■ VSK ■ Italy’s VSK emerged at the dawn of the decade with a powerful mix of heady and acidic sounds, often released on his own Consumer Recreation Services label. Since then, he’s developed across a number of standout releases: ruthless, tunneling, with a touch of the cerebral. Recent works on Mord and Tommy Four Seven’s 47 (2) series show him advancing his voice into new realms. Metal-on-metal synthesis and strobing noise give his high octane sound an extra kick of adrenaline.

■ HENNING BAER ■ Henning Baer stands as one of the most important emissaries of Berlin’s definitive modern school. He is the co-founder of and a resident at Grounded Theory - perhaps the city’s most prestigious party series for steely, deep techno - a regular at Berghain and a celebrated producer. His sets are delicately structured descents, modulating between power and restraint with an unwavering hand. But his works can speak in a whisper as well as a thunderclap: his most recent EPs on his own Manhigh trade in tantalizing ambiguity and depth of field. 

■ VOLVOX ■ Of the new generation of DJs to emerge from Brooklyn’s recent explosion of club music, Volvox remains one of the most powerful and distinct. Her residencies at Unter and Jack Department are the stuff of legend, and alongside her Discwoman collaborators she’s quickly made her way to the global stage. Her dirty, acid-drenched sets notoriously steal the show, and 2019 took her across the globe in a whirlwind of performances.

■ AUSPEX ■ Auspex follows up two years of his party series Dominion with Altar, a new concept developed for Basement. Focusing on bleeding edge techno, this night brings together his most ambitious lineup yet. In his own sets at Unter, Pornceptual, The Black Hole and elsewhere, Auspex pushes dancers to the limit with an unforgiving devotion to air raid intensity and molten sound design. His debut EP “Suspicion” on his own Oath records offers a taste of the mayhem to come.