Silent Servant is the primary pseudonym of California electronic artist Juan Mendez, who produces techno with a heavy post-punk/industrial influence. He first began releasing material as Silent Servant during the mid-2000s, when he was a key member of the influential techno collective Sandwell District. Following numerous well-received underground singles, he made a major impact on the techno world with Negative Fascination, his acclaimed 2012 full-length debut. Following Mendez's co-founding of the Jealous God label in 2013, as well as several singles and collaborations with the likes of Marcel Dettmann and Phase Fatale, Silent Servant released his second album, the more overtly EBM-influenced Shadows of Death and Desire, in 2018.  2023 sees Mendez continuing to Play the US and Europe, New releases On L.I.E.S., Tresor and maintaining his sixth year of the Optimistic Decay radio show on NTS. 
https://www.nts.live/shows/silent-servant/episodes/silent-servant-18th-october-2023

Silent Servant Presents: Optimistic Decay 181023

The first entry in this year’s Virtual Utopia program comes from the Australian-born, Berlin-based duo, Daisy Records (@daisyrecordsmelbourne). Mitch and Obelix have crafted an entrancing 2.5-hour journey that weaves through downtempo, house, ambient techno, and trance -all infused with a shimmering ambiance that radiates warmth and positivity. Each track carries an ethereal beauty, enveloping the listener in a calming softness that invites them to close their eyes and drift peacefully through the inner, and outer reaches of their minds. 

Daisy Records are true masters at capturing a sense of ethereal spaciousness, delivering a sonic palette that soothes the mind and cleanses the spirit. This mix offers listeners the space to let their thoughts flow gently downstream, while their atoms dissipate, floating aimlessly yet never lost, free from the need for a destination.

Every sense is blissfully engaged here—vibrant colors, cooling winds, the fresh scent of life, and the harmonious soundscape of a flourishing Earth. A temporary window into the unspoiled nature it once was.

Through the spectrum of euphonic sound, resonating souls merge and dissipate like distant murmurations. Although for some, however much their distance may change, through the phenomena of love, they will remain forever bound.

Thank you, Mitch and Obi, for this beauty <3

Virtual Utopia 11: Daisy Records

KILL THE CLOWNS

Andrew Weatherall's first official posthumous mix. The only b2b DJ Harvey ever agreed to. Six hours at Trouw. This one's special.

When mulling which direction to go in for RA's 1000th mix celebrations, many options came to mind. Some shadowy character 2-stepping around the fringe of our collective consciousness? An impossible-level IDM icon?

All tempting. But, ultimately, we are a DJ-forward publication and this is a DJ mix series. It felt truer to the history of the RA Podcast to release deep vault material from a time when the world of niche records felt different, tighter, more discrete.

The fourth-longest mix in the series' history is an unrepeatable marathon set recorded in 2012 at a superclub that no longer exists. 2012, incidentally, is farther away from 2025 than 2012 was from 2000... if we have to clock it, so do you.

It's the coming together of one British icon who passed away in 2020, and another whose time on the road has scaled back considerably as of late. DJ Harvey agreed to exactly one b2b set in his life: this one, with Andrew Weatherall.

The night took place at Trouw, an Amsterdam club already considered legendary before it shuttered its doors in the opening hours of 2015, as part of an RA series anchored around start-to-close combinations. Harvey was at the peak of an irresistible career second act, which dovetailed with a disco revival that dominated clubs for years. Weatherall, with infinite brownie points stockpiled from the '90s, remained everyone's favourite debonair psychonaut. 

What follows is 385 scintillating minutes of arpeggiated chug and slow-cresting climaxes: a moment when the resting heart rate of dance floors plunged lower than any comparable point in the 21st century. A masterclass, entirely self-contained in audio form.

If you've got time to spare, a fun side game is sussing out who plays what. A disco-dub cover of Echo & the Bunnymen? Smart money's on Weatherall. Exuberant EQ'ing of The Isley Brothers? Gotta be Harvey. As for the low 'n slow, lightly spangled house that was all the rage in the early 2010s (think Maxxi Soundsystem, Disco Bloodbath, Rub & Tug, C.O.M.B.I. and Full Pupp), it's anyone's guess. 127 BPM feels practically like an F1 car.

When we kicked off our RA.1000 campaign, we outlined a few goals: tick off a handful of long-awaited dream guests, honour architects who shaped the world around us and deliver recordings you truly can't hear anywhere else. Full send.

DJing and the mythmaking around it has undergone a quantum leap since 2012, let alone 2006, 1996 or 1989. For those of us who were kicking around in the former, there's a creeping melancholy that our prime is fast becoming a matter of historical record. The killing moon really did come too soon. 

Where will electronic music, DJ sets or any of this be in 2044? Hard to say. Best not to overthink that one. Instead, we want to say thanks to all contributors on the series so far. Now enjoy luxuriating in the company of two of the greatest to ever do it, together, for the first and last time.⁠ – Gabriel Szatan (Editor, RA)

@andrew-weatherall

Read the interview with DJ Harvey and Andrew Weatherall's family at https://ra.co/podcast/1016. Listen to all RA.1000 mixes, as well as the complete history of the RA Podcast, at https://1000.ra.co

RA.1000 DJ Harvey & Andrew Weatherall

Live recording front closing set - Ubfold Steam Room 10th August 2025

Wes Baggaley Live at Unfold 10th Aug 25

Live from Berlin: next up is DJ BONEY S (Prall Berlin)

DJ BONEY S (Prall Berlin) [25.08.25]

If you score zero you are a tourist

Our thirteenth Resident Advisor Podcast comes from the globetrotting Scarlett Etienne.

If you score zero you are a tourist

Sixonesix / Sorryteller

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