A journey through misty dancefloor psychedelia and international club sounds from @yu_su.

More info and tracklist here: https://www.factmag.com/2021/03/15/yu-su-fact-mix/

Fact Mixes

Fact Mix 799: Yu Su (Mar '21)

For Viscera 130, Yu Su joins the series with a live recording taken from our party on the 14th December at the one and only Love Inn.

"Kaifeng-born, now London-based Yu Su is a musician, DJ, sound artist and occasional chef. As one of the most prominent Chinese artists with a highly unique voice working across the globe in the last 5 years, her output covers all the ground you’d expect and more. Her multiple critically acclaimed records on UK’s Technicolor (Ninja Tune), Netherlands’s Music from Memory and China’s own Bie Records has seen her nominated for Canada’s Polaris Prize. She has co-produced music with John Carroll Kirby, Duval Timothy and is known for remix works for Parquet Courts, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, and many more. As a DJ, she is unpredictable, idiosyncratic; just “casually having the dance floor transfixed” have put her on the spotlights at clubs and festivals internationally like Dekmantel, Glastonbury, Boiler Room, iii Points, Nuits Sonores, Rainbow Disco Club, Phonox and so on. She has also recently been featured on the cover of Mixmag magazine, marking the first Chinese cover star. She has composed for feature films and fashion brands like Sacai, Jimmy Choo and London/Shanghai based SAMUEL GUÌ YANG."

Enjoy!

@yu_su

Yu Su | 130

A rare club mix from the ever-evolving artist, with 90 minutes of shadowy, atmospheric pressure.

Music's therapeutic value is often linked to relaxation—gongs, singing bowls and the like. Dense passages of foggy droning and eerie static aren't traditionally considered restorative, but Laurel Halo makes a pretty good case for it.

The Detroit-born, Los Angeles-based musician's abstract, often improvised productions are heavy on sound design and emotional climax. Driven by atmosphere rather than rhythm, they push listeners to grapple with their innermost insecurities, fears and dreams. "I'm lucky my music has helped people through crises," Halo once told Discwoman. It's easy to see why.

Since her 2010 debut King Felix, Halo has built a stunningly diverse catalogue of classically-informed records. A multi-instrumentalist—piano, violin, guitar, keys—her sharpest instrument is arrangement. Inspired by the surrealism of Italo Calvino and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, her releases, from Atlas to Behind The Green Door, unfold with slow-burning narrative and dense emotional weight. Her soundworlds are layered and labyrinthine—an architectonic space where self-reflection happens almost by force.

Even in the club, the sought-after composer excels in immersion. Her sets extend the expressionist palette of her records, trading traditional rhythm for tension, space and surprise. It’s no wonder she takes a genre-agnostic approach to the dance floor—her deep roots in freeform radio began at WCBN-FM in Michigan, followed by Berlin Community Radio, Rinse FM, and now a regular show on NTS.

RA.992 stitches foggy ambient loops, propulsive techno, mutant percussion and heady left turns with care. Tracks from DJ Rush, Octave One and Eddie Fowlkes nod to her Midwestern heritage, balanced out by deeper, psychedelic fare from the likes of Polygonia and Cousin. It's the mark of an artist revealing both deep curiosity and a precise hand as a selector. Rare, indeed.

@laurelhalo

Find the full interview at ra.co/podcast/992

RA.992 Laurel Halo

Night time field recording in Playa Santa Puerto Rico.

2025-07-01 19.36.41

The mastermind behind Basic Channel, Hard Wax and Rhythm & Sound doesn't do mixes. For RA.1000, he made an exception.

Trace Mark Ernestus's path, and you trace the evolution of electronic sound itself. The timeline of contemporary Berlin is unimaginable without him. At first, that meant Hard Wax, the crucial hub that shaped the early era of the city's techno revolution. Carl Craig once said it plainly: "Mark was ground zero."

From there, Ernestus never stopped. There's the birth of dub techno and the near-flawless catalogue that followed through Basic Channel and Rhythm & Sound. There's his immersion in Senegalese mbalax with Ndagga Rhythm Force. Lately, that means Open Ground the Wuppertal bunker that's letting people hear music as never before.

As part three of RA.1000, Ernestus has kindly supplied his first studio DJ mix. As you might expect, it's technically immaculate, but more than that, it feels like a substantial and generous conduit to one of the world's most vital genres.

Amapiano remains underexplored in music media. Publications like our own are still learning to keep pace with the South African sound's global pull, animating millions across the globe. 

You'll hear the range and richness of the genre across the near two-hour mix, from the gothic, percussive stomp of Caltetonic's "Bambela"  to the devotional glow of GemValleyMusiq's "Something Spiritual."

Through all of this, Ernestus has remained understated. He lets the music speak for him, with a quiet honesty that lies in decades of opening doors—creating the conditions for new sounds and scenes to flourish and carry the culture forward.

@opengroundclub @hardwax 

Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/1011. Listen to all RA.1000 mixes, as well as the complete history of the RA Podcast, at https://1000.ra.co

RA.1000 Mark Ernestus

Andrew Weatherall's first official posthumous mix. The only b2b DJ Harvey ever agreed to. Six hours at Trouw. This one's special.

When mulling which direction to go in for RA's 1000th mix celebrations, many options came to mind. Some shadowy character 2-stepping around the fringe of our collective consciousness? An impossible-level IDM icon?

All tempting. But, ultimately, we are a DJ-forward publication and this is a DJ mix series. It felt truer to the history of the RA Podcast to release deep vault material from a time when the world of niche records felt different, tighter, more discrete.

The fourth-longest mix in the series' history is an unrepeatable marathon set recorded in 2012 at a superclub that no longer exists. 2012, incidentally, is farther away from 2025 than 2012 was from 2000... if we have to clock it, so do you.

It's the coming together of one British icon who passed away in 2020, and another whose time on the road has scaled back considerably as of late. DJ Harvey agreed to exactly one b2b set in his life: this one, with Andrew Weatherall.

The night took place at Trouw, an Amsterdam club already considered legendary before it shuttered its doors in the opening hours of 2015, as part of an RA series anchored around start-to-close combinations. Harvey was at the peak of an irresistible career second act, which dovetailed with a disco revival that dominated clubs for years. Weatherall, with infinite brownie points stockpiled from the '90s, remained everyone's favourite debonair psychonaut. 

What follows is 385 scintillating minutes of arpeggiated chug and slow-cresting climaxes: a moment when the resting heart rate of dance floors plunged lower than any comparable point in the 21st century. A masterclass, entirely self-contained in audio form.

If you've got time to spare, a fun side game is sussing out who plays what. A disco-dub cover of Echo & the Bunnymen? Smart money's on Weatherall. Exuberant EQ'ing of The Isley Brothers? Gotta be Harvey. As for the low 'n slow, lightly spangled house that was all the rage in the early 2010s (think Maxxi Soundsystem, Disco Bloodbath, Rub & Tug, C.O.M.B.I. and Full Pupp), it's anyone's guess. 127 BPM feels practically like an F1 car.

When we kicked off our RA.1000 campaign, we outlined a few goals: tick off a handful of long-awaited dream guests, honour architects who shaped the world around us and deliver recordings you truly can't hear anywhere else. Full send.

DJing and the mythmaking around it has undergone a quantum leap since 2012, let alone 2006, 1996 or 1989. For those of us who were kicking around in the former, there's a creeping melancholy that our prime is fast becoming a matter of historical record. The killing moon really did come too soon. 

Where will electronic music, DJ sets or any of this be in 2044? Hard to say. Best not to overthink that one. Instead, we want to say thanks to all contributors on the series so far. Now enjoy luxuriating in the company of two of the greatest to ever do it, together, for the first and last time.⁠ – Gabriel Szatan (Editor, RA)

@andrew-weatherall

Read the interview with DJ Harvey and Andrew Weatherall's family at https://ra.co/podcast/1016. Listen to all RA.1000 mixes, as well as the complete history of the RA Podcast, at https://1000.ra.co

RA.1000 DJ Harvey & Andrew Weatherall

From speed garage to Arabic pop, one hour of borderless club energy from the Saudi DJ and curator. 

"We're making history tonight," hollered the MC at the start of Nooriyah's London Boiler Room in 2022. Sat next to the decks was her <i>baba</i> (Arabic for father), dressed in traditional Saudi garb. He opened the one-hour performance by playing the oud, a Middle Eastern instrument similar to a lute. Surrounded by smiling faces and pumping arms, it's a picture of joy.

The set was a turning point—and not just for Nooriyah's career. Scroll through the comments on YouTube and you'll find notes of endearment, gratitude and teary appreciation, proof of how powerful it was for people to see Middle Eastern music placed at the centre of contemporary club culture. 

This speaks to Nooriyah's MO. Born in Saudi Arabia, raised in Japan and now based in the UK, her musical vision reflects her global upbringing. But her style isn't eclecticism for eclecticism's sake—she's spoken about the importance of carving out space for underrepresented voices in dance music. 

Her RA Mix makes that mission audible. The result is a breathless hour: 47 tracks darting between speed garage, amapiano, Jersey club, Arabic pop edits and percussion-heavy workouts from Cairo to Accra. But don't mistake pace for carelessness: RA.1002 never feels rushed. Each switch is considered, revealing a knowledge of how global dance traditions can speak to one another. 

All in all, it's not only a celebration of her own heritage, but an invitation to imagine dance floors unconstrained by borders.

@nooriyah
Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/1020.

RA.1002 Nooriyah

Zillas on Acid: Cha Cha Cha – 2024
Sonns & Hammer: Weekend – 2025
Chimale: 3rd Chi-File – 2025
Kamilya Jubran & Werner Hasler: Wa – 2019
Luke Solomon: Space Invaders (Andomat 3000 remix) – 2008
Kapote: Ritual of Unconformity – 2025
Frankey & Sandrino: Contrary – 2024
The Exorcist GBG: Superstandard – 2020
Johannes Klingebiel: Vibrations – 2024
Voltaire: Moment – 2024
Escape from Warsaw: Syndrom (BSE Dub) – 2024
Elecno Posse: This Beat – 2025
Orlando Voorn: Rebellion (Stripped) – 2024
basiC realitieS: Desert Valley – 2021
Bushwacka: Heaven on Earth (Instadub) – 2024
Âme / Curses: Shadow of Love (instrumental) – 2024
Helena Hauff: Multiplying My Absurdities – 2024
Julian Anthony: Full Moon Fever – 2024
Microlith: Mahta – 2017
Horn: 70 + DF – 2011
Monaco: Melodic Reasons – 2024
Terry Usher: Jackson – 2024
Oceanvs Orientalis & Tooker: Il Lupo (Acid Pauli remix) – 2023
Dar Embarks: JMAR – 2024
Zellmani: Yongheng Forever – 2024
Alex Connors / Hardy Heller: Trifels – 2024
Gina Breeze: Odyssey – 2024
Kingpin Cartel: Long Dark Soul of the Night – 2024
Shy One: TNTC – 2024
Fernanda Arrau: Daga (Bawrut remix) – 2024
Lydia Eisenblätter: Shine – 2023
Dusky: Operation (extended) – 2024
Nathalie Capello: Nucleus – 2024
NKLV: Clusters – 2024
Pin-Ups in Exile: Syncable People – 1995
DJ Mell G: Hey, Mr. DJ (extended) – 2024
Gaudi Kosmisches Trio: Owa Owa Owa – 2024
Lau.ra: Vibe – 2024
Metodi Hristov: Run Away – 2023
Ebbs 'n Flow: Bunch of Amateurs – 2024
Soul Mass Transit System: Break Ur Heart – 2023
Viikatory: Lucid Dreams – 2025
Roza Terenzi: Doubtfire Drip – 2023
Priori: Lexica – 2024
Ryan James Ford: Earshot – 2024
Traxman & Slick Rick da Master: Warp Acidz Warp – 2024
Pearson Sound: Slingshot – 2024
CEM3340 & 2030: Electric Tribe – 2025
CTRL + OPT: Garagem – 2024
Aztec Camera: Walk Out to Winter – 1983

(Dispatches from) the Poison Treehouse no.9

Download + Interview:  http://truantsblog.com/2018/truancy-volume-201-yu-su/

Soundcloud: @yu_su

To immerse yourself in Yu Su’s music is to give way to sensation, like closing your eyes to better feel the warmth of the sun. There’s a purity and lightness that emits from her melodies in which keys, woodwinds and drums melt into effortless rhythms. Organically groovy and powerfully transportive, Yu Su’s productions float between coasts, inspiring moments of reflection with their meditative quality. The Vancouver-based Chinese artist holds a unique perspective and highly personal voice, and has quickly gained recognition within the electronic music scene with releases on labels such as Arcane, Genero, PPU and Wichelrode. In addition to her solo work, Yu Su also produces under the moniker You’re Me alongside partner Scott Gailey, creating more experimental and downtempo takes on house music. As a DJ, Yu Su crafts evocative musical narratives which touch on memories and introspections, providing a small window into her world with every mix.

Recorded with the idea of representing the person she’s become over the past year, Truancy Volume 201 is a powerful reflection on Yu Su’s direct experience with loss and love. Opening with a Liszt piece which stands for her childhood, then moving on to an improvised midi-keyboard duet with her partner, through one of her very first records purchased after seriously getting into music, and ending with a track from a favorite director’s film A Brighter Summer Day, the mix, in Yu Su’s words, “wasn’t really curated by me, but for me.” It’s an honor to share this serene mix and a pleasure to have had some words with the brilliant artist.

http://truantsblog.com

Truancy Volume 201: Yu Su

this might be my last show on no fun but enjoy!

Yu Su on No Fun Radio 01/25/2019

Recording of Yu Su's Berlin debut at Oscillate earlier this year.  

Revisit her playful and contagiously groovy selections ッ

Thanks so much for playing @yu_su !

(Dispatches from) the Poison Treehouse no.9

AMES-AF