American artist Introspekt (@sageintrospekt) has a sound rooted in the darker side of UKG but comes at it from a unique perspective that incorporates elements of US garage and ballroom. The LA-born, NYC-based talent has now made her mark in Europe as a DJ and a producer on labels like Eris Drew and Octo Octa's T4T LUV NRG. Her style blends heavy basslines, diva vocals and well-crafted broken beats into something that harks back to the sounds that once came out of the likes of Paradise Garage and Club Zanzibar, always with a focus on bringing up her own community.

She says that the idea behind this week's mix was "to take the listener on a journey through tech-garage sonics and intergalactic dancehall rhythms." Tracks of her own and those from Skream, Holloway, Hatcha, Phuturistix and many more all plot a line through earth-shatteringly heavy rhythms from across the past, present and future of garage, dubstep and bass. It's a mix aimed at both body and head from this formidable talent and is a great taste of what to expect from her when she plays Dekmantel Festival later in the year.

Dekmantel Podcast 466 - Introspekt

"We used to roll up socks in our shoes to give us an extra inch." The childhood friends talk about coming of age in Belfast and their label and event series, CHROMA.

Bicep—the Irish duo Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar—have been winning over the hearts of fans with trance-inflected, melancholic dance music since 2009. In this interview with RA editor Gabriel Szatan, the childhood friends talk about how they got where they are, unpacking their creative process and the abiding musical influence of their hometown, Belfast, a city where emotional trance reigned supreme.

They also discuss their ongoing multidisciplinary project, CHROMA—a record label, event series and evolving live audiovisual show. Ferguson and McBriar say that the idea for CHROMA came from a sense that their DJ sets were becoming too "sugary," so they buckled down with a renewed focus on creating dynamic new productions made specifically for the dance floor and their sets. The result is a string of hard-hitting EPs which you can find online now. Listen to the episode in full.

EX.722 Bicep

it's as wick as you or me

Kinetic club energy generated by one of the sharpest talents in drum & bass and beyond.

Much of the best electronic music rests along the axes of versatility and curiosity: being able to a pull a broad array of influences into your orbit and alchemise it into something distinctive and fresh. That's gyrofield to a tee.

Kiana Li began making waves in drum & bass as a teenager, years before setting foot in a club or experiencing the sound on a proper rig. That's a key factor which helps explain how the deeply-considered, Hong Kong-born producer arrived at a style that eludes easy description. Li, one of the foremost trans women working in drum & bass today, marshals complex rhythms like a sluice and has a knack for detailed bass programming that floods the stereo field without ever dominating it.

2024's spellbinding These Heavens was the apotheosis of an already quietly prolific catalogue; we named it the seventh best record of last year, but in truth, it could have actually nudged up a bit higher.

Li's RA Podcast is a blur of rapid motion, featuring stalwarts (Dillinja, Skee Mask, Calibre, upsammy, Marcus Intalex), contemporary limelights (Nestax, Ehua, Aquarian, Maude Vôs), 17 of their own productions and a grip of truly uncommon selections, like Burnt Friedman & João Pais Filipe's "18-140." It's an ambitious mix from one of the most exciting talents at the vanguard of outer-zonal club music right now.

@gyrofieldmusic

Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/987

RA.987 gyrofield

A queer icon steps up for RA.998's B-side.

The RA Podcast began with RA.001 in 2006. Since then, it's spotlighted the best and brightest in dance music every week, without fail. As we approach our 1,000th episode next month, we're switching things up, pairing artists whose sounds complement one another and, in doing so, zeroing in on the forces shaping the past, present and future of electronic culture.

This week, we shift lanes to Roza Terenzi and Kim Ann Foxman, two artists who strike a rare balance between reverence and reinvention. Both are key figures in queer clubbing circles, deeply informed by the halcyon days of '90s and early '00s club music yet fully committed to pushing it forward.

Each artist has carved out a distinct path. Roza Terenzi started out in Perth, Australia, before making a home in Berlin in 2020, while the Hawaii-born Foxman made her name in New York by way of San Francisco in the early '00s. For RA.998, they've contributed separate mixes, to be enjoyed together as two parts of the same whole.

Foxman takes the B-side and makes her RA Podcast debut. As a vocalist for Hercules & Love Affair and a sought-after producer in her own right, the New York-based artist blends club heft and melodic flourish with a distinct pop sensibility shaped by '90s dance music. (She got her first job making smoothies at an all-ages club in Hawaii while Deee-Lite performed live behind her.)

Like Roza Terenzi, Foxman draws from across eras. Her contribution to RA.998 is warm, expressive and emotionally tuned, unfurling a palette of house, breaks and trance laden with bright pads, bold hooks and an ear for atmosphere. Listen out for the Whitney Houston sample and you'll know what we mean. 

While Foxman and Roza Terenzi embrace a fun, vibrant musical style, their work is grounded in intentionality. They're invested in honouring the cultural and political roots of dance music: Foxman has long advocated for a more inclusive, community-driven club scene, while Roza Terenzi was among the first artists to begin pulling shows this summer as a matter of political principle.

Both sides of RA.998 show how the sounds of past eras can be reimagined to move seamlessly with the present. Hopefully you'll even feel a jolt of inspiration to get yourself to the nearest dance floor, ASAP.

@kimannfoxman
Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/1003

RA.998 Kim Ann Foxman

poplife rmx + blend with sinjin hawke 3 fine hoes remix VDIDVS Remix

umru x underscores - poplife (cjf omg i love this song party bootleg)

The arena-conquering duo glide from gritty rave to skyscraping arpeggios on RA.1000, a mix many years in the making.

A new name undeniably entered the pantheon of major electronic live acts over the past decade: next to Faithless, The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers, now sit @feelmybicep.

The Belfast duo's music doesn't half reach for the stars: a melodic blend of ambient, breakbeat, trance and tech house, able to turn the biggest arenas into intimate affairs.

If anything, mainstream success, BRIT Award nominations and mammoth dance crossovers like "Glue" have only hardened Andy Ferguson and Matt McBriar's resolve to keep innovating.

Their prized blog, running for nearly as long as the RA Podcast, regularly platforms upcoming artists. And you won't find many festival headliners releasing climate change-themed records with Indigenous artists, as they did recently on Takkuuk.

RA.1000 exists in that spirit. After many polite declines, and before a year off to usher in the next era, Bicep come through at the last: from dub techno and screwface breaks to São Paulo garage, before a tide of signature synths floods the zone. Stadium-sized intimacy at its finest.

@feelmybicep 

Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/1015. Listen to all RA.1000 mixes, as well as the complete history of the RA Podcast, at https://1000.ra.co

RA.1000 Bicep

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@rajmaddela

it's as wick as you or me

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