The third offering in our mix series is a live recording of Priori and Cousin's dj set at Sustain Release 2024. Recorded on the last morning between 6am and 1pm on what was meant to be an ambient stage, it featured everything a 3 day festival closing set should. Eclectic picks, strange and emotional sounds, dubious transitions and a few feigned endings. Massive thanks to all the dancers, the Sustain staff (Aurora, Ash and everybody else who put their blood, sweat and tears into this), the music makers, the birds, the stars. 

Much love,

P & C

@secondcousins x @priori-ties

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naffcast003 ⦾ Cousin & Priori ༻ Sustain Release 2024 Bossa Nova Stage closing set ༺ ❁

A real pleasure to have the extremely gifted @xiaolinmusic from Hongkong for our fourth SoundSculptors episode 😍 She crafted a beautiful trip through many different moods and styles, capturing our musical heart and soul. It's such an interesting story accompanied by high skill not only in the electronic but also in the instrumental parts. Ambient, Downtempo, old school gamy sound, cantonese pop music vibes and more interesting colours appear in this versatile journey. Real earcandy 🍭

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More about Xiaolin ~

Xiaolin (曉霖) is a DJ, producer, vinyl collector and classically-trained musician from Hong Kong. Driven by a relentless curiosity for warm sounds, complex emotions and colourful textures, she enjoys crafting magnetic sets that draw audiences in, while her live ambient sets reveal the more contemplative side of her natural musicality as a former concert violinist.

Xiaolin spent a decade studying classical violin, jazz, world music and electronic composition at Juilliard (BM’14) and Berklee Valencia (MM ’15/’16), where she played in Batucada/jazz bands and began collecting records under her mentor, Nacho Marco. Having spent two years in London just before the pandemic, she developed an interest in UK underground culture and Detroit electro.

Inspired by sounds from the the mid 80’s-early 00’s, her love for video games, anime, nature as well as a respect for her Cantonese roots, Xiaolin’s analog synth-heavy productions range from gritty acid house and breaks with earthy percussion to tripped-out electro, bassy groovers and raw downtempo ambience that invoke deeper feelings of romantic adventure with a dreamy, theatrical touch.  

Despite her ever-evolving nature, Xiaolin’s ethereal-yet-raw sound remains a signature throughout all productions.

Xiaolin is sensitive to the dancefloor and crafts an intuitive journey unbound by genre, digging deep to discover dynamic connections.  Her energetic, acid-laden selections explore the vast in-between of house and techno, while her original live set has three formats: “Sun” for daytime settings, “Moon” for meditative settings and “Body” for nightclub settings.

Releases include two EP’s on 宀 Records, a collaborative track on Klasse Wrecks “Michaelsoft", VA contributions on 20/20 Vision (Exit Planet Earth – “Helium”), Polychrome Audio (“Diffraction EP”) and Harmony Rec (upcoming), as well as three 80’s Cantonese disco tribute EP’s on Sound Metaphors’ “Bless You” imprint (A&R by Jane Fitz).

Xiaolin's ‘HEX’ residency at 宀 (Hong Kong) has seen her invite & play alongside guests such as Polygonia, Mary Lake, Peach, Merve, Vlada, Joe Delon, Closet Yi, Jesse You, Maara etc.  She hosts a bimonthly show on Baihui Radio China and has done guest mixes on EYA, Test Pressing, The Mudd Show, The Lot Radio, NTS and Balamii amongst others.  

Recent highlights include Boiler Room (Singapore), Blitz Club (Unchained), and Panorama Bar on live set as part of Sound Metaphors’ 9-year-anniversary event (coinciding with the release of her second EP on Bless You), with upcoming sets at Wonderfruit Festival and Womb Tokyo.  She will make her Rainbow Disco Club live set debut with Kuniyuki Takahashi in April 2025.

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Follow Xiaolin
https://soundcloud.com/xiaolinmusic
https://www.instagram.com/oliviaxiaolin
https://ra.co/dj/xiaolin

More music from her
Bandcamp (Tower Moment EP)
https://xiaolin.bandcamp.com/album/tower-moment-ep
Bandcamp (MIHN002 EP)
https://xiaolin.bandcamp.com/album/mihn002

SoundSculptors No 4 - Xiaolin 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦

Exposé Noir (March 1st, 2025) - Amelia Holt

Another Barker masterclass.

Sam Barker asks more from techno. The artist known simply as Barker is one of electronic music's most consistently conscientious and curious producers, challenging listeners to question the norms we accept about our shared culture—whether it's the music that fills the room, the process behind it, or the purpose of the space itself.

British-born yet based in Berlin since 2007, Barker forged a connection to many of the city's leading institutions, including Ostgut Ton, and over the course of a long and fruitful relationship, he carved out one of the more singular paths on the club and label's roster.

Not one for orthodoxy, Barker challenged four-to-the-floor techno framework in favor of melodic experimentation. By decentering or completely stripping away the typical trappings of kick drums and claps, his productions are both light and immersive, buoyant in low-end presence and shimmering in weightless space.

Six years after Utility, his sophomore album Stochastic Drift arrives this month. Shaped by pandemic-driven reinvention, it burrows deeper into harmonic twists and freeform drift. "At some point I became conscious of the process," he wrote of his latest album. "The only thing you can do is embrace the uncertainty and see every change as a potential positive.”

Consider his RA Podcast another sequel. Like his much-beloved 2019 mix for FACT, it's a collage of live recordings and a fitting expression of the artist's own internal spring. RA.982 radiates wide-eyed optimism: percussion cloaked in foggy, swirling pads and trance-like chords, neatly synched in synthetic glimmers. 

All in all, it's an hour of music crafted for contemplation, collective euphoria, or heads-down epiphany—or for that matter, any moment, really, its emotive depth seemingly endless.

@voltek

Find the tracklist and Q&A at ra.co/podcast/982

RA.982 Barker

A clinic in minimal from the elusive Acting Press boss. 

Why do certain sounds cultivate a cult following? Simply put, it's often because they resist easy consumption. PLO Man and his imprint Acting Press lean into this. 

Searching for the Berlin-based DJ and producer, you won’t find much online presence, interviews or conventional PR. What you will find, if you look hard enough, is a catalogue of records and mixes with a kind of tape hiss charm (a spiritual successor to Basic Channel and Chain Reaction, but scuzzier and lighter on its feet).

Founded in 2015, Acting Press once seemed to belong to the short-lived "outsider house" trend, but is now synonymous with a certain strain of modern minimal, one that is analogue, spacious and pointedly opaque. PLO Man's output is equally sparse by design: this week, he joins the RA Podcast with a characteristically elusive style, accompanying the near two-hour mix is a one-answer Q&A that gives almost nothing away.

Stripped-back, ever-so-slightly sleazy and coated in dust, PLO Man's RA Podcast continues that lineage in style. Opening with the featherlight microhouse of Margaret Dygas, RA.988 unfolds into a carefully curated spectrum of minimal, dub and deep techno. Among familiar names—look out for the blinding Rhythm & Sound and Moodymann blend—are deep cuts and left turns alongside the odd outlier, like lovers' rock pioneer Gregory Isaacs.

Like the best of his forebears, PLO Man wants RA.988 to take time for you to settle in. But once you do, you won’t want to leave. 

@p_el_oh

Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/988

RA.988 PLO Man

The latest Off-Kilter audio submission is a dive into Or:la’s expansive vision of sound - a downtempo mix of slung drums, abstract electronics and heady vocals. As an artist, Or:la navigates effortlessly through many channels of electronic expression. Here, she revisits music from her influential past with a mix that is deep, meandering and rich with texture - nailing the brief with pin-point precision - and transporting us into a dream like state.

In her own words:
 "I kept to the ‘off-kilter' brief for this one and wanted to put together a mix you can just zone out to, with less of the twists and energy shifts I usually go for in my DJ sets. A lot of the tracks mean something personal to me like the Holger Czukay one at the very end, which I first heard at uni around 2012 while watching Morvern Callar in a film studies class - the whole soundtrack really stuck with me and ended up playing a big part in me drifting away from visual arts and getting into music."

//

Throughout Or:la's journey as an artist, the Derry-born producer and DJ has carved out her own niche and consistently strived to escape categorisation gaining her a BBC Radio 1 Residency, an Essential mix, and DJ Mag's ‘Best DJ’ award. From running DIY parties in abandoned shops whilst studying in Liverpool, to securing some of the best club residencies around the world, Or:la's story is organic and authentic.

Staying true to her explorative propensity, Or:la 's debut album arrived via Fabric Originals in 2024 and is a testament to her ability to fluidly traverse tempos and energies. Or:la takes a similarly chameleonic approach to her DJ sets - although there's an impalpable emphasis on melody, rhythm and texture, you never really know what you might get other than a preference to follow mood over genre. Orlagh Dooley's DIY mentality extends far beyond the DJ booth - as the boss of former Deep Sea Frequency and her current label, Céad, she nurtures a community of diverse artists who share her passion for less categorizable dance music including NIKS, Primrose, Blu Terra and FAFF. The label's releases emphasize quality and creativity across a wide sonic spectrum. Since her debut EP 'UK Lonely' on Hotflush Recordings in 2017, Dooley has collaborated on a broad range of remixes, from David Holmes/Killing Eve's "Unloved" to dance floor-focused labels like Spray and Woozy. Or:la continues to run her queer-focused event series ‘La Potion', which celebrates and shines a spotlight on queer creatives. Now based back in the UK, Orlagh Dooley remains integral to the clubbing scene as a promoter and community builder, pouring her heart and soul into the place where she found her musical voice.

@orla_cd

OK037 - Or:la

Amelia Holt at The Swirl, Horst Arts & Music 2025

For this set I played on 4 CDJ 3000’s and a V10 mixer, using both of its internal effects processors. For every No Way Back set, and for most sets, I try to prepare new hardware remasters and edits of things that I think would be fascinating recontextualized in this setting. But for NWB, it is even more special, a peak moment, so I try to have new records I’m working on in the studio to test out. For this set that means the hardware mixes I’ve been working on for Torrvo and for Andy Toth can be tested, I’m working on this hardware mixing and remastering tone palate, so I spread that to some edits to give them a whole new power. Playing at No Way Back cannot be put into words, though we try every year, it really is inexplicable without experiencing it. It’s the environment you most want to be in, the space is totally transformed, the sound is dialed in, the audience is so ready, very giving and open, and the feedback you get is incredible. People are up for a ride – we start at the Tangent and end up going to the other side of the universe. Freedom within and without. There’s no place I’d rather be, so I thought I’d share this much sooner than we usually do. Enjoy the ride. 
– BMG @bbmmgg

Pink Floyd – Welcome to the Machine (BMG edit)
Refracted – Beneath The Surface
Torvvo – Carrier (BMG NWB Mix - forthcoming on Interdimensional Transmissions)
Pause – Exode X
Sciahri – Glow
Shed – EMCZ
Amotik – Peela
Erika – Wandering Mountain (Mike Parker Remix)
Translate – Shifted Communications
Dino Sabatini – Peuceus
Feral & Luigi Tozzi – Enigma
PALEMAN – Quarry
D-Leria – Voodoo Magic (Polygonia Remix)
Lory D – Mantrosax 2
Surgeon – Forgotten Gods
Peter Van Hoesen – Definition by Absence
Steve Bicknell – Easing Info Tomorrow
Resonance – Yellow Train (BMG Hardware Remaster edit)
The Fantasy – Soft Space (2025 Hardware version) forthcoming
DJ Funk – House The Groove
Ottagone – Ottagone 021
Andy Toth – Mind Lock (forthcoming on Interdimensional Transmissions)
AgainstMe – Into The Dome
Giordano – Electric Stardust
Alex R – z50
808 State – Flow Coma (BMG Hardware Remaster edit)
Wee Papa Girls – We Know It (KMS mix) (BMG Hardware Remaster edit)
Aphex Twin – Isopropophlex (BMG Hardware Remaster edit)

IT Podcast

IT.podcast.s14e04: BMG at No Way Back 2025

Aurora Halal, DJ set recorded live at Planetarium on March 10th, 2023. Best listened to lying down in the dark, through some good speakers with some friends. 

Aurora plays a deep listening set at Planetarium: A Weekend of Deep Listening at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck on the weekend of October 24-26, 2025 alongside Drumloop, Judith Grodowitz, Rena Anakwe, Justin Carter, Laraaji and Arji Oceananda. More info is here: 

https://www.eomega.org/workshops/planetarium-weekend-deep-listening 

Mastered by Michael King.

Aurora Halal, DJ Set from Planetarium, March 10, 2023

2008 - Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson - Dance Like There's No Tomorrow (Oakenfold Dub)

RA presents a joint podcast from two of deep techno’s finest: Andy Stott and Claro Intelecto from Modern Love.

RA.088 Andy Stott & Claro Intelecto

Any inquiries email me:  inyourdirtyears@gmail.com

https://linktr.ee/ameliaholt

resident @ The Lot Radio
party series / label @ honey trap