2025

Recording from nitsa night on december 17th 2021

John Talabot dj set @Nitsa (17Dec21)

www.allez-allez.co.uk

Ewan Pearson - And So To Bed mix

Mike Huckaby @ DEMF 2000

Merry Christmas, from evilgiane.

https://www.factmag.com/2023/12/24/

Fact Mixes

Fact Mix 939: evilgiane (Dec '23)

Two hours of pure groove, recorded live from Nuits Sonores festival.

Download: https://bit.ly/XLR8Rpodcast_DaniloPlessow

Download

XLR8R Podcast 870: Danilo Plessow

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.

This is an hour live mix for dj nobu’s party named reprise, happening on 1.Feb at WOMB in Tokyo. 

Instead of focusing on new experiments, I put together some of my favorite tracks and ones I’ve been into recently. 

Hope you enjoy :)

Kugel - Live mix for Reprise [Jan.2025]

Emissive (@emissive) is a Toronto DJ and producer.  They form one half of the production duo Active Surplus and run the net-label earthNetwork.

Sparkling 06 | Emissive

Kaleidoscopic psychedelia from one of Australia's finest.

While it might feel early to call bets on DJs of the decade, Kia Sydney, best known as Kia, is undoubtedly one of them. The Animalia founder began in Naarm's (Melbourne) underground scene in the mid-2010s, crediting a trip to the influential deep techno Japanese festival, Labyrinth, as the inspiration behind her sound.

Deep techno might not cut it as a descriptor for Sydney's sound, though. Hypnotic ribbons of steely techno mix with atmospherics and nimble grooves, drawing from IDM, dub and tech house, sharing as much with DJ Nobu and Donato Dozzy (try to find the track that overlaps with Dozzy's own RA Podcast) as well as modern practitioners like Priori and Beatrice M.

This distinctly Australian scuttling psychedelia has made Kia one of the most sought-after underground DJs globally. Her brainchild, Animalia, showcases a plurality of sounds and scenes, serving as living proof of the fruitful shift of the 2020s: less serious, perhaps, but with a sense of open-minded worldliness that offers a far more promising vision of what dance music can be and achieve.

Sydney's rare talent lies in forging connections, bringing people, sounds and ideas together with a distinct playfulness. Her RA Podcast showcases this alchemy in abundance, weaving classics like Monolake and Enya with peers such as OK EG, Cousin and Command D.

As she told us in her 2023 Breaking Through profile, "people tell me I have quite a distinctive sound but I can't tell so much because I hear so many different versions of it." RA.973 serves as confirmation that Kia's style is, to say the least, the mark of a generational talent.
 
@kia-sydney @animalia-label  @cirruslabel

Read more at ra.co/podcast/973

RA.973 Kia

Echoes hum, bodies moving.
This is true spirit of Breakfast Club, unfolding.


Ogazón: "This set felt like a homecoming — warm, familiar, and charged with energy. The familiar faces and unwavering support are something I don’t experience anywhere else, and that drives me to perform at my absolute best. But the real magic? Locking into an effortless groove from the very start while playing alongside a legend like Marcel. That was the cherry on top: a true highlight I won’t be forgetting anytime soon."

Marcel Dettmann: "Playing at Breakfast Club in the early morning is always a unique experience — the people there are musically open, ready for experimentation, and come with a certain expectation: they want to be taken on a journey. What made this set special was the combination of Ogazón and me. I think we had a great feel for the moment, for the groove and the tension. The energy was electrifying."

Marcel Dettmann b2b Ogazón - BFC ADE 2024: RADION Saturday

Regis and Function's first mix in over 10 years is a unique paean to Silent Servant, heavy on unreleased material.

When it came time for RA to compile our Albums of the 2010s, one record with a tauntingly limited availability of 500 copies was never in doubt: Sandwell District's era-defining 'Feed-Forward'. Encompassing Karl O'Connor (Regis), Peter Sutton (Female), David Sumner (Function) and Juan Mendez (Silent Servant), Sandwell District had the underground in a vice grip for over a decade.

The collective imploded in 2013, with Sumner and O'Connor's relationship appearing beyond repair. And yet, an unlikely second phase is here, featuring imminent comeback LP 'End Beginnings' and their return to the RA Podcast after 16 years. In 2023, the trio of Function, Regis and Silent Servant had been performing and laying down new material before the latter's shock death last January. It's in the shadow of loss that this unique mix was forged.

Founded in 2002 as a spiritual sister to seminal Downwards, Sandwell truly began to hit its straps in the late '00s, as shadow-stalking cuts sliced through clubland orthodoxy like a switchblade. In parallel, the label's artwork—a noir recombination of Burroughs cut-ups, DIY zines and arthouse amour that Silent Servant made his own—helped fortify a movement which placed an aesthetic premium on grit, grain and sadism.

By the early 2010s, this fixation on the dark arts had utterly permeated the mood inside techno's masonic temples. Labels like Blackest Ever Black, Stroboscopic Artefacts, Avian and Modern Love were in their pomp, razorwire legends like Severed Heads and Chris & Cosey benefited from second winds, and it was briefly a jailable offence to not have a press photo in black and white. 'Feed-Forward' was the exceptional coronating statement.

RA.978 features a stack of unheard recordings from each of the trio, as well as close allies Stefanie Parnow and Tropic of Cancer, while also gathering many of Silent Servant's all-time favourite songs, including Psychic TV, Grace Jones and Galaxie 500. It's a strikingly vulnerable listen, one without many parallels on the Podcast. We're glad to run it. – Gabriel Szatan

Read more and find the tracklist here: ra.co/podcast/978
Read our new feature with Sandwell District here: https://ra.co/features/4426

RA.978 Sandwell District

Mesmerising dance floor tapestries from a singular experimental musician.

Can you reinvent the human voice? The oldest musical instrument in existence, our voices are the foundation of music as we know it, and few push its limits in electronic music today like Lyra Pramuk. On her masterful debut, Fountain the Berlin-based, US-born artist's voice was the only instrument. No drums, no synths—just her voice warped, synthesized and layered to achieve orchestral-like electronics.

Five years on from her breakout, Pramuk's practice has steadily evolved, with a continued interest in ideas of folk and futurism, and how technology can enable us to build community beyond boundaries of time and space. There’s a holistic nature to her artistry, one that extends seamlessly into her DJing.

As she explains in the Q&A accompanying this week's RA Podcast, she sees her work as "part of a continuum of sacred, folkloric, and communal music represented by many different subcultures and communities across the world."

It's an approach that, like much of Pramuk's output, feels explicitly choral in nature. The first voice we hear on the mix comes from Lonnie Holley, his woozy Southern drawl calling out, "Earth will be there to catch us when we fall." (Although, you have to wonder, if we keep flogging the Earth, will it?) 

More voices follow across an eye-catching tracklist, from the poetry of friends (Nadia Marcus) to esoteric French chantresses from the ’80s (Anne Gillis), while Pramuk wraps an extensive amount of her own forthcoming material around tracks from SD Laika, Leyland Kirby, rRoxymore and 33EMYBW, to name just a few.

By the end, voice and noise become indistinguishable—stammering, glitchy vocals colliding with an orchestra of instruments. The effect is mesmerising.

Unfolding as one continuous composition, RA.979 exists somewhere between an ambient set at Kwia and the main stage at Unsound, voices and textures blurred into a fluid tapestry of sound. It's a singular offering to the series from a singular artist.

@lyra_songs

Read the interview and find the tracklist at ra.co/podcast/980

RA.979 Lyra Pramuk

Modern hypnotics from a new techno star.

It's a tale as old as time: techno DJ moves to Berlin to chase a dream. Philippa Pacho is part of the latest wave of talent to tread that familiar path. But don't let that fool you. She's one of the classiest artists around—no TikTok gimmicks here.

Pacho's formative years were spent in her native Stockholm, navigating a vibrant DIY party scene that included warehouse raves and illegal parties. She eventually took up a long-standing residency at beloved local club Under Bron and the experience, as she details in this week's Q&A, sharpened her technical skills, teaching her to handle every type of set—whether opening with patience, supporting a headliner or closing with finesse. She also played with countless touring DJs, from Answer Code Request to Antony Parasole, which ultimately inspired her move to Berlin.

That relocation has firmly paid off. It's a testament to Pacho's talent that you'll find her playing pretty much every big club and festival across Europe, from Berghain and Dekmantel to FOLD and Monument (we were exhausted just looking at her upcoming listings on RA). Other recent highlights include closing out Bassiani's tenth birthday, and back-to-backs with Fadi Mohem and Sandrien. 

Pacho's RA Podcast showcases her preference for classy, hypnotic techno, striking a balance between muscle and subtle groove. Her aptitude for what makes dance floors tick is also evident on her two labels—Phorum Records and positivesource (co-run with Blue Hour)—both of which mirror her DJ style, blending intensity with delicate textures. positivesource has released several standout records, including this year's "Psycho" by BLANKA and Phil Berg's "Psyckik" (which you'll hear on this mix). 

Spanning 70 minutes, RA.980 is a window into Pacho's thoroughly modern sound (the oldest track is from 2018). And yet it retains a refined, sweeping quality. Give it a spin and you'll soon twig why she's in demand on dance floors worldwide. 

@philippapacho

Read the interview and find the tracklist at ra.co/podcast/980

RA.980 Philippa Pacho

Full Tracklist: https://bleep.com/bleep-mix-297--sandwell-district

For our latest Bleep Mix instalment, Sandwell District come through with a hefty programming of dark rollers fulfilling that promise of reinvigorated purpose they mentioned before: “Having a good time”. And with a wealth of exclusive unheard material it’s hard to refute the mission statement. Dropping straight into the cavernous environs of an unreleased Regis side Frosty Jack’s, the selection rides a restrained line building tension through a number of Nastia Reigel tracks deployed with utmost precision before upping its stride with Luke Slater’s Planetary Assault Systems and quickly landing first peak from The Wizard himself, with Jeff Mills' slamming ‘93 cut Step to Enchantment (Stringent). Taking in a track from their comrade Surgeon’s forthcoming album, as well as the simmering acid of their own tune Hidden, Sandwell District bring it back round full circle via two further unreleased reworks of heroes Meat Beat Manifesto providing a breakbeat singed rupture to close out the proceedings with the vocal snatches of MBM’s Helter Skelter summing it all up really: “It's in my brain now. This is it!”

Bleep Mix #297 - Sandwell District

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

Three hours of high drama, recorded live at Nowadays in New York.

We know what you're thinking: why did it take so long to get Binh on the RA Podcast? There's no easy answer, especially given that he's been a favourite of ours for over a decade now. So to make up for lost time, the revered digger lands on the series with a tantalising three-hour mix, recorded live at Nowadays in New York earlier this year.

Crammed with rare and unreleased gems spanning house, techno, and electro, RA.989 is heavy on drama, catching the Düsseldorf native in unbridled performance mode.

This is Binh in 2025. But rewind across the past two decades and you'll find a DJ who excels in pretty much any situation, whether warming up for Zip or Margaret Dygas, going back-to-back with masters like Nicolas Lutz or rolling out solo sets that stretch across ten or even 12 hours.

He's acted out all these scenarios most often at Berlin institution Club der Visionaere, the cosy canalside club that became a kind-of spiritual home. (He'd sometimes spend every night of the week there, before parenting duties got the better of him.)

To play for half a day you need a lot of records, and the backbone of Binh's craft has long been a freakish passion for vinyl. Along with Lutz, Vera, and others in CDV's orbit, he approaches the pursuit of wax, new and old, with next-level dedication and a fondness for blind buys. 

That's true of RA.989, although among the un-Shazamables are many tracks that are either out or coming out on Binh's popular Time Passages label. The mix finds him on a house-y tip, luxuriating in roomy basslines, driving 303s and twinkly melodies—with just the right amount of evil. Lock in and savour a one-of-a-kind DJ, completely in the zone.

@binh

Find the interview at ra.co/podcast/989

RA.989 Binh

Smoke Machine Podcast 111 Efdemin

http://blowinguptheworkshop.com/project/jackmurphy

• ricardo, for his friend luciano, plays joe
↳ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWQ8EpalXK4

• ricardo with rareș, his friend on new year's eve
↳ https://soundcloud.com/playedby/ricardo-villalobos-raresh-live-at-sunrise-event-nye-kristal-glam-club-31122006
 ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎and with his friend, rhadoo, after hours
↳ https://soundcloud.com/playedby/rhadoo-b2b-ricardo-villalobos-at-sunwaves-13-afterhours

• ricardo, his birthday, with his friend p. diddy
↳ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=305_UeOlT3Y

 • ricardo 1998
↳ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWnxQ9FDOKA
‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎and in 1999, boxing day
↳  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixJ-WEACkhQ

• in his vesture of gold, ricardo
↳ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fGRt1USm5E

Blowing Up The Workshop

110 ◆ Jack Murphy

Balance 14 was a double Mix CD for the Balance series I made in 2008, it was released in 2009.

TRACKLIST:
Imps - Bubble And Squeek 
Âme - Doldrums 
Nick Solé - Children 
Les Chocolats - Ride The Beat 
Kaoru Inoue - The Secret Field (Todd Terje Remix) 
Nova Nova - Prayer 
Elitechnique - Electric Evening 
Elitechnique - Spectral Escape 
Len Faki - My Blackapella 
Len Faki - My Synthapella 
Paul Nazca - Flash 
Mood II Swing - Move Me 
Oliver Moldan presents Prawler - Phat Laces 
Henrik Schwarz - Leave My Head Alone (Parts & Effects) 
Minilogue - Ghost (Dub) 
Psykofuk - Psykofuk 
Ricardo Villalobos - Easy Lee (Smith N Hack Remix) 
Minilogue - Ghost (Dub) 
Agnès - Daaahhhh 
Agnès - Treat Me Bad 
Radio Slave - Tantakan 
Blamstrain - A Song For Jonas 
Aloof, The - Going Home 
Christian Smith & John Selway - Illusion (Version) 
Yagya - Change 
Feline 9 - Heavy 
Gegenheimer - Spiritual Love (Acoustic Raw Demo Version)
Kettel - Coddle 
Carl Craig - Attitude 
Flying Lotus - Brainfeeder 
Raz Ohara - Hymn (Hardman Mix) 
Poni Hoax - Faces In The Water 
Joris Voorn - Additional String Bits 
Robert Babicz - Dark Flower (Joris Voorn Magnolia Mix) 
Joakim - Are You A Vegetarian? 
Tantra - A Place Called Tarot (Idjut Boys Re-Edit) 
Joakim - Peter Pan Over The Bronx 
Leftfield - Rhino's Prayer 
Rhythm & Sound - King In My Empire 
Marc Romboy - Elif 
Minilogue - Old Water 
Markus Dolic - Blood 
Martin Landsky - FM Safari (Patrick Chardronet's Silent Snake Remix) 
Jimpster - The Last Tape 
Marcello Giordani - Respect Yourself 
Carl Craig - At Les 
Innerzone Orchestra - At Les 
Radiohead - Nude (Ripperton $9 Mix) 
Aphex Twin - Heliosphan 
F.U.S.E. - Into The Space 
Spinvis - Mare Frigoris

2025

garvancurran