such nice 80s video game samples cave beat vibes. somehow reminds me of donkey kong country 2 *:)

CCL (@ccl-url) has many tricks and plenty of surprises up their sleeve. London-born, US-bred but now Berlin-based, they are playful in what they play but serious about how they play it, whether that's head spinning 160bpm cut, "cowgirl-breaks or wiggle steppers." The key for this multidisciplinary artist and former New Forms festival curator is to find the similarities and differences between shades of sound and rhythm and exploit them to spellbinding effect. As a producer, they are no different and have always managed to find fresh in-between sounds on labels like Fever AM and Discwoman. 

The singular DJ steps up this week with almost two hours of pure sonic adventure. It's a perfect showcase of how they can soundtrack imaginary worlds from humid future jungles to robot dances in the sky. You'll hear rhythms you could never imagine and contort your body in impossible ways, all while admiring the dexterity of the DJ who has threaded together such a trippy trip.

Dekmantel Podcast

Dekmantel Podcast 427 - CCL

Available on Audio Cassette and digital download directly from the label’s Bandcamp: https://cclurl.bandcamp.com/album/a-night-in-the-skull-discotheque

Side A: Bass is Eternal
Side B: 2-step Mutual Dream

A Night in the Skull Discotheque by the beloved underground selector CCL is the latest offering in the T4T LUV NRG label’s highly limited DJ mix series of cassettes. This immersive journey through a wonderland of proto-dubstep sounds from the late 1970s through the year 2000 is a sonic sibling to CCL’s acclaimed 2018 mix Ode to Queer Steppas.

Inspired in part by Eris Drew’s use of “old records to create new styles out of fragments” on her Raving Disco Breaks Vol. 1 mixtape (T4T LUV NRG, 2019), CCL approached this recording with a parallel frame of mind. Created with 3 CDJs, one Turntable, and a Boss Digital Delay 200, the tracks included in the mix are deconstructed from their whole, and constituent parts are intertwined, sampled, and dubbed out while being further stretched beyond their physical limits. CCL mixed many tracks at the 'wrong speed', pitched beyond their original recognizable tone; others are recontextualized through imaginative layering.

With a solid nod to seminal mixtapes of the early 90s, CCL references the namesake for Side A, Bass Is Eternal, an unreleased 1992 mixtape by influential Bristolian producers Smith & Mighty, an important sonic fulcrum amongst the musical tributaries of the hardcore continuum that continues to reverberate to this day. CCL experienced the after-effects of this ‘proto’ sound genesis in 2008, while living in Bristol, by which point its emergent whispers had coalesced into what became known as dubstep. Tracing a rich history of reference through the samples, basslines, moods, and drum patterns emanating from Bass Is Eternal while looking for connections that predate it became a long-term fascination for CCL. The result is a DJ mix that connects the oft-forgotten dots between proto eras and modern developments in bass and dubstep.

For the resulting sonic ride on A Night in the Skull Discotheque, CCL leads us to a fantastical place of timeless surreality – a majestic haunted dancehall soundtracked by a giddy rush of steppers and dubbed-out delights. Subs rattle through syncopated percs, and moody synths glisten in macabre glory. Fantastical dancers wriggle in wispy eternity, liberated from their corporeal forms in all their greatest spiritual wonder. Both extravagant and dusky, A Night in the Skull Discotheque is a world of seductive in-betweens, a place caught between the moodiest depths and the highest exuberance – A love letter to one of the most impactful formative sounds of the last decades.


***************************************************************************************
A portion for the proceeds from this release will go to fundraiser "SUPPORT PALESTINIAN SOLIDARITY IN EUROPE!". You can also directly donate via:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-palestinian-solidarity-in-europe
***************************************************************************************

Tape design: Nina Muro
Mastering: TJ Hertz
Additional tape mastering: Eris Drew
Photography: CCL 
Linear notes: Nevan Jio

A Night in the Skull Discotheque [T4T015]

CCL - A Night in the Skull Discotheque

(mostly) music i've collected over the years but rarely play ... :+)

Urban Tribe - Nebula
Salamanda - Overdose
Pilgrims of the Mind - Chase
Coil - Alternative Theme From Gay Man's Guide To Safer Sex
Mystic Tribe A.I. - Telepathic Seduction
DJ Krush - Kemuri (’94 Part II)
Kodek - A Computer Made Lovesong
Hashman deejay - BOOM BOX 12 INCH
shinetiac - K2 Spiritual
Andy Rantzen - Magic Lantern
JFC - No Matter What
Future Beat Alliance - Valium Steps
Overtone Series - Honeycrisp
Break Mode - Wash One
Everything But The Girl - Single (Photek Remix)
Yawning Portal - Water Lvl
Parris & Minor Science - Terrapin
Davis Galvin - Orghu [362 C]
Igaxx - Nap
Dublanet X - MPI9I
m. quake - Annie u r a Bird (feat Jonnine)
Dayjah & The Disciples - Gather Together 
Doug Wimbush - Logdrum
Dregs - Swampy
Smoke City - Underwater Love
Freaky Chakra - Glimmer Of Dope Theme 3
Urban Tribe - Sophistry

collecting dust vol. 1

Tripped-out excursions through percussive club music with the Nowadays resident.

Ayesha Chugh, AKA Ayesha, makes club music that activates the body. The Brooklyn-based artist has spent the last few years carving out a distinct lane in modern club music. Her fusion of dubstep, techno and essential '90s rave elements into dynamite club tools that test and support dancers in equal measure. This time though, for her RA Podcast, Chugh purposefully tilts in a "more colorful wonky direction."

Since first turning heads with releases on labels like Fever AM and Kindergarten Records, she’s continued to refine a sound that feels both playful and punishing, marked by writhing basslines, rumbling drums and an innate ability to make bodies move. Her productions capture a kind of kinetic precision—tracks that are slippery yet forceful, balancing psychedelic textures with dubstep-like physicality and club-focused power. As Andrew Ryce wrote of her debut, Rhythm is Memory, her skill is "full of textures that wrap around the otherwise thudding, sub-heavy kick drums." After a serious accident in 2024 stopped her in her tracks, this year marks a full return to global touring with a new vantage point on life and the sound she seeks to push.

RA.983, clocking in at nearly two and a half hours, finds Chugh flexing that club muscle once again. Offering a tour through global club music both old and new, it's based around a set at her home base Nowadays this February. It's a patient but relentless ride: from deep, tunneling psytrance, progressive techno and slippery electro before really turning on the gas at the half mark, moving into slanted UK techno territory.

As she explains in the Q&A, it's a carefully curated selection of tracks that probes "what we perceive as tasteful." It's a mix that speaks to her deep knowledge of dance music’s lineage—and her intuitive ability to push it forward.

@aye5ha
Find the interview and tracklist at ra.co/podcast/983

RA.983 Ayesha

The Berlin-based party starter wafts her energy our way for an hour a month. Colourful house & techno, vintage breaks, decontextualised bargain-bin club tracks & more in the mix... 
Find the full tracklist and related episodes on NTS: https://www.nts.live/shows/dj-fart-in-the-club/episodes/dj-fart-in-the-club-23rd-may-2025

DJ FART IN THE CLUB - LIVE FROM NOWADAYS NYC 230525

The latest Off-Kilter audio submission is a dive into Or:la’s expansive vision of sound - a downtempo mix of slung drums, abstract electronics and heady vocals. As an artist, Or:la navigates effortlessly through many channels of electronic expression. Here, she revisits music from her influential past with a mix that is deep, meandering and rich with texture - nailing the brief with pin-point precision - and transporting us into a dream like state.

In her own words:
 "I kept to the ‘off-kilter' brief for this one and wanted to put together a mix you can just zone out to, with less of the twists and energy shifts I usually go for in my DJ sets. A lot of the tracks mean something personal to me like the Holger Czukay one at the very end, which I first heard at uni around 2012 while watching Morvern Callar in a film studies class - the whole soundtrack really stuck with me and ended up playing a big part in me drifting away from visual arts and getting into music."

//

Throughout Or:la's journey as an artist, the Derry-born producer and DJ has carved out her own niche and consistently strived to escape categorisation gaining her a BBC Radio 1 Residency, an Essential mix, and DJ Mag's ‘Best DJ’ award. From running DIY parties in abandoned shops whilst studying in Liverpool, to securing some of the best club residencies around the world, Or:la's story is organic and authentic.

Staying true to her explorative propensity, Or:la 's debut album arrived via Fabric Originals in 2024 and is a testament to her ability to fluidly traverse tempos and energies. Or:la takes a similarly chameleonic approach to her DJ sets - although there's an impalpable emphasis on melody, rhythm and texture, you never really know what you might get other than a preference to follow mood over genre. Orlagh Dooley's DIY mentality extends far beyond the DJ booth - as the boss of former Deep Sea Frequency and her current label, Céad, she nurtures a community of diverse artists who share her passion for less categorizable dance music including NIKS, Primrose, Blu Terra and FAFF. The label's releases emphasize quality and creativity across a wide sonic spectrum. Since her debut EP 'UK Lonely' on Hotflush Recordings in 2017, Dooley has collaborated on a broad range of remixes, from David Holmes/Killing Eve's "Unloved" to dance floor-focused labels like Spray and Woozy. Or:la continues to run her queer-focused event series ‘La Potion', which celebrates and shines a spotlight on queer creatives. Now based back in the UK, Orlagh Dooley remains integral to the clubbing scene as a promoter and community builder, pouring her heart and soul into the place where she found her musical voice.

@orla_cd

OK037 - Or:la

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

Al Wootton is joined by Priori for 2 hours of psychedelic, minimal dance music. Tracks from Savant, Civilistjavel, Uwalmassa, Donato Dozzy, Morphosis, DJ QU, Montel Palmer and loads more.

🌐 "Outsiders" is our daily show hosted by labels, collectives, agencies, venues, clubs, ... worldwide
📡 Connect with the Outsiders, every day, at 9 am or 9 pm CET
🔗 kioskradio.com

Outsiders: TRULE w/ Al Wootton & Priori @ Kiosk Radio 15.06.2025

For the newest instalment, i'm really happy to welcome the incredible Brussels-based AliA (@aliamusicc). The local mainstay is a regular on Kiosk radio and runs her own label - @artisjokrecords. Alyah, better known as AliA,  has an exciting & unique approach to dj'ing. She is known for her blend of contemporary club music with jazz, classical and experimental sounds. 

I find AliA's musical outputs incredibly refreshing - the kind of artist who reminds you what a really good DJ can do - they can present genres & sounds to you that you'd otherwise maybe not typically explore, in a new and exciting way. For her Animix, Alyah has gone for an intensely chill blend of ambient & immersive music, with minimal, glitchy, dub techno, jazz, classical sounds and more.

Thank you so much for the mix Alyah <3 

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RA.992 Laurel Halo

Resident Advisor

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