abstract done, needed to get back to work

dbridge - mourning dawn
instra:mental - the dead zone
bungle & need for mirrors - flip
dbridge - inner disbelief
paul sg - standing alone
peshay - no more tears
scar - shimmer
jubei with alix perez - distrust
sin - outrigger
a-sides - vortex
calibre - dog shit
calibre - ringtone
artificial intelligence - what you had (feat. steo)
lenzman - rags to riches
fracture - better than tomorrow
instra:mental - rogue
code 3 - delta
bungle - slow down
mr joseph - sparkle in your eye
inner city - big fun (peshay remix)
calibre - mystic
future sound of london - papua new guinea (nu:tone remix)

the same, but different

The in-demand US DJ unfurls dubby, dance floor poetry.

Where does sentimentality fit on the dance floor? For Liv Klutse, AKA livwutang, the answer is everywhere. The New York-based DJ is guided by a deep desire to stir connection, finding themes and points of correspondence across an impressively broad range of sounds, tempos and eras. 

This emotional intuition lends Klutse's sets a depth few others can match. Her selections can seem unpredictable, rooted in an appreciation for feeling over genre—hard and soft sounds are carefully balanced with surrealism and bursts of nostalgia (for instance, the Lazy Dog bootleg edit of Everything But The Girl's "Tracey In My Room"). But as versatile as she is, a few signature traits colour her style, such as a love for dubwise music and rhythms from across the Black diaspora, alongside a refreshingly introspective energy that invites dancers to find moments of meditation—even during peak time. 

A former staffer at our New York office, Klutse has long merited an RA Podcast. Her slow-burning blends and mystical selections have graced near-enough every major festival and club out there, from Dekmantel and Sustain-Release to Nowadays, where she's been a resident since 2022. Despite this cross-continental touring schedule, she still plays plenty of grassroots venues—testament to her days with TUF collective and Orphan Radio in Seattle, as well as her enduring belief in the power of DIY, community-orientated dance music. 

"How did you come down off life?" James Massiah asks at the beginning of RA.975. Across nearly 90 minutes, Klutse's downright beautiful mix seeks answers to this question, reflecting on hedonism in times of political decay. She's in full-on dub mode, moving through meditative bassweight, glitchy house and flat-out weirdo techno with a deftness we've come to expect from one of the most promising, singular voices in dance music right now. She's got there all on her own terms—and we couldn't be prouder.

@livwutang

Read more and find the tracklist ra.co/podcast/975

RA.975 livwutang

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

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

A rare club mix from the ever-evolving artist, with 90 minutes of shadowy, atmospheric pressure.

Music's therapeutic value is often linked to relaxation—gongs, singing bowls and the like. Dense passages of foggy droning and eerie static aren't traditionally considered restorative, but Laurel Halo makes a pretty good case for it.

The Detroit-born, Los Angeles-based musician's abstract, often improvised productions are heavy on sound design and emotional climax. Driven by atmosphere rather than rhythm, they push listeners to grapple with their innermost insecurities, fears and dreams. "I'm lucky my music has helped people through crises," Halo once told Discwoman. It's easy to see why.

Since her 2010 debut King Felix, Halo has built a stunningly diverse catalogue of classically-informed records. A multi-instrumentalist—piano, violin, guitar, keys—her sharpest instrument is arrangement. Inspired by the surrealism of Italo Calvino and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, her releases, from Atlas to Behind The Green Door, unfold with slow-burning narrative and dense emotional weight. Her soundworlds are layered and labyrinthine—an architectonic space where self-reflection happens almost by force.

Even in the club, the sought-after composer excels in immersion. Her sets extend the expressionist palette of her records, trading traditional rhythm for tension, space and surprise. It’s no wonder she takes a genre-agnostic approach to the dance floor—her deep roots in freeform radio began at WCBN-FM in Michigan, followed by Berlin Community Radio, Rinse FM, and now a regular show on NTS.

RA.992 stitches foggy ambient loops, propulsive techno, mutant percussion and heady left turns with care. Tracks from DJ Rush, Octave One and Eddie Fowlkes nod to her Midwestern heritage, balanced out by deeper, psychedelic fare from the likes of Polygonia and Cousin. It's the mark of an artist revealing both deep curiosity and a precise hand as a selector. Rare, indeed.

@laurelhalo

Find the full interview at ra.co/podcast/992

RA.992 Laurel Halo

A new studio set from one of the foundational icons of drum & bass.

Few names in drum & bass carry as much history as Peshay. Paul Pesce came up in the crucible of early rave and left fingerprints on labels like Mo' Wax, Good Looking and, most obviously, Metalheadz. By the time drum & bass was surging in the mid-'90s, he was bolted as one of the scene's most distinctive voices. 

Where others were pushing clinical austerity or waves of dark pressure, Pesce's ear drew him to featherlight, jazzy chords instead. The atmospheric drum & bass movement—or intelligent, as it's sometimes known today—cohered in his hands with timeless staples like "The Piano Tune" and "Miles From Home."

To a contemporary generation, he may now be best known for Studio Set, which caught alight as a prime slice of algorithm fodder on YouTube in the late 2010s, racking up millions of plays. Alongside Bailey’s Intelligent Drum & Bass, the mix has taken on a second life as a seminal document of a genre in flux. All of which made its removal from the internet, based around a spurious copyright strike, a hot concern.

Although a little tad reserved than some of the scene's most dominant names, Pesce has remained a loyal custodian and historian of the sound. While Studio Set was down, we offered him a crack at making something fresh, and though it's thankfully back up, the Kafkian nightmare galvanised his commitment to preserve recorded history.

Known as a DJ for his dynamic way with a groove, extended blends have long been Pesce's signature. You’ll hear plenty of those on his RA Podcast, as golden-age rollers and contemporary vocal cuts push in and out for up to four minutes, painting a portrait of the genre’s vitality from someone who helped define its terms. True to form, RA.993 carries the touch of a jazz conductor and the assured cool of a veteran who's been deep in the culture for over 30 years.

@peshay-official

Find the interview and tracklist at ra.co/podcast/993

RA.993 Peshay

The first half of RA.996 is Ron Trent's take on luxurious house.

As part of our countdown to RA.1000, a milestone in the 24-year history of RA's weekly mix series, we're switching up the usual format. The next few editions will pair two acts who complement each other's strengths, offering a fresh take on a particular community, scene or style. 

This week, we're zeroing in on Ron Trent and Ash Lauryn, two names who fly the flag high for old-school US house—a foundational pillar of the electronic underground. 

Trent takes the A-side. Hailing from Chicago, the birthplace of house, the pioneer is a master of finding the sweet spot where machine music meets organic instrumentation.  Listen to any DJ set or record in his extensive back catalogue and you'll find a wealth of exquisitely expressive melodies and deep, spiritual frequencies, making him the ideal narrator for any survey on house. (If you've only got a moment, sink into "Morning Factory," nine minutes of perfection.) 

Trent's return to the RA Podcast, 19 years after his debut in 2006, represents his many decades of expertise in fusing funk with gorgeous musicianship under the umbrella of heart-stirring house. Some may call it a masterclass but to us, it's just Trent doing what he does best.

Listened to as a whole, RA.996 is a powerful snapshot of house's elegance, class and most importantly, understated yet innately euphoric joy.

Find the interview and tracklist at ra.co/podcast/997

RA.996 Ron Trent

Part three of RA.999: a celebration of soulful footwork and the timeless influence of DJ Rashad.

As we gear up to celebrate the 1,000th episode, RA.999 lands with five mixes across five days. First up was 1morning and Regal86, then Prosumer and Peach. Today, we turn our eyes to Chicago, with two of footwork staples, DJ Spinn and Manny, taking the reins of the third installment of RA.999 (both make their RA Podcast debut).

Ten years ago, Teklife Records was founded, following the untimely death of DJ Rashad in 2014. His collaborators started the label to honor the Chicago-born producer’s musical genius and continue his legacy of soulful footwork. Its first release would be Afterlife, a compilation of unreleased Rashad material that, in the words of Pitchfork, "captured the spirit of familial connection and experimentation integral to the Teklife crew."

Listening to RA.999, it doesn't take long for any footwork fan to realise that this is an hour-long homage to Rashad's phenomenal discography. The first lyric we hear is "Throw your L's up for Rashad!" on "L's UP FOR RASHAD," and a string of Rashad classics follow, many of which Spinn and Manny collaborated on. It's a that reminder  you of not just how staggeringly talented Rashad was, but how central collaboration was, and still is, to the Teklife project

Although many of these songs are more than a decade old, not one song sounds out of place in 2025. This is an emotional, riveting listen documenting the work of the best to do it in footwork. Back then, Rashad was the future, and he still is.

@deejay-manny-2
@dj-spinn-1
@teklife57
Find the tracklist at ra.co/podcast/1007


RA.999 DJ Spinn & DJ Manny

Seven and a half exhilarating hours from one of modern club's sharpest.

Tim Reaper's mammoth entry for RA.1000 is all about range. You thought the Future Retro London boss was just a jungle and hardcore head? Think again.

The mix's infinite-scroll tracklist (the longest we've ever published in full!) includes a who's who of top-rate producers, from A Guy Called Gerald and Cari Lekebusch to Batu, Mia Koden and the one and only Shackleton.

Opening with weighty grime and ending on head-spinning drum & bass, the mix journeys through US club, wobbly dubstep, classic techno and, of course, many shades of jungle. Rather than go the easy route, the Londoner approached the assignment with the curiosity, integrity and vulnerability of fellow shapeshifters like dBridge, Calibre and ASC.

"The idea was to represent other styles of electronic music that I've been a bit self-conscious about openly expressing my interest in," he told RA.

RA.1000 isn't just another side of Tim Reaper's artistry: thankfully for us, it feels like only the beginning.

@tim-reaper

Find the interview and tracklist at ra.co/podcast/1012. Listen to all RA.1000 mixes, as well as the complete history of the RA Podcast, at 1000.ra.co

RA.1000 Tim Reaper

Andrew Weatherall's first official posthumous mix. The only b2b DJ Harvey ever agreed to. Six hours at Trouw. The rarest of rare for RA.1000: this one's special.

When mulling which direction to go in for RA's 1000th mix celebrations, many options came to mind. Some shadowy character 2-stepping around the fringe of our collective consciousness? An impossible-level IDM icon?

All tempting. But, ultimately, we are a DJ-forward publication and this is a DJ mix series. It felt truer to the history of the RA Podcast to release deep vault material from a time when the world of niche records felt different, tighter, more discrete.

The fourth-longest mix in the RA Podcast's history is an unrepeatable marathon set recorded in 2012 at a superclub that no longer exists. (2012, incidentally, is farther away from 2025 than 2012 was from 2000; if we have to clock it, so do you.)

It's the coming together of one British icon who passed away in 2020, and another whose time on the road has scaled back considerably as of late. DJ Harvey agreed to exactly one b2b set in his life: this one, with Andrew Weatherall.

The night took place at Trouw, an Amsterdam club already considered legendary before it shuttered its doors in the opening hours of 2015, as part of RA VS, a series anchored around start-to-close combinations. Harvey was at the peak of an irresistible career second act, which dovetailed with a disco revival that dominated clubs for years. Weatherall, with infinite brownie points stockpiled from the '90s, remained everyone's favourite debonair psychonaut. 

What follows is 385 minutes of arpeggiated chug and slow-cresting climaxes, chronicling a moment when the resting heart rate of dance floors plunged lower than potentially any comparable point in the 21st century.

If you've got time to spare, a fun side game is sussing out who plays what. The goosebumps-inducing slide into a disco-dub cover of Echo & the Bunnymen? Smart money's on Weatherall. Exuberant EQ'ing of the comically overripe bass on The Isley Brothers? Gotta be Harvey. As for the low 'n slow, lightly spangled house that was all the rage in the early 2010s (think Maxxi Soundsystem, Disco Bloodbath, Rub & Tug, C.O.M.B.I. and Full Pupp), it's anyone's guess. The pair putter around the 100 BPM range for so long that nudging up to 127 by the double encore feels practically like flooring it down the highway.

When we kicked off our RA.1000 campaign, we outlined a few goals: tick off a handful of long-awaited dream guests, honour architects who shaped the world around us and deliver recordings you truly can't hear anywhere else. We sought to render an accurate picture of DJ culture in 2025 for posterity, and get arms around some of the key storylines since we went 5 for RA.500.

DJing and the mythology around it has undergone a quantum leap since 2012, let alone 2006, 1996 or 1989. It's a scarcely-recognisable scene. For those of us who were kicking around in the former, there's a creeping melancholy that our prime is fast becoming a matter of historical record. The killing moon really did come too soon. 

Yet a sense of accomplishment is bundled within that melancholy. Appreciation, too. 1000 episodes is great innings, and we're thankful for every contributor and facilitator who built this series, week by week, mix by mix. Where will DJ sets—or any of this—be in 2044? Hard to say; best not to overthink that one. Instead, enjoy luxuriating in the company of two of the greatest to ever do it, together, for the first and last time.⁠ – Gabriel Szatan, Editor (RA)

@andrew-weatherall

Read the interview with DJ Harvey and Andrew Weatherall's family at https://ra.co/podcast/1016. Listen to all RA.1000 mixes, as well as the complete history of the RA Podcast, at 1000.ra.co

RA.1000 DJ Harvey & Andrew Weatherall

For RA.1000, we take it back to the source with two never-before-heard tapes from Frankie Knuckles's private collection, the Godfather of House.

There is no house music without Frankie Knuckles, literally or figuratively. The queer icon's luxurious DJ sets at Chicago's Warehouse gave a rising movement its name. From there, countless offshoots splintered and travelled the globe. But what did the genesis and growth of the sound really feel like?

The Godfather of House left behind not only timeless records, but personalised cassettes with hand-drawn liner notes handed out to friends and family. Two of those, dated to 1989 and 1996, have been digitised especially for RA.1000. (Thank you to the Frankie Knuckles Foundation.)

To put that in context: the first tape predates not only many of today's active clubbers, but the entire existence of jungle, drum & bass, UK garage, French touch, Jersey club, Afrobeats, IDM, baile funk, hardcore, footwork, dubstep, dub techno, tech house, breaks, minimal, maximal, gqom, gabber, grime and hyperpop.

In short… that's a very, very long time ago. The world of dance music was much smaller. DJ culture was functionally unrecognisable from the one we see in 2025. 

And yet, to some degree, what you'll hear on RA.1000 hasn't changed at all. It's a capture of not only what made Frankie Knuckles one of the beloved pioneers of first-generation dance music, but what draws people to club culture in the first place.

The mood on these Frankie Knuckles sets outlasts even its creator: a spirit of optimism that floods the world's best dance floors and keeps dance music pulsing on into the future, nearly 40 years later, in spite of it all. We end our 1000th mix celebrations here because it all starts there.

Find the tracklist at ra.co/podcast/1018. Listen to all RA.1000 mixes, as well as the complete history of the RA Podcast, at 1000.ra.co

the same, but different

treadmix