There's an old-school touch to ISAbella's sound. Breakbeats, rolling tech house, progressive house and trance pepper both her studio mixes and her debut EP, transporting listeners to a place of peak '90s indulgence. It's no wonder, then, that vintage rave sounds are a signature tenet of MARICAS, the club night and label that she helped start in 2018.

Her love for the '90s is tangible on her RA Podcast, an emotional journey across breakbeat house, trancey techno and funky electro. First-rate throwbacks such as Canyon's "Move" and "Lightspan Soundwave" by The Shamen exude a carefree euphoria, while heavier cuts like Desert's "Moods (Club Mix)'' intensify the feeling of rapture. Even the contemporary releases, like Bashkka's excellent "C-quence Of Calamities," feel rooted in nostalgia.

MARICAS mixes are usually energetic from the get-go, but ISAbella starts out nice and relaxed this time around. The mix's most striking element is how personal each track feels—a reflection of her intimate relationship with these records. Each one evokes a special poignancy and though these ephemeral selections were largely improvised, ISAbella believes they "show what's going on lately and what's going on forever."

@bellasalmonella

Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/875

RA podcast

RA.875 ISAbella

Recording of Objekt's set at Dekmantel Festival 2023.

Dekmantel Festival 2023

Objekt at Dekmantel Festival 2023

Lia Plutonic at Draaimolen Festival 2024

Recording of Piezo's set at Dekmantel Selectors 2024.

Piezo at Dekmantel Selectors 2024

The Sustain-Release co-founder steps up to the Phonica mix just ahead of the acclaimed festival’s 11th year. 
New York has an iconic history when it comes to club music, and over the years has seen many great names emerge from its underground scene. In modern times, Aurora Halal is undoubtedly one of those names. 
Aurora has become a staple at forward-thinking institutions like Berghain, De School, and her home base, Nowadays, where she holds a residency. Alongside her international touring, she’s carved out her own vital space through the long-running Mutual Dreaming parties and Sustain-Release, the DIY-rooted festival she co-founded, which continues to push boundaries as it enters its second decade.
Her Phonica mix offers a vivid snapshot of her deep, intuitive approach to DJing—captured live at Mansions, a cozy NYC wine bar turned house party haven. Known for her genre-fluid sets that blend hypnotic techno, house, acid and experimental textures this is the perfect calling card to showcase why she can hold it down with a range of greats like DJ Nobu, Vladimir Ivkovic and more.
We had a chat about the mix with Aurora as well as touching off Sustain and some of her favorite moments at the festival.

Phonica Mix Series 134: Aurora Halal

https://www.nts.live/shows/courtesy/episodes/courtesy-23rd-may-2025

NTS 23.05.25  Courtesy w/ st. mozelle

@MattiasElMansouri
Wildeburg Festival
July 12, 2025 - Bud x Kas
Kraggenburg, Netherlands
www.wildeburg.nl

Mattias El Mansouri - Wildeburg 2025

This moody minimal techno piece features spacious, abstract textures built from pulsing bass and crisp percussive layers, setting a hypnotic undercurrent, Occasional female vocals drift in with ethereal phrases, processed for a spectral glow, The harmony draws heavily on the Lydian mode, lending a mystical quality, For the Japanese touch, sparse koto samples and subtle pentatonic melodic motifs appear before the hard drops—booming yet restrained kick and digital stabs evoke a mythical rave atmosphere, The atmosphere is meditative yet kinetic, balancing restraint with waves of electrifying intensity

Koto Caeci Nippon

Secunda chorda Koto

Buy link: https://rewlabel.bandcamp.com/album/sin-retorno-ep
Artists: REID, V.A
Label: REW.
Catalog Number: R027
Release Date: 30/12/25
Format: Digital
Mastering: KODA
Artwork: Pedra
Label links: @rew_wav

PREMIERE: REID - Último Abrazo (TMLSD Romantic Mix)

The music Aurora Halal creates is informed by many different disciplines. She is a producer, but also a videographer and visual artist who has worked on films about modular synth godfather Morton Subotnick amongst others. She is also the force behind Brooklyn’s Mutual Dreaming party series as well as the Sustain-Release festival. In just a couple of years she has cooked up an expressive and experimental techno sound—solo and with the likes of Ital—on labels such as Lovers Rock and her own Mutal Dreaming Recordings. Oppressive and foggy, her distorted, imperfect sounds made up of heavy drums and scurrying synths have taken her to plenty of remarkable live gigs all over the world. Now she steps up to our mix series with equal aplomb.

Dekmantel Podcast

Dekmantel Podcast 106 - Aurora Halal

Two hours of trance bombs, old and new.

Read more: https://www.residentadvisor.net/podcast-episode.aspx?id=756

@roza-terenzi

Resident Advisor podcast

RA.756 Roza Terenzi

Amsterdam based DJs, events company and record label. - support@dekmantel.com for all your webshop and label enquiries.