Top Listens 2019

Amsterdam-based Mad Miran has been a familiar face in the Dutch underground scene for quite some time and also made waves beyond the Dutch borders. Enjoy!

ITPS077 MAD MIRAN

Skee Mask is one of dance music's greatest crossover stories of the past decade, with new albums greeted with the attention usually reserved for an Aphex Twin or a Caribou. ("Loved seeing this on r/indieheads," said one Reddit user, on the release of the 2021 LP Pool.) It's not hard to understand why: albums like Compro, he blends well-worn dance music tropes with incredible, detailed soundscapes and spine-tingling melodies. And on his 12-inches, he brings that sensibility to the dance floor, with an approach probably best described as articulate. Even on his most ambient of tracks, everything is in its right place. Along with founders the Zenker Brothers, his music outlines everything that makes Munich outfit Ilian Tape one of the best techno labels going.

On the decks, it's kind of a different story. It might surprise you if you only know his albums, but Skee Mask is an incredible DJ, balancing his predilection for hip-hop and UK-informed sounds with laser-focused techno. He can adapt to all sorts of situations—there's an incredible recording of him DJing with four of the best grime and drum & bass MCs in the business—and on his RA Podcast he focuses on the techno side of things, with nearly two hours of pacey techno and creative mixing, with dips into acid, electro, garage and more. It's a party-starting mix from a genuine star, perfect for getting through the holiday doldrums or pre-gaming your NYE plans. Like Skee Mask's best records, it's something to enjoy in any number of settings.

@skeemask-music

Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/864

RA podcast

RA.864 Skee Mask

CCL - live from Boiler Room x Cupra at Primavera Sound Barcelona.

CCL | Boiler Room x Primavera Sound Barcelona 2023

Pugilist is a Melbourne based producer & DJ, releasing multi genre bass music on labels like 3024, Rupture and Modern Hypnosis. Enjoy!

ITPS108 PUGILIST

Hessle Audio feat. Flower Storm & Pearson Sound

Forward thinking underground sounds from across the musical spectrum. This month's show features a guest mix from Rifts going b2b with Victor.

Pariah presents Voam with Rifts b2b Victor - 05 June 2025

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

No mercy, only dirty drops

Scion (Peter Kuschnereit aka Substance and René  Löwe aka Vainqueur) Basic Channel (Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus) 

Basic Channel - Scion ‎Mix - Tresor 200

RA.307 DjRUM

This recording of the current version of my liveset was recorded at a very special annual party in the mountains outside of Seattle on August 4th 2018. Thanks to the dancers.

Photo by Nik Zeynalnia

The Lodge (Live PA August 2018)

The Hot Mass podcast series is back and for the next 4 editions we'll be looking back on the past year in advance of our 6 year anniversary. Each set was record live at Hot Mass and for this round we'll be featuring two of our residents, along with two guests. 

@tabasheer is a Pittsburgh local and one of the most studious and dedicated DJs around. That dedication is shown in this mix ahead of Answer Code Request from last May. Featuring a heavy collection of atmospheric techno with hints of broken beat and electro, Tabasheer constructed a superb warm up set, leaving the dance floor primed for more.

MASS CAST 007: Tabasheer  @ Hot Mass

Ostgut Ton's Barker welds together recent live performances for this special mix of exclusive material.

For more information head here: https://www.factmag.com/2019/08/07/barker-ostgut-ton-fact-mix/

FACT Mixes

FACT mix 720 - Barker (Aug '19)

Breaks, techno, hardcore, bass—Skee Mask tore through genres with ease during RA’s takeover of The Void at Dimensions Festival 2019.

@dimensionsfestival

Photo: Rob Jones for Khroma Collective

RA Live - 30.08.19 - Skee Mask, Dimensions Festival, Croatia

As expected, Mike Servito, turned Open Haus completely upside down with his closing set. A shining representation of Detroit and New York, he ripped the dance floor with two hours of jacking techno, house and acid. Strap in for yet another reminder of why he’s one of dance music’s very best.

RA Live - 30.08.19 - Skee Mask, Dimensions Festival, Croatia

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