A mix series, presented by Neonlichter. 
Sounds, with no regard to age or style. 
Some of the guests may not even be producers or DJs.

Days Of Steam

I first encountered Stefan though through Casa Del Popolo, the Main’s main den of épatering the bourgeoisie since the 90s, when they booked me for what was only the second Days of Steam night after the first at Rye Wax. The old booth was set up like you were in a chapel, dim as hell for me but enough of a remove from the audience without being too removed. They’re a longtime organizer in Montréal activist circles, the mind of @freecityradio, with a CV too long to summarize here but one that shows genuine belief and investment in the causes he champions. I’d seen them years back before we knew each other, as part of the city’s experimental undercurrents, with releases of introspective piano for Howl Arts alongside local luminaries Sam Shalabi and Peter Burton and mainstays d’la marge like Aural Canyon and Beacon Sound. Tapestries of field recordings and plunderphonics, part of a long tradition of musique actuelle in the city without intentionally trying to be so. The mix he sent over is almost entirely as of writing recent pieces, with compositions (what they all feel like more than ‘pieces’ or ‘tracks’) from Berkeley, Brooklyn, Brazil, Houston, Jaffa, Milan, Montréal - the sound of the uncertainty and rage of the now, but never restoring to despondency, moreso righteousness.

"It is my pleasure to share these tracks with you. On a basic level these tracks were shared mostly by friends in the context of exchanges and ongoing collaborations with folks in cities all over the place, around creating content for Radio AlHara in Palestine and beyond. I love that this mix jumps between vibes and styles. I also included a couple of tracks from recent releases that I worked on. I hope you enjoy the mix. – Stefan."

Notnef Greco - Scooter Riding in Bombay [2024, Sublamental]
Grimório de Abril - A Torre Poligonal do Astrólogo Caldeu [2024, Subliminal K7]
Matteo Uggeri - ...for You Bleeding Goddess [2024, 13 Records]
Totenbaum Träger - Fleur de néon VI [2023, Cuchabata]
Stefan Christoff - Guitar in Griffintown [2024, Cuchabata]
Matteo Uggeri - ...for Daughters and Sons [2024, 13 Records]
Stefan Christoff - Chalga Remixed [2024, Samizdat]
Grimório de Abril - The River Used to be a Signal  [2024, Municipal K7]
Stefan Christoff - In Burgas [2024, Samizdat]
Azraq - Baby Please Don't Go [2021, self-released]
Badawi - A Curse on All Murderers (Extended Dub) (excerpt) [2024, self-released]

Days Of Steam 013: Stefan Christoff

If there are any DJs I want to uplift here or else, it's the ones who I know have a deep knowledge of the histories and many sounds of 'dance music' -- not for want of being a know it all, but of gaining histories and contexts that would be otherwise lost in the algorithmic shuffle. Nashville-born, Montréal-based @esme3xtace is one of the best DJs of late I've heard make pure wormholes of techno, the kind that you can properly shut out the world and lose your body in. As someone who was also into this sound when I was their age, it gives me joy to see early-to-mid 20-somethings have the chances to share that kind of knowledge. Esme's mix feels like you're on cruise control, it's gone midnight and the air smells of petrichor, faint diesel, and distant flowers. Many shades of techno flow across each other like paint. You neither know nor care what tomorrow will bring. 

“Moonshine Bluegrass” [unknown]
K Wata - Seltzer [2020, Slink]
Helical Scan - Index 1 [1996, Chain Reaction]
Elise - Seropram (Forest Drive West Remix) [2018, Man Band]
Viiaan - Dun Dun [2022, Voragine]
natural/electronic.system. - Pegaso [2020, Midgar]
Neel - Naeba [2022, Non Series]
Materjal - Endless Walk  [2021, Egregore Collective]
Caldera - Pilzi [2022, Pressure Dome]
VC-118A - Aurora [2021, Chain Data]
Bas Dobbelaer - T2310 [2020, On Board Music]
Star_Dub - Digidub 7 [2022, self-released]
Konduku - Emerald Island [2018, Nous’klaer Audio]
DJ Shufflemaster - Escalation (Mayudepth Remix) [2016, Shiki Kyokai]
Robert Fleck - Soft Focus (Gasometric Run Remix) [2018, Well Street]
Kettenkarussell - Konstant Sleep [2014, Giegling]

Unknown Album

Days Of Steam 014: Esme

Waves tones and damn fine moods from @prezzo91 (as heard on Groovetrackers on the mighty @wkcr) 

"A conceptual mixtape, this brings together a selection of tracks that, either in their individual structural or in combination, enact an idea of “scarcity, density, release.” Look forward to some lesser heard B-sides (specifically a Sade one!) as well as some familiar names for the cerebral house heads. The inspiration comes from a thought my friend George Webster expressed to me recently."

Nala Sinephro — Space 1 [2021, Warp]
Sault — Warrior [2023, Forever Living Originals]
Sade — Make Some Room [1988, Epic]
Aybee — Dawn [2013, Deepblak]
Chaos in the CBD — Trust is Key [2015, Rhythm Section]
Daphni — Mania [2022, Jiaolong]
Rednail Kidz & Derrick Carter — Do My Thing [2015, Cyclo]
Projekt:pm — Audio Visuals [1997, Crucial Sounds]
Kornel Kovacs — Szikra (Abdulla Rashim Remix) [2014, Studio Barnhus]
In Fields — Joy [2020, Höga Nord Rekords]
Galcher Lustwerk — Stem [2015, Lustwerk Music]
Floating Points — Ocotillo [2024, Ninja Tune]
Fatima — Cinnamon [2011, Eglo]
Nala Sinephro — Space 4 [2021, Warp]

Days Of Steam 015: Prezzo

Montréal house staple @Kridelka plunges into the acid from the deep end before wading out again, in an exploration of the 303. "The style is a little less accessible, particularly old tracks with a large dynamic range that can sometimes sound particularly harsh on big sound systems, so I took this opportunity to explore that part of my collection. Hope you enjoy it, and thanks for your time!"

Max Essa & Eddie C — Save Me [2024, Razor-N-Tape]
Fatima Yamaha — Love Invaders [2015, Magnetron]
Ash Walker & Amp Fiddler — Afronaught (Ron Trent Remix) [2024, Night Time Stories]
The Vision — Heaven (Nightmares On Wax Remix) [2019, Defected]
Connie Case — Get Down [1982, Konduko]
Whitesquare — Inside Your Soul [2022, Visual Distortions]
Felipe Gordon — Acid Party at Santa Barbara [2024, Razor-N-Tape]
Guti — El Solitario (Carl Craig Remix) [2015, Defected]
Jinger aka Traumer — Apoplex [2022, Jinger]
Larry Heard & Mr White — The Sun Can't Compare [2006, Alleviated]
Murr ft. Rosina — Fables and Fairytales (Adam Marshall’s “Into the Spirit Lands” Mix) [2008, Kuji]
Basement Jaxx — Fly Life Xtra [1997, Rotate]
Simo Not Simon — Don't Leave [2024, Clover Club]

Days Of Steam 016: Kridelka

Warm melancholia and heady sonics from Iris - the Montreal-based DJ, fellow @n10.as host, and mind behind the queer-focused @underground-love-affair party and mix series (with a few shared contributors!). Their usual playing styles foreground an insatiable appetite for musics guided by emotion — “cyberjazz, aquabreaks, bubblestep, windmill techno, critter-hop, and punk house”. Intentionally created for the last months of summer, his mix runs the gamut through lush ambient, shoegaze, dubbed out leftfield reggaeton and glistening polyrhythms

“I feel this is a very nostalgia time of year and nostalgia is such a powerful sensation — like a deep yearning for parts of the past or escape from the present”

Days of Steam 017: Iris

@n10-as / @eastvillageradio / Days Of Steam / Dastgâmachine (drones + tones)
neonlichter.dj@gmail.com

2025
09.26 Meridian Arts Centre (Toronto)
09.14 Chillits 2025 (Laytonville)
06.21 Life On Marz (Chicago)
06.20 Interzone (Lexington)
06.13 Adelaide Hall (Toronto)
06.02 Le Mal Necessaire (Montréal)
05.29 Casa Del Popolo (Montréal)
05.14 Wavelength (Toronto)
05.10 Cafeteria (Toronto)
04.26 Alphaville (NYC)
03.08 TD Music Hall (Toronto)
03.01 Alphaville (NYC)

2024
12.31 Party World (Montréal)
12.29 BSMT254 (Toronto) 
11.14 Casa Del Popolo (Montréal)
11.13 Le Mal Necessaire (Montréal)
08.16 Layer05 (Montréal)
06.28 Osmo (Montréal)
06.27 Sans-Soleil (Montréal)
06.23 The Little Jerry (Toronto) 
06.21 Tapestry (Toronto) 
04.28 Sounds Good (Toronto) 
04.27 Standard Time (Toronto) 
02.17 Heatsync (New Haven) 
01.18 Tapestry (Toronto) 

2023
12.21 Tapestry (Toronto)
12.14 Système (Montréal)
11.28 The Lot Radio (NYC)
10.19 Tapestry (Toronto)
09.30 Casa del Popolo (Montréal)
09.24 The Little Jerry (Toronto)
09.21 Tapestry (Toronto)
09.15 Nouvel Établissement (Montréal) 
08.10 Sans Soleil (Montréal)
07.14 Revival (Toronto)
06.07 Système (Montréal)
01.19 Sans Soleil (Montréal)

2022
10.25 Système (Montréal)
09.24 Casa del Popolo (Montréal)
08.27 Nouvel Établissement (Montréal)
04.29 Bambi's (Toronto)
03.24 Houndstooth (Toronto)
03.16 The Little Jerry (Toronto) 

2021
12.11 Le Mal Necessaire (Montréal)
09.05 The Little Jerry (Toronto)

2020
03.14 Bambi’s (Toronto)

2019
12.09 Casa del Popolo (Montréal)
05.27 Giant Steps (London)
05.25 Ransom Note (London) 
05.23 Rye Wax (London)
03.01 El Rey Theater (Los Angeles)
02.28 Mezzanine (San Francisco)
02.23 Neumos (Seattle)
02.22 Doug Fir Lounge (Portland)
02.21 Imperial (Vancouver)
02.16 Bottom Lounge (Chicago)
02.15 El Club (Detroit)
02.14 Mod Club (Toronto)
02.13 Théâtre Corona (Montréal)
02.10 Elsewhere (NYC)
02.09 Union Stage (Washington DC)
02.08 Elsewhere (NYC)
02.07 Brighton Music Hall (Boston)

2018
05.12 Brilliant Corners (London)