@alexanderberg at The Grove on Friday night.

Campout Mix Series: Dorisburg

The vaunted techno producer discusses the connections between visual art and music, balancing a full-time career as a fine artist and how he creates his signature sound.

There's a connection between visual art and dance music that's seldom explored on our channels. Mike Parker is well known in the underground techno scene for minimal, hypnotic and beautifully executed sound design that sits somewhere at the edges of club music. But he also received his master's degree in fine art and teaches drawing and painting at Daemon University in Buffalo, New York. Fans of Parker will recognise his visual trademark: monochromatic prints that adorn the covers of the records he puts out on his label, Geophone.

In this RA Exchange, Parker sits down with Chloe Lula to talk about how he balances his art- and music-making practices and how they inform each other. He also opens up about the long process of sticking to his sound and finding an audience rather than catering to the demands and suggestions of labels and distributors. His 2001 breakout album, Dispatches—which he reissued last year—is a meditation on the act of living far away from any listeners or immediate influences, and he discusses the ongoing drawbacks and rewards of balancing the Eurocentric pursuit of DJing with day-to-day work that's so geographically removed. He also opens up about his longtime collaboration with Donato Dozzy, his love of mid-20th-century sci-fi movies and how free-form radio shaped his approach to music and art. Listen to the episode in full.

EX.761 Mike Parker

slow paced electronics by konduku and mattikk.

https://www.instagram.com/konduku
https://www.soundcloud.com/kondukukonduku

Konduku & Mattikk @ The Lot Radio 04-18-2025

Full tracklist: https://bleep.com/bleep-mix-300-barker

Fresh from Stochastic Drift, Barker’s buzzing second album named Bleep Record of the Month alongside an exclusive 12”, Barker sends a mix that really digs deep into the unique sonic methodology he has constructed across his solo career width a suitable breadth for what is also a milestone in the series, Bleep Mix #300.

From Debiasing to Utility to Stochastic Drift, Barker has been reimagining club music without its definitive thump, instead driven by melody and tactile synthesis, and this selection of tracks expands Barker’s soundworld with a host of artists walking a similar path. “For this mix, I picked out some of my favourite uptempo ambient tracks, recorded at home with two decks and a mixer. It’s music I've used in a lot of different contexts, as a DJ and listener, and I hope you enjoy it.”

Though the occasional dancefloor thump makes itself known, such as on Adriana Lopez’ ‘What Lies Behind’, it’s mostly in quaking subs rather than actual four to the floor, providing some ground for this mix’s airy freeform variety to fly over. We have the wooden plunks and seaspray of Afefe Iku’s Kenyan island sound, the wonky gamelan of Tyler Friedman’s maze of bells and chimes, the dense atmosphere of shaker-produced rain and electrical chirps forged deep in the ruins of The Future Sound Of London.

The midsection of this mix contains some magic in particular: the maestro of drumless trance Lorenzo Senni creates motion from pure jagged synth energy on ‘The Power of Failing’, dissolving into the aether of an unreleased Barker track, which further discharges into the kaleidoscopic stutters of Caribou’s ‘Never Come Back’ with jubilant piano chords and vocal clips wrought into a glitchy, swirling maelstrom of Koreless' prickly warmth. Digital Justice’s ‘Theme From It’s All Gone Pearshaped’ follows, a timeless staple for anyone wishing to dabble in melodic motion and synthsmithery, or any DJ set seeking to add some lift without losing momentum, of which this mix is in no short supply.

Bleep Mix #300 - Barker

SHAWN RUDIMAN - BLOODRAVE

Our new mix comes from New York locals, Scotia and threehz who went b2b at "dream/self", a beautifully crafted club night hosted by threehz at Earthly Delights in Ridgewood New York. Get ready for some spring heat. 

Scotia is a DJ and producer with the ear of a true fan and the deep intention of a seasoned practitioner. Her debut EP "Giving Chase" on Acid Camp is a high-energy, lo-fi romp into transfemme jacking hysteria. Scotia has been making rounds on the local club scene recently. Keep an eye out New York. 

https://soundcloud.com/scotia-xo
https://www.instagram.com/scotia_trax/

NYC-based selector threehz explores the emotive sides of techno, experimental, and ambient music for every performance, taking inspiration from sludgy dark psychedelia to pulsing warpdrive drum tracks. Whether rinsing healing or destructive frequencies, as their namesake suggests, threehz knows how to craft textured, curated soundscapes on the dance floor which can be heard at multiple event series’ in NYC and residencies for The Lot Radio.

https://soundcloud.com/threehz
https://www.instagram.com/threehz/

Scotia b2b threehz

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

"My mission is to explore the boundaries of psychedelic music." The revered techno artist talks about expanding consciousness, breaking the rules and his new album on Tresor. 

There has always been a strain of dance music that has leant psychedelic, from the leftfield psychoacoustics of pioneers like La Monte Young to the proggy techno taking over today's dance floors. One artist who embodies the spirit of psychedelia is Anthony Child, AKA Surgeon, a revered DJ and producer who has historically been placed in the world of industrial techno, but whose output over the years has consistently flirted with altered states of consciousness and a strong opposition to the mainstream.

Child is originally from Birmingham, where he and Karl O'Connor, AKA Regis, helped birth a style of powerful, loop-driven techno. Together, they're British Murder Boys and have released music on O'Connor's seminal label Downwards. But they've also ploughed successful solo careers, with Child putting out several releases on Tresor and performing live improvised electronics as Surgeon and as part of ambient listening duo The Transcendence Orchestra.

In this interview, Child talks about his most recent release on Tresor, the album Shell~Wave, and its innovative use of techniques associated with Jamaican dub. He also discusses the through line of psychedelia in his work and what it means to surrender oneself to sometimes uncomfortable processes—both creatively and in life—and come out the other side. There are strong links to spirituality and Buddhism in Child's work, many of which are designed to prompt listeners to question and reconsider the boundaries they've set around the reality they live in. Listen to the episode in full. -Chloe Lula

EX.766 Surgeon

Neptunian Influence, Seventy-Four | Featuring @bbmmgg / @erikadotnet / @ithqdetroit

Neptunian Influence: Detroit Brunch Journey's End is the gift that keeps on giving. Recorded live on May 25, 2024, we are proud to present Ectomorph's electrifying DJ set. To have the iconic Detroit electro duo perform at our closing party was a dream, and they slid in and took everyone in attendance deep into the Great Dark Spot. We hope that you enjoy this little piece of NI history!

SUPPORT: https://ectomorph.bandcamp.com/ 

Meet you in the Great Dark Spot <3

NI74 | Ectomorph

The Scion and Hard Wax man gets low on this week's RA podcast.

RA.147 DJ Pete

Our 20th podcast comes from Felix K and it's a lovely DnB mix he recorded just after the millenium. Also make sure to check out Hidden Hawaii and all it's sister and sublabels, Felix is involved in. Wicked bias vibes!

Check out a short interview with him here: http://www.iliantape.de/ilian-tape-podcast-series-020/


EX.761 Mike Parker

Resident Advisor