Kyoto-born, Berlin-based DJ, producer and artist, Alex Kassian has become a firm favourite of ours over here at Phonica over the past couple of years. His sophisticated, lush and organic sounding productions have been picked up by labels such as Paramida’s Love On The Rocks and Alex Bradley’s Utopia Records in recent years. His most recent release, Leave Your Life, was released in 2021 via Pinchy & Friends, and we can safely say it was one of our most-played, and bestselling, records of the year.

Together with Hiroaki OBA, Alex is also one-half of Opal Sunn, who have been operating their own imprint Planet Sundae since 2017, through which they self-released a number of EPs, catching the attention of and support from dance music luminaries such as Andrew Weatherall and DJ Sprinkles.

Check out the full feature & interview over at offtherecord.net

Full Feature

Phonica Mix Series 93: Alex Kassian

Alex Kassian's exclusive mix for RDC 2023 podcast:

"For my friends at RDC! This mix is rooted in a colourful spectrum of melodies, essentially capturing a sequence of styles I’d play in the club. There are quite a few records from the golden age and a few current favourites, hopefully shining a positive light to elevate your spirits. See you on the dance floor!"

"このミックスは色んなメロディーを織り交ぜていて、僕がクラブでプレイするスタイルを表現しています。往年のクラシックから現在のお気に入りまで、ポジティブな光を放ちながら皆さんの気分が高まることを願っています。RDCのダンスフロアで会いましょう！"

RDC 055 - Alex Kassian

Recording of Avalon Emerson's set at Dekmantel Festival 2023.

Avalon Emerson at Dekmantel Festival 2023

This is Part 2 of my Mystery of the Motherbeat series of DJ mixes. I’ve wanted to record this mix for a long time as a follow-up to my 2018 mix by the same name. Both are a fusion of styles used to build a psychedelic hypnotic soundscape for deep listening and personal synchronization with the heart of Motherbeat. No big hands in the air moments to speak of here, just deep mixing and some of the most beautiful records in my collection. My Journal of the Motherbeat Substack explores the selections and intentions behind this 2 hour and 19 minute mix: https://journalofthemotherbeat.substack.com/p/notes-on-a-dj-mix. The track list is below.

1. LaTour - Blue (XX Records, 1992)
2. @geotaguchi - Deep Blue  (Coymix, 2023) 
3. Caldera - 30 Friends (Freude Am Tanzen, 2022)
4. Y.M.C. - Subway (Yoshitoshi Recordings, 1998) 
5. Brian Tanseau - Relativity (Carl Craig Urban Affair Dub, 1993)
6. @satoshi_tomiie - Un Peu (Abstract Architecture, 2023)
7. @edmondsonandon - On & On (Lissoms, 2023) 
8. Cris. P - Lemon (Psy Section, 2021)
9. @dreamcycleuk - All the Things (Idle Hands, 2021) 
10. Yaw Evans - Only Spirit (GD4YA, 2022) 
11. Todd Edwards - Winter Behavior (i Records, 1995)
12. Toka Project - One Day (Filter Flow, 1999)
13. Brian Eno - Fractal Zoom  (Mary’s Birthday Mix) (Opal Records, 1992)
14. Thurlow Joyce - Varial (NAFF, 2023)
15. Hoodwink  - Trip From The Hip (Mute, 1997)
16. The Heavyweight Kru  =  The Drea-mm (Not On Label, 1999)
17. @perkopair - Prang (Numbers, 2023)
18. Way Out West - The Gift (album version) (Deconstruction, 1997)
19. Anunaku @gu_tsvi - Celeste (WHYT, 2023)
20. Head High - Break Away (Power House, 2023)
21. Kenny Dope - Tom Beat (Dopewax, 2005)
22. S.R. - Dosemeter (Ruffset Records, 2022)
23. Knopha - Corundrum (Mood Hut, 2023)
24. Molen - Molecular Machine (Flight Mode, 2023)
25. Satoshi Tomiie - Proody-106 (Phonogramme, 2023)
26. DJ Tonka - Radical Noise (Force Inc., 1995)
27. Ruffneck Revival - My Knight VI (Not on Label, 1999)
28. Ruffneck Revival - My Knight VII (Not on Label, 1999)
29. Transformer 2  - Fruit of Love (Profile, 1992)
30. American Freedom Train - Cab Ride (Soundbird, 1975)
31. Way Out West  - Earth (Deconstruction, 1997)

Eris Drew’s Mystery of the Motherbeat Part 2

ISAbella - BFC ADE 2024: RADION Saturday

Recording of @call-super's set from Butik 2024.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/call_super/
RA: https://ra.co/dj/callsuper

▻ www.facebook.com/butikfestival
▻ www.instagram.com/butik_emf/
▻ www.youtube.com/channel/UCMH6jMLQ…HP91lhAQ/featured

Call Super - Live at Butik Festival 2024

Avalon Emerson - 9000Streams (Triple J Mix)

Good Good Good

Recorded Live on April 30th 2018 in Berlin.
Broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on June 9th 2018.

Tracklist

Intro
Maurizio - Domina (Carl Craig's Mind Mix) [M - 3]
Skatebård - Stalheim-Mix [Digitalo Enterprise]
The Plan - Red Shift [Submerge]
 Project Future - Ray-Gun-Omics [Capitol]
Dexter - Echo Park [Klakson]
Stingray313 - Armchair Psychiatrist [Naked Lunch]
Monika Ross - Ever After [Entity London]
Octave One - Empower [430 West]
Marcel Dettmann - Quicksand [Ostgut Ton]
Get Fucked - Dark & Dirty (Matthew B. Remix) [Eukahouse]
Yak - Zephyr [Le Chatroom]
Artist Formerly Known As P. P. - Ruffneck Chicken [White]
A.W.E.S.O.M.-O. - Excellence Of Execution [Zyntax Motorcity]
Pangaea - Cuba Vox [Unreleased]
Syclops - Spin Cycle [BubbleTease Communications]
Pure Science - The Art Of Being [B+Positive]
EGZR - Untitled [Wania]
W.V. - Nachschub (B) [Auftrieb]
Donato Dozzy - Cleo [Eerie]
Shackleton - Blood On My Hands [Skull Disco]
Optic Nerve - G-Man's Journey (Mystic Mix) [Puzzlebox]
The Experience - Tubes [Mystic]
Barker - Filter Bubbles [Ostgut Ton]
Chino Amobi - Law II [NON]
Bitstream - Step Retracing [Touchin Bass]
Call Super & Michael Smith - SE X Mi Cyaan Believe It
Embaci - Walk On May 5th [Discwoman]
Dianne Lynn - Forever My Sunset (MAN-D.A. Dub) [Flying]
Powder - Spray [Born Free]
Chez Damier - Help Myself [KMS]
SMX - Sleep [Whities Blue]
Terre Thaemlitz - Admit It's Killing You (DJ Sprinkles' Dead End) [Comatonse]
Maurizio - Domina (Carl Craig's Mind Mix) [M - 3]

The Essential Mix for BBC Radio 1

Eris Drew is one of those artists who seemed to blow up over night, but who had actually been hard at work for decades. A long-time residency at Chicago's Smart Bar brought her to international attention, and her own Motherbeat parties at various places around Europe furthered that reputation. It is there that she manages to cook up pure, unadulterated dance floor love and euphoria with hi-energy selections and a unifying sense of oneness that is put together with her own so called “orchestration” mixing techniques. An inquisitive musician and innovative recording artist, she has also just put out her debut solo EP on Interdimensional Transmissions and runs T4T LUV NRG with partner Octo Octa. 

This week's mix is all of the above and more: a throbbing, impulsive and full bodied experience that serves up the most bumping house grooves but run through with the warm ambient glow of a post-rave comedown. The music feels at classic but also thoroughly contemporary: it will make you pump your fist in sheer joy, but also sends warm waves of euphoria through your body. This is the sound of the Motherbeat.

Eris on her mix:
"In a recent interview for DJ Mag I talk about my connection to the song “Secrets of Mediation” by Dutch producers Alex Dijksterhuis (Jamez) & Gaston Steenkist (Dobre). At Chicago raves in 1994 and 1995, this track revealed to me that modern dance music contains archaic ritual elements such as trance-inducing resonances, penetrating sacred drums, and language transformed into glossolalia. My DJ mix for Dekmantel is inspired by my formative dance experiences and by the intense extended sets I play at psychedelic raves such as Motherbeat and No Way Back. The mix includes bass music, progressive, breaks, house, techno, and minimal, all of which I collage, drop and scratch to put us into a tunneling trance."

Full tracklist here: dkmn.tl/270-ErisDrew

Dekmantel Podcast

Dekmantel Podcast 270 - Eris Drew

An uplifting ode to queerness and love.

Read more: https://ra.co/podcast/769

@octoocta

RA.769 Octo Octa

Resident Advisor