AE_LIVE 2016/2018

AE_LIVE_NIJMEGEN_221116

It is not easy to find Saphira, and it is even harder to leave. If it so chooses, the city will appear first as a quivering mirage on the horizon, second as a blinding stone mirror, and third as a sprawling maze whose sounds and sensations embrace the traveler in a slow and languid frenzy. Quite famously, it is home to countless locked eyes and spellbound hearts. It is a place whose deep currents of longing, like the sound of its ocean shore, seem to rumble and hiss under the surface of every word and gesture, in every bead of sweat that blooms from the glimmering skin of its people.

Saphira is at all times caught between a low-lying sun to the west and a glowing moon to the east. They hang above the skyline with an eerie stillness, watching the city’s tireless creatures writhe together in tenderness and sin, casting upon them a pale, silvery gold light that hangs heavy in the humid air. It is in the tension of this peculiar light and its slender, tangled shadows that Saphira’s longing grows dense and time thickens within its walls. Traveler and resident alike are suspended in an endless eros, caught tightly between pain and pleasure, between the sting of saltwater in one’s eyes and the sticky sweetness of ripe fruit on one’s lips. 

Perhaps this is why Saphira’s radios and televisions stutter with phrases and images so ghostly yet so intimately familiar, why its dusty buildings seem always to crumble so gloriously yet never collapse, why around every corner there is a street that so closely resembles one of a distant and loving memory, and why the curling flakes of paint on its walls and facades will reach out against the heat without fading or falling. It is a city inside of want and outside of time.

Text by Devon Hansen, Photo by CCL

Invisible Cities Ⅰ: 𝓼𝓪𝓹𝓱𝓲𝓻𝓪

Live recorded on 3 turntables, vinyl only.

B2B with Helena Hauff Live at Trädgården, Stockholm

The first-ever live recording from an elusive icon of dubby electronic music.

Lore is an underrated quality. Neuroscientists have mapped that music elicits similar feelings in the brain to when we satiate cravings, but what about the psychological impulse that drives listeners of a certain disposition toward everything they don't know?

It's tricky to put your finger on, but artists able to conjure intrigue without overhawking the backstory can really cut through—just ask SAULT, [ar:pi:ar] or Gerald Donald. Then there are those who don't try whatsoever. These are the ones who stay in mind the most.

In 2001, a striking 12" called Ship-Scope emerged through Chain Reaction, credited to Shinichi Atobe, with no other info available. Okay, mulled fans, this is probably a cat-and-mouse game dreamed up by someone on a label with a fine line in foggy obfuscation. Vainqueur on a wind-up? Another Moritz 'n Mark alias?

But no: Atobe was real, and really had posted a demo to Hard Wax. It was that simple. Then he went back to his day job—until, after 13 years of silence, an even better follow-up emerged.

From the near-perfect Butterfly Effect onwards, Atobe has built up one of the most revered catalogues in underground circles. A steady clip of elegant, transportive dub techno and deep electronics has arrived on Demdike Stare's DDS, complimented by the launch of his own label, plastic & sounds, earlier in summer 2025.

Atobe has also made strides into the public domain, DJing intermittently, as well as performing live for the first time in 2023, gracing WWW at the tender age of 52. It's that debut 2023 show heard on RA.1009: a hypnotic yet comparatively pumping set full of Atobe staples, as well as material you won't find anywhere else.

Contact with the big man, as you might anticipate, is glacial: since we first reached out, the RA Mix has changed name, look and rolled over into its second millennium. Still, patience pays off. This is a one-off we're stoked to run. – Gabriel Szatan

@shinichiatobe

Find the interview at https://ra.co/podcast/1028

RA.1009 Shinichi Atobe

Former Crack Magazine cover star Helena Hauff and electro and breakbeat visionary DJ MELL G came together for an exchange of “dark grooves, broken rhythms, and unexpected moments” at this year's Nuits sonores Festival.

If you’re a fan, become a Supporter: crackm.ag/subscriptions

Live from Nuits sonores: Helena Hauff b2b DJ MELL G

Have I been to Amara? Like anyone who has, I’ve no way of knowing for sure. 

I am told she is wrapped in a blue-grey fog that extends like an aura for miles in all directions. As certain kinds of fog have a way of doing, it only makes itself known to you when you are already well within its grasp. At best, the traveller may remember entering and exiting the hazy periphery of this city, but whatever comes to pass within is impossible to recall, and one can only recognize signs in the traces it leaves behind in the mind and body. This may be as subtle as a change in the way you speak, as disquieting as an unaccountable bruise or scrape on the skin, or as drastic as a sudden change in the length of your hair. 

Recently, lovers have told me that my way in bed has somehow changed, that the color of my eyes has grown cooler and softer. Flavors that I once detested are now among my most cherished. Certain objects or images — a marble figurine, a drop of blood hanging from a small cut on my finger, a glass bowl shot through with broken sunlight — have stirred up in me the faintest and most curious ecstasy. It is as though, by some association conjured in these moments, I behold not a memory in itself but the effects it has on everything around it, the lines of sentiment that ripple across the waters of my mind from the invisible impression of an unknown stone.

A city will change you, slowly in time, in ways you may not notice as they set in. But what if the city that changes you is not so much a place as a strange and beautiful void, one that quietly haunts the heart, and from which no memory can escape?

Words: Devon Hansen
Image: Mike Midnight

Invisible Cities II:  ​🇦​​🇲​​🇦​​🇷​​🇦​

We’re so thrilled to publish this incredible recording of one of the most beautiful and healing memories on the subglow dancefloor — NM DJ’s set artfully descended from 160bpm into a soulful mid tempo deepness that feels increasingly rare on Berlin dancefloors — inciting warmth, heavenly groove, and many tears along the way. 

"The DJs Ceci has booked often leave me awestruck, especially when I hear a paradigm of mixing that feels more like sculpting: sound is made almost visibly malleable, without clear borders of where one track ends and another begins, and reality in that nightclub is warped, refolded, churned. I’m more basic I guess – I’m just a girl who loves her deep cuts and her vocals. And what defines “deep”? To me it’s a track’s capacity to hold both abstraction (spatial, textural, tonal) and soul, regardless of genre. If a door to the divine could be hinged in it, then it’s deep. At the end of a party, if the floor was hot, my mind is already so bent and the body so broken, that’s all I want. Or, as D’Bora Rivers sings in the canonical “Ncameu” that ends the set, “something strong and sweet, like honey in my drink…”

-- NM DJ @tabloidpress

subglow/Live 8: NM DJ @ subglow anniversary

Merry yuletide people! This show was originally aired on December 21st 2025 as a Christmas Special. Not necessarily regular Jungletrain fare, but def worth a visit.. and it's for free. So don't look a gift raindeer in the mouth and be a good cheer, wear your new clothes before the Christmas cat gets you and you'll be eating stale gingerbread men with the Gringe. But equally, if that's your thing, anyways,  what I mean to say is whether you are spending the holidays with loved ones or are making merry all by yourself, I wish you a good one!
And if you haven''t yet made up your mind about New Years plans and happen to be in the Tilburg area, come down to the Hall Of Fame where I will be kicking down the doors of the new year playing a decidedly more ravey set x 100 on the godly sounding soundsystem otherwise known as Krackfree <3
x
1. DJ Plant Texture – Gargantuans
2. Mercy System – Beta
3. JD. REID - leaf (w/ Hagan)
4. Glaesha - Arka Will Know 
5. Shanti Celeste – Lights
6. Cortese – Arcade
7. LIQUID - Sweet Harmony (original mix)
8. SPECIAL REQUEST -  TURNING POINT 
9. Theorist - Xchange 
10. Gat Decor - Passion (Hartta Edit) [DDTXFDL003]
11. Candyfloss - Brighton Rock remix
12. Miles Davis - So What
13. Etch - Dreamgroove 
14. Cesco, Douvelle19 & Sylla - Finders Keepers
15. Etch – Scattah
16. Boxcutter – Brood
17. Swimful – Backwards
18. Fear of Silence – Turbulence
19. Endrew- [360]Breeze
20. Djrum- A Tune For Us
21. Skee Mask- Persona 5 - Beneath the Mask (Refix)
22. DJ Pirna- Where you are, is not who you are 
23. DJ Pirna- t Smells Like Bootyhole on Mars...Bring me Back to Earth!
24. Andy Smith- G20 Rioters Storm RBS 01 April 09
25. DJ Tankard- Home Planet Tek
26. Ghetto Henry- Seven Dirty Words
27. Jensen Interceptor -  Bubble Boy
28. Aux 88 – I need to Freak 
29. I-F – Theme From PACK
30. Aphex Twin – 1st
31. LTJ Bukem - Atlantis ( Phillip D Kick footwork edit)
32. Ciel- memento mori
33. Rizla Ops- [Braket]
34. GANZ- if u nu
35. Khadija Al Hanafi- Always Treat U RiTE
36. Archetype- Network
37. Oyubi- somthing they said
38. Sekklow - You Can't Hide
39. Objekt- Strays
40. Ricky Force- Make It Right (Dead Mans Chests Raw 94 Remix)
41. FBD Project- She's So (Revisited)
42. Death Is Not The End- Damn Best Night Out
43. Sub Nation- Scotty III
44. Dub & Wheel- So Long
45. DEK ZAK - WILD WILD EAST 
46. Midlife Crisis - Choked Beats (Tim Reaper Remix)

The Ghost of Christmas Presents - The Xmas Easter Egg Nog Special

Tracklist + Q&A: https://mixmag.net/feature/the-mix-089-dopplereffekt-detroit-dj-duo-drexciya-tresor-interview

Detroit duo @dopplereffektofficial go interstellar.

"This collection of musical pieces was arranged to demonstrate the diverse spectrum of aesthetic and styles of electronic music and textures. The objective: a higher dimensional experience, a stellar gate," say Dopplereffekt.

Tracklist + Q&A

The Mix 089: Dopplereffekt

With the eigth episode of our SoundSculptors live set series, we feature our label head @polygonia with a fast paced journey which she performed at @thecravefestival in summer 2025. It is lovely to see another side of the multi faceted artist's live aspect where she explores tooly, driving yet trippy and playful realms. We are fascinated how she never loses her signature sound, but still manages to dive into different moods. Our special appreciation goes to the cheekiness and rawness of this set which sticks out especially in this faster tempo range. 

--

More about Polygonia

Polygonia represents a multidisciplinary music and art project conceived by Lindsey Wang from Munich, Germany.
Her deep background in acoustic instruments and interest in cultural diversity fuel her artistic process, which she expresses through the medium of electronic music and digital art.
Polygonia's sonic landscape exudes an organic, mystical quality, characterized by ingenious yet irresistible rhythms. 
Her musical palette flows between various shades of groovy, trippy Techno, Breakbeat, Bass Music and Grey Area, while also incorporating elements of House, Electro, Ambient and other genres.
Nature serves as a key source of inspiration for many of her works. 
Polygonia reveals different musical facets in her DJ and live sets, adapting to the time of day and the atmosphere. Her performances range from intense body music and emotional interludes to powerful, bass-heavy moments, creating dynamic narratives.
In 2018, she co-founded the collective and label IO with fellow artists Dycide and MTRL. In 2021, Polygonia formed the band project Lyder with Niklas Bühler and Moritz Stahl, fusing jazz and electronic sounds. She then established her own label, QEONE, in July 2022, and began collaborating with jazz drummer Simon Popp in 2023.

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Follow Polygonia
https://soundcloud.com/polygonia
https://www.instagram.com/_polygonia_/
https://ra.co/dj/polygonia
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8CDHu4Ip9k9bov3kr-M6iQ
https://polygonia.bandcamp.com/

SoundSculptors No 8 - Polygonia 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦

Leuvert 1

TV‑99‑AD represents a distinctly Dutch voice in electronic music: precise but playful, thoughtful but never sterile. From their early work on Eevo Lute to recent appearances on Móatún 7 and soon on Form@, the trio continues to explore the edges of techno, ambient, and IDM with a quietly consistent touch.

Leuvert 1

TV-99-AD

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