As part of RA2122, our ongoing celebration of 21 years of club culture, we'll be featuring some of our favourite DJs from around the world, highlighting the parties or clubs most important to their lives in dance music. 

The first time we featured DJ Nobu on the RA Podcast, over ten years ago, we called him "one of Japan's best DJs." In hindsight, i think we can all agree that the country qualifier is no longer necessary: he's one of the world's best DJs, bar none. An absolute master at curating and mixing techno, Nobu has helped to inspire a Japanese school of techno that is psychedelic, hypnotic and often very pretty, without losing the genre's oomph or edge. And he's more popular than ever around the world, playing some of the best parties and clubs in pretty much any country or city you could name.

But DJ Nobu's roots and heart are close to home. Frustrated with techno in the Japanese capitol, he created his own party in his neighbouring hometown, Chiba, where nightlife was less pretentious and the vibe was a little looser. Future Terror quickly became known as one of Japan's premiere techno parties, and paved the way not only for Nobu himself, but many other Japanese DJs who Nobu and his later partner Haruka gave the chance to shine. The party also recently celebrated its landmark 20th anniversary with its first-ever party in London.

This mix is a direct tribute and encapsulation of Future Terror, what Nobu calls a "condensed story" of the series focusing on the more outré elements at the fore—an "awareness of techno" with plenty of more leftfield tracks thrown in. What follows might be a little gentler than you'd expect from Nobu, but it's all top-tier techno mixed with an expert hand.

@djnobu_bitta

Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/855

RA podcast

RA.855 DJ Nobu

Recording of Skee Mask & Stranger's set at Dekmantel Festival 2023.

Dekmantel Festival 2023

Skee Mask & Stranger at Dekmantel Festival 2023

Andy Martin (@andy-martin) is one of my favourite musical discoveries from the last few years. A while back, after hearing an iconic tune he made called "Revolution" featuring Lee Scratch Perry, I was excited about his music, and also learning more about him as an artist. Andy is based in Guadalajara, Mexico, with Jamaican and Mexican roots.

Whilst I was touring Mexico, we shared a few gigs together, and all the locals referred to him as "the best in the country", which I can completely understand. Since discovering Andy's music I've been hooked on his productions, an incredible fuse of old school and new school dub techno, underpinned by influences from his heritage which flourish in the form of exciting percussion & unique, emotional melodies. 

On top of this, Andy is very humble, and  a very talented DJ, and I'm super happy to host him in the series. 

If you haven't heard his music, go check it out! So much to discover

Thanks again Andy <3

Downloads enabled

Animix One Hundred & Sixty Two: Andy Martin

Living, breathing, banging techno from an artist defining the highly-textured new frontier of the sound in 2024.

Lindsey Wang, AKA Polygonia, has an amorphous style you could call organic—or, better yet, harmonious. She interweaves unfamiliar elements with a mercurial touch. Wang can make something completely otherworldly sound totally, well, natural. It's made her a fixture everywhere from Munich's BLITZ to major festivals like Sustain-Release and Draaimolen.

Unsurprisingly, Wang is not one to be pinned down. Be it the sound design-anchored side project Lyder, her own label QEONE, or co-producing an album's worth of experimental percussion alongside jazz drummer Simon Popp, it's fair to say her personal output matches the feverish energy of her mixes. There's multidisciplinary, and then there's Wang: Poly-disciplinary, you might say.

Wang's entry into the RA Podcast series is no different, another stellar emphasis of her artistry. RA.955 is a voyage into wild variations of texture, rhythm and feeling, guided along by the principle of endless metamorphosis. Supple driving grooves meet crinkled surfaces, scuttling hi-hats meet chattering sonics, and good luck keeping hold of a consistent drum pattern for long. Behold a living organism raised by the club and the great outdoors in equal measure.

@polygonia

Read more at ra.co/podcast/955

RA Podcast

RA.955 Polygonia

A lesson in rhythm from a former De School resident.

When it comes to minimalist dance music, Ruben Üvez, AKA Konduku, is one of the best in the game right now. With a masterful and ever-shapeshifting understanding of rhythm, the Berlin-based artist crafts sublime dance music with a staunchly leftfield bent. Don't just take our word for it: how many DJs, after all, can claim to have moved De School to a puddle of tears?

Musically, Üvez is hard to pin down. He's often billed as a techno artist, but actually you'll find his sound sits outside of the genre's many conventions. With an outsider's curiosity, he leans into diverse moods, tempos and genres, though one throughline is always how he arranges his drums. Whether it be deep, Nobu-core techno such as 2023's Hayal EP or UK beat science á la Peverelist on 2019's  Gegek, he leads with rhythm across his DJing and production. The end product is a hypnotic, one-of-a-kind sound that hits the body before the brain has time to catch up. In short, it slaps.

As Üvez's RA Podcast demonstrates, he's got a serious knack for crafting and selecting tunes that can  deeply captivate a dance floor. Clocking in at just over 90 minutes, RA.967 is an excursion through a timeless sound, packed with long, layered blends, flick-of-the-wrist transitions, locked grooves and spine-tingling atmospherics. In 2020, we called Ruben Üvez one of techno's brightest new talents. This mix sees him ascending to a seat at the top table.

@kondukukonduku

Read more at ra.co/podcast/967

RA.967 Konduku

Enter the wormhole with one of the techno artists we're most excited about in 2025.

Born in Osaka and now based in Tokyo, DJ MARIA. joins a decorated lineage of Japan's psychedelic elite, cut from a similarly explorative cloth as Wata Igarashi, Haruka and esoteric icons ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U and DJ Nobu. This nerdy sanctum of deep techno is a notoriously hard world to break into: only the very best make the grade. DJ MARIA.'s head-spinning sets emphasise why she's already part of the club firmament at home, and is now in the midst of a global breakthrough.

Her trademark is tapestries of acid, trance and techno that strike a perfect balance between vibrancy, impact and restraint. She bit the bug through a teenage discovery of DVDs showing legendary psytrance raves like Solstice and Vision Quest, yet it wasn't until 2014 that she started DJing, balancing gigs with shifts at Tokyo's Face Records and, as of late, motherhood.

Today, as well as producing and touring venues such as FOLD and Bassiani, she helps run two boutique forest festivals—Moment and Transcendence—both of which play a big part in upholding Japan's storied techno tradition. DJ MARIA. has reached these heights principally because of her exceptional talent as a DJ, which is on full display on this week's RA Podcast.

The two-hour mix is pure manna for psychedelic techno heads, though we're confident the depth of feeling, subtle pacing and seamless stitching will lure in fans from across the electronic spectrum. RA.971 is a total treasure—the latest wow moment from an artist destined to have a career littered with them.

@djmaria-jp

Read more at ra.co/podcast/971

RA.971 DJ MARIA.

Donato Dozzy has long been a revered figure in the global electronic music scene, known for his rare ability to craft hypnotic soundscapes that linger in the mind. Whether in contemporary clubs or classical settings, his sets consistently conjure deep moods and immersive atmospheres.

With this being his first mix release in over 5 years, we’re treated to an early insight into what he’ll bring to Continuum on February 1st. 

RA tickets: https://ra.co/events/2051095

051 - Donato Dozzy - fabric podcast

Dj Maria. b2b Oceanic at Draaimolen Festival 2024

Track from Chestnut EP by @mootney outs on 29th August.
https://mystictrax.bandcamp.com/album/chestnut

Chestnut

Pre-order

Mootney - Shyroki Shtany

Das Ultimatum

Closing set at the end of asia/australia tour. Kyo is an awesome club. great sound and lovely people. Thanks to EJ Missy and Kavan for having me <3 and special respects to Deapmash.

Patrick Bolton - Decisions
JoeFarr -Tape 10
Randomer - No Hook (Original Mix)
Deapmash & Raito - Quantum Vision
Ansome - Dave The Rave 
DamienSchneider - Vermont_BL
Egor Boss - Prism (Thomas Hessler Remix)
Radial - Cosmetics
Oscar Mulero	- Disinformation (Orphx Digital Edit Remix)
British Murder Boys - Dead Sun
Marcel Fengler - Sky Pushing (Dave Clarke Remix)
2ndSun - Control
Benjamin Damage & Deapmash - Solar 909 (Original Mix)
Special Request - Damage (Original Mix)
Deapmash - Dimension
Paul Woolford & Psycatron - Stolen (Original MIx)
The Sheds - Boom Room
Hail Blk - Infinite Blk
Steve Stoll - Drop Zone - Original Mix
Untold - Little Things Like That
Randomer - Stupid Things I Do (New School Mix)
Will Ward - Active Source
J.Tijn - Pick Your Battles
Blawan - Hanging Out The Birds
Kwartz - Black Cromosome (Jose Pouj Remix)
Delta Funktionen - Redemption
D-Leria - Premonition
SCNTST - Frau Tempel
Cassini - Threatless
Jose Pouj - Meta - Original Mix

RA.955 Polygonia

Resident Advisor