@richard-akingbehin

www.wakinglife.pt
19 - 24 June 2024

📸 kieran behan

Richard Akingbehin at Praia - Waking Life '23

naffcast005 comes from B. McQueen, who also has a record coming out on naff later this year. 

From the artist :

B. McQueen’s cocktail of recent vinyl purchases (except for a forthcoming Priori collab) from Paris shops like Syncrophone and Dizonord, and a discogs seller in the UK. Wafty 120 bits, some playful some deep, recorded in Paris on a sunny day in a flat with no sunlight.

naffcast005 ⦾ ───── ⋆⋅ ☆ B. McQueen ☆⋅⋆ ─────

@richard-akingbehin

Q&A ------> https://pipipi.life/mix/richardakingbehin/ <----------

Richard Akingbehin - 8˚C

A rare club mix from the ever-evolving artist, with 90 minutes of shadowy, atmospheric pressure.

Music's therapeutic value is often linked to relaxation—gongs, singing bowls and the like. Dense passages of foggy droning and eerie static aren't traditionally considered restorative, but Laurel Halo makes a pretty good case for it.

The Detroit-born, Los Angeles-based musician's abstract, often improvised productions are heavy on sound design and emotional climax. Driven by atmosphere rather than rhythm, they push listeners to grapple with their innermost insecurities, fears and dreams. "I'm lucky my music has helped people through crises," Halo once told Discwoman. It's easy to see why.

Since her 2010 debut King Felix, Halo has built a stunningly diverse catalogue of classically-informed records. A multi-instrumentalist—piano, violin, guitar, keys—her sharpest instrument is arrangement. Inspired by the surrealism of Italo Calvino and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, her releases, from Atlas to Behind The Green Door, unfold with slow-burning narrative and dense emotional weight. Her soundworlds are layered and labyrinthine—an architectonic space where self-reflection happens almost by force.

Even in the club, the sought-after composer excels in immersion. Her sets extend the expressionist palette of her records, trading traditional rhythm for tension, space and surprise. It’s no wonder she takes a genre-agnostic approach to the dance floor—her deep roots in freeform radio began at WCBN-FM in Michigan, followed by Berlin Community Radio, Rinse FM, and now a regular show on NTS.

RA.992 stitches foggy ambient loops, propulsive techno, mutant percussion and heady left turns with care. Tracks from DJ Rush, Octave One and Eddie Fowlkes nod to her Midwestern heritage, balanced out by deeper, psychedelic fare from the likes of Polygonia and Cousin. It's the mark of an artist revealing both deep curiosity and a precise hand as a selector. Rare, indeed.

@laurelhalo

Find the full interview at ra.co/podcast/992

RA.992 Laurel Halo

Blitz Live : Richard Akingbehin : 22/03/2025

Richard Akingbehin – the tasteful selector known for his engrossing, soothing soundscapes and the driving force behind Berlin’s Refuge Worldwide and Kynant Records – made his Blitz debut in late March 2025, playing alongside DVS1 and Ogazón. A night shaped by deep cuts, subtle shifts and tactile Techno!

We’re pleased to share a recording of the first half of his opening set – and took the chance to ask Richard a few questions about the night, too: find them in our Blitz Magazine:

https://www.blitz.club/2025/06/11/blitz-live-richard-akingbehin/

Listen to the recording here – and don’t forget to follow Richard to stay updated on his upcoming sets and projects.

https://www.instagram.com/richardakingbehin/
https://soundcloud.com/richard-akingbehin

https://kynantrecords.bandcamp.com/music
https://linktr.ee/refugeworldwide

Blitz Live : Richard Akingbehin : 22/03/2025

“At the end of the day, we’re just chillers.”

New York-via-Chicago trio Purelink – @milliamusic, @kind_tree and @raw_silk – record a deep and dub-soaked minimal techno mix for the Recognise series.

Purelink’s name has become increasingly prominent in recent years. The group – once memorably dubbed “the chillout room Backstreet Boys” – have spent the past half-decade exploring the deepest nooks and crannies of electronic music: fourth-world ambience, zero-gravity dub techno, groggy downtempo, baggy-eyed drum-and-bass. Is it ambient? Sure. But that's just part of the story. Call their music what you will, but it’s consistently remarkable, a slow-motion tumble of histories bound together by a shared interest in blissed-out soundscapes. In conversation with Michael McKinney, they speak about about the friendship, trust and chiller’s mentality that guided the creation of their new album, ‘Faith’, out now on @peakoil.

Interview & tracklist:  https://djmag.com/features/recognise-086-purelink

Tracklist & Interview

Recognise 086: Purelink

Season 9 Episode 10 - 07.02.25

It’s peak summer and our very own Private Guy takes us on a deep and dubby vinyl excursion. Let the warm reflections embrace your mind and move your body. 

@privateguy

Kajunga Program SE.9 EP.10 - Private Guy

This end-of-summer edition is about sweat. Sweat and detoxification. It’s about wiping away our troubles, tribulations, and tears, all in an effort to get to the bottom of your heart. Do you remember what’s there? Don't let those clouds distract you for too long.

What better vehicle to deliver this reminder than the uplifting movement of Afro and Latin House, featuring seminal voices from pillars of the genre including Poetic Leestar, India, Masters at Work, and Osunlade.  

"Bloom, beautiful flower, bloom.” - Poetic Leestar, Heart, Mind & Soul

–

- Heart, Mind & Soul - Poetic Leestar

- Deconstructed House (Phase 2) - Dennis Ferrer & Jerome Sydenham

- Phantom Melodies - Chaos In The CBD 

- I Might Do Something Wrong (Osunlade Lonely Mix) - Tortured Soul

- Big Wag - D’JULZ 

- Deep Within (Mofunk 35) - Brazo Wa Afrika

- Stay Together (Funky Piano Mix) - Barbara Tucker

- Get Out The Frame ( Frank’s Street Instrumental Mix) DJ Genesis ft. Necco Red

- I Can’t Get No Sleep (Ken Lou 12 Inch Mix) - Masters At Work

- Caged Bird (Atjazz Instrumental Remix) - Kerri Chandler, NAE(SA)

- Black Woman Cry - Osunlade

- Love & Happiness - Yemaya Y Ochùn ft. India

--
Released August 4, 2025
Art - @dominic.a.tovar

Otherly Love #10 - Tovar

The mastermind behind Basic Channel, Hard Wax and Rhythm & Sound doesn't do mixes. For RA.1000, he made an exception.

Trace Mark Ernestus's path, and you trace the evolution of electronic sound itself. The timeline of contemporary Berlin is unimaginable without him. At first, that meant Hard Wax, the crucial hub that shaped the early era of the city's techno revolution. Carl Craig once said it plainly: "Mark was ground zero."

From there, Ernestus never stopped. There's the birth of dub techno and the near-flawless catalogue that followed through Basic Channel and Rhythm & Sound. There's his immersion in Senegalese mbalax with Ndagga Rhythm Force. Lately, that means Open Ground the Wuppertal bunker that's letting people hear music as never before.

As part three of RA.1000, Ernestus has kindly supplied his first studio DJ mix. As you might expect, it's technically immaculate, but more than that, it feels like a substantial and generous conduit to one of the world's most vital genres.

Amapiano remains underexplored in music media. Publications like our own are still learning to keep pace with the South African sound's global pull, animating millions across the globe. 

You'll hear the range and richness of the genre across the near two-hour mix, from the gothic, percussive stomp of Caltetonic's "Bambela"  to the devotional glow of GemValleyMusiq's "Something Spiritual."

Through all of this, Ernestus has remained understated. He lets the music speak for him, with a quiet honesty that lies in decades of opening doors—creating the conditions for new sounds and scenes to flourish and carry the culture forward.

@opengroundclub @hardwax 
Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/1011. Listen to all RA.1000 mixes, as well as the complete history of the RA Podcast, at 1000.ra.co.

RA.1000 Mark Ernestus

Jam Session with Leo Barreto (Bass) and Fabian Astor (Sax)

c74 test 002

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