@xdb is Kosta Athanassiadis – German by birth and in residence, with Greek parentage. His roots are in the central German town of Göttingen. It was here that he began DJing in the early nineties; where he worked in a record shop; where he ran a radio show for five years; and the base from which he established the Metrolux record label in 2006.
For many people, it was at this point that XDB appeared on their radar. His debut ‘Jackintosh EP’ and the following ‘Descap EP’ made a splash with heads, but whilst the shimmering dub techno moments were perhaps the most obvious hook, subsequent tracks defied easy categorisation – an early indication that the person behind the music took a broad view of electronic music, caring not for stylistic pigeonholes.
Further releases mapped out more of a defined aesthetic for the label, with XDB’s own work sitting alongside contributions from Atheus and Arne Weinberg. By 2007, Kosta’s music had caught the ear of other outlets; including Francois Kevorkian’s Deep Space Media (a sublabel of Wave Music) licensed ‘Descap’ and ‘Descap live’ for re-release. @brendonmoeller was the A&R at that time and a 4 track EP on Wave Music followed in 2009.
The same year, @p-scott put out the first XDB release on his own @sistrum-recordings, which saw Kosta tailoring his output to a cleaner, more Detroit-inflected sound. In tandem with his production work, XDB the DJ was coming into his own. An avid collector of vinyl since his childhood (Kosta’s collection presently numbers some 10,000 records); he had honed his craft in clubs and on the radio – mixing monthly on his own ‘Case Check’ show. 2008 brought an early highlight – spinning at Japan’s lauded Labyrinth festival alongside the cream of the international deep techno and house scene.
Kosta’s DJ sets draw upon his expansive record collection, playing right across the board of electronic music. He has no shortage of technical skill but it’s his selection that truly shines – putting the music itself at the forefront, letting songs breathe when need be, and delivering plenty of head-scratching ‘what the hell is this track?’ moments.
It’s on this that Kosta has built his reputation. Tastemakers such as the now-defunct mnml ssgs crew were quick to snap him up for a guest mix in 2009, and several of his online recordings have been picked up for @resident-advisor ‘Mix of the Day’ spot. In 2010, XDB played at the UK’s highly-regarded Freerotation festival – starting a love affair with the event that’s seen him come back every year since. The festival secured Kosta’s place within a fraternity of fellow musicians and DJs who also prefer to let their music do the talking – likeminds who recognise the purity in what they do, and are all the more respected because of it.
That same year, he remixed Detroit heroes Norm Talley - @ormalley and Aaron Carl - @aaroncarl and in 2011 produced releases for the Dolly, Harbour City Sorrow and Echocord imprints. 2012’s highlight was a split 12” with Kassem Mosse and in 2013 he was reunited with Sistrum Recordings for the ‘Frocks’ record. 2013 also saw the rebirth of Metrolux after a 3 year hiatus, with ‘Edition 2’, an excellent Various Artists release.
When it comes to producing, Kosta favours a slow and steady work rate, opting to focus on quality control rather than record shop ubiquity. His DJing keeps him in the public eye, but one gets the sense that XDB prefers to operate in the shadows. There’s a refreshing lack of gimmickry to his approach – keeping it low-key allows him to be judged solely on the basis of talent. Arguably, it’s an innate quality – the way he wants to play it; the way that brings him most satisfaction, but it’s helped establish his reputation as an artist of considerable merit, winning the approval his audience and peers, alike.
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#123 | XDB (DE)

Konstantinos (@fluxion)Soublis’ music was born in urban Greece and really found its path during the mid 90s, in a city that existed in a state of ‘flux’ like no other in the 20th century. Berlin’s social, historical and political factors all came to bear both consciously and unconsciously on the musicians experimenting in the city around the turn of the millennium and the freedom in the city’s creative spirit was very much a reflection of these wider factors. This, along with the naivety and liberalism of the time, mixed with punk-like rebellion against form gave birth to many of the strains of techno and electronic music that now dominate the sound of clubs the world over. Fluxion was swept along in this wave of creating for creativity’s sake during this special time, with an organic, naturally fluid and playful attitude towards pushing artistic boundaries. With 10 Fluxion albums and numerous ep’s, his work sprawls across 2 decades. Fluxion was at the start of the Dub Techno movement that is now considered a gender with thousands of releases. Two decades of constantly releasing and blending sounds without resting on his laurels of now considered classic releases such Vibrant Forms I and II but always inducing his sound with new ideas, and embracing the free form improvisational approach which enables an artist to use his studio as an instrument not a tool. He has  collaborated with various well respected labels, such as Chain Reaction and @echocord as well as his own imprint Vibrant Music which has recently been re-launched (2017) for Fluxion and associated releases and collaborations . His more recent album works as Fluxion (Vibrant Forms III), was released in 2016 closing the trilogy commended back in 1999 on Chain Reaction. He then released (Ripple Effect) in 2018, combining electronic music with score music, and (Perspectives) in 2020 which has been described by the artist as his most personal work to date. Fluxion’s work takes the long view, “allowing sound to breath”, interact and meld together in new and unexpected ways, bringing in influences from other styles of music, classical, score, jazz, in an attempt to broaden the horizons and create new possibilities of the gender, and manages to do that keeping his characteristic sound and compositional aesthetic, keeping his music distinct.
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#135 | Fluxion (GR)

Thorhallur Skulason @thor_thule_records was dubbed the Godfather of Icelandic techno. 
As a young producer he scored his first release, Awakening the Gods during the golden era of Sven Vath’s Harthouse Records in 1995, quickly following this up with Live In Reykjavik on the German imprint soon after. Later that year Thor initiated his own agenda setting @thule-records, which would be home to fellow Icelandic luminaries @exos, Ozy, @yagya (with Thor as Sanasol). 
Like many of his generation he moved on from the music scene as techno began to become harder and loopier in the early 00s but his tracks remained staples for the likes of Richie Hawtin and Ricardo Villalobos, with the taste making DJs dipping into genre spanning range of productions credited to Thor, from his tougher releases to the tight, grooving and sexy sound that fits so well with today’s dance floors. 
The temptation to return to music became too much for Thor, with recognition coming once more after a much-anticipated reappearance with Icelandic Lost Tracks Volumes 1 & 2 on German label Connoisseur in 2010. Around 2014 musical cycles had realigned so that Thor’s slick, dubby take on house and techno was again at the forefront of techno’s relentless march. A reissue set from Berlin’s highly respected @sushitech followed, compiling Thor’s most celebrated monikers for the first time. Consequences brought together stark techno tracks such as Aliens Don’t Boogie and the fluid, housey leanings of Oz Artists’ As If The Living Were Moving for a new generation of clued up techno lovers. Simultaneously in Iceland the producer was readying his own Thule label for a run of retrospective releases including the much sought after The Normal Spot by Sanasol and Richie Hawtin’s secret weapon T1/T2.
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#144 | THOR (IS)

Live DJ mix from TROUGH Party in naarm (Melbourne) @ Inflation nightclub, July 29th. 

Feat. Fuse, Ostgut Ton, Chemical Brothers, Loophole, Justice, Anthony Rother....

PM for track list

TASCAM DR-40

TROUGH DJ Set | 29.07.23 - naarm

01-Laurent Garnier - Mixmag Live Volume 19

Casa Cainelli w/ The Boy Tata & Jebemti One 02.10.24

Succulent Mix 15 coming in hot! A mix from Hyperprism recorded live from downstairs at Angel Music Bar

Succulent Mix #015 - Hyperprism

Hyperprism @ Chunk 25 - Tradies at the Disco III | 19.07.2025

Well it only to 18years for Cassy and I to be back on the same night. 2007 was my first time coming to play at P-Bar in Berlin Germany. It was also my first international booking. I didn't realize this until this year. So I asked Cassy if she would do me the honor and play on my residency night at Globus...In Tresor! I was nervous and excited! I also messed up during the set a few transitions...But recovered Nicely...lol so here it is Back to Back!
Enjoy!
Ed Jus-Ed That is...

CASSY JUS-ED B2B GLOBUS 18.07.2025

Cologne's queen of hypnotic minimalism lays down a trippy warm-up session on this week's RA podcast.

RA.219 Cio D'or

@juras-lietus is an alter ego of @anton-kubikov, well known from @scsi-9 project and @pro-tez Records. He now is routing his musical inspiration to a new direction, according to new artistic guidelines he has just set up for himself. 
„Juras Lietus“ means „sea rain“ in latvian and names a long dreamed of solo live project, made with analog and modular gear. With the improvement of his instrument collection the music shifted its accents towards techno and  detroit influenced dance foor sound.
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#096 | Anton Kubikov aka Juras Lietus (Planet Earth)

CMD + Q

contact:  ✉️ marcus.maisano@gmail.com

@hyperprismdj