Freerotation Live Sets (2011 - 2019)

Enter the wormhole with one of the techno artists we're most excited about in 2025.

Born in Osaka and now based in Tokyo, DJ MARIA. joins a decorated lineage of Japan's psychedelic elite, cut from a similarly explorative cloth as Wata Igarashi, Haruka and esoteric icons ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U and DJ Nobu. This nerdy sanctum of deep techno is a notoriously hard world to break into: only the very best make the grade. DJ MARIA.'s head-spinning sets emphasise why she's already part of the club firmament at home, and is now in the midst of a global breakthrough.

Her trademark is tapestries of acid, trance and techno that strike a perfect balance between vibrancy, impact and restraint. She bit the bug through a teenage discovery of DVDs showing legendary psytrance raves like Solstice and Vision Quest, yet it wasn't until 2014 that she started DJing, balancing gigs with shifts at Tokyo's Face Records and, as of late, motherhood.

Today, as well as producing and touring venues such as FOLD and Bassiani, she helps run two boutique forest festivals—Moment and Transcendence—both of which play a big part in upholding Japan's storied techno tradition. DJ MARIA. has reached these heights principally because of her exceptional talent as a DJ, which is on full display on this week's RA Podcast.

The two-hour mix is pure manna for psychedelic techno heads, though we're confident the depth of feeling, subtle pacing and seamless stitching will lure in fans from across the electronic spectrum. RA.971 is a total treasure—the latest wow moment from an artist destined to have a career littered with them.

@djmaria-jp

Read more at ra.co/podcast/971

RA.971 DJ MARIA.

For our 12th mix in our series, we revisit Nao's sublime sunrise from our November party with the Rural Festival crew. The festival has been flying the flag for deep, trippy techno in Japan for 17 years, so we knew they'd be a great fit for a Rio takeover. 

Nao stepped up after a phenomenal, hypnotic peak time set from Atsushi Maeda. Over three hours, she guided the boisterous dance floor through her full colour palette of techno, from raw and percussive to trancey and sublime, with plenty of left turns to keep dancers on their toes. Nao brought out her psychedelic side to full effect, and we couldn't have been happier that she decided to do so. 

We've been eager to share this set for a while; turn it up and lock in for the whole ride.

Rio 012 - Nao

Recorded at SOUNDIT Plaza in Barcelona on 5 April 2025.

“IF THIS ISNT RA MIX OF THE DAY WE’LL STOP PRESSING PLAY 🤪"

Blasha b2b Allatt b2b Steffi b2b Virginia @ SOUNDIT Plaza (Barcelona)

"Designing clubs is about understanding psychology." The famed architects talk about bringing emotions, durability and hidden logic into era-defining nightlife spaces.

How do you design the world's best clubs? Studio Karhard, the architecture firm started by Thomas Karsten and his wife, Alexandra Erhard, in 2003, know exactly which ingredients go into a successful nightlife space. The Berlin-based duo are the visionaries behind Berghain and ∄ in Kyiv, as well as a number of private residences, businesses and smaller venues around the world. Their specialty, they say, is salvaging forgotten spaces and resurrecting them to serve a new purpose. 

In this RA Exchange, Karsten talks about first coming across the building that's now Berghain and working tirelessly with engineers and city planners to preserve its neoclassical facade. As he explains, creating a memorable atmosphere goes beyond just designing for aesthetics. There are countless hidden design features that serve to make venues like Berghain comfortable. 

But according to Karsten, Studio Karhard's masterpiece is ∄, which they began designing in 2018. He describes the special experience of first visiting the abandoned  brewery—which was then in extreme disrepair—and bringing the lessons they took away from building Berghain to make this Ukrainian space their most successful project yet. 

This episode takes a look under the hood of the psychology, anthropology and emotional study that inform the venues that have shaped underground electronic music culture. Listen to it in full. -Chloe Lula

EX.775 Studio Karhard

Daft Acid [I] - is the new hip ep release by daft riot which will showcase the new style of dirt and grit electro acid by stereoimagery and love ex. two mainstay names on daft riot with signature styles. both using different forms of acid to convey a better message of hip dance. Distributed by Label Engine - www.label-engine.com

Stereoimagery - Dert (Roadie)

WRD0248 -  Haber (Arg) - Quantum Echoes (Original Mix).

Beatport

Esquizo 313

For the weekend Aurora Halal was in the Netherlands to play at BAR on Saturday and Strange Sounds From Beyond on Sunday. BAKK invited Aurora to play at Intergalactic FM.

BAKK // Aurora Halal on Intergalactic FM

Interview + Download:  http://truantsblog.com/2018/truancy-volume-211-steffi/

Soundcloud: @steffi_official @dolly-records

An artist in the purest sense, Berlin-based Steffi has previously said she wants to be remembered for her work and nothing else. Monitoring her career closely herself, it's easy to see how her consistent growth as a producer and DJ is motivated by keeping her integrity as an artist. With three albums on Ostgut Ton now, her recent World Of The Waking State LP saw her deliver an album more experimental than previous efforts, yet one produced at a time feeling settled more comfortably in her own skin. Seeking new and exciting outlets to express her projects her own labels Klakson and Dolly have been a continual source of new music. She's released a culmination of 70 records from an abundance of friends and new producers, as well as her own, over four different labels and sub-labels. We caught up with Steffi to discuss Klakson and Dolly, her productions with fellow Ostgut Ton artist Virginia, as well as finding the balance between studio and tour time. With not a single four-by-four kick drum in sight, her Truancy Volume is an arc back to her long-time affinity with early Warp and IDM records. Steffi has mentioned in the past how much of an influence the first Autechre album had on her, so it's no surprise their music finds a home in this mix.

http://truantsblog.com

Truancy Volume 211: Steffi

Leif - Freerotation 2019

My set from this years festival - 
Warming up room 1 on Sunday night before Kink and the Hessle crew took the roof off... Another unforgettable weekend.

FR 19 live recording

Joe Ellis - Freerotation 19  live recording

Recording of my live set from Room 3, Saturday 6th July 2019! I built this set from scratch for the festival and thoroughly enjoyed the process! To play at Freerotation has been a huge milestone for me which I had dreamt about since first attending 6 FR ago... The energy in that room was like nothing I have ever experienced before and I think the recording captures it well! Hope you enjoy! x

Live Set @ Freerotation 2019

TAC live @ freerotation festival 2019

Live improvised set @ Freerotation 2019, with Dave Dove (ableton & fx) & Michiel Renger (sax & percussion).

Soulstatejazz - Live @ Freerotation 2019

Freerotation is very special to me, in fact it's my favourite festival! So this was a dream come true! Felt surreal after all these years going to rave there going to play there! Room 3 on Saturday night was pure vibes - big ups everyone who danced and cheered hard, props to my mates with their tops off haha! Huge love to Steevio & Suzybee for inviting me to play! <3

Big thanks to Charlie Tear & Alex Downey for the recording :)

Tasha live at Freerotation 2019

An improvised and mostly unrehearsed three turntable Techno throw-down, performed live at the temporal point in space-time that is Freerotation Festival.

The last time I played an up-tempo Techno set like this at Freerotation was in 2011, and I’ve been pestering Steevio to let me bang it again ever since - this was the year it finally happened. 
Set times aren’t announced until the day, so it was as much of a surprise to me as anyone else to find out that I would be playing the closing set in that room.
After a night of excellent live & DJ sets from the highly talented women I had the honour of sharing the bill with, I had to be on top of my game to maintain the energy levels at the high bar they had set. 
My aim was to keep the tempos up around 137 BPM, make good use of all three turntables, improvise as much as possible in a spontaneous way by keeping the rehearsing to a minimum, and stay as present in the moment as much as I could possibly be.
I worked out the intro and the first couple of tracks, but then kept it mostly freestyle after that, which led to some unexpected twists, turns and inspired moments that kept me on my toes, and the crowd buzzing. 
This was one of those special nights where the amazing and supportive crowd gave so much energy, that it fed straight back into the music, which then began to feel like an energy flowing right through you, that pulled you even deeper into the moment. 
Presence!
I was ecstatic to  have been so well received by the large crowd that had gathered, it was an honour & a privilege to hold the space for 90 minutes, and a joy to have the opportunity close the room on such a high. 
Unfortunately some of the amps developed a fault, causing them to overheat & create a nasty burning smell, so the set had to be brought to an abrupt end to avoid causing a fire. 
An unmet demand for a final tune rampantly ensued, I loudly and regrettably responded “The Amps Are On Fire!!”, to which someone remarked “of course they are, you did a good job”, which I felt was a fitting end to a smoking night of Techno-music, that was pure heat from start to finish! :)

Recorded Live on Sunday 7th July 2019, 
4:30 - 6am, in Sammy String's (Room 3), 
at Freerotation Festival, Baskerville Hall, Hay on Wye, UK.

www.residentadvisor.net/dj/alexdowney
www.facebook.com/AlicksDowney/
www.instagram.com/alyxdowney/
Interview: www.untitled909.com/alex-downey/

Photograph by Calandra Balfour @Calandra
Audio mixdown by Charlie Tear @charlietear

Freerotation 2019

Alex Downey's 'The Amps Are On Fire Mix' Live at Freerotation 2019

@neighbourhood-music 
@rinsefm 3rd Monday of the month 22:00 - 23:00

Bookings: charles@omni-artists.net

Techno, house, electronica, ambient, generally music that has more than a passing thought behind it.

I am still working on some fresh beats. Don't get too excited, but I might one day soon finish another tune, just warning you. 

Additional work on:

Pickulia from deaj-music and k'rin
Beauman's B'day from Pilau
BMO Stag from SL6, Swn, Bristol Crew et al.

Tasha live at Freerotation 2019

TASHA.

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