hyperactive dance-pop of SOPHIE. From there it stays constantly surprising, with transcendent ambient, disorientating experimentalism, hypnotically looped prayers courtesy of the Dalai Lama, and so much more.

Brothers Leewok and Curly Waters bring a heavy dose of Bristolian badness to the Norwegian Trushmix series. The English city’s music scene has been shaped by a melting pot of soundsystem flavours, and a broad spectrum of those bassweight-fuelled styles feature here. At one moment it’s melting your brain into a puddle with collapsing crunches and whirs, and the next it's picking you up with infectious MC bars. Enjoy the ride.

One of our cover stars in May, Erika de Casier brings the same moody, emotional vibrations from her music into her Cover Mix, pulling exciting music from her contemporaries in the game, such as Oklou and CHINAH, while also pulling from the archives with picks from The Durutti Column.

New York’s The Large brings the sounds of dancehall and afrobeat to the airwaves on NTS in May, with star-studded selections featuring Burna Boy, Koffee, Olamide and others. LSDXOXO, Kelela and many more also appear, it’s not one to miss.

Each month, Floor Length Skirts takes to the Alto Radio airwaves for an hour of joyous chillers. Their May double bill slot is no different, drifting from playful, leftfield pop to street soul, with sweetness balanced throughout. Soft and slow, this show is the perfect accompaniment for easing you into your summer evenings.

‘Evening Mass’ is a monthly trip through dark and seedy sonics, hosted by Tia Cousins and Oscar Abdullah on Balamii. For the May slot, Oscar takes the reins with the company of Filmmaker, exploring disjointed industrial cuts, lush new wave and goth slammers.

Berlin-by-way-of-Lisbon DJ Ketia threw the book completely out of the window for their HÖR Berlin ‘Queens Only’ special. The build-up is a pretty run-of-the-mill lesson in dark breaks (with a bit of vocal from 'Spice Up Your Life' of course) but switches up into pop territory around the 10-minute mark with Britney Spears' 'Break the Ice.' UK garage hooks are mixed into Destiny’s Child edits - there's some Nelly Furtado, some jungle, some Estelle and the pièce de résistance? an industrial remix of... The Antiques Roadshow theme tune. It's rare to find a mix from Berlin that can achieve this level of silliness but Ketia delivers with aplomb, creating something that is both sexy and ridiculous to boot.

The encyclopedic knowledge of garage and UK hardcore present in Iona's Untitled 909 mix is immense, but it's never imperious - serving only to back up her humour and warmth. Soulja Boy edit Nasty King Kurl's 'Crank It' is expertly mixed into 'Yucky' by Justin Jay - with the pitched up, euphoric 'Til The End Of Time' from Chippy Nonstop & DJ Genderfluid lapping waves in our cold hearts. The mix maintains its joy while never letting up on form or emotion - transforming the giddy squelches of 'Rugby Shirt' into Prayers affecting trance in 'No One Left' will send you from laughing to crying in seconds.

This month, we brought in Laksa for an outrageous mix, firing through a dark and dubby supply of tracks from “OG bobblers” like Lurka, Batu and Ploy. “I think this mix channels the intensity and mood of where my heads right now,” Laksa said on this hour-long selection.

Skee Mask’s two-hour BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix is every part fuel for a Friday night - a glitchy compilation of techno, breaks, drum ’n’ bass, and everything between.

Coki and Mala - otherwise known as Digital Mystikz when paired up - take up a guest 30-minute slot on Mary Anne Hobbs’ BBC Radio 6 show. The dubstep OG’s select some of their pioneering peers such as Benga, Skream, and Peverelist.