"The lights went off and we decided to start."
We are deeply excited to share Donato and Marco’s grand finale for the last edition of Terraforma at Villa Arconati. With great humbleness, these two masters and dear friends have carefully broadened and lulled, record after record, an intimate space of trust, exchange and deep-time connection. 
 
Also, we’d like to add a fond memory that was shared with us a few days after:

“Dozzy and Shuttle’s finale unfolded like twilight. A prolonged dusk caressed by an eerie drizzle. Shadows and whispers echoing with the surroundings. Synapses slowly reaching the ground, merging and becoming one with the underground rhizomatic networks. A memorable rendez-Nous within a fractal space. It felt like being at the core center of the matrix, enveloped by a warmth reminiscent of a maternal womb. I found myself in a weightless suspension, envisioning the past, the present and the future, all together in a blink of an eye.”

We are fueled by gratitude for all this beauty.

Terraforma Grand Finale w/ Donato Dozzy b2b Marco Shuttle

@LenaWillikens's mix is nothing short of a magical trip through an auditory kaleidoscope, so, turn on, tune in, and drop out. 🍄

The jewelry released with this mix is inspired by Lena's fascination and love for all kinds of mushrooms. She believes that mushrooms rule the world – silently and without wars. In many ways, mushrooms can help humans grow mentally and find a more respectful way to treat each other and the environment.

Visit www.forge.fm for more information and to explore more. :)

Lena Willikens

Recorded live at Paral·lel Festival 2024, Saturday 530-830PM, Port del Comte, Spain.

Thank you to the Paral·lel team for the trust, to everyone whose music I was able to share, to all of you for being there and for listening.

@parallelfestival

Aaron J at Paral·lel Festival 2024

A lesson in rhythm from a former De School resident.

When it comes to minimalist dance music, Ruben Üvez, AKA Konduku, is one of the best in the game right now. With a masterful and ever-shapeshifting understanding of rhythm, the Berlin-based artist crafts sublime dance music with a staunchly leftfield bent. Don't just take our word for it: how many DJs, after all, can claim to have moved De School to a puddle of tears?

Musically, Üvez is hard to pin down. He's often billed as a techno artist, but actually you'll find his sound sits outside of the genre's many conventions. With an outsider's curiosity, he leans into diverse moods, tempos and genres, though one throughline is always how he arranges his drums. Whether it be deep, Nobu-core techno such as 2023's Hayal EP or UK beat science á la Peverelist on 2019's  Gegek, he leads with rhythm across his DJing and production. The end product is a hypnotic, one-of-a-kind sound that hits the body before the brain has time to catch up. In short, it slaps.

As Üvez's RA Podcast demonstrates, he's got a serious knack for crafting and selecting tunes that can  deeply captivate a dance floor. Clocking in at just over 90 minutes, RA.967 is an excursion through a timeless sound, packed with long, layered blends, flick-of-the-wrist transitions, locked grooves and spine-tingling atmospherics. In 2020, we called Ruben Üvez one of techno's brightest new talents. This mix sees him ascending to a seat at the top table.

@kondukukonduku

Read more at ra.co/podcast/967

RA.967 Konduku

It’s a rare treat to share this recording from two of my favorite powerhouse selectors, Rotterdam’s Nelly and Oslo’s Marius Bø, who linked behind the decks at Nantes’ renowned Macadam last December for a night curated by club resident Bambi. The result, as expected, soars. Witness a three-hour cyclone of blistering, mind-shattering divinations capturing these two in their finest element, an uplifting of the psyche leaving no layer unturned. Thanks Nelly & Marius!

@nelly_dj
@mariusbo

Artwork by Mei Oele - Boser Tritt.
Mastered by Loek Frey.

Sure Thing Mix 136: Nelly b2b Marius Bø

Waves

Having made a name for himself through a string of choice releases for the likes of Nous’klaer and Delsin, Dutch producer Konduku has been turning heads with his ever innovative take on the techno medium. Pushing for new directions, Konduku’s been laying down intriguing blends of dubbed-out, Afro-infused grooves and plural strains of abstract-leaning, breaks-friendly hybrids. The present mix showcases the breadth of his influences and essential components, extrapolating techno’s genre-transcending nature through a fine mix of heavily verbed-out electronics and shape-shifting buildup, never quite going where you’d expect it, rather seeking the excitement of suspenseful arcs and unsuspected developments. Bold as it should.

soundcloud.com/kondukukonduku

Reclaim Your City 635 | Konduku

my first contribution to the INVITE'S CHOICE podcast from 10+ years ago.

ROGER GERRESSEN - INVITE'S CHOICE PODCAST 183 REPOST

For this episode we welcome the extraordinary talents of Aaron J, Brooklyn's Sure Thing record label and podcast founder, known for hosting an immense list of explorative modern techno artists from around the globe. Altering our consciousness for the first time in 2023 with a particularly awe inspiring set at Sustain-Release, Aaron's deeply considered and intricate approach is something of sheer beauty, and coupled with masterful technical ability, his inspiring DJ sets allow for fully immersive dancefloor experiences. 

Here Aaron explores the softer edges of his expansive sound palette, meditative soundscapes and tranquil IDM converging in total harmony for what he describes as a 'recalibration of the senses'. 

@arn_j
@sure_thing

Q. What sounds or feelings did you draw upon when gathering inspiration for this mix, and what listening environments could you imagine it being best enjoyed in?

A. Of all the mixes I’ve put together over the years, this one definitely feels the most vulnerable. The months I spent thinking about and working on this mix accompanied an intensely busy time in my life, and the process helped me stay in touch with the simple joy of listening as a way of stepping back and letting things go. There is a direct connection here between the music within and the emotions that live inside me. At the same time, I’ve tried my best to mix this as transparently as possible, so that the act of DJing takes a back seat and allows the music to take center stage.

The inspiration behind the tracks I chose and the story of the mix is one of finding balance, so I hope listening to it feels like a casting off of the present day and a recalibration of the senses. I’d love for people to listen to the mix in a setting where they feel most protected from the changes and stressors of the outside world, whether that be sitting outside in nature or laying on a couch surrounded by the comforts of home.

Q. Are there any songs in the mix that you were especially excited to share, and what is it about these tracks that resonate with you so much?

A. There is a track in the mix by Autumn of Communion called “Goodbye PK” dedicated to the late Peter Kuhlmann, who many of your listeners will know as the legendary Pete Namlook of FAX +49-69/450464. It’s an immensely moving track that manages to convey both the tragedy of his loss and the depth of the beauty he left with the world, and I feel we’re so fortunate to have music and influences like this in our recent history. I included it early to set the tone of the rest of the mix, which is quite different than any I’ve done before, and to pay my respects to those who’ve inspired our scene from the very beginning.

Q. I was lucky enough to witness your set at Sustain-Release in 2023 and was in awe of your ability to practice restraint while steadily building up tension and energy in the set with such clinical and seamless execution. Is this part of the DJ craft something you spend a lot of time planning and refining?

A. That was such a life-changing moment for me, so I’m really glad you were there! You really nailed what I hoped to accomplish with that set, and I definitely spend a lot of time thinking about where my sets will begin, where I would like them to end up, and what sort of path I might take to get there. Understanding the minutiae of how a transition will affect someone’s state of mind and how to propel someone forward without jarring them back to reality is something I’m always working to improve on. That said, the upward trajectory is not always the most interesting one, and there are so many other ways of charting a course through a set that I hope to be able to explore. For the mix I’ve made for you, it’s not so much a set that builds energy as it is one that expands and contracts, hopefully in a gentle and purposeful way.

MDC.311 Aaron J

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

Record at Luu Club 13.06.25. Thank you for having me :) 

Gỏi Cuốn @ Luu Club 130625

Hey, 

I enjoy playing tunes one after another 
From sexiness to grooviness, from sunbeds to dancefloors

Have a listen :)

Waves

Leone

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