Beta Librae @ The Lot Radio 02-27-2024

"Every opportunity to learn something new is what's going to grow your craft as an artist." The Toronto star talks discipline and gaining self-confidence as a producer.

Cindy Li, AKA Ciel, always seems to be one step ahead. The label head, DJ, producer and activist has a hard-won career that dance music producers dream of—when she's not playing underground institutions across the globe, maintaining radio residencies, planning her own parties or collaborating with her favourite artists, she's thinking about what's next. "I'm the type of person that I'll stay up trying to finish everything rather than going to bed knowing that I didn't finish everything on my list," she tells RA's Nyshka Chandran in this week's episode.

The Toronto resident is a conservatory-trained pianist who uses the discipline she learnt from a lifetime of lessons to balance DJing and production. "For me, it is challenging to juggle both because they use very different parts of my brain," she describes. A deep digger whose love for atmospheric textures and '90s grooves influences her fresh take on UKG, tech-house and jungle, Li has been putting out music since 2017. She has various EPs and singles under her name, plus several joint releases with the likes of Dan Only, D.Tiffany and Priori but says she didn't always have the confidence for a solo full-length.

"I never thought I could write an album," she admits. But after playing live for the first time at MUTEK Montréal in 2021, that changed, leading to the 2023 release of Homesick, her debut album. "Don't ever let fear influence your decision-making," she says, describing how that show pushed her to overcome lingering doubts in the studio.

For more on Li's process, listen to the episode in full.

EX.703 Ciel

Berlin-based Objekt makes his Lot debut.

http://www.instagram.com/objekttt

Objekt @ The Lot Radio 04-09-2024

Read our interview with @sisterzo and check out this mix's track list here: bit.ly/SiZoPod

Groove Podcast 416

Tracklist

Groove Podcast 416 - Sister Zo

Interview: https://truantsblog.com/2024/truancy-volume-327-command-d

Soundcloud: @commandd

Access the download and full tracklist (TBC) on our Patreon. However if you need anything leave us a nice comment and either us or Command D will get back to you! Your support helps cover all our costs, allows us to now pay our guests and allows Truants to continue running as a non-profit and ad-free platform.

http://truantsblog.com

Command D

Truancy Volume 327: Command D

There is nothing ordinary about Sepehr (@sepehr-a): he hails from the Bay Area of San Fran, is based in New York City but has Iranian heritage and takes great pleasure in pulling apart everything you think you know about dance music. His maverick approach results in versatile and genre-defiant sounds that collide EBM, drum & bass, techno, electro, acid and plenty more on some of the finest labels out there. He runs his own Shaytoon Records which is focussed on the Middle Eastern underground, and in May lands on our own Dekmanel Records with Genesis Domain, a varied EP full of intriguing sounds.

The same could be said of his mix for us this week. It's a deep dive into his eclectic and eccentric musical mind that spans several sounds and scenes. Although united by body-moving rhythms, there is everything from club to techno to broken beat and plenty more besides. Each track is packed with detail and surrealist sounds that will keep your head as busy as your heels.

Dekmantel Podcast

Dekmantel Podcast 463 - Sepehr

Pressure-filled, heady jungle and breaks are the order of the day in our latest Crack mix, courtesy of London’s Lukid (real name Luke Blair). One for the skankers.

Check out the tracklist on crackaudio: https://crackm.ag/3wc8EEE
If you’re a fan, become a Supporter: https://crackmagazine.net/subscription

Subscribe to Crack

Crack Mix 571: Lukid

pi pi pi with deep creep @ The Lot Radio 04-22-2024

Simon Aussel is known for a particularly wild DJing style and leftfield bassy bangers, and it's his curious and playful approach to clubland that's won him loyal fans over the years. Whether photographing drink tokens from gigs or creating an 8-bit version of his debut album on a Game Boy cartridge, he seems to approach every endeavour with childlike joy and wonder—rare qualities in an industry that can leave so many jaded.

The Nantes-born, Paris-based artist's love of club culture, digging and world-building has set him on a blazing path in club music. He's released an exceptionally wide range of music, including a Memphis rap tape for Trilogy Tapes, dubstep-trap-jazz hybrids with Egyptian singer Abdullah Miniawy and deadly hard drum for Livity Sound. His mixes, meanwhile, are fast becoming DJ lore thanks to his knack for connecting seemingly opposed genres like new wave and fast techno. Look no further than his now-infamous Dekmantel Selectors set from 2021 or a marathon back-to-back with Skee Mask in 2022. 

As the French DJ gets more comfortable with story-telling, he's getting more personal and focusing on deeper, slower sounds. That's evident on this RA Podcast—six months in the works—which incorporates woozy downtempo, weighty dub and bleepy beats. Of course, in the chaotic middle section there's plenty of huge basslines, plus old-school electro, acidic techno and even a bouncy edit of the Montell Jordan classic "This Is How We Do It." Showcasing his quirks, influences and growth, this is Simo Cell in prime time.

@simocell

Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/934

RA podcast

RA.934 Simo Cell

The Berlin-based party starter wafts her energy our way for an hour a month. Colourful house & techno, vintage breaks, decontextualised bargain-bin club tracks & more in the mix... 
Find the full tracklist and related episodes on NTS: https://www.nts.live/shows/dj-fart-in-the-club/episodes/dj-fart-in-the-club-26th-april-2024

DJ FART IN THE CLUB 260424

Interview + Download: http://truantsblog.com/2017/truancy-volume-180-hakim-murphy/ ‎

Soundcloud: @hakimmurphy

With a musical career spanning back as far as 1996, at a time where his influences ranged from Larry Heard, Robert Armani, Dance Mania, Relief, and Cajual records, Chicago native Hakim Murphy steps up to mix our 180th Truancy Volume. Inspired by the ethos of jazz and its principles, Hakim is a man of many collaborations, having gravitated towards many capable producers of the years. Records with DJ Spider, Chicago Highway, Specter, Ike Release, Vince Noog, S.A.M and more have culminated in a prolific output of music. As the label owner behind Machining Dreams and Synapsis (with Inbum Cho) he's also been responsible for putting out records from the likes of local talents Amir Alexander, Mauser, G. Marcell and Avondale Music Society. Calling Chicago his home since he was eleven years old and having witnessed several generations of clubbers in the Windy City, we caught up with Hakim to discuss his early history with Fast Eddie and Tyree Cooper, his hm505 alias, the musical divide in Chicago and his forthcoming Machining Dreams projects.

Truancy Volume 180: Hakim Murphy

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PATREON: http://patreon.com/truants

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Truancy Volume 180: Hakim Murphy

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