Vlada (@playvlada) has been playing all over the globe since just 18 years of age. Russia-born but Berlin-based for many years now, her sound is defined by a long, winding mixing style and is built on hypnotic basslines that slowly but surely zone you out. 

That very much comes out in this week's mix which initially locks you into a signature meditative pace but then builds with smart gear shifts and technical mixes. There are acid flashes to liven things up, bright synths spiraling around electrifying techno, broken beats to keep things moving then more stark industrial and metallic textures that place you at the heart of a strobe-lit and floor. It is another masterful mix full of must-find tunes from this ever more essential selector.

Dekmantel Podcast

Dekmantel Podcast 453 - Vlada

trip mix 004. . . Richard Gregory*

My closing set Recorded LIVE -
in - 'Sammy String's' (Room 3) 
on - Sunday Night 07-07-2024 12:15 - 2:00am
at - Freerotation Festival,
Baskerville Hall Hotel, Clyro Court, Hay-on-Wye, Hereford, UK.

Photograph by Calandra Balfour @Calandra
Audio mixdown by Charlie Tear https://www.instagram.com/arcmixlondon/

www.facebook.com/AlicksDowney
www.instagram.com/alyxdowney
https://www.mixcloud.com/Alexmorph/
www.residentadvisor.net/dj/alexdowney
@alex-downey
Interview: www.untitled909.com/alex-downey

Freerotation 2024

Alex Downey Live at Freerotation 2024

aleksi perälä live at cochilo

foto: camille_blake

Aleksi Perälä live at Cochilo - Waking Life '24

Our tenth installment of the podcast was an unforeseen and unplanned one. Often, the unforeseen, unexpected, and unplanned are unsettling, but in this case, they brought an unbelievable musical journey. We want to welcome Manfredas from our 10th installment. A bespoke selector with a musical knowledge that would fill several musical libraries, he kindly extended his Saigonese soiree and filled our Sunday session with great joy. Expect a mix that meanders, accelerates, and wanes, all over the course of 90 minutes. An unimaginable journey between genres, tempos, musical styles, and directions, showcasing the versatility of Manfredas.

Manfredas - NLDMIX 010

The German minimal DJ returns to the spotlight with two hours of artfully subtle house and techno.

There's an old German proverb that goes "Der stete Tropfen höhlt den Stein." Literally, it means a constant dripping wears away the stone, but the point isn't about force but patience: slow, steady repetition can leave the deepest mark. It's an apt metaphor for the career of Kosta Athanassiadis, better known as XDB.

Active since the early '90s, first as a DJ and then producer by the decade's end, Athanassiadis has built a career less on hype than persistence. His catalogue spans labels like Dial, Metrolux and Echocord, alongside a steady trickle of EPs and remixes that have quietly cemented his reputation as one of minimal house and techno's undersung heroes.

That patience carries into his sound and production ethos. Where many of his peers embraced software upgrades and new workflows, Athanassiadis has long stuck to Cubase, a handful of trusty instruments and 30-year-old speakers he claims to have run "hundreds of thousands of tunes" through. He also still prefers to use inexpensive, straightforward gear—what matters, he insists, is not the tools but the feel. The result is a sound that’s stripped back, direct and enduring.

Lately, Athanassiadis has found himself back in focus. With minimal enjoying fresh attention, his calendar has filled, and with it a run of back-to-back sets—most often alongside PLO Man, a regular sparring partner this year. True to form, though, you won't find that his style has changed much. Over 30 years after his first gig, you can rest assured you'll still find him playing with patience, carving out long arcs rather than sharp peaks.

His RA Mix captures him in a reflective mood. Running just over two hours, RA.1003 is a hushed yet absorbing affair, moving seamlessly from the delicate atmospherics of Valentino Mora and Caldera to the machine funk of Robert Hood, Solid Gold Playaz and Marcellus Pittman. There are left turns folded into XDB's patient narrative arc, too: John Carpenter's brooding scores here, DJ Sprinkles' melancholic work with Will Long on "Acid Trax N (Acid Dog)" there.

It's the sound of a DJ who has been quietly chiseling away for three decades, and who understands the value of persistence as much as restraint.

@xdb

Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/1021

RA.1003 XDB

welcome to the final recording within our collaboration with denmark’s kune festival where we have been sharing the sets and stories from their fifth edition earlier this year - taking a deeper dive into the scenes, sounds and style of the festival.

for the fifth edition, we’re showing swedish artist martinou’s stunning live set from the space stage. 

my method for writing is that i need to be listening to the music or sets by the subject i’m writing about so here i am working on this intro for martinou’s live set at kune festival whilst lying on my bed in lanzarote feeling like i’m typing up a very vulnerable journal entry because that’s the way martinou’s music makes you feel. regardless of whether i was writing right now or not doesn’t matter, there’s a very particular emotional sensibility to everything that martinou makes. it’s melancholic yet hopeful, there’s a touch of euphoria, lots of moments where you just want to hug your friends, a hint of nostalgia whilst you reminisce about loves past and present - it leaves you wondering what the story is behind the music. how does martinou create music this beautiful? i’m honestly knocked for six every time i hear his music and this live set is no different. speaking about the experience of performing at kune festival this year, martinou says, “on the Space stage, everything aligned. the music met the concrete, the light rain, the people. opening the festival there didn’t just feel like a regular time slot, more like the start of something grander” and this feeling floats within the live recording too. 

there’s much to be inspired by living in sweden from the intensity of the forests, the vast open waters to the juxtaposition of the light and darkness in the northern landscapes and the regional folklore. i’ve previously interviewed martinou, for draaimolen’s podcast series with mama snake, and we spoke about how the environment and changing of seasons informs the music that is made by artists based in scandinavia and how this evolves throughout the year. making his official production debut in 2014, martinou has landed on record labels such as nous’klaer audio, turbo recordings, melifera records, and mule musiq alongside co-running the sewer sender record label, which came to an end this year with the stunning release of infinita series by eletun selona. the label was a home for his own productions alongside fellow artists like eletun and nokato nomer, among others. there’s a lot of beauty and mystical stories to envelope yourself in as you take a wonder into martinou’s world but if you would like to start somewhere, his albums ‘rift’ and ‘chiral’ on nous’klaer are a good place to start as they showcase martinou’s depth and delicate balance between house and techno. let martinou’s music take you in with a warm embrace. 

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y7mXiV7SnM
interview: 

@martinou3000
@kunekbh

｡𖦹° untitled 909 podcast 245: martinou (live from kune festival 2025) ｡𖦹°

Acid Dreams

Keah - Detengamos El Tiempo (Globemaster Remix)

RA.399 STL

Spacey sounds from a rising DJ.

Read more: https://www.residentadvisor.net/podcast-episode.aspx?id=531

@evan-baggs


RA.1003 XDB

Resident Advisor