Dekmantel Podcast Series

Answer Code Request (@answercoderequest) has long since mastered the art of mixing up the physical the with cerebral. His broken, industrial-tinged techno drums are powerful enough to have made him a long-time Berghain resident, while his harmonic pads make a lasting impact on your mind. While releasing on the likes of Ostgut Ton, Dolly Deluxe and Monkeytown Records, he has also established his own ACR label and never fails to blur boundaries between sub-genres whenever he steps out with a new sound or set. He pulls no punches on this week's mix which is a broad showcase of his ability to thread together many different strains of techno and beyond into a coherent whole. There's everything from transcendental and linear rollers to dubby bangers, twitchy rave anthems blissed out deep space minimalism via party starting piano house. It's fun and functional in equal measure and is the sound of a DJ very much in full flow.

In very loose terms, James K's (@jamesk_1) music operates at the fringes of the pop world. It is experimental and industrial, packed with hooks and riddled with dreamy textures that show off her mastery of synths. She has released it in album form with Dial and Incenso, dropped EPs on AD 93 and collaborated with the likes of Drew McDowall and Stefan Maie, and always manages to imbue her adventurous arrangements with real-world emotions and anxieties. This year she will join us at Dekmantel Festival but not before serving up this week's podcast. It's the sort of rhythmically thrilling workout that has always stood James apart: jittery drum patterns and kinetic grooves that unfold at 100 miles an hour as a barrage of caustic motifs, hypnagogic melodies and hyper-real colours all bounce about the mix. There is an ever-present sense of tension in the way things are assembled - it's as if they might implode or explode at any minute, and it all sounds fantastically futuristic.

Priori (@priori-ties) has always explored a wide range of techno from dense and introspective to more joyous, often against the backdrop of technological possibilities. He hails from Canada and has been prolific since first emerging with two full-lengths to his name on his own NAFF label. They pair dubby undercurrents with crystalline melodies and contain the sort of unresolved tensions that keep you locked in for the ride. This weekend he plays Dekmantel Naarm 2024 but first has served up this new mi for us. Priori says this is the first dance mix he's done in a long time, adding "It's an hour and a half of fresh rhythms and rave sounds that I recorded while on tour in Australia. It features a few tracks I have been playing a lot lately and some forthcoming bits by myself and some friends." In just over 90 minutes he works through a rollercoaster of deep techno rhythms that are firmly focused on the future and flow as fluidly as water.

Mia Koden (@miakoden) first emerged as half of Sicaria Sound but since breaking out alone has established her own musical identity. It draws on her South Sudanese heritage and music from across the African continent and beyond, not least her current surroundings in South London and the city's rich sound system culture. Often operating around the 140BPM mark, she dropped two head-turning tracks ‘Hot Take' and 'I Did’ early last year then debuted on Ilian Tape with a dark and irresistible EP that traverses multiple bass-heavy genres. Mia does the same with her mix for us this week with, in her words, "bass, percussive, 2step, 140BPM, dubstep, dub, dub techno and breaks" all coming thick and fast at up to 150 beats per minute. It's a breathless 90-minute selection of global body music packed with lively percussion, big on low ends and not afraid to get rhythmically inventive while also dropping in the odd playful vocal from the worlds of grime and r&b. Both technically sound and tastefully assembled, it's a thrilling statement from the vital Koden.

British-Nigerian-born, Berlin-based Richard Akingbehin (@richard-akingbehin) is behind many crucial projects in electronic music, and most of them revolve around his exploration of deep and dubby sounds. Not only is he a co-founder of the excellent Refuge Worldwide radio station, but he also runs the experimental label Kynant Record and has some key residencies when not headlining other cult clubs around the world. His label recently released the first new album from dub techno don Tikiman in almost 20 years and this summer the pair will be playing together again as part of a mini tour. Ahead of joining us at Dekmantel Selectors later this year, Richard recorded this week's mix for us in the Refuge Worldwide studio with the aim of showcasing what he is playing in the clubs at the moment. It takes in his signature blend of dub techno styles with music from the likes of Parallel 9, Tikiman, Dialog and Delano Smith. It's spacious and unhurried but slowly ramps up the pressure to get you on your toes and vibing to his ever-warm, supple and minimal rhythms.

AGY3NA (@agy3na) draws on many different things when it comes to the music he plays and the messages he shares. There is an intersectionality to his identity as a gay black man growing up in Germany that informs everything he does from DJing to promoting parties. He has a background playing baritone and percussion, has a degree in psychology and a master's in cognitive science, and continues with academic research alongside his music pursuits which blend house, electro and Afrofuturism in all new ways. What underpins it all is his focus on feelings of freedom and playful rhythms from across many different genres and decades. All that bares out across this week's mix which unravels over the course of 90 subtly uplifting minutes. It's a peaceful selection to start with where gentle rhythms and organic pads awaken the soul before vibe-fuelled house ups the energy levels. AGY3NA unobtrusive, efficient mixing style then works through Afro-centric grooves, broken beats, and worldly percussion which all bring vigour and vitality and leave you feeling high on life.

Dutch-born but Brussels-based Zeta Lys aka Lucia (@zetalys) has a club-ready sound that draws on a world of broken rhythms and heavy percussion. Her influential radio show at The Word Radio finds her head into all new genre pockets around the globe and she has previously stood out at our Dekmantel Selectors festival. Lucia also composes for film and video and techniques from both disciplines inform and inspire her work with the result being music that is rich in dynamic narrative and ever-evolving mood. Her selection for us is prickly and fizzing with fresh rhythmic patterns. Static electricity, warped basslines and distorted synths bring great movement from the off as mutated and broken techno, dystopian jungle and deconstructed club rhythms all collide at great speed. It's an involving selection that combines many different worlds with great control, ramping up and then smoothing out the grooves at whim.

@animisticbeliefs bring energy and innovation in equal measure whenever they serve up one of their electrifying sets or thrilling tunes. They are most at home when on stage cooking up captivating mixes of IDM, club music and drum & bass with smart infusions of influences from South East Asia and a sense of spiritualism that sees all things as equal. Their productions have come on labels like Cultivated Electronics and Pinkman and always push technical and emotional boundaries. The pair will be joining us at Dekmantel Festival 2024 in August and here offer up a teaser of what you might get: darkly involving moods, industrial textures and otherworldly timbres that are paired to a wide range of rhythms and tempos. There is a looseness to the set that keeps your body in constant motion while the details woven in between the beats keep your mind just as busy. From unusual instrumentation to foreign language vocals, this is an action-packed selection for peak-time dance floor fun.

Vlada (@playvlada) has been playing all over the globe since just 18 years of age. Russia-born but Berlin-based for many years now, her sound is defined by a long, winding mixing style and is built on hypnotic basslines that slowly but surely zone you out. That very much comes out in this week's mix which initially locks you into a signature meditative pace but then builds with smart gear shifts and technical mixes. There are acid flashes to liven things up, bright synths spiraling around electrifying techno, broken beats to keep things moving then more stark industrial and metallic textures that place you at the heart of a strobe-lit and floor. It is another masterful mix full of must-find tunes from this ever more essential selector.

@sedefadasi's style is impossible to pin down. Embarking on her sonic journey, she fearlessly navigates her craft through a multifaceted universe of rhythms and genres, captivating dance floors with her everlasting groove and electrifying embrace. The best place to experience this rollercoaster is her own monthly HAMAM party at City club in Augsburg where she has invited plenty of international guests to join her. The Turkey-born, Germany-based artist is also a resident at Blitz Music Club and is set to join us at Dekmantel Selectors later in the summer, but first comes this week's podcast. It launches in seductive fashion with the moonlit deep house of Chicagoan Ben 'Cosmo' D then cruises through smooth but punchy grooves that stay low and bring hints of old-school cool in the basslines, stabs and drum breaks. Adasi's shift through the gears is almost imperceptible here as the pace quickens and the drums grow more physical. That is a testament to not only her smart selections but also to her ability to thread together these sounds quite so seamlessly.

Not only is @theokottis joining our podcast series this week, but early next month he will join the label family too. His new Lighthouse EP is a perfect encapsulation of the Scotsman's style - house, techno and electro fusions with a knowing nod to the 90s and plenty of both physical and emotional impact. It's his first work since a "self-imposed creative reset" and comes after previous outings on the likes of Permanent Vacation and DGTL that have established the Space Dust label and party founder as someone who is as effective as he is unpretentious whether making or playing records. His mix for us is inspired by recent gigs and is made up of tracks that were particularly well-received by the crowds. It's two hours of slick selections cross the house, techno and electro spectrum so, says Theo, "there's something for everyone to dance their way into 2024." And he's not wrong: this is exactly the sort of impossibly groovy soundtrack you want to warm you up and get you going with just the right balance between head and heel.

@poly-chain very much takes electronic much into the future. The Kyiv artist born Sasha Zakrevska uses IDM, electro, and techno as building blocks to construct her own eerie, intense, and atmospheric sound worlds that are as cinematic as they are physical. Her edgy melodies are inventive, and her machine rhythms are hugely distinctive. She has not only written solo albums but has composed for theatre and museums, collaborated with Nene H, and released charity albums for Ukraine as part of her ongoing musical resistance. For this week's podcast, Poly Chain has sent us the recording of the very special live show she played at Dekmantel Festival this summer. It is an absorbing hour of beatless sound that will move you as much as any drum track. There are storytelling chapters to the set that takes you from darkened underworlds to starry cosmic expanses as the moods go from reflective and calming to more intense and unsettling. It is very much the sound of tomorrow, today.

@le-motel is a film composer, graphic designer and producer who draws on his worldly travels to make richly immersive music. It comes detailed with field recordings from remote locations, visual cues from his design work and a mix of the organic and the synthetic and has mixed up everything from jazz to juke, techno to hip hop. As well as running Maloca Records he has picked up props from Gilles Peterson for an album for New Zealand’s Cosmic Composition, has collaborated with Fuzati on Ombrage Éditions went solo into a breaks, bass and grime fusion on YUKU in summer. Now the Kiosk Radio resident arrives in our podcast series with 60 minutes of earth-quaking global rhythms. The tempos are slow to start with but the impact is heavy from off. Lithe minimal drums fizz with dystopian energy and evolve from deep and dubby to broken and intense as Le Motel ramps up the pressure and keeps your body moving in ways only he can.

@loekfrey is a name that now sits up there with some of the most exciting talents to have emerged from the Dutch scene in recent times. It's his unique blend of IDM, techno, breakbeat and drum & bass that has turned so many heads, not least with his Decipher album on home label Omen Wapta which was a widescreen soundscape of varying intensities and tempos. His ability to veer from the intricate and experimental to the hallucinatory and vibrant is second to none as he proves with his mix for us this week. It is a special one that is fully live and made up entirely of his own productions so makes for a perfect window into his world. Inside you will find 60 atmospheric minutes that soon immerse you in cinematic cosmic ambiance and hurried minimal rhythms embellished with ghoulish voices and dark undertones that unite both body and mind. It's a sleek and linear journey defined by the constant presence of a supple and pulsing bassline that transports you to distant future worlds in style.

As the updated old saying might go, life is like a Lydo set - you never know what you're gunna get. This New York City-based interdisciplinary artist has plenty of tricks up their sleeve and a real love of mixing up genres in ways you wouldn't think possible. They have done so across Europe and North America and have a hardcore following at home where they run the legendary X-TRA.SERVICES. It makes regular seasonal appearances at BASEMENT, where LYDO (@lydole) is also a resident, and is a safe place to party for queer, trans, and non-binary people of colour. LYDO's selections for us this week blow open the usual boundaries of techno. It's a mix of contrasts, where barrages of noise and malfunctioning machines are lit up by the most gorgeous melodies. Thumping and heavy rhythms are offset by wispy and light-emitting synth leads as energy levels are masterfully controlled. They build to moments of real intensity before being boiled down to pent-up promise and heads-down grooves. Somehow these sounds are both retro yet future, animalistic yet human, and they are proof that LYDO is a standout contemporary talent.

Benedikt Frey (@freybenedikt) has been on a journey of musical adventure and exploration over the last 15 years. He has made everything from deepest house to bottomless dub, UK jungle to irresistible edits of Notorious BIG. Those early forays came on labels like Nous'klaer Audio and Hivern Discs but in the years since the German has looked more to industrial and post-punk for inspiration. His Fastlane album on ESP Institute this summer blended those vibes with his own take on techno and resulted in his most accomplished and singular work yet. Now, the Lopasura label head steps up with an extra special two-hour mix that peers into the farthest corners of his sound. It is the sort of all-consuming trip that plays out like a mind movie as it works through serval different chapters - some heady and deep, some direct and unsettling, always with great control. Whether laying down electro, wave, techno or serious bass weight, Benedikt Frey is always taking you somewhere new.

African Head Charge is a legendary psychedelic dub outfit who have recently returned to their home label On-U Sound with A Trip To Bolgatanga, their first new album in 12 years. As always it finds the peerless Adrian Sherwood at the controls and joins the dots between what the collective has done before and what they are doing now, all with a distinctly Ghanian twist. The signature drums and chants remain at the core of the album of course, as well as plenty of other thrilling new sonic concoctions on keys, guitar, percussion, strings, vocals, kologo and more. It's the latest chapter in a fascinating story that has already seen them release some 16 albums since its inception in 1981. This week's mix is a deep dive into the uniquely melon-twisting sounds of African Head Charge. Sherwood's mastery at the controls means sound is twisted and contorted, dubbed out and reverb-rich from start to finish. Traditional dub sounds melt away into ghoulish vocal passages, unhinged instrumentals come and go and the collective's signature sense of dark soul and mystic ritual holds the whole thing together in a spellbinding fashion.

@surusinghe is one of many exciting Naarm/Melbourne artists to have broken through in the last couple of years. She has been working behind the scenes in the industry for a decade but only started to release her own music in 2022. Now based in London where she has co-founded the Phenomena label, she has an international mix of influences that make her club-ready sounds utterly thrilling. They all draw on the fact that she is a clubber first and foremost, and one proud of her Sri Lankan heritage. She goes big over the course of an hour for us this week and threads together plenty of body-popping rhythms from dembow to techno to wobbly London dubstep. She drops in several of her own tunes, one of which is unreleased, as are two others from Doctor Jeep and Tom Kami. It's a fresh and futuristic workout of high-octane sound from an adventurous DJ who always brings the party in fresh new ways.

After a busy few weeks having plenty of festival fun, our podcast is back and rolling with self-certified 'rave mom' Partok next up. He's played standout sets at Glastonbury and Panorama Bar this summer and still regularly returns home to Israel to play all-night-long sets. It is there, as a resident at the Tel Aviv club The Block that he first made an impression many years ago. Since then his endless explorations of all forms of techno have earned him an international following. Partok brings his own distinctive party sound to our series this week with an electrifying mix of peak-time fun. He packs plenty in, too, dextrously switching up the mood as he weaves through evocative and emotional sounds that aren't afraid of a tender melody or soulful vocal, but are always powered by crisp drums. From banging grooves and brain-frying synth textures to psychedelic loops and hands-in-the-air piano chords, it's a high-definition, big-hearted selection that leaves you feeling good.

Back from another festival dream, we’re kicking off September with a razor-sharp mix by @mariemontexier. Fully based on the artist’s exceptional vinyl collection, this Dekmantel Podcast is a must-hear introduction to a future star.

Australian Kia very quickly rose up through the grimy after-hours rave scene of Melbourne to make her mark on the international stage. Now Berlin-based, her unique grasp of rhythm is rooted in a love of bass, IDM and deeper techno though she is adept at exploring a wide range of moods within those worlds. She has done so at places like ADE and our own festival and extends her good taste to the curation of her Animalia imprint and its ambient sub-label Cirrus as well as her own original tracks on Nous'klaer Audio. In this week's mix, Kia showcases a colourful and kaleidoscopic take on techno which she says was awakened by an early trip to Japan's famously head Labyrinth festival. It's a hi-fidelity feast of supple rhythms, icy synths and deep space ambiance that unfolds in late-night fashion. The melodies are as delicate as silk, the drums rubbery yet punchy. It's high-paced future music that manages to be as delicate and beautiful as it is dynamic.

Tbilisi's impact on the techno underground cannot be overstated thanks to the work of artists like Salome. Though now based in Berlin, her sound is very much a product of the Georgian scene - heavy, breakbeat-rich techno with big trance-infused melodies and dramatic atmospheres alongside plenty of electro. It has come on the likes of Lobster Theremin and Standard Deviation while she also recently remixed Jensen Interceptor. On this week's mix, Salome Gvetadze folds in all her influences from hard house to industrial to cook up an eye-watering soundtrack that is pure dystopia. It's a mix of brutally distorted low ends and earth-shattering warehouse sounds brought to life by bright synths, shards of glassy melody and twisted metal textures. Though physical and unrelenting, it's all richly layered so there is always a freaky voice to follow or a melodic thread to pull at as you're ever more consumed by the sheer force of it all.

Martyn is the finest example of an artist who exists outside traditional genre boundaries. Ever since the mid-90s, the Dutchman has operated in his own adjacent worlds while drawing on UK bass hybrids, techno and electro to cook up singular rhythms and unique moods. The 3024 label head has always used his platform to bring through new talent, and now also mentors young artists with his own Patreon program. This sits next to his ever spell-binding performances in the club and eye-opening monthly Darkest Light show on NTS, which is a deep dive into his love of jazz. This week's mix is a 70-plus minute snapshot of Martyn's sound, which is as timeless as ever. From the crispness of Detroit electro to the off-beat thump of bass via his deep techno lit up with glistening electronics, it is a perfect blend of body and head and one full of brazen moves. There's a switch to jazz-laced broken beat and low, then the slow wobble of dubstep before a rebuild towards old school jungle that proves this is the sound of a true master at work.

Argentina-born but Barcelona-based, Tunik's real home is at the forefront of the underground. As a DJ, he has a knack for unearthing overlooked records and turning them into hot ID requests. His fledgling production career has already yielded high-class results since 2020, with EPs on My Own Jupiter alongside its founder Nicolas Lutz, and more on Furthur Electronix. Each one is a blend of industrial cosmic sounds, with paranoid atmospheres and low-slung yet mechanical grooves that are both spooky yet seductive and next up is his A New Dawn EP on our own label. It further deepens Tunik's journey into dark wave synths and machine-made rhythms packed with emotion. He goes long on this week's podcast with a two-hour deep dive into his signature blend of house, techno and electro. There is plenty of room for everything from spaced-out rhythms to more corrugated machine funk. It's a forward-thinking selection that always feels like it comes back from the future whether deep and pensive or more jacked up and physical. A superb, floor-facing selection for non-stop dancing.

Quest is one of those new school selectors who have taken the art of crate digging to an all-new level. Italian-born, Berlin-based but having spent time in London working at the legendary Vinyl Pimp, he has long been mining the depths of everything from UKG to outré techno, Italian hip hop to long-lost house. Importantly, he uses those sounds to tell his own stories, often with an air of mystery and intrigue that plays out like an adventure into the unknown. Many mixes follow a traditional arc of increasing energy levels but in this week's podcast, Quest plays with those expectations to build up and then pull back, threading together minimal rhythms then raw and crunchy wave sounds. Twisted electronics lead into celestial acid and the smooth and seductive sits next to the dark and edgy. It's a low-key, low-lit selection that draws from mutant strains of house, techno and electro that are both futurist and dystopian. Quest might be his moniker, but it is also a perfect description of his mission.

@djdanifox is at the heart of Lisbon's underground and a driving force in batida, the sound of the city's Afro-diasporic underground. It's a heavy sound with rhythms influenced by kuduro, tarraxo and Lisbon ghetto, the melodies of techno and percussive layers from Africa. Most recently Danifox has offered up Ansiedade, a second album on Príncipe Discos that explores space, hypnotic loops and rich instrumentation while never straying far from the dance floor. His own talk-singing adds a newly introspective layer to the sound that makes it all the more potent. This week's mix is both a superb batida primer for the newly initiated, but also a compelling overview of where the sound is at right now for long-time fans. In the space of 60 minutes, Danifox explores all avenues from the languid and loose to the pounding and physical. It's a mix that is always on the move as mystic flutes lead into tin-plated percussion, whirring synths melt into balmy late-night chords and broken rhythms become more seductive. As the days are heating up and summer hits full swing, there are few better soundtracks to an afternoon in the sun than this.

LA-based Canadian artist Jessy Lanza has brought dance and pop music together and elevated both art forms in the process. At the heart of her work are her own sensual vocals. They bring human warmth and emotion to vibrant and uptempo grooves and result in music that is both energetic and accessible yet personal and honest. Next to critically acclaimed studio albums for Hyperdub, she has made a fine entry into the DJ-kicks mix series and toured solo from Asia to Australia. Europe to North America. Her latest album is her broadcast and boldest yet - Love Hallucination features work from producers such as Pearson Sound, Jacques Greene, Tensnake, Paul White, and Jeremy Greenspan and conforms Lanza to be out in a class of her own. Lanza brings her feel-good vibes to the podcast series this week, not least with a couple of her own exclusive new cuts as well as one mysterious known gem early on. They add up to a perfect representation of her sound - the first half is a feel-good mix of retro-future boogie, glossy 80s r&b, party-starting funk bombs and many more irresistible moments of pure heat from Brenda and The Big Dudes, Debbe and The Code and Gino Soccio. Things then turn more towards the dance floor with deep house from Frankie Knuckles, bass-heavy rhythms from Addison Groove and a piano banger from Mall Grab. It's just the sort of happy, sunny mix you will be coming back to all summer long.

French-Canadian @mariedavidson_official never sits still for long. She is a Montreal native who has also lived in Berlin, and is one of the scene's most revered live acts but also transitioned into DJing with spectacular results. She makes it all from minimal wave to techno to electroclash whether working solo, as part of the Essaie pas duo, or alongside L'Œil Nu on Ninja Tune. Her own vocals often feature heavily in her work and as well as direct club material she has excelled in the long-player format with several standouts over the last decade. All of that creative genre abandonment is embodied in this week's mix, which is as punchy as they come. Lashings of squealing synths and hyper-speed electro-tech kick things off with real intent and the intensity never drops: there are dark punk bangers and synth-heavy kraut cuts next to pummelling deep techno punishers, more lithe disco and wave sounds and lashings of trance euphoria. What a ride.

@dj-koolt has been pivotal to the rise of his native Uruguayan scene ever since he started spinning in the 90s. Rooted in Montevideo, he made it one of the most exciting places to hear minimalist dance music. Its spiritual home is Phonotheque, the club he co-founded a decade ago and where he lays down his forward-thinking sounds to a devoted and hardcore fan base. The scene Godfather goes big for us this week with a two-hour deep dive into his sound. It perfectly showcases his silky transitions and ability to tell stories on the dance floor. Acid, breaks and techno are the foundational sounds but they are embellished in signature style with plenty of spaced-out designs, a sense of gritty industrial futurism and plenty of avant-garde electronics.

For @fafi-abdel-nour, music is a means of building community. The Syrian-born, Amsterdam-based artist looks to make a better future through human connections. He does so with his own LHBTQIA+ club night concept BUTTS at OOST in Groningen where he plays a free-spirited mix of records with real soul. They come from across the genre spectrum and mix up the old and the new, always with love as the messages and ecstatic sensations in high supply. Fafi has a way of effortlessly winning you over with his smooth grooves, and that is evident right from the start here: balmy house sweeps you up and douses you in positive cosmic vibrations and that sense of warmth never dissipates through faster, jazzier house, thumping euphoria and nonstop neon grooves. Every slick transition turns up the temperature a notch and takes you ever closer to real dance floor nirvana.

"Genre: Not Applicable" says one of Bogatá-born DJ and producer @bitterbabe's online bios, and she's not wrong. She mixes up and blends global club styles from Colombian guaracha to Venezuelan raptor house with high energy and rich percussion on labels like TraTraTrax and is a member of the ECO and Latitudes collectives. She is focussed on amplifying electronic artists and labels across Latin America while herself being on a near-constant tour of Europe's finest clubs. After a long time entrenched deep in the Miami scene, she recently made the move to Berlin. On this week's mix, Bitter Babe takes you on a wild ride through her unique rhythmic world. Everything she plays is defined by big drums, but how they fall and where they take you is always a thrill. You'll recognise hints of jungle, there are nods to techno and flashes of rave intensity but mostly these are contorted in between sounds that captivate mind and body with equal intensity.

Born and raised in New York but now transplanted to Berlin, @gabriellekwarteng has quickly become a Panorama Bar regular known for her eclectic radio shows. The move to Europe widened the scope of her DJ sets which tend to be high energy and punchy with plenty of techno, while on the airwaves she is likely to serve up a mix of boogie, Afro-disco, and neo-soul. That broad approach no doubt stems from growing up in the musical melting pot that is the Bronx, but also from childhood summers - and later a year studying abroad - in London. Add in a desire to champion the classic Black American genres and you have the foundations of the Kwarteng sound. All this is reflected in this week's mix which traverses global genres with effortless enthusiasm. Hefty bass cuts and weighty rhythms build into acid-tinged workouts, sounds of the diaspora spread across the course of 70 minutes and energy levels drop even when the mood changes. It's a great snapshot of a DJ at ease with worldly sounds and the ability to thread them all together into a communal dance floor experience.

London-based Tash LC funnels the sounds of Africa and the Diaspora into everything she does. From radio show host to DJ, label head to party promoter, she shines a fresh light on myriad scenes, subcultures and selections. In the club that might be a mix of Kuduro or Gqom, while on the airwaves you're as likely to hear tasteful Afro-jazz. Her own club nightsB oko! Boko! and Club Yeke - the latter of which also became a label - have championed the sounds of the global underground and earned Tash LC a deserving reputation as a top-level tastemaker. She crams some 40-odd tracks into this week's most lively of mixes. It's an adventurous trip that spans Kylie Minogue edits and leftfield club cuts, and weaves together jungle atmospheres from Donkey Kong with soul-drench rhythms. This is music for the dance floor, the back garden and the car. It is always sunny, has an effortlessly uplifting energy and fills the airwaves with positivity.

CCL (@ccl-url) has many tricks and plenty of surprises up their sleeve. London-born, US-bred but now Berlin-based, they are playful in what they play but serious about how they play it, whether that's head spinning 160bpm cut, "cowgirl-breaks or wiggle steppers." The key for this multidisciplinary artist and former New Forms festival curator is to find the similarities and differences between shades of sound and rhythm and exploit them to spellbinding effect. As a producer, they are no different and have always managed to find fresh in-between sounds on labels like Fever AM and Discwoman. The singular DJ steps up this week with almost two hours of pure sonic adventure. It's a perfect showcase of how they can soundtrack imaginary worlds from humid future jungles to robot dances in the sky. You'll hear rhythms you could never imagine and contort your body in impossible ways, all while admiring the dexterity of the DJ who has threaded together such a trippy trip.

Woody92 (@woodyninetytwo) is a true experimentalist who operates at the fringes of the electronic scene. The Dutchman draws on his interest in graphic design to come at sound from a different perspective. His psychoactive mix of leftfield, techno and minimalism is rare and deep. He has built an international but close-knit circle of creative friends and collaborators who all work on fresh future music for his Omen Wapta label which he calls "a transitory playground for the imagination." In this week's sublime and subliminal mix, you'll hear plenty of upcoming Omen Wapta releases and collaborations Woody92 has worked on with different artists. He says he has researched other parts of his musical self in this mix and tried to translate uptempo rhythms "that reflect a continuous movement into temporal realms - ancient fundamentals smudged and sculpted into a deconstructed landscape full of ancestral constructions.” It's a truly mind-expanding listen that opens up all new pathways.

Dutchman Kennedy (@kennedyams) is a mainstay of Amsterdam's underground. He's worked in record shops, hosted radio shows, thrown his own parties and played the city's best venues as well as further afield at places like About Blank, Tresor and Griessmuehle in Berlin. In the studio, he aims to translate his dreams into music using an array of machines. His grooves dance in the middle ground between soul, techno, house and jazz, with nods to the atmospheres of Detroit and the rhythms of Africa. He serves them up on his own Dream Machine Recordings and most recently collaborated with Amsterdam jazz veteran Han Litz on his latest 12". It brought a fresh dimension to his always cultured music and with this week's mix, he proves that as a DJ he is no less considered in what he does. It is a selection of serene hi-tech soul powered by dynamic drums and overlaid with lush chord work. There is plenty of rough-edged analog jack, wonky acid and deep and dusty techno in the first half before a party breaks out with loved-up disco. A slow descent into more dark and trippy sound worlds closes down a mix that has the haziness of a half-remembered dream you wish you could return to.

@toumbaa sits on the crest of a wave of experimental artists in his hometown of Amman in Jordan. He mixes up a passion for UK rave and various sounds on the hardcore continuum with the traditional rhythmic forms of his homeland. After previous outings on All Centre and Hypnic Jerks, a superb debut EP on Hessle Audio last month has made him one of the most talked about producers in the game right now. His staggered broken beats, hefty sub bass and knack for a catchy rhythm are exceptional in design and execution. As a DJ he is no less meticulous: this week he works through some 35 tracks in 90 minutes, many of which are his own singular creations. They sit amongst work from the likes of Scratcha DVA, Migos, DJ Paypal and The Maghreban in a mix that is brilliantly loose and lithe to start with before tightening the screw and locking you into an all-body workout. In effortlessly joining the dots between the music he grew up with and the UK music he has grown to love, Toumba offers up all-new sound worlds.

Lucas J. Hatzisavas has several different aliases but as Reptant (@reptant_the_lizard) since 2017, he has really excelled. The Melbourne-based reptilian has spread his electro sounds far and wide on always classy labels from Kalahari Oyster Cult to Trust to Craigie Knowes. His acid-laced machine sounds are often jammed out live before being edited into tracks. They are imaginative, bristle with energy and feed into an alien lizard narrative he's built around the project, not least with his debut album Return To Planet X'trapolis. This week we're invited to peer through a window into that otherworldly universe with 60+ minutes of kinetic rhythms and cinematic sound designs. All shades of electro come up from sleazy and ghetto to sci-fi and smooth. Plenty of acid lines weave their way throughout as Reptant slithers from dark corners of the cosmos to strobe-lit dance floors amongst the stars.

He might hail from France but @simocell has always worn his love for UK music on his sleeve. It is no wonder then that his intricate broken beats, bass heavy grooves and halftime techno has come on vital labels like Livity Sound and The Trilogy Tapes. He is a frequent collaborator too, with everyone from Peter van Hoesen to Hodge, but his own signature sound design always stands out. The TEMƎT Music head's Selectors set from 2021 remains one of the most impressive multi-genre showcases we have heard and this week the Paris-based DJ repeats that trick once more. Over the course of 100 minutes, Simo Cell goes deep into everything he has always been about: heavy rhythms designed to move the body, heady synth designs that are intricate yet powerful, and a masterful control of energy and flow which means he can lock in a dance floor whether firing out high-speed juke or teasing with slow and supple dub. It's a whirlwind ride that will awaken every fibre of your being.

@suze_ijo hails from the vibrant city of Rotterdam but her sound is inspired by her own heritage and takes in scenes from all over the world. She is a passionate collector of broken beats, techno, and breaks from West Africa, South America and the West Indies who has made her mark both in the club and her radio shows. She has hosted her own proudly diverse parties and always works to make the dance floor a place of harmony and togetherness. This week, she weaves together a lush array of soulful sounds across the house spectrum. The grooves are smooth and analogue and flow freely as water as emotive vocals, warm late-night synths and cuddly pads all make for an intimate and heartfelt selection for cosy dance floors. It's a perfect way to awaken your week and enrich your senses.

Gamma Intel (@gammaintelligence) is a sonic explorer who can rewire your brain with his left-of-centre approach to sound and rhythm. The Dutchman is a master of contrast between the dark corners of the dance floor and moments of emotional light. He draws on broken beats, acid, techno and electro but skews them through his own lens on labels like brokntoys, Pinkman and Mechatronica. He recently co-founded the Nerve Collect label with friend Identified Patient, and will release his E.M EP there at the end of March. Gamma's love of creative sampling and meticulous sound design carries over into the music he plays in his sets. This week's mix is perfect proof as it twists and turns on contorted basslines and muscular drum patterns. It's an intense and futuristic listen that goes through moments of all-out hand-in-the-air dance floor joy and heads down marching to slick jungle workouts and dystopian worlds of bass. Few DJs can manipulate sound in such thrilling ways.

Swiss pro­duc­er and DJ NVST (@ghettonast) likes to shock her crowd. She thrives on clashing sounds, scenes, genres and textures into uncomfortable new worlds, all of which is a result of coming up from the illegal party scene in her homeland. She works hard to develop and preserve that native scene in many different ways: she is part of the Female:Pressure fam­i­ly, co-runs the French label Big Sci­ence and hold­s down res­i­den­cies on LYL­Ra­dio and Rinse FM. This week's mix was recorded in Le Bourg, a club in Lausanne that NVST tells us has recently been taken over and is working hard to bring something fresh to the scene. The mix is filled with unreleased tracks from NVST's favourite artists and forthcoming tunes from labels like Big Science, Kindergatern and moshtrq next to some of her all-time favourites. It opens with a collage that includes Tamika D. Mallory's 'State of Emergency' speech of which she says "I remember the first time I heard it so accurately; I knew I should include it symbolically as well because it resonates so much with me."

For our first mix of the year, we keep it homegrown with Rotterdam duo @black-cadmium. Mike Richards and Joginda Macnack's artist alias is influenced by two things - their Surinamese descent, and a poisonous chemical which they say is a metaphor for "the discrepancy between one's capabilities and the world's view." Their own capabilities lay in mixing up everything from hi-tek to Detroit tech, London grime to Dutch electro. They have landed on labels like Vault Wax and really open up their collections for this week's podcast. In usual Black Cadmium fashion, anything goes here as they race through rave, bass, acid and club with relentless energy. The mixing is tight and quick as tracks fly by at a high pace but always in a great balance between the mind, body and soul. A jacked-up soulful house cut will lead to a double-time bass workout then deep and punchy Motor City sounds make way for head-wrecking bass futurism. Hold on tight, then, because this is one thrilling ride.

Truth is, we’ve been dying to share this one. PSY X records' @buttechno aka Pavel Milyakov takes on the brand new Dekmantel Podcast. Buttechno's ability to manipulate sound and massage rhythm into new forms is laid bare in this week's mix. It starts off as deep and atmospheric - swampy dub, sub-aquatic bass, funky static electricity - and then slowly morphs into more fulsome body music. It's never less than a warm, elastic take on techno that is stripped back but packed with an inviting and playful charm.

Safety Trance (@cardopusher) is a new alias from Luis Garban aka Cardospusher, the Venezuelan noise-mangler who has spent 20 years twisting together EBM, acid, hardcore, wave, acid and techno. In the past, this moniker has seen him work alongside Rosalia and Planningtorock on tracks from Arca ́s KiCk series for XL Recording, and earlier in the year he dropped his Noches de Terror EP on Boysnoize Records. It found him exploring new possibilities within the world of reggaeton, always with his own textural twist. And that mission continues in this week's podcast which collides stiff, angular rhythms with caustic industrial, acid, rave and trap. It's a strobe-lit selection of head-thrashing electronic music packed with girt and grime. As Garban notches up the tempo things get ever more wild and noisy so that, eventually, you're left completely consumed by the dystopian fuzz. What a thrill.

London-based pair Jack Rollo and Elaine Tierney aka Time is Away are continually exploring the relationship between time, place and power. They do so in a wide variety of ways from exhibitions for the Arts Council England to site-specific sound works, research projects to their nearly 10-year-strong NTS show. Each one weaves spoken word pieces with atmospheric music into soundscapes that physically and mentally move you. The pair's exceptional record collection and ability to manipulate your mood are laid bare once more in this week's mix. It's an escapist daydream where gently lilting rhythms melt away into psychedelic dub with intimate vocal whispers. Indian meditations captivate the heart and mind while lo-fi guitar fuzz lulls you into a hypnagogic state. It's a delicate but powerful world of sound that reveals more and has an ever-deeper impact each time you listen.

@maxabysmal moved a long way when he left his Sydney home and settled in Amsterdam, and his music travels just as far. He is as able to lay it down in the Greenhouse as the Selectors stage, but trying to predict what you might hear is useless: he plays across the board from tripped-out percussive sounds to spacey jungle to via a cross-seciton of forward-thinking Latinx electronic sounds. The dexterity of his DJing is frankly dizzying and this week's mix proves it. Within just 15 minutes he has maneuvered from a heartbreaking lo-fi soul opener to a strobe-lit gabber banger. After that, he slows it down and speeds it up several times. Irregular club rhythms get smoothed out into Spanish trap and there's still room for jungle, bass and reggaeton. It's a wild and worldly ride.

@livwutang has really arrived on the world stage in the last year. The Seattle-raised, NYC-based artist came up through DIY raves and pirate radio and is now a regular at cult clubs and festivals across North America, as well as being booked in for next year's Dekmantel Selectors. Her sound freely moves between dub, Central and West Africa rhythms and a history of Black American music. All this comes out in her widescreen sets, her curation of the Eto Ano label and her hosting of their show on The Lot Radio. The confidence of her selections and ability to shift through moods from the serene to the deep, the energetic to the melodic is evident in this week's mix. It slowly works through the gears from dubbed-out depths to buoyant club rhythms via tribal techno. There is an ever-present mysticism and spirituality that adds an extra layer of intrigue to the body-popping rhythms and it's that which will keep you coming back for more.

Laani (@alanna-henry) is all about introducing you to music you love but don't yet know it. It’s the Londoner’s exceptional taste in all things jazz and Afro, soul and hip hop which makes that so. She demonstrates it with her regular The FullJoy Experience shows on Worldwide.fm and her work with Strut Records, but this week she heads into a different world of sound. House, acid and breaks are the order of the day here with cuts from the likes of Lady Blacktronika, Paula Tape, Soichi Terada and K-Lone all making for a lively selection. There is a classical leaning to start with as lush synth soul permeates the good-time grooves. Celebratory piano chords, peak time house and deeper moments all reflect the sound of a DJ able to play loose, free and with an irresistible sense of fun.

@french_ii likes it heavy. His breaks, percussion, drums and bass all hit hard and it's always been that way since he debuted this project in 2019. Teenage experiences at hardcore parties initially set this style in motion and the years since have seen him hone in a distinctly UK-leaning sound. As a DJ, member of the former Tilburg collective BANGANAGANGBANGERS and promoter of his own events, he is all about high-impact club sounds. Right now, the Dutchman releases them on the Intercept label and brings everything from UKG to bass, dubstep to electro. This week the man born Frank Klick twists and turns through slithering club rhythms that operate above 130 bpm. There is an icy sense of futurism to the atmospheres of tracks by mainstays of this scene like Al Wootoon, Sam Goku, Stenny and Shackleton. A couple of his own collaborations with Ozzy and King of Snake set the early tempo and from there you will have a very tough job of setting still as he works through an array of intriguing face-melters, body poppers and ass-shakers.

@anethamusic's first decade in dance music has been impressive indeed. Much of it is now on her own terms, too - she runs the Mama Told Ya label and agency where she drops her own glorious mix of techno, EBM and trance as well as platforming emerging artists. She is a resident DJ at Amsterdam's epic Awakenings as well as Le Sucre in her native France and Fuse in Brussels. Her "less is more" but always colourful and emotional take on techno is inspired by the fact she is a qualified architect and it is embodied in the title of her recent "Rules Are Meant to Be Broken EP" in collaboration with Ryan James Ford. Anetha's DJ dexterity is on full show in this week's 90-minute mix as she works through many different shades of high-tempo club music. There are passages of youthful and raved-up sounds, stripped-back warehouse rhythms and firing machine music. There are hints of everything from trance to gabber to EBM helping to add character to each track and it's that which makes this such a compelling listen from a new school star.

It has always been a struggle to sum up the sounds of Zuli. The Egyptian sound artist, producer and multi-instrumentalist is restlessly creative and unconventional in what he does. He can do everything from rap, IDM, footwork to hardcore jungle and experimental rhythms, and mainly on Lee Gamble’s UIQ label. He's also done a lot for his native Cairo scene as co-founder of both the Kairo is Koming (KIK) and AHOMA collectives, and former co-head of the city's alternate music venue VENT which later turned into a club night and festival. He's now firmly established in the wider European scene, not least in part thanks to his excellent radio show on NTS. There is no messing around on this week's mix. It's a dystopian soundtrack that unites Arab music, Chicago club, European techno and UK bass. Every track fizzes with energy, prickly percussion or distorted drums. It's intricate yet heavy, dense yet atmospheric and the warped designs and contorted rhythms make an art form of physicality.

Don't let @solid_blake's diminutive stature fool you: she plays with a ferocity and precision that flips Europe's most tasteful dance floors inside out. Born in Glasgow but operating out of Copenhagen, she was a founding member of the Apeiron Crew DJ collective, has produced as Historical Repeater with Ctrls and often plays with Mama Snake as she did at our own festival a few years ago. Her Rinse FM radio show is always packed with new sounds that have you desperate to find out more, as is this week's mix. It's built on bold, body-shaking rhythms that are elastic and acrobatic. They're loose and roomy to start before the kinetic energy builds through jungle cuts, thumping deep techno and unhinged club music. Though squarely aimed at the dance floor, these selections are detailed with freaky monologues or wild vocalisations that bring them to life outside the club. They're both deep but lively and run through with a subtle sense of party-starting fun.

@rhyw's take on electronic music is full throttle and high definition. The Welsh-Greek DJ and producer co-runs the Fever Am label with Mor Elian, where he releases alien club sounds with sci-fi details, industrial textures, cyborg vocals and syncopated beats. His densely detailed output has also come on the likes of Avian and Seilscheibenpfeiler where it goes from minimal to broken beat to electro, but always with plenty of sonic surprises. His "desire to sound different" has really come to the fore since his live Cassegrain project alongside Hüseyin Evirgen went on pause, and he proved that most recently with a new EP on Blawan and Pariah’s Voam label. All of this play out over a kinetic 65-minute mix served up for us this week. It's a lithe and lively workout with sleek sound designs and a future feel from start to finish. Each track brims with exquisite detail while the contrast of heavy drums and light-emitting synths brings a real sense of space. The whole thing adds up to artful body music with natural emotional intelligence.

Nueen has been mad busy in the last two years. The Barcelona-based Mallorcan has put out three albums of beautifully quiet and unhurried ambient. Each one has unfolded with its own intimate sense of narrative and showcased deft craftsmanship with both synth and guitar. The tunes drawn on the atmosphere of Nueen's home island so fits in with what you might call Balearic, but very much on its own terms. They are warm and gentle but underpinned with a melancholy that makes them all the more engaging. There is plenty of that on show across the opening of this week's podcast. Roomy arrangements are detailed with only the wispiest of pads but slowly a rhythm begins to emerge. It's dubby and dreamy and transports you out to sea on a sonic life raft that eventually sinks to the ocean floor. From there you roll along on supple drums, wispy pads drift by and shards of light pierce the surface. It is a perfect soundtrack to slowly awaken your soul on a lazy morning.

Amsterdam's @zohar01 operates from the shadows. Though she has a reputation for mysteriousness, there is no escaping the earth-rattling rhythms she lays down in the DJ booth. Leftfield electronics, distorted vocals and industrial sounds with 90s roots all feature in her sets as well as productions on the likes of Clone and her own DIY Zohar label. This month she dropped the second entry in her highly personal ZHR series in the form of her Object album, a mix of sound experiments, glitchy textures and abstract rhythms. This week's mix is full of similar sonic sorcery and musical black magic. Squealing electronics and fizzing textures evoke feelings of dystopia as crunching drums come and go but the tension is never let up. There are moments of eye-watering density but, just as often, empty spaces leave you hanging before the next thrilling rhythm arrives and takes you somewhere new. Brain and body music rarely collide in such a unique fashion.

Whenever you listen to a Dazion (@thedazion) DJ set or new club track, you can hear how much fun he has with his music. The Hague man likes it rough and ready whether making bleep techno, acid breaks or new beat with whatever bit of forgotten hardware he can find. He's done so on labels including Second Circle, Safe Trip and Animals Dancing and always manages to capture the essence of what made the rave days so glorious while updating it with his own leftfield character. Next up for him is Grooveboxxx, a new album on Dekmantel that pays homage to The Hague’s 80s and 90s club scene all made with just one bit of "entry-level gear," the Roland MC-303 Groovebox. Dazion opens this week's mix with a custom introduction inspired by the old Turn up the Bass TV spots and takes in some jams on that same MC-303 and a serval rips from early 90s rave CDs. It starts rather dreamy and serene before cracking up through the gears to get more weird. High energy rhythms, flailing percussive patterns and bulbous basslines all make for a helluva ride.

@djspit030 is a hybrid master. His eclectic sounds draw from a wide spectrum that takes in drill, ghetto house and drum & bass. In that regard, he is at the forefront of a new rave sound that is high energy and often extreme. His label Rascals Records represents that as does his own music on shows for Rinse FM, the sets he plays at places like Berghain’s Säule and on the Explorers podcast he runs as a means of investigating contemporary club sounds. In the mix for us this week he invites us deep into a world of elastic rhythm and funky drum patterns. The tunes he reaches for are often stripped back and sleek but always high impact, with plenty of sci-fi motifs and cavernous, otherworldly atmospheres. He calls his sound "twisted future bounce" and we couldn't put it better.

As @sleepd, childhood friends Maryos Syawish and Corey Kikos have greatly helped shape Melbourne's underground scene over the last decade. Between them, they have Iraqi and Maltese heritage and put out music on the likes of Incienso, Play On and Cocktail d'Amore Music as well as their own blog/party/label Butter Sessions. Like their expressive live show, it explores "the rave unconscious" so think everything from dreamy pads to driving rhythms, gritty electro to cosmic techno. This week's podcast is a superb showcase of their style: a mix that is constantly on the move, building momentum as rhythms go from elastic and bouncy to more driving and sleek. Percussion is perfectly sprinkled in to give extra texture, while nebulous synths add the colour as the pressure builds and builds. This is physical, psychedelic, emotional, trance-inducing electronic music that follows the familiar arc of a well-executed mix but in all new and unfamiliar ways.

We're delighted to arrive at our 400th podcast with CARISTA (@iamcarista) at the helm. Since winning a DJ competition a decade ago, the Utrecht native has not stopped. She is now a firm part of the European underground who has platformed plenty of talent on her own United Identities label, regularly plays our own festivals and hosts on NTS while also emerging as a fine producer in her own right. She has a knack for digging far and wide and playing anything from soul to house, garage to electric sounds, and she proves that here. Her mix offers fresh and forthcoming music from United Identities artists Conrad Soundsystem and Sansouni, classics from Louie Vega and Kerri Chandler and cutting-edge grooves from Livity Sound. It's a sensuous deep house selection to start with before smoothly moving through the gears with jazzy inflections, body popping bass rhythms and jacked-up percussive cuts. Across one essential hour, it encapsulates precisely what CARISTA is all about. Here's to the next 400!

Jasmín (@jasminhoek) is one of the latest talents to emerge from the ever-fertile Amsterdam scene. Like many of her generation, she is impossible to pin down with genre restrictions. She is bold and adventurous in her selections and has played everywhere from South Africa to New York where she unites club, techno, bass and plenty more with her elastic DJ style and knack for exciting rhythms. During the lockdown, Jasmín kept busy by getting to grips with Ableton so expect to hear some debut productions soon, but before that comes this week's mix. It's a muscular workout that threads together warped bass lines and slithering synths. A tribal element to the pounding drums speaks to our primeval urge to dance while psychedelic sounds wave their way in later as things get deeper and more involved. Despite the very different worlds from which these tracks are drawn, there is seamless mixing throughout which makes the trip all the more hypnotic.

Brooklynite @benbondy elevates ambient to a whole new level. He's done so over the course of more than 12 albums in just two years. Each one is like a dairy - a capturing of intimate feelings that translate into sensitive sounds that are subtle yet moving. He occasionally veers into downtempo and IDM, and has worked on collaborative projects like Blessed Kitty and xphresh. This week's mix is a deep dive into his edgeless world, where half-heard vocals drift in and out, cosmic dust glistens in a shard of light and smeared pads disappear off to infinity. The hazy sounds manage to be both romantic and psychedelic, insular yet hopeful. It is ambient but stuffed with such detail and texture that it plays out with the vivid imagery of a movie in your mind rather than just a soothing sonic wallpaper. Headphones are essential for this one.

A vast technical understanding underpins the work of Rotterdam's @albertabalsam. It allows her to deconstruct norms and rebuild music with her own rules as she draws on electro, IDM, heavy techno, broken beats and avant-acid sounds. This has made her a firm favourite at artful events all across Europe where she joins the dots between outlier sounds while never forgetting to get people dancing, while also releasing on our label, Carista’s United Identities and Tzusing. Alberta's quest to do the impossible, her passion for sci-fi motifs and a love of 90s vibes all shine through in this week's mix: it's a hard-to-define trip through elastic bass and out-there rhythms. Icy and sparse electro makes way for unhinged drum flurries and sleazy broken beats, freaky sound designs sit next to weirdo vocals and leave you wondering WTF? while loving every second of the maverick musical madness.

UK dance music has always been defined by its eclecticism. And few artists capture that better than @yazzus-1. Both her sets and her productions are turbocharged tornados that collide rave, breakbeat, techno, jungle and footwork. They are playful and knowingly over-the-top, take in plenty of bootlegged edits and have landed her on labels like Diplo's Mad Decent, Mall Grab's Steel City Dance Discs and the legendary Hospital. She co-runs her own Rave Litany party and has DJed as part of the 6 Figure Gang so basically never takes her foot off the gas, whatever she is doing. It is no surprise then that this week's mix is one of the most hard-hitting we have had in a while. Everything is turned up to 11, from the fast mixing style to the faster beats. It explores all kinds of techno from bass heavy to twitchy, raved-up to old-school nose-bleed. Later on, there are warp-speed explorations of juke, footwork and club that leave you gasping for breath but desperate for more. Strap in!

For as long as there has been footwork, there has been Jana Rush (@jaru-1). The Chicago-born pioneer started on the decks aged just 10 and was producing not long after. Since the mid-nineties, she has put out music that endlessly innovates within the juke and footwork framework. Her coiled rhythms and stripped-back drums are the vehicles for emotions that range from anguish to empowerment. Last year she dropped her second album Painful Enlightenment on Planet Mu and it was a frank listen that spoke of her struggles with depression. This week's mix is a controlled but chaotic fusion of all elements of footwork from the silkier and more melodic side to heavy jungle rhythms and on through electro-tinged bangers. It is brilliantly hyperactive as it ducks and dives through so many emotions, and it finds Jana packing so much in over the course of an hour that it feels like you have been locked in all night long.

American @tonebnimble has been a vital part of the dance music underground since growing up in Chicago in the mid-eighties. He's one of those artists who has always stayed under the radar but is a firm favourite with those who know, from Sadar Bahar to Gilles Peterson. Part of that is because of the faultless labels he runs which shine a light on both lesser known and more modern soul, disco and gospel gems. First, there was Al-Tone Edits with Al Bum, and then came Rain&Shine which put out eight volumes of Tone's magnificent Soul is My Salvation series. All of these life-enriching sounds old and new are served up on this week's mix in a positively uplifting fashion. It's a glorious selection of soul-stirring songs, funky disco bombs and golden gospel grooves that work in just about any setting, at any time of day. Mixes as irresistible as this are as much education as they are entertainment, and they should really make us thankful for diggers like Tone B. Nimble who work so exhaustively to bring us such high-grade musical pleasures.

@orpheuthewizard is one of the many jewels in the Amsterdam scene, as well as being a regular with us here at Dekmantel. He's one of those DJs who was born for the backroom, a place where his curveballs and oddities make for subversive soundtracks that span sounds and scenes from across the decades. For that reason, he is an ever-popular guest on stations like NTS and can either cast you adrift in the cosmos or lock you in with a cold wave beat. He's in a club-ready mood on this week's mix and it's one that proves exactly why they call him Orpheu The Wizard: it's a journeying selection of intergalactic tracks that bang and bounce in many different ways. There are nostalgic retro-future workouts mixed into brain-boggling trance-techno cuts, rave bombs and bright progressive classics all upping the energy levels and leading to your eventual take-off. Strap in!

Coco Bryce (@cocobrycebeats) is a veteran of the drum & bass scene, but also one of its most cutting-edge artists. The Breda-born DJ and producer is a master of intricate drum patterns and superbly warm and emotive pads. His silky, soulful sounds some with deft vocals and proper piano riffs that are always on the more minimal end of the spectrum, but still make a lasting impact. Next to his own Myor label, he has landed on the likes of Critical Recordings, Lobster Theremin and Fresh 86, and in 2022 alone he has put out at least six different EPs. True to his prolific form, this week's mix is packed with his own exclusive and unreleased tunes as well as gems from Paradox, Denham Audio and DJ H. It adds up to an absorbing hour of stylish and stripped-back rhythms that both float in the cosmos and root you to the dance floor. Lush chords and subtle waves of euphoria permeate the whole mix and make it as emotionally touching as it is physically moving.

@monotronique hails from Kharkiv, which is one of the cities affected most by the war in Ukraine. Before the invasion, he had become one of its most definitive DJs thanks to his residency at Zhivot. That was the platform that helped him break out on the European scene with his brand mix of house, techno and bass. Drawing on those genres, his productions pair minimalism with experimentalism and have come on the likes of Livity Sound, Opal Tapes and Banoffee Pies. This week's mix is an epic one spread across two and a half hours which showcases Monotronique's ability to start slow and build a fantastic mood. Nothing is rushed here as the electronics go from deep and dubby to smooth and seductive. House, techno and raved-up breaks all build the pressure then well-placed moments of euphoria break out to release the pressure before things build once again. It's a brilliantly balanced mix from this essential Ukrainian.

@flore is adept in many different fields. She was Ableton's first certified female trainer in her native France. She pioneers a leftfield take on bass with her own music and heads up the crucial POLAAR label. Her explosive sense of energy and ever-curious mind draws on the fundamentals of Jamaican sound system culture and embellishes it with the new music she is constantly searching for. Across two full-lengths she was ahead of the curve, first with a unique take on bass, and then a futuristic techno offering on 2020's Rituals. Guessing what might come next is part of her appeal. In a little over an hour on this week's mix, Flore whips through 30 thrilling tracks. Almost every single one has a different rhythm, some pound, some skip, some float. There are jungle throwbacks, future club tracks and manic acid cuts that make for a full-throttle ride, but always with a sense of control that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Like many of his generation, @lefto Early Bird has gained a global following because of his radio shows. Broadcasting on the likes of Studio Brussel, Kiosk Radio and Worldwide FM from his base in Brussels, he's become a beacon of good taste whether dropping jazz, new beat, house or hip hop. He manages to make seemingly unrelated sounds make sense in the same context and is just as versatile in the DJ booths of Europe's best clubs and festivals. He plays for us at Dekmantel Selectors later this year and is sure to serve up one of his magic musical melting pots. This week's mix is just that, with a brilliantly broad selection of tracks from Sun Ra & His Arkestra, Kerri Chandler, Synkro and Kendrick Lamar just some of those he weaves in. It makes for something that manages to transport you to a sun-kissed beach, a prohibition-era speakeasy and then a boogie-fuelled dance floor in the blink of an eye. You are sure to be left wondering how on earth he does it all.

For the last decade, the tireless work of Tel-Aviv quartet Maor Anava, Zach Bar, Yoav Magriso and Ariel Tagar has been shining a light on magnificently obscure and previously forgotten Middle Eastern sounds. As a DJ crew and label heads of Fortuna Records, their carefully curated reissues focus on the psychedelic end of the spectrum and give their Israeli homeland the exposure it deserves. Their NTS show is another bastion of good taste and takes in everything from Arabic pop to acid, free jazz to traditional Arabic sounds. This week's mix is a similarly freewheeling selection that is steep in hypnotic Arabic music, transcendental instrumentals and curious grooves. It makes for an intoxicating listen with snaking melodies that lead you down a rabbit hole before loose-limbed Middle Eastern rhythms carry you to the edge of the dance floor and back again. Add in leftfield dub and ritualistic vocals and you have an authentic snapshot of a unique musical world.

For @eliasmazian, music is a time capsule - a form of transport to somewhere safe and secluded away from every day worries. It is a way for the Dutchman with Moroccan roots to express his deepest emotions and connect the music of his childhood with contemporary sounds from around the world. He showcased this with us at Dekmantel Connects back in 2021 and always in the music he makes. He crafts a moody and atmospheric start to this week's podcast with melancholic melody over languid beats. There's then a slow shift to the dance floor before party-starting house jacks your body with plenty of hands-in-the-air pianos and ever more pumping basslines. It's a high-energy selection that wears its heart proudly on its sleeve.

Composer, DJ and sound artist @yu_su is Vancouver-based but China-born and she makes music that travels just as far. It is rooted on the dance floor but with influences that span a wide array of emotions, styles and scenes. From jazz to ambient to organic synthesis, wistful texture to her own multi-instrumental skills, she brings a new style of composition to her work. That was best exemplified on her adventurous and accomplished 2021 album Yellow River Blue which picked up plenty of critical acclaim. Her mix for us this week brings Su's signature blend of dub, downtempo, house and trippy leftfield electronics. She says, "Once again, the story has a start and an end, but you could be anywhere you want inside the journey." She's not wrong - it is a living and breathing selection packed with cultural references, interesting rhythms and carnival atmospheres that is perfect for out door dancing under the sun with music from Pearson Sound, Jimmy Edgar, Midland, Carl Craig and many more.

@kiernan-laveaux is a boundless ball of chaos energy - an adventurous spirit, conducting the binary dissolving forces of our world that are reflected & transmuted through the unbridled passion contained within her DJing. The Cleveland artist's mission is "to channel love and understanding to dancers of open mind and spirit everywhere." Since 2014, her ethos of community building, personal autonomy, & transportative psychedelia has grown to encompass the multiversal creators of possible worlds everywhere, the In Training, Heaven is in You, & Disco Paradiso parties that traversed the wormhole of limitless expression & jouissance together in Cleveland from 2014-2018, & the Motherbeat raves that continue to manifest sporadically throughout our known universe. The music she plays is impossible to pin down in genre terms, but is unified by it's restless sense of ecstatic momentum, dissonant euphoria, & kinetic exuberance. Her 80-minute mix for us this week is jam-packed with a little bit of everything, from peak time and head melting techno to heavenly electronics and Earth moving beats. The twisted rhythms and quick mixing style keep the whole thing moving at a real pace and move you ever closer to a transcendental state of dance floor psychedelia.

@dee_diggs plays with a sense of rapture that can be soft or heavy, but is always fun. The East Coast selector is Brooklyn-based, and that's where her House of Diggs party offers a place for marginalized groups to express and organize themselves. Next to this, she has a residency at Public Records but no matter where she plays, you can be sure it is always with real respect for the Black roots of house, techno and disco while touching on everything from sensual grooves to euphoric thumpers. This week's mix is a seat-of-your-pants selection that is unashamedly party-focussed. The good vibes flow from the first moment as Dee races through passionate house and vocal laced classics. There are moments of all-out hands in the celebration next to boogie workouts and a heart-swelling Mariah Carey edit. It's a quick, tight, and impossibly enjoyable listen from this cultured party-starter.

Peach's DJ bio simply reads: "Ball of energy." And that's exactly what she brings each and every time. The Toronto-born, London-based DJ has made high impact, thrillingly eclectic sets an art form in the last few years having first started to turn heads with her brilliantly broad radio shows on NTS. Her dynamism also carries over into the music she has produced for labels like Midland's Intergraded and Shanti Celeste and Gramrcy's Peach Discs. Peach's signature passionate style runs all the way through this week's mix. From the flurry of jungle breakbeats that open it up to the prickly bass, frenetic club rhythms and euphoric rave of the midpoint, it's an unrelenting ride. The second half becomes more spaced out, with roomier cuts and hypnotic grooves carrying you through the night and into the next morning. @ohpeach

As co-founder of the MNML SSGS blog, Chris SSG was at the heart of dance music's most pressing discussions and cutting edge sounds from 2007 - 2012. Though originally from Melbourne, he has been based between Osaka and Tokyo for some time. It is in that city that he has hosted a number of events while also playing his own ambient, techno and experimental sets further afield around Japan as well as at European clubs like Nachtdigital, Sustain-Release and Berghain. He says of this week's mix, "Half-jokingly I describe my style as ‘big room ambient’. Well, for two years, I did not play in any rooms, big or small. Then, finally I did, again, and this was what happened. This is the recording of an extended extended ambient and deep space session at a chill out party in Tokyo. I tried to play in a way that really captures my approach to playing ambient, moving between different energies and making contrasts, while featuring many of my favourite artists. This was a special experience for me, and I am very grateful to be able to share it with you." And he does just that over the course of four absorbing and compelling hours. Myriad different worlds are explored from textured and tense to blissed out and beautiful, but the whole mix is held together with a narrative arc that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Oliver Hafenbauer is a quietly influential artist who, for many years, shaped not only his local Frankfurt scene but also the wider electronic underground through his work with the legendary Robert Johnson club. In 2019 he stepped away from his roles there and has made his own mark. He is an accomplished DJ who takes his expert selection of house, IDM, techno and electro all around Europe, and also runs his left-of-centre Die Orakel label where artists are free to serve up their most experimental sounds. This week he comes live and direct into your life with a timeless mix of club-ready beats that showcase exactly what he does so well. It's a balanced cross-section of robust four-four sounds that swerve fads and eschew any frills in favour of different textures and bass weights. Some are dark and heavy, others are more sleek and hypnotic, and the whole thing is held together with a sense of energy that makes the 60 minutes pass in an instant.

Over the past decade, Santiago-born, Mexico-based producer @tomasurquieta has harnessed his own brand of noise. His sounds are heavily textured, often distorted, and range from hammering techno bangers to intense flurries of drums and caustic synths. It is protest music that gave rise to his excellent 2018 long player Duenos de Nada and has continued to challenge the system ever since with a mix of futuristic and political, anarchic and metallic 12"s. This week's podcast was recorded on a cold night in Brooklyn and the idea behind it was simple but effective, says Tomás. "I put together some new and old tracks I’ve played in my recent gigs." As such it is a fine snapshot of what to expect from him in the club right now - bold rhythms, dystopian moods and plenty of industrial, ambient and IDM influences. It's a physical selection that is constantly on the move and densely packed.

@biancalexis brings a whole new level to the world of eclectic DJing. Anyone who has regularly tuned into her radio sets for dublab or NTS will know that there is no limit to what she might play. It isn't just the electronic spectrum she traverses with ease, but also soul, synth-pop, folk, post-punk, soft rock and myriad other sounds. She also knows how to hold down a vibe in the club, either at her Standard Downtown LA residency or anywhere else around Europe. Later in summer, she will play at both Lente Kabinet Festival and then Dekmantel Selectors, but first... Bianca keeps one foot firmly on the dance floor with her mix this week. That's not to say it is a traditional club set, but the whole thing is underpinned by a very seductive and danceable groove that is always slowly building. There are proto-house cuts, dusty and analogue 80s rhythms, flashes of acid and breezy, feel-good sounds that send you off on a high. It is a perfect taster of what to expect from this exciting break-out selector.

Experimental sound artist KMRU(@kamarujoseph)is a master of quietness. His music is as much about empty space as it is the delicate field recordings that fill it in. The Kenyan artist has been perfecting this balancing act from his base in Berlin, most notably on 2020 full-length Peel. It's a record of slowly unfolding synth beauty and drawn-out drone mindfulness. Soft focus chords bleed and blend into one another like different shades of watercolour paint and the environmental nature of the sound sources lends it a gorgeously natural atmosphere. For this week's most meditative mix, KMRU puts together an hour of soothing sound in a painterly fashion. It is unhurried but always going somewhere thanks to a gentle underlapping rhythm, expansive synth arc or little hiss of static. What sounds like distant vocal calls drift in and out of the mix which at times is like a recording from the furthest recess of the cosmos, at others the pleasant ambiance you might hear out of a Berlin window on a sunny afternoon.

@shannensp has made big moves in quick time. After teenage years immersed in the sound system culture of nights like SubDub in Leeds, she moved to London and started working with Hyperdub, produced with hosted on NTS, and then took off as a DJ. She has a sound rooted in the black music that exists around the edges of traditional house and techno. Be it kuduro, dancehall, bass, kwaito, hip hop or whatever else, it is always right at the cutting edge. As has always been the case with her mixes, this week's podcast is another carefully assembled collection of diasporic sounds. There are high-pressure percussive workouts and juke rhythms, heavy Afrocentric techno sounds and flurries of crashing breakbeats that lead into acid-dancehall. It's an intense selection that could only be held together by a DJ with some serious chops.

@tammohesselink has always been enthralled by rhythm. He explores the unknown areas in between the UK's broken beats and hypnotic trans-Atlantic techno. Hailing from a small town, he did things himself to start with and soon turned heads with his respected The Invariants label. After that began to get wider attention for its spacious and supple sounds, he went on to become a regular on Nous'klaer Audio and has just minted another new label, Real View Memory. The first EP, Borrowed Wheels, touches on percussive techno abstractions, halftime drum & bass and deep, atmospheric bass. All of that comes out in this week's mix. It is a 90-minute showcase of Tammo's ability to lay down body-popping rhythms. Sometimes they are silky and seductive and worm their way deep into your psyche, at others that are heavy, upfront and smack you over the head. The skillful balance between the moments of airy suspense and dense, unrelenting drums is what makes this selection so compelling.

@adab arrived at a love of electronic music on the dance floor of queer-run techno party In Training in their native Cleveland. Before long, they went on to established themselves as a DJ who plays electric sets of house, techno and club beats as part of a constant quest to "seek the unifying elements in the world and themselves." The Pittsburgh resident and radio regular is now half of Cleveland party Heaven is in You and has an international profile that is only set to grow as they continue to confound expectations with each new set. That starts with this week's mix, which is an other-worldly trip into genre-less electronics. Dense and cinematic ambiance and sound design set the opening scene - it's a world of searching synths and shadowy alien life forms in which a skeletal rhythm eventually appears. Deconstructed dub, club and jungle flavour the ensuing grooves which are heads down and dark. They evoke all manner of dystopian futures and make for a brilliantly unconventional ride.

Vivian Koch (@kochvivian) has real range. For labels like Life And Death, a.r.t.less and AD 93 she has served up everything from IDM to moody breaks, ambient soundscapes to emotive techno. Her most recent album - last year's ominous but hopeful Beyond Contact - was fine proof of that from the Berlin-based artist who started DJing aged just 16. She has since mastered the art of making and playing club music thanks to her residency at Griessmuehle and her own Olympe party series. She very much eases into this week with a superb ambient selection. It's broad in its remit, with the most beautiful and suspensory pieces bleeding into gently suggestive rhythms. The moods, too, range from mind-emptying bliss to passages of hopefulness and even romance. It's the sort of cathartic listen we all occasionally need to immerse ourselves in as a way of resetting.

Tarzsa (@tarzsa_williams) has quickly become a firm favourite amongst lovers of electronic soul. From her hometown of Manchester, she secured a radio residency with NTS and DJ residency with the local Swing Ting crew, both of which have served as platforms for her to showcase her selections. They span hip hop, soul, r&b, jazzy dance styles and can go from laidback sessions to peak time party. Ahead of a busy upcoming festival season, she lays down an uplifting mix to start your week off right. It is built from loose but seductive grooves that take in delicious deep house, seductive broken beat and glowing jazz-funk with plenty of heart and soul to spare. Not only are the selections here electric, but Tarzsa's ability to join the dots between them so smoothly is also what makes her such an exciting new talent.

For American artist @nick-klein, music is a gateway deep into our collective and individual psyches. He explores loudness as a form and "the sociology and ideology that presents in self-identifying music subcultures." He does this with his own @psychicliberation label, we all as with music on the likes of L.I.E.s and Viewlaxx. Next up for this prolific producer is a forthcoming double album - roughly his 15th overall - on IDEAL that will continue to explore the fringes of electronic sound with a bank of trusted modulated synths. Of this week's mix, Nick says, "Happy Valentine's Day! The hour of material here is a collage of releases that have come out in the previous three years on my label Psychic Liberation, or the collaborative installment of releases between Enmossed and Psychic Liberation known as ENXPL. Here you have layers of material that map the cloud of my music listening consciousness. The interior includes artists who have participated on PL since the 2013 inception. Artists like Berlin's Wilted Woman, ENXPL artists Bridget Ferrill or Rene Nunez's Horoscope project, the PL Seoul based crew of Yeong Die, Jiyoung Wi, and Joyul, prolific Iranian brother band powerhouse of Saint Abdullah, and founder of the Enmossed label Glyn Maier are found braided through each other sonically. "While a lot of the work here isn't directly oriented towards the club setting, it could be congruous as an epilogue to an evening's more psychedelic potential. It is interesting to see how broadly sonic aesthetics in electronic music have shifted in the absence of major clubs operating at capacity, if at all. I am pleased to share pieces of what has been in my head as an obsessive listening journey and the process of documentation throughout that time. Thanks to Dekmantel.”

@bjarki is relentless. The Icelandic artist has admitted in the past he is obsessed with making music. And since his debut in 2015 there has been a lot of it - six albums and plenty of EPs, mostly on Nina Kraviz's трип, !K7 and his own bbbbbb label. It is always bold and innovative whether taking the form of a straight up club banger or abstract IDM composition. He has released it under more than 10 different names, and what unifies it all is its experimental spirit. You could say the same about this week's podcast, which begins with kiddie favourite 'The Birdie Song' before slipping into spoken word monologues, ice cold broken beats and twisted rhythms. They unfold at a relentless pace, with quick and seamless transitions from electro to techno to club music immersing you deep in Bjarki's unique sonic psyche. The cumulative effect is like a busy collage; an outpouring of captivating music from an overactive mind.

Sekan (@sekansekan) is, like many of his Dutch peers, known for his eclecticism. He has a particular fondness for exploring the music and artists of the Indonesian archipelago, but also a love for contemporary sounds, both of which are evidenced on his label Jiwa Jiwa. Over the years, it has grown into a multidimensional platform that also deals in photography, articles and films. Whatever he does, including his Operator Radio residency, you can be sure that Sekan mixes up rough edge analog textures with more sleek and modern digital sounds. The first 85 minutes of this week's mix features some of the old and new Indonesian records that have fascinated him since his childhood, but also plenty of dubs, Chicago bangers and club stuff. The latter section then takes inspiration from coming back home from a club to unwind with slow jams, jazz-funk and Polish jazz. It slowly rebuilds and re-energises, eventually leaving you ready to head back to the club and do it all again.

Russian-born Anastasia Vtorova makes music that is autobiographical in style, but also in name. The titles of @machinewoman's tracks reference things like her favourite bouncers ('Camile From OHM Makes Me Feel Loved’) as well as her least favourite genres ('I Want to Fuck Tech House'). The beats themselves bare the hallmarks of the different chapters of her life, from the industrial she was first exposed to growing up in a post-Soviet environment to the late-night eeriness of Salford where she lived before moving amongst the minimal rhythms of Berlin. All this came out most recently in her distinctly glitchy, mechanical sounds and abstractions for toucan sounds with Derek Muro late last year. This week's mix feels like a continuation of that, with spacious after-dark electronics, moody ambient and shadowy dub techno soundtracking a walk through a desolate network of abandoned warehouses. Ghoulish sounds lurk around every corner as the pace picks up, with the occasional ray of light, drip of water or hallucinatory synth pulling you ever further into her world. It's a fascinating place to be.

Roniere Santos was born and raised in the favelas of São Paulo, Brazil. The streets on which he grew up were often alive with music from local rap heroes, funky old school dance legends and heralded MCs such as Proibidão, Primo and Barriga. It is those sounds that inform and infuse the music he now makes and plays as RHR (@rhrmusiq), whether it's electro with a self-proclaimed ghetto twist or techno with hints of grime. After a debut on OMNIDISC in 2019, RHR has self rebased his music which seems only right given that it operates in its own musical universe. The Brazilian invites us deep into that world on this week's mix, which is a 90-minute exploration of broken rhythms and scuffed-up textures. There are shades of everything from club to techno, gqom to jungle as the sounds unfold with a constant sense of movement that keeps you on your toes. Later on, rap and hip hop switch up the vibe and slow the tempo, but your body will keep on popping. This is raw, physical music that shows off a very different side of the Brazilian underground.

@facta & @k-lone93 have been on a roll recently. Their Wisdom Teeth label has seen them put out not only excellent music from Tristan Arp, but also Facta's brilliant downtempo album Blush and K-Lone's recent Zissou EP. Both hail from London but are now Bristol-based and they mix up many of the different styles you'd expect from those two musical hotbeds. Everything from 2-step to Baltimore, post-dubstep to deep house gets distilled into their sets and productions, but always with well-swung drums and high-pressure bass. The pair kick off the New Year for us with a nimble mix that moves smoothly through glossy house depths, stripped-back broken beats and elastic rhythms. There is always a rich layer of percussion, sweet vocal or elegant melody burrowing deep into your brain while the beats keep your body happy. It's a perfectly persuasive listen that eases you off the sofa and back to the dance floor in no time.

@sky_h1 dropped her debut album Azure at the start of December. It was a genre-busting statement that built on all the sounds she has been exposed to since the start. Drum & bass, techno, grime and dubstep all informed the rhythms while her own life experiences contributed to the album's rich emotion. Next to making club music for labels like Creamcake and PAN's sub-label Codes, the Brussels artist has also written for galleries, films and concerts so is adept at making sounds that evoke in a range of different settings. Across her eighty-minute podcast, SKY H1 strikes a perfect balance between potent drum breaks and heady ambient designs. Tracks float through the cosmos then come banging down to earth on a bed of heavy bass. It's a mix that is as well suited to being lost in deep thought as it is thrashing about on the dance floor. Finding emotional nuance amongst such physical sounds is exactly what SKY H1 does best. Find out more about SKY H1 through: https://skyh1.net/

Glasgow's @fergus_clark has a depth of musical knowledge way beyond his years. He is one-quarter of the 12th Isle label, party and radio collective and digs deep into everything from early techno to musique concrete to obscure exotica. Back in 2017 he released a still essential tape on Tasker's 88T label and a thrilling compilation with JD Twitch, Miracle Steps (Music from the 4th World). Both of these releases are indicative of how Clark puts together music with a sense of storytelling, scene-setting and endless mysticism. This week's mix sure does give you a sense of exploration, of journeying through new worlds somewhere in the global south. The music is humid and wet, with tribal vocal chants and digital synths paired with indigenous instrumentation. As you get deeper into the aural jungle, the drums get bigger, proto-house rhythms make you move and you end up at a steamy tropical rave. It is another accomplished and subversive mix from this ever more renowned DJ.

@zvrra is an avant-garde artist by anyone's standards. Her background as a video game developer has a clear influence on the music she makes. That can be anything from industrial to techno, witch house to hip hop, but most often her sounds exist in the intricate spaces in between all that. Her perfectly entitled November album Bizarroland on Avian was a fine example of that, and one united by an eerie darkness that kept you looking over your shoulder. But this week's mix is full steam ahead through a shadowy world of grit and grime. It's a one-hour techno excursion that explores myriad different rhythms from flat-footed to floating, broken to brutal. It is unrelenting from start to finish, building the tension through a mix of texture and tempo, pulling back then going again just when it matters. It speaks of DJ with a unique sense of control and mastery of darkness. To learn about what inspired the mix, how it was put together, the influence of video games on Zvrra's music and about her recent EP, head over to our website to read a quick interview with the artist herself: https://dekmantel.com/editorial/dekmantel-podcast-363-zvrra

@layla-rutherford has been on our radar for a while and finally played for us on the beach at Dekmantel Selectors in the summer. Her first EP came all the way back in 2014 and was an exemplary and delicate deep house offering co-produced by Floating Points. A year later, she returned the favour by providing vocals for his majestic Elaenia album. Since then she has been a regular on the likes of Worldwide FM and NTS with tasteful selections that cover downtempo, gospel, house and plenty in between. Layla recorded this week's all vinyl mix with two decks and an E&S mixer. It is a perfectly homely selection of soulful songs and gospel goodies interspersed with lo-fi rollers from Omar S, well swung US garage and funk nuggets from around the world. There is no formula and no predictable arc to this mix, just plenty of feel-good music served up with love. Perfect.

Standing out in the overcrowded DJ world is not easy. To do so when you're just 17 is almost unbelievable. But that is when Belgian-born AliA (@aliamusicc) first started making people take note of her fresh selections and technical skills on the decks. They were way beyond her years and since then she has gone on to become a resident at Belgium’s HORST Festival and a guest at the likes of Worldwide, Dimensions and Lowlands. This week's mix is pure vibes. It shows off AliA's ability to seamlessly join dots between seemingly disparate sounds: in her hands a transition from lo-fi house to breezy jazz-funk is easy. A lush vocal cut into dark and dirty bass rhythms? No problem. It all adds up to a selection that will be suited to any occasion, from a pre-party warm-up at home to a long drive in your car. Good music is good music, no matter the speed or style, and never is that more obvious than when listening to AliA do her thing.

@mamasnake is at the heart of Copenhagen's blistering techno scene. She plays with a serious amount of speed and showcased that as far back as 2018 when she played for Boiler Room at our Amsterdam festival. But she is also a qualified surgeon, co-founder of Amniote Editions and curator who oversees the release of music, posters, videos and t-shirts. She prefers to keep a low profile and operate in darkened spaces at the dead of night, but with her at the controls, there is no finer place to be. Mama Snake's supple and sublime sound is a mix of sleek techno and uplifting trance. She plays with a tight and technical mixing style and can make you fall in love with tracks you didn't even know you liked. On this week's mix, she charges through kinetic beats and slithering synths that never let up, but never get stuck in a rut. There is always a breakdown to reset the mood, a dreamy lead to take your mind away or a vocal latch on to. They say that speed kills, but when it comes to Mama Snake, speed thrills.

This Friday, @parris_dj releases his long-awaited debut album, Soaked In Indigo Moonlight, on the can you feel the sun label he co-runs with Call Super. The album is rooted in the pop music he loves but characterised by his own inventive rhythms, joyful vocal features and the many different emotions associated with personal relationships. It comes after years of colourful and psychedelic takes on bass and techno on labels like Idle Hands and Hemlock, and marks a new high watermark in his already assured discography. On this week’s mix, Parris threads together all aspects of his sound - there’s restrained bass music, lively grime and novel techno. Each one is skewed through his own lens and served up with compelling energy. Despite the physical results, the dynamic grooves retain the sort of depth and detail that keep your head as busy as your heel.

Pandora's Jukebox (@pandoras-jukebox) is a perfect name for a DJ who always serves up sonic surprises. By day, Yasmina Dexter works as an art director, but in the evening she deconstructs electronic music before reassembling it in hypnotic fashion. Her dead-of-night soundtracks are both trippy and hypnotic whether she is hosting her NTS show or playing as a resident at Cicciolina Paris. Her abstract, slowed-down take on techno joins inconceivable dots between a broad array of sounds and scenes and sounds that leave you enjoyably discombobulated. This week's mix is another irresistible musical mood board from Pandora's Jukebox. Slow in tempo but dynamic with its detail, it unfolds like a half-remembered dream: fragments of melody and a snatched vocal snippet come and go, a well-swung rhythm becomes a bumping beat and shards of percussion fade away into a gorgeous ambient pad, all without fanfare. Put this one on and prepare to get truly lost in sound.

@gwenans' rise through the ranks has always been driven by a love for the music. She hasn't produced any big breakout hit and never dreamt of headlining on a super-sized main stage. Instead, she has quietly honed her craft playing at intimate London parties like Toi Toi and her own Hi Fi, made a successful move to Berlin where she fomented close ties with cultured crews like The Ghost and impressed with her pitch-perfect sets as a resident at London's Pickle Factory as well as the beloved Freerotation in her native Wales. Her sound is rooted in house and techno that is deep and kinetic, but it can stretch way beyond and into a world of leftfield electronics and heady ambient. On this week's mix, Gwenan does what she does best: establishes a groove your body can't resist then slowly tweaks and builds on it for 80 minutes. There are never any big left turns or flashy tracks, just a well-sequenced, neatly mixed and super-tight selection of irresistibly good records. Some go heavy on the bass, some twist and turn on a cosmic synth and some have a machine-made soul that warms you to your core.

Mexico-city based @tristanarp blurred the lines between the synthetic and the organic on his second full-length, Sculpturegardening. Released on Wisdom Teeth just last week, the Human Pitch label boss approached the album as a gardener might approach a landscape: using his array of machines and modular synths he let the music write itself. It's resulted in an album that bristles with glitches, ambient pads, downtempo drums, digital perc and micro-house details that succeeds in its mission to blend the made with the played. With this week's podcast, Tristan - who is also a member of Asa Tone with Melati Malay and Kaazi - aimed to show off all his sides as a producer, listener and DJ. While his album goes beyond the dance floor, here he mixes those styles with what he would play in a club. "Slippery rhythms, levitating environments and everything between these orbits," as he describes it. There are lots of edits, often many tracks are layered up at once and the whole thing plays out with many an unpredictable twist and turn. It's as adventurous and asymmetrical as you would expect from this always innovative artist.

@mannidee finds comfort in vibing off a room full of people who are lost in abrasive textures and high octane rhythms. It is that industrial brand of techno which he has perfected over the years, not least on his new Perc Trax LP, A Low Level Love. It is his second full length after 2018's The Residue on Tresor and shows a marked evolution in his sound. While still defined by blistering drum patterns and caustic synths, there is also plenty of melody and introspection in the record. As much as it is a fresh look for him, it's a fresh sound for techno, too. On this week's podcast, the London based artist goes hard and fast. He pays homage to his love of grime with a blistering industrial rework of a Stormzy track which launches us into a world of distorted drums and tortured synths. The ensuing barrage of sound is coloured with everything from trance chords to club rhythms and lashings of acid. It's a full throttle mix that is always on the move, much like Manni Dee himself.

@airmax97 concocts rhythms and manipulates synths in weird and wonderful ways. His tracks are brilliantly curious and drip with personality while also making you want to move. He layers up textures and atmospheres like a painter spreads oil on canvas and does so with both eyes firmly on the future. Releasing mostly on his own DECISIONS label as well as the likes of Timedance, the multidisciplinary artist works across a number of creative fields from design and art direction to mixing music. Most recently, he has put out his 'Psyllium / Eat The Rich' release on Timedance featuring two highly detailed, sub-heavy bangers. On this week's podcast, he threads together a diverse array of sounds. There are contemporary grime rhythms, heavy bass cuts and stripped-back techno twisters from the likes of Ikävä Pii, Azu Tiwaline and Ayesha as well as plenty of some unreleased exclusives and a host of his own remixes and originals. It's seriously playful and - like his more recent productions - grows increasingly minimal and skeletal as it unfolds, with devastating results.

There is nothing safe about @dis_fig. The Berlin-based artist makes confrontational, unconventional music that harnesses the power of chaos. She initially came up on the New York club scene but was always most interested in the weirder end of the spectrum so moved to Berlin. It is there that she has established herself as someone who operates on the fringes of the dance floor. Her debut album PURGE in 2019 was wrought with emotional turmoil thanks to her own unique vocal work, while the electronics were just as twisted and harrowing. Last year she showed another side to her vocal skills on In Blue, a collaborative album of bass-heavy dreamscapes with The Bug. This week's mix is 90 minutes of fulsome body music, contorting rhythms and exaggerated percussion. The boundaries between club, techno, jungle, rap and bass are blurred as Dis Fig plots a route through them all with great control. Even when tempos jump around wildly, there is no break in the flow, and to end such a high octane ride on the sultry mind nineties r&b of Total is a stroke of genius.

By choice, @mark_seven keeps a low profile. But the truth is, he is one of those low-key but influential characters you really should know. The Stockholm-based Brit is a busy record dealer and online store owner as well as DJ and producer with a penchant for timeless disco and house. He showcases this in his productions, but also via his much-loved Parkway and Parkwest labels which explore both the soulful and more punchy sides of disco and early house. Loosely defined by raw drums, sweet Italo melodies and hints of early garage, this work has made him a firm favourite of everyone from Hunee to Jamie Tiller to Eris Drew. After 30 years in the game, there aren't many aspects of house and disco he hasn't explored. All that feeds into his glorious mix for us, which is in celebration of the 10-year Parkway Records anniversary in mid-October. It is packed with happy, classy tunes and big vocals from across the ages. The crunchy drum textures and tinny melodies, warm basslines and infectious claps all transport you to a utopian dance floor packed with smiling faces and loose limbs. It's a life-affirming selection that will uplift and enrich your soul. https://soundcloud.com/mark_seven https://soundcloud.com/parkway-records

Darwin (@darwinspec) juggles many different roles in dance music as well as she juggles her records in the DJ booth. The Canadian-born, Berlin-based artist runs her own REEF parties at Berghain, and has nurtured a wealth of emerging talents on her SPE:C label. She is also the founder of Clean Scene, a climate action collective that wants to explore a more sustainable future for dance music. They recently authored a stark report about the industry's carbon footprint, which you can read through cleanscene.club/report.pdf. Darwin's sound is rooted in various UK styles, from bass to dubstep, garage to breakbeat. That is evident in the 100-minute mix she lays down for us this week. It opens with thoughts about environmentalism and some indigenous jungle recordings before grinding through chunky Afro drum patterns and supersized bass. The pressure builds throughout, the cavernous rhythms grow ever more muscular as the urge to snake your body becomes overwhelming. It's a perfectly balanced, well-controlled mix that showcases the irresistible power of heavyweight bass music.

Techno has been reclaimed and refined in the last few years. For Ghanaian-American Discwoman associate Akua (@akua_b), that means a deep dedication to bringing forth narratives about the genre's history. It's about original, authentic and rebellious old school values of the sort that Underground Resistance defined so early on. It's about breaking modern expectations with a fresh sense of attitude. Her recontextualisation of techno centres its long lineage for contemporary audiences. All this most often plays out in Akua's blazing sets, most often during the late-night and early morning hours of the clubs around her New York City hometown. They find her transmute 90s nostalgia while connecting the dots between past and present. "Playing fast feels cathartic," she says, "and helps me deal with the nostalgia I have for a time that I never got to experience but remember and connect with so fondly.” This week's mix is a testament to that: it starts with 1994's 'Global Warning' from the late great K-Hand and goes on to cover decades of history at warp speed. There are frenetic layers of percussion and hammering kick drums, bouncing bass lines and arresting rave synths all threaded together into something hugely powerful and muscular. It is only a DJ with Akua's sense of control that can serve up a chaotic collision of sound in such a compelling way. Tracklist K-Hand - Global Warning [Warp, 1994] Voltage 9 - Untitled B1 - Candema [Synewave, 1994] Drax (Thomas P. Heckmann) - Search [Trope Recordings, 1998] Mike Dearborn - Warning [Majesty, 1994] Gene Hunt - Juno 106 [Contaminated Muzik, 1998] NYCO - Plasticity [ESP Collective, 2021] DJ Shufflemaster - 808 Cosmetics [Self-Released, 2018] Mike Dunn - Damn You All [Trax Records, 1994] DJ Powerout - Lift [Synewave, 1995] DJ Slugo - Taris Sleeps Wild [Dance Mania, 1995] DJ Rush - Control Yourself [Djax-Up-Beats, 1999] Fuzz Face (DJ Hyperactive + Woody McBride) - New Ones [Communique, 1996] DJ Slip - Bushwick Birds [Kanzleramt, 2001] DJ Hyperactive - Get In [4 Track Recordings, 2008] Joey Beltram - Caliber [Warp, 1994] Surgeon - THX-1139 (Level) [1996] Creeper - Spoke [Cluster Records, 1997] DJ Jes - True Honesty [Contaminated Muzik, 1998] Tevatron - Molekule [Re-load Records, 1998] Jana Clemen - Momentum [Convex, 2001] Decoder - Populations [Self-Released, 2021] Unknown Force - Internal Drive [430 West, 1995] Bios - Basic Black [Black Nation, 1998] DJ Apollo - Hooligan Stomp [Head In The Clouds, 1996] DJ Genderfluid - Dirty Funker [Wet Trax, 2021] Woody McBride + DJ T-1000 - Test Three [Generator Records, 1995] Fumiya Tanaka - Micro One [Torema, 1995] Max Watts - Ichi 3 [ESP Collective, 2021] DJ Rashad - Acid Bit (Feat. Addison Groove) [Hyperdub, 2013]

@peverelist is one of those artist’s whose legacy is already assured. His labels Punch Drunk and Livity Sound have been at the cutting edge of their own unique musical niches for more than a decade. Fusing their native Bristol’s history of dub, sound system culture and bass, their output deals in endlessly fascinating genre mutations that continue to push electronic music forward. Peverelist’s own captivating rhythms and precise sound designs have always been at the heart of that, bridging the gap between hypnotic techno and heavy bass. And that’s the path he heads down on this week’s mix. The one hour selection weaves a thread through all the sounds you’d find in his orbit - stripped back beat science and Gqom, UK funky and mesmeric dub techno. Always stripped back but never devoid of character, this is physical yet meditative music that taps into that deep desire we all have inside: to move to the sound of pounding drums.

American Kareem Ali (@kmx19) came to dance music late but has very quickly made a big impression. The formally trained trumpeter has a fascination with the cosmos that colours all his music. Over nearly 50 releases he has proven himself adept at making everything from sleek electro to deep house, driving techno to cinematic ambient. The breakout producer also runs his own CosmoFlux label which he hopes will one day become a non-profit that hosts day parties aimed towards young people of colour. In the mix for us this week, he laces together a smooth and seductive set of richly musical house grooves. It is songs that he is playing mostly, with proper chords and gorgeous vocals that always enrich the soul. Ali is a devout man who is averse to dance music's tendency towards hedonism, but his selections here truly uplift. There is a spiritual aspect to what he does that warms the heart and brings joy in a different sort of way.

@cinema-royale is a DJ who plays flawlessly, no matter the setting or style of music he reaches for. As a lifelong lover and collector of film soundtracks, he likes to take the weird and make it wonderful; to make out-of-context moments into transcendental delights. As one of Amsterdam's deepest diggers, he can put records together that no one else can and is part of the core Dekmantel family. In February, he put together his Profondo Nero compilation for the label and made connections between soulful disco, breaks, electro-rap, Balearic, boogie and much more in ways that only he could. This week he takes us deep across a superb two-hour mix. Rather than following the traditional arc of a DJ set, Cinema Royale is happy to pump the party with a glossy retro-boogie gem then pull back to dubby disco vibe. His sounds are always bright and big-hearted, the grooves uplifting and feel good. Like any decent movie, this is a fluid but unpredictable mix that will have you coming back for more time and time again.

@anastasiakristensen has been offering a new definition of techno for the last five years. When she plays, she plays from the heart, with unbridled energy and a rare sense of colour. She can bang out brutal beats then pivot in an instant to hi-NRG synth riffs. She'll mash up old school breaks and bleeps then rave to the future on a wave of electro. Her productions are just as impactful on labels like Houndstooth and Arcola. Yet despite the seriousness of her skills and the intensity of her sounds, she always plays with a smile. The Danish DJ pulls no punches on this week's mix. It seems to encapsulate her every side - peak time festival rave as well as more nuanced back room selections. What unites it all are the drums, which can always be felt as much as they can be heard. Sometimes they bounce under a sparse synth line. Midway through they are raw, flat-footed, unrelenting. Towards the end, they unravel into a flurry of jungle breakbeats. It's not easy to play such high-energy music but keep things dynamic, yet Anastasia does it with style.

Karen "KG" Nyame (@karennyamekg) has been dubbed the “Goddess of Rhythm,” and for good reason. Her body-popping sounds draw from restless African polyrhythms, the high-energy drum patterns of diasporic club music and the boom of UK bass. KG herself is as restless as her music - she works as a presenter on Capital Radio, produces for labels like Black Acre and Future Bounce, and teaches at her own music workshops in collaboration with Red Bull Music. KG continues to twist up the world's many musical cultures with this week's podcast. Although she can at times go dark and heavy, here she tends to draw for deeper moments. There are passages of super silky and vocal deep house, elastic drum tracks and infectious UK funky tunes that are all seamlessly fused together into something with a seductive sense of flow.

There is no way to neatly sum up what @kush_jones does. Part of that is because the Bronx native is so relentless. Part of it is because he makes music purely for himself, self-releases most of it and therefore depends on no one. This year alone he's put out at least five releases. There have been footwork singles, house and breaks EPs, electro tunes and the 13th installment in his tool-y compilation series, Strictly 4 My CDJZ. He is just as flexible as a DJ, threading together Black music from across a global spectrum that can take in the sounds of Baltimore, Detroit and Jersey in the same set. This is exactly what happens in this week's mix. The tempo is high throughout, but that never restricts what Jones can do. He is still able to explore plenty of nuances and shift the mood and groove while racing along at speed. Super sweet and soulful juke melts away into a flurry of jungle drums. Blistering warehouse techno builds to breaking point then club music takes over. It makes for a breathless but beautiful 65 minutes.

"Since I was a little kid I have found a safe space in music," said ISAbella (@bellasalmonella) on her Instagram recently. Nowadays, the Colombian DJ uses music to create those same safe spaces for other people. She is a resident at Barcelona's influential Macarena club, where she runs the Mistress night which aims to empower women and give visibility to the underground. She is also co-founder of MARICAS, a queer night that has hosted parties in Barcelona, Paris and Amsterdam and spawned a vinyl-only label that launched in 2020 with a thrilling EP of house, breaks and electro from ISAbella herself. All that features in this week's podcast, which is a smooth and serene trip to the deepest recesses of the dance floor. It finds ISAbella laying down bumping drums and punchy rhythms throughout, but always with a sense of warmth and positivity. There are heady cosmic melodies, nostalgic chords and sci-fi motifs among the way. At times things feel futuristic, at others, there is a sense of retro familiarity, but it adds up to a mix as stylish as it is effortless.

London's @lorainejames is as experimental as electronic artists get. She doesn't just make hard to categorise music, she makes music for which there are often no words. Depending on your mood, her sounds can suit either full-on dance floor workouts or reflective home listens. That has been the case across two standout albums on Hyperdub, both of which explore vulnerability and identity across tracks that fizz with ideas and energy. The most recent, Reflection back in June, came with snippets of interior monologue. They lay bare James's most intimate feelings while the beats around her continue to act as something of a safety blanket. This week's rule-breaking mix features a number of Loraine's tunes including the unnamed and exclusive opener, plus a flurry of beats from peers like FaltyDL, object blue, Squarepusher and Djrum. They make for a full body workout that twitches your every synapse one minute then sink you into a deeply seductive club sound the next. The transitions from hyper-polished and futuristic rhythms to live jazz drums, or icy dub to glitchy IDM, would seem impossible on paper, but in practice, they are executed perfectly.

@moma_ready arrived on a wave of acclaim that hasn't at all subsided in the four or so years since his debut. The NYC-based skateboarder and musician runs the Haus of Altr label and also makes ambient, as well as films. He has had particular success producing with AceMo as AceMoMA, such as on April's standout album, A Future. As the title suggests, it took in the dustier end of 90s jungle, rough-edged house and Detroit techno, but turned out something forward-looking. Whatever MoMA Ready does, it comes through a proudly Afrofuturist lens, always with unbridled energy and the ability to make you question everything you thought you knew. This week's mix packs an awful lot in. It - of course - eschews the traditional model of a slow build towards a peak-time workout. Instead, the music just goes where MoMA wants, whenever he wants. Even the transitions play second fiddle to the selections, which is fine when the tunes are this good. Some are deep, some are smooth, there are lo-fi bangers and seductive rollers. It's the sound of a DJ going all in without a care in the world.

TSVI's (@tsvisions) sound is rooted in techno but takes in a whole world of influences. Some of it is real - flecks of the Indian classical music he grew up around, bits of traditional Sufi Muslim music from his partner, or the UK funky drums that have permeated his ears while living in London. And some of it is surreal, such as dream states and altered states of consciousness. Most of this comes on the Italian-born artist's own Nervous Horizon label such as his recent Sogno EP. But next up is a new album, Unison, as Paraadiso with audio-visual artist Seven Orbits. It is a project inspired by Italian folk music, noise and ancient choral acoustic compositions, and it focuses on the collective experiences of music that we have all so dearly missed. Across this week's 90 minute podcast, TSVI drags us deep into a world of rhythm. His bold, punchy drums take on all forms from techno to drum & bass, club to dub, and plenty in between. It is thrillingly intense and perfectly physical music that taps into the primeval urge to dance that we all have buried deep inside of us.

Detroit and techno are inseparable. And it doesn't get much more Detroit techno than @terrencedixon. A master of minimalist sound design and globally recognised stamp of authenticity, he is one of the Motor City's most prolific artists. His brand of "forward-thinking ghetto electronics" has come on cornerstone labels like Metroplex, Tresor and Rush Hour and is never less than thrilling. His recent Reporting From Detroit album was the latest testament to that, and this week's podcast continues on that theme. It is made up of all original material recorded on the West Side of the city but starts in an ambient world of distant stars. After those scene-setting sounds come the signature Dixon drums: deep, pulsing, rubbery. They come and go as you voyage through tortured synth tension, suspensory alien life forms and mysterious electronics. It all makes for a storytelling mix that takes you through a portal and into a whole other dimension.

It's hard to overstate the role @bokbok has had in shaping the sound of the UK underground over the last decade. Along with his Night Slugs label and the effervescing eco-system of artists around it, he has been a master mutator of everything from grime to bass, techno to r&b. Pairing thrilling futurism with innovative functionality has always been his MO, whether DJing, working on his own tunes, or producing for the likes of Warp's Kelela. In March he continued to push on with new label AP Life, which launched with a collection of UK drill and grime instrumentals from Nammy Wams. Bok Bok has always been about the club. Everything he touches is designed to make them as dynamic and interesting as possible. Although those spaces remain off-limits to us for another few weeks, this week's mix will transform any setting into a dance floor with its punchy rhythms and Day-Glo colours. Muscular drums remain a foundation throughout, whether getting funky, broken up or slammed down hard. On top of those, the sleek samples and synths bring a subtly euphoric mood - a perfect tease for the big return that is just around the corner.

Dutchman @spekkiwebu likes to take you to moments of sonic spiritualism. His take on electronic music is as a soundtrack to mind-expanding space travel and internal reflection. His Mirror Zone label has become home to some of the sound's best new artists, often with a psychedelic edge. Webu's extraterrestrial selections also reach into Goa, jungle and breakbeat, all of which add widely varied tones, textures and tempos to his storytelling mixes. Initially, this week's podcast is a deeply immersive trip through the farthest reaches of our universe. After spending time with only alien life forms and solar winds for company, sleek techno rhythms slowly take hold. Says Spekki, "Taking you all on a journey to your inner self. Self-healing is what we need in these times. In order to see the light, we must first embrace the darkness. A balanced journey through meditative vibrations on the astral plane, eventually coming back down to the next experience of life. Are we ready or not? Have we learned enough or is the soul still to learn?" You'll have to tune in to find out.

Vale Budino describes herself simply as a ‘music lover,’ but ‘music obsessive’ might be more apt. Since moving to Berlin from her native Italy in 2018, she has spent just about every penny she’s earned on records. Afro, Italo, funky, new wave, disco, soundtracks, you name it, she has it. The diversity of her taste slowly but surely won her the ears of people in the know and she became resident for Discodromo and DJ Boris’ party CockTail d’Amore having already founded her own event, Oscillator. In the last year, she has also become Music director and project lead at Terminal of Babylon, “a performative game and a social experiment in authority, fluidity and chance” hosted in Berlin. A grand and theatrical track opens this week's mix as if it were a Hollywood movie from the 60s before crashing beats take you to the heart of the party. There is then a real sense of occasion to each and every mix. Euphoric Italo sits next to sleazy wave, tripped out cosmic minimalism brushes up with disco rap that is high on attitude. Every track is so full of flavour, passion and energy that you cannot help but react in the most physical of ways. What a ride.

For Sydney-based Dutch artist @nadiastruiwigh, ambient is a way of life. It has always been a vehicle for her to convey memories and emotions in slow, absorbing, drawn-out movements that blur the lines between techno, industrial, and something else altogether. It is at the heart of what she does with IAMBient, where you can book online sound healing or spiritual coaching sessions. It often soundtracks the Twitch channel she runs from her studio, offering live sets, gear reviews and more. It has also formed the backbone of the two albums she has put out on Central Processing Unit and Denovali Records, as well as the new one that is due on Nous'klaer Audios later this year. But she can also do deep, sleek, beat-driven music that makes a physical impact. Her Oooso EP for Nous'klaer Audio in March showed that, and this week's mix backs it up. Over the course of an increasingly intense hour, she layers up pressurised drones and throbbing pads, static-laced synths lumpy drums that are constantly ascending. It makes for a distinctly linear sound; a meditation on rhythm and movement that cannot fail to hypnotise anyone who gives it their full attention.

It's not often an artist serves up a debut album as accomplished and complete as @bambounou's XXX in 2012. His ambient synths and techno rhythms were perfectly formed right from the off. Impressively, the Pairs-based artist has still managed to evolve and explore plenty of new ground in the years since, not least in March with the first release on his new label Bambe. It found the straight-up, muscular grooves of his early work making way for a more restrained and minimal sound, where heady repetition and hypnotic pads seem to bend space and time. It's fair to say that all aspects of the Bambounou sound past and present make up this week's mix. It kicks off in high gear, like a caged animal finally let free into the wild. The synths are nasty and twisted, the hammering rhythms never let up and cacophonous percussion keeps the intensity levels high. The frenetic pace remains throughout but there are occasional moments to catch your breath as tracks are stripped back to their bare bones. Ultimately, though, this is a peak time mix from a true techno futurist.

Marseille's Loïc Bodjollé started out making classic Chicago house as Donarra. As good as it was, he has really found his voice as @cardinalandnun. It's a project at the opposite end of the musical spectrum - a place where dreamy grooves and imagined utopias have been replaced by a much more biting reality. Deranged vocals, tortured guitars and punk synths drag you into a world of raw and visceral sound that has found a perfect home on L.I.E.S. Back in March, Ron Morelli's label put out Bodjollé's Dancing In Evil album, a gothic collection of EDM, industrial and electro from the dark side. This week's no holds barred mix takes you right back to the same place in an instant. Clunking factory automation, caustic drones and heavily distorted drum machines lend the mix a sense of architecture that traps you at the centre while repeatedly collapsing around you. What starts as a collage of short, wrecked textures and busted loops eventually turn into a more elongated techno sound. It is blistered, banging and brilliantly suited to the grottiest rave warehouse you could ever imagine.

No one can deny that @conducta is surfing on the crest of garage's new wave. The Bristol-born artist is a dexterous DJ who jumps from style to style, leaving uplifting grooves in his wake. As a producer, he is just as nimble, and his Kiwi Records label and regular mixes have also helped to define a fresh new take on the classic sound. Always bright, sun kissed and never afraid to take on a big tune or recognisable sample, nothing is off-limits for this classy, party-starting DJ. Part of the reason Conducta is so effective is the quickness and precision of his mixes - there is no time to linger when he is in the booth. Instead, you're hurried along from one bumping groove or darkened bassline to the next, and of course, that is the case in this week's mix. Elements of grime, dubstep, 2-step and the odd cheeky bootleg all colour his tightly woven and sun-baked grooves. The result is a mix as fun as it is fresh, and one that effortlessly highlights the fantastic breadth and depth of the current scene.

The B12 story started back in the early nineties when @mikegolding and Steve Rutter helped define the UK's intelligent techno and early electronica scene. Releasing on their own self-titled label as well as Warp, they turned out cult classics like Electro-Soma. From 1996, they took the best part of a decade off before returning in 2008. To this day, the music remains firmly in the future, with sci-fi designs and languid rhythms unfolding in cinematic fashion. And that plays out in this week's brilliantly atmospheric podcast. It's a sensitive journey through an expansive world of glistening electronics and synth-laden sounds. Rhythms nod to IDM, braindance, techno and bass. As the tempos vary, tender and thoughtful passages sit happily next to more muscular and physical workouts. Few artists get such beauty out of their machines as B12.

Tokyo's @sapphire-slows has her own distinctive aesthetic. The music she makes is ghostly and delicate, eerie yet beautiful. The multi-talented artist plays her own synths and keys and layers her own beautiful vocal drones into her tracks to lend them extra intimacy. This of course means she has toured extensively and released on labels such as Japan's Big Love, Greece's Nous and LA's Not Not Fun/100% Silk. Despite often making and playing music with the brain cleansing purity demonstrated on 2017 album Time, Sapphire Slows can also do more caustic and mechanical sounds, as on 2014's Allegoria LP. This week's mix explores a melancholic and introspective mood, but it is never dark. A range of mid-tempo rhythms set the tempo. Sometimes they're dubby and linear, at others more bubbling and off-grid, while the synths above glow like fireflies or glisten like knives in the sun. Organic bird calls float above hyper-real synthetic textures and the overall effect is to cocoon you in suspensory and meditative sound that feels out of this world.

Gavilán Rayna Russom (@gavilanraynarussom) is an accomplished and multi-disciplinary artist who works in the fields of performance, visual art, film, and writing. Musically, the New York composer necessarily works under a wide array of alias in order to capture the broad range of sounds she makes. From experimental drone techno as Hail of Arrows to acid and EBM under her own name via new wave as Black Meteoric Star, to touring extensively with LCD Soundsystem: she is impossible to pin down. In 2020, she founded the Voluminous Arts label as a home for boundary-pushing artists. She also released Secret Passage, an album of ambient created around her memories of growing up in the East Side Rail Tunnel which runs for one mile under the streets of Providence, Rhode Island. Later this year, another full length is due under her Black Meteoric Star alias. As a DJ of 30 year's experience, Rayna is just as free-range, and she demonstrates that is this week's mix. At over three hours long, it is an epic oeuvre with many different chapters. There are passages of fuzzy, distorted ambient with a muted industrial clatter that take you to those underground train tracks, pieces of sound art that pair spoken word with icy wave minimalism, plus thrilling club, rock, and noise selections that are all coated in layers of grit and grime. Keeping the intensity so high, for so long, is no mean feat. But in Gavilán Rayna Russom's hands, it seems effortless.

Wonja (@wonj) is an elite level record collector. The Oakland-based DJ and producer has been putting together mixes for many years that are filled with music that is hard to describe, let alone to find. From teary-eyed Italo disco to her series of Wood Glass Metal mixes via world music and more club ready sounds, she is a Jedi-level digger who also occasionally produces solo, or with partner Dan as Motoko & Myers. Her main priority, though, is to devour and share as much music as possible. This week's podcast is a two hour trip to the outer edges of Wonja's collection that her partner describes as "hard sci-fi party tracks." It is a wide open and spacious selection where alien details, solar pulses and cosmic motifs all drift by as scattered percussion only hints at the most skeletal rhythms. Nothing about the tracks is at all familiar, and all genre terms are redundant. Even when more propulsive grooves do arrive, the sound sources are wonderfully weird and abstract, yet the desire to dance is as primal and compelling as ever. Few mixes are as full of WTF?! moments as this one.

Jordana (@jordanaofficial) is one of America’s most widely respected drum & bass artists. In that field alone, she has already achieved a lifetime’s success and secured her legacy with albums and EPs. These impressive achievements haven’t stopped her also fronting a goth metal band in her Seattle hometown, holding DJ residencies in London, working in radio, performing and recording with Lady Sovereign, remixing Blondie and scoring the ‘Free Cece’ documentary. Just as important to Jordana as her musical achievements is her on going dedication to speaking publicly about trans rights and Black Lives. As a hate crime survivor herself, her activism is close to home and as personal as the music she makes. Whether producing under her own name or aliases such as Lady J, she has an expressionistic, sci-fi influenced sound that is as likely to sample Malcom X as it is Al Pacino, but is always laden with a raw emotional power. That’s laid bare on this week’s two hour mix, which is packed with drum & bass gold, including some exclusives from Jordana herself. It is an exquisite heart-on-sleeve selection that isn’t afraid of a big vocal or a euphoric synth line, but is just as open to a flurry of hardcore breaks and gritty bass. Because there are so many absorbing highs and lows along the way, this is two hours of music that leaves you feeling utterly exhilarated.

We're all familiar with the healing power of music, but the Motor City's Whodat has made it her life's mission to spread that through her DJing and productions. Always coming at music with a sense of sincerity that carries over into her infectious sounds, she has released on the likes of Uzuri, Meakusma, and Queen Mum's Mail. Always uplifting and filled with life-affirming melodies, her take on house is all about feeling good and sharing love. On this week's podcast, Whodat's smooth mixing style allows the glory of her selections to shine though. Despite dealing with difficult personal circumstances of her own, on top of the pandemic we've all endured, her music never fails to bring joy. There is warm and diffusive soul from start to finish, with scuffed up beatdown, off-grid Detroit grooves and seductive deep house all adding up to the sort of heartfelt and authentic grooves that the MidWest, and Whodat herself, are so well loved for.

@lukid is about as low key as they come. Somehow, he's managed to remain in the shadows despite making music - either solo or as half of Rezzett - for cult labels like Actress' Werkdiscs and The Trilogy Tapes, as well as his own Glum. His style is hard to define and can take in anything from caustic sonic collages to experimental and abstract sound design via lo-fi house and blistering beats. Since 2018 he has also made old school jungle as Refreshers, but whatever he does, it always explores the outermost fringes. The same is always true of his never less than adventurous transmissions on NTS each month. In just 55 minutes for us this week, he serves up a breathless trip through hugely kinetic sounds that could be 30 years old or not out till next month. Amongst the colliding energies of hardcore, jungle and rave he will often drop a pitched up vocal so soulful and emotive it hurts, before racing onto the next flurry of drums. Frankly, it's a high speed mix of hyper real sounds that acts like a double shot of adrenaline straight into your bloodstream. You have been warned.

Techno has always been about futurism, but in Russell E.L. Butler's (@russellelbutler) hands it becomes a vehicle for a more inclusive, communal and positive now. The Oakland based producer pairs their stripped back and powerful rhythms with uplifting sound design to make for music that is both defiant yet welcoming to all. They have done so on Left Hand Path, Mister Saturday Night Records and Spectral Sound since 2015, with 2018's 'The Home I'd Build For Me And All My Friends' album being a particularly standout work that showcased Butler's mastery of their machines. In the studio, Butler is most at home manipulating modular machines and making propulsive techno, but as a DJ they expire wider sonic terrain. That's demonstrated on this week's mix, which begins with dystopian atmospheres and heavy rhythms that eventually break out into jerking EBM, bleak cold wave and mechanical house sounds. It's a brilliantly taught and tense selection with a careful smattering of human vocals that keeps it rooted in an approachable realism.

London duo @sicariasound has reinvigorated dubstep by pulling from every side of the 140bpm spectrum. The pair of Ndeko and Imbratura are longtime friends who have an unspoken understanding when it comes to DJing together, as was frequently demonstrated at their residency for Mala's Deep Medi. They also run their own Cutcross label which can serve up sounds that reference anything from breakbeat to grime, rave to bass. Despite this success - and the news this week that they are to put out Binate, their first official EP - they have also announced that they will disband the project at the end of 2021. Thankfully, we will always have the mix to come back to, because it is a perfect embodiment of their sound. Well informed but never too serious, it takes in ice-cold wobblers as well as industrial strength steppers and skeletal, minimal dubstep sounds that hark back to the golden era. The whole thing is stitched together in a way that shows up the contrasts of light and dark, spaciousness and intensity and ensures you remain fully locked in.

It is no stretch to say that Sao Paulo's Trepanado is at the heart of the Brazilian music scene. His Selvagem party is one of the most influential in terms of the sounds it pushes, and his label Selva Discos is also hugely respited for the sounds it curates. Trepanado himself has also put out a vital compilation for Hello Sailor Recordings that spotlighted Brazil's Street Soul sound of the late eighties and early nineties. As a DJ he joins the dots between those classic niches and the contemporary electronic landscape thanks to his tireless devotion to digging for wax. This multi-genre maestro distills also his considerable know how into a lively carnival mix that oozes Brazilian charm in the bird calls, whistles and Spanish vocals, but also seems to reference UK rave culture, traditional Latin rhythms and throwback house music. It's a full flavour, fully bumping mix that makes that feeling of being in the middle of an outdoor dance floor on a hot summer's day feel tantalisingly close.

Bristol's @giantswan came to dance music after formative years as guitarists in the band The Naturals. This lends them a genuinely outsider perspective which means their music breaks rules the pair of Robin Stewart and Harry Wright didn't even know existed. Coming on labels like Keck, Timedance and Whities, it is caustic and twisted, textured and dense with layers of abrasive sonic fuzz. Add in harsh vocals and unrelenting beats and you have a duo that sits in their own unique world somewhere between noise, techno, experimental and rock. There is no concession to your lockdown life in the mix they serve up for us this week. It is a banging and thrilling collision of hi NRG techno, juke, hardcore and bass that bristles with confrontational energy and raw texture while making improbable leaps from Dizzee Rascal to DJ EARL, Kangding Ray to SOPHIE, SOPHIE to Theo Parrish.

Norwegian-Algerian artist Karima F (@karimakarima) doesn't fit in with the usual Scandi-disco stereotype. After many years of work on her local scene in Oslo, she broke out into the wider European scene playing soul, hi NRG disco, broken house, hammering breakbeats and plenty more. She holds down resident duties at Jaeger Club and also famously runs Schloss records from a defunct Porsche repair shop together with Ida Ekblad. "I want to be traumatised to work," she has said before, which explains her often dark, heads down approach to making you dance. There is a lot packed in to her far-travelling mix, which is every bit for listening to as much as it is for dancing. From the kinked techno rhythms of the first half to the spoken word oddities at the mid point via loose limbed drum work scattered in between, Karima twists and turns her way through a leftfield world of sound that is very much her own.

Former military man and marching band member @jamesbangura is an artist who has roamed the world and picked up musical influences at every stop on the way. Be it drum & bass in Alabama, blog house in California or the rich house sound of New York, this Washington DC native is now distilling all those references into his own searing sounds. They have come on labels like Mister Saturday Night and can range from sauced out to brutally energetic. And the latter of those two is what defines his unrelenting mix for us. It is a hard hitting collision of raw, decaying textures, pummeling drums and stark, post industrial atmospheres that are thrillingly harsh. The rhythms roam from the fringes of techno to the heart of jungle and on to an icy but powerful minimalism that very much consumes your body. So strap in, cause this is one helluva ride.

DJ Autumn (@autumn-bpr) plays various pivotal roles in the UK dance music scene. Firstly, he is label manager at Banoffee Pies Records. It's a buy on sight imprint and network of various sub-labels such as Otaku, Beats, Limited Series and the ambient Sonder Series that plots an always tasteful path between broken beat, garage and minimal clubs sounds from cutting edge artists. Those sounds also characterise his own DJ sets and radio shows everywhere from Worldwide FM to NTS to the BBC. From high tempo intensity to tripped out atmospherics, he's an ever present vibesman who also founded his own Headroom Festival in 2019. His mix for us this week is a stripped back and dubbed out winter warmer. Always oozing a sense of cool and control, it builds through the most cavernous of bass spaces and icy sci-fi sonics towards a skeletal jungle workout that gets you on your toes. The sounds are always rich and soulful so pull you deep into a comforting musical world. And we can all make time for that right now.

BSS (fka @beesmunt-soundsystem) is Amsterdam born and bred artist, DJ and producer Luigi Vittorio Jansen. Over the last decade plus, formerly as a duo but now a solo concern, BSS established a sound with residencies at key Amsterdam clubs and radio stations plus the Opium Club in Vilnius, and with releases on the likes of Hivern Discs and Honey Soundsystem. The music is always about musical adventure so spans a wide remit from lush downtempo weirdness to tropical electronics via proto house grooves.  
 The warmth and sensuality of the BSS sounds runs right the way through this week's mix. It slowly builds through ever more expansive synths and long legged drums to wake you from your post weekend slumber. It remains charmingly deep and hypnotic, with sinewy pads, frazzled synths and soft acid motifs all bleeding in and out of the mix to add detail to the trip. It's as mindful as it is subtly physical and leaves you feeling ready for action.

@cassius-select is a rhythm master. His grooves twist and turn you inside out and contort themselves into bold new forms. Drawing on the weight of bass music and the skip of garage, he has landed on labels like Matthew Herbert’s Accidental JNR and Banoffee Pies over the last few years. The Canadian - who is also one half of SUMAC Sound System - is now based in Hong Kong and continues to serve up killer club tracks with eerie vocal sounds and alien sound designs that make each and every production standout. His mix for us is just as unique. It starts off by skating on low riding skeletal rhythms, bumping on stripped back bass and drawing you in with a rich array of vocal, percussive and synth details. Just as you think it’s all set to explode, the dexterous DJ draws back to a murky world of bass and dub then rebuilds with a more high pressure sound before ending on some blissed out r&b. It’s dark, sweet and thoroughly seductive.

Renata Do Valle (@hellosailornyc) was born on an idyllic island in the south of Brazil but is now based in Brooklyn, New York. Her vast music collection reflects the heritage of both places but largely draws on Brazilian sounds, be that samba, MPB, electro or soul. She also expertly curates her own Hello Sailor label and has a knack for transporting you from Brooklyn to Bahia and back again whenever she plays one of her expressive and eclectic sets. This week's colourful selection is one packed with familiar cornerstones like electro, disco and house, but all reimagined through a Latin lens and served up with plenty of South American flair. Joining the dots between the old and the new, the classic and the unknown, it's a steamy and sunny mix that is perfect for parties inside, outside, online or in your headphones. It's such a sweet and full flavour mix that when it's playing you can almost taste the caipirinhas on your lips.

@khotin has served up a free flowing range of multi-genre experiments since announcing himself with a soft-hued acid album on 1080p back in 2014. Now involved with running Normals Welcome as well as releasing on DFA, Pacific Rhythm and Public Release, his music is united by a distinctive take on melody, post-club melancholy and love for downtempo sounds. He crafts blissful songs filled with nostalgic feelings and is exactly the sort of artist in whom we can all find some sort of solace. And this mix is a perfect tonic for reluctant bodies with its slowly cascading rhythms and soft focus melodies serving as a gentle New Year wakener. It's laced with perfectly dreamy pads and ramshackle drums that are never too forceful but always compelling. While often invitingly sombre in mood, the clouds do break along the way to bring moments of real lightness and joy just when you need it.

@vtss is as fierce and direct as they come in the DJ booth. She came up in Poland's most edgy clubs and since moving to Berlin has been an unstoppable force who has made her always ravey mark on the wider European scene. She's collaborated with Randomer as Body Sushi and with Varg as VARGTSS, and always offers a thrilling barrage of hardcore, EBM and caustic techno from across the ages. It seems fitting that VTSS takes care of the last podcast of the year because she imbues it with the same pent up tension, confusion and unknowing that has defined the last 12 months. Her selections confront you head on and never let up whether reaching for strobe lit rave, hype speed techno or warped broken beats. Controlled chaos is the best way to describe it, so strap in and prepare to cut loose.

MSJY (formerly Miss Jay)(@jockey_jay)has a foot in many different scenes and brings them together in bold, brazen sets. A core part of the team at OOST club in the North of the Netherlands and with former residencies at Noorderling and Griessmuehle, her sonic character continually changes. She often weaves bass heavy sounds, dark vibrations and dense IDM into logic-defying musical journeys that counter the dark dark and light sides of her personality in compelling conceptual ways. Ahead of putting together this week's mix, the artist rewatched the newest Blade Runner and got inspired by the scenic shots. "I tried to imagine what my soundtrack to adventures in that world could look like. I guess you could call it post-apocalyptic dystopian energy with a hopeful end but approachable sound." The result is a cinematic mix that uses atmospheric ambient and minimal drum & bass rhythms to set the scene, build the tension, and take you from moments of thrilling intensity to brain cleansing calm.

@nabihahiqbal’s music is informed by a much wider world of reference than most. The pioneering artist has a Masters in Philosophy focused on African history, has studied ethnomusicology and has experience working in human rights law in South Africa. She has an academic approach to the way she builds her music - and her vital NTS radio shows - that unites strands of sound from all over the world into woozy pop lullabies, late night synth soothers and heartbreaking, guitar licked vocal dreamscapes. A new album was due from her in 2020, but a studio break-in meant Iqbal lost a whole heap of music. The album will now come in 2021, but in the meantime she has given us a snapshot of where she is at with a one hour mix that is truly pan-global. It’s a characterful selection of party sounds featuring pop music and Sade covers, worldly funk and 80s synth jams that sound familiar but are never quite what they seem. This is a mix with the unmistakable stamp of Nabihah Iqbal’s very unique musical identity running all the way through it.

Mary Lake (@marylakeworld) grew up in France, Algeria and The Netherlands, so has also been exposed to a broad mix of music. In recent years she has distilled that into her own often frenetic rhythms, always with a perspective that is left of centre, but never too far out to lose the attention of her dance floors. It was on her NTS show Worshipping Discordia where she first showcased her distinctive collisions of electronica, folk and globally influenced sounds, but since then has become a firm favourite at clubs all over Europe, Australia and beyond. Lake's distinctive sense of rhythm is at the heart of this week's mix. The often stripped-back tracks she seamlessly stitches together have drum programming so compelling that little else is needed to keep you locked. Whether riding up and down on a rubbery loop, skating over busy poly rhythms or sinking deep into more linear and minimal cuts, this is pure, seductive body music from someone who exerts expert control at all times.

@colleen-cosmo-murphy really cares about music. That might seem an obvious thing to say, but even in our own obsessive world she stands out for her devotion to the cause. Initially mentored by legendary The Loft resident David Mancuso, she has gone on to champion the value of the long player with her much loved Classic Album Sundays on Worldwide FM, has written and produced a number of music documentaries for BBC Radio and this year was nominated for a 2020 Audio and Radio Industry Award for her Unfold Japan series. She's also co-founder of her own Lucky Cloud Loft parties in London, regularly plays on the world's best sound systems and has put together fantastic compilations focussed on the New York scene, Psychedelic disco and plenty more. All that means her mix is packed with musical knowledge and story telling sounds. After opening with a guitar-licked strain of deep, chugging electronica, Murphy opens up into a world of psyched-out grooves, tropical afro beats and dub deviations that is rich in ingredients. This is a real listening mix from someone who appreciates more than most that the devil is in the detail.

"Nobody did it the way Earl did," says the Moveltraxx label of the time they first fell in love with this Chicago producer 10 years ago. On December 4th, they will mark the milestone by putting out his sophomore album, BASS + FUNK & SOUL. In between his debut and this first solo album in four years, Earl (@djearlchi) has continued to shape juke and footwork with music on Hyperdub, Planet Mu and Teklife that combined tragedy and ecstasy with hyper speed BPMs. Frankly, the title of the new record says it all, with those sounds making free associations with old school samples and new school rhythms that are unafraid to head off in bold new directions. Whether deep and soulful or frantic and club-ready, it's a record that leaves you breathless. And of course, so does this mix, a thrilling one hour selection that chews up and spits out a dizzying array of drum patterns and vocal samples with carefree abandon. Trapping you in a high pressure loop one moment then lifting you to the heavens on a wave of euphoria the next, it features plenty of material from the new album as well as some classics. This, then, is high class body music that has the power to swell your heart and give your brain just as much of a work out, quite often at the exact same time.

From his online presence to his smooth falsetto, his lo-fi beats to his love of smoking weed, @dreamcastmoe comes across as a super chill, super cool kinda cat. The American is signed to PPU, has put out a couple of well received Lost Tape mixes and recently unveiled his new Lamont EP on Real Life. Drifting through jazz, r&b, funk, soul and house, his sound is fluid, heart wrenching and disarming. It truly blurs the lines between traditional genres while conjuring up the familiar feelings of highs, lows, loves and losses we all experienced on a daily basis. Moe is a lifelong resident of Washington DC. He recorded this mix after the election so it is extra cathartic and features his own intermitting musings between the beats. It features some exclusive dreamcastmoe live versions but kicks off with a powerful 1965 speech on race by American activist James Baldwin. The next sixty minutes remain just as potent, sometimes with steamy r&b, sometimes heartbreaking soul and at other times playful boogie and cuddly deep house. This hour with Moe is like an hour spent with a friend who understands all your innermost aches and pains and comforts you through them all.

@aliciacarrera has been quietly working away in the underground for a number of years. She is Barcelona based after a spell in Berlin, and is a multi-disciplinary talent who works as a graphic artist, photographer and editorial designer all while managing the cult Hivern Discs label and (in other times) spinning weird and wonderful DJ sets all round Europe. She has a penchant for sounds that come from opposite ends of the spectrum - colourful and psychedelic, dark and experimental, slow and cosmic or more hard and techno - and hearing her join these up is always a thing to behold, as are her radio shows for the likes of NTS Radio amongst others. This week, no doubt mindful of the fact many of us are spending most of our time at home, she takes on a far-flung journey through mid tempo grooves and cinematic sounds. It's a mind-expanding trip that opens with worldly ambiance and takes you through a number of wide open spaces littered with sombre trumpets, gently tumbling jazz drums and cosmic drones. It's pensive and absorbing as it slowly shifts through the gears, and is a perfect catalyst for escapism.

Much of dance music might have been on pause in 2020, but not Roska (@roskaroskaroska). The vital underground powerhouse has continued to put out a steady stream of high quality singles both solo and in collaboration with the likes of Syren Rivers, Ruby Wood and Serocee. He collected them all together this summer on Eight Trax, a mini album on his own Roska Kicks & Snares which tells the story of an artist who still finds freshness in UK funky having played a key part in its initial emergence over a decade ago. On top of this, he also assumed his Bakongo alias again recently to serve up his unique take on UK rhythms with the new 3 x 2 EP on Livity Sound, which comes after years of veering into UKG, house and various other mutant strains of bass heavy music on labels like Tectonic, Rinse and Hotflush. This week he digs deep to serve up a podcast filled with a mixture of his key influences and personal favourites. "The whole theme is how genres outside of dancehall have been influenced by dancehall," he says of a sunny selection including material from Sean Paul, Major Lazor, DJ Gregory, Kenny Dope, Karizma and DJ Zinc next to plenty of his now new beats old and new. It's a real history lesson that brings us right up to the present day and beyond.

Mika Oki (@mikaoki1) is an expert in spatial design, whether through the music she makes or the sculpture she creates. The French-Japanese visual artist works with video, sound, and electro-acoustics to create abstract textures and mental imagery that perfectly intersect the worlds of club rhythm and ambient experimentation. In the past she has been behind 24 hour performance pieces involving dancers, performers and poets, has played high concept festivals such as Atonal and Nyege Nyege and recently served up 'As Clean As I Was,' a debut production for a forward looking compilation on Metaphore Industrie. On top of this, she also opened up the Brussels branch of LYL radio and hosted a fundraiser for the vital community station. Her mixes are never less than faultless and this week she crafts one such trip which balances many opposites: heady ambient synth work and rugged drums, busy acid workouts and sparse, bass heavy rhythm tracks, cathartic passages of musical mindfulness with brutal drum assaults. Artists like Pq, Sirio, Low End Activist, Simo Cell, Aphex Twin and Hanz all feature to make for a selection that tugs you in many different directions at once, both physically and emotionally, and for that reason we cannot get enough.

Though she came up in London, @danielle_dj embodies the cutting edge electronic sound of her hometown of Bristol. She traverses styles and tempos with a boundary blurring vision that makes each and every selection a surprise. She credits the freedom that comes with years of playing warm up sets as having given her the confidence to play it weird, and has kept that MO now she has become a headliner in her own right. Of course, her NTS shows are always eye-opening affairs for the same reason. Given where she lives, a certain bass weight will always underpin a Danielle set, and this week's podcast is no different. In 75 minutes she plots a line from sparse and atmospheric rhythmic pulses to full throttle jungle-referencing rave. Along the way she finds a perfect sweet spot between head wrecking experimental tracks, futurist breaks and universally appealing techno that manages to be both muscular yet refined. It makes for quite the thrill.

A master of kinetic percussion and low end bass weight, Hemlock, Timedance and Hessle Audio producer Ploy (@deejayploy) has long been a techno favourite. On his most recent album, Unlit Signals on L.I.E.S., however, he mixes it up much more across nomadic tracks filled with visceral energy. In fact, the record chews up and spits out influences taken from "decades of UK dance" as well as plenty of harder, more raw and noisy industrial scenes. It features eight tracks all with a darker overriding mood, as well as "dishevelled closing hours delirium applied across a spectrum of bpm." That is of course the case on this week's podcast, which is a slippery selection of weighty rhythmic propulsions. As they pull you up, down, forwards and back, fractured percussion peppers the groove and twisted synths weave their way in and out of the cavernous spaces left behind. Whether playing slow and sludgy bass or hard and fast techno, Ploy seems somehow able to warp space and time, and often your mind and body are left just as bent out of shape.

@omolokoo is part of the new wave of artists who are leading the Brazilian scene from the front. His colourful 101Ø party in Belo Horizonte is one the most exciting in the country thanks to its exchange of artists both nationally and internationally. Having lived all over Brazil, his own music is infused with all the various niche scenes and sounds you would hear if you travelled the country, from disco to world music, techno to broken beat. His reputation has seen him booked at landmarks like Panorama Bar as well as our own festival in Amsterdam, and now he joins our podcast ranks with a mix that represents his open-hearted, free flowing style perfectly. It is a selection that perfectly captures an outdoor, sun kissed summer vibe from the off. The funky drum patterns, the tropical r&b, the Latin hip hop all ooze warmth and soul and make for an instant party. As the long legged drums get more upright and tempos increase, the grooves remain steamy and humid and do an expert job of transporting to a different climate entirely. This is exactly the sort of timeless mix you will come back to for years to come.

300 up! And who better to help us mark this milestone than @parrishsmith, a core member of the Dekmantel family for a number of years. Not only a much loved regular at our festivals, he is also at home on Dekmantel UFO when not releasing on L.I.E.S.. Smith's famously full-throttle body music has a distinctive analogue edge whether raw and industrial, or acid laced and raved up. Does that make him Holland's most punk DJ? Quite possibly, because his ability to bring sonic terror to any dance floor is second to none, no matter what tools he uses. This week, he brings his bristling and unrelenting energy to your home stereo, headphones or car with all the disregard for genre you would expect. Across 90 punishing minutes there are distorted techno drums and caustic synths, brightly lit strobes and death metal vocals that will scare you to your core. Managing to keep a lid on such a high octane and confrontational mix of darkened sounds is a skill in itself, and one that Parrish Smith has long since mastered. This one, then, is not for the faint of heart.

Bristol raised, London based Otik (@otikmusic) turned a lot of heads right from the off, and by now he has fully established himself as one of bass and techno's most interesting artists. His always original sounds on the likes of Keysound, Dext Recordings and Midland's Intergraded come with big kicks and curious leads that make for compelling listening. They always manage to be both physical yet emotive thanks to the ambiance around the inventive drum programming. He manages to carry over that sense of the unknown yet the accessible into his always infectious DJ mixes. This week's podcast is a case in point: it's a meticulous piece of DJ craftsmanship that splices jungle, booming bass and skeletal UK techno together into a dark soundtrack that flails away wildly one minute then drills down to a hypnotic groove before cutting loose once more. Off-setting the dark with the light and the intense with the atmospheric in this way is a rare skill, but one that Otik has got down to a tee.

China's 33EMYBW (@wushanmin) is part of a wave of producers around the world who are bringing a wealth of new ideas and plenty of fresh energy to the club music realm. She releases what she calls "limb dance" on Shanghai label SVBKVLT and is inspired by "insects, spiders, crustaceans and other exoskeletal creatures", which she tries to translate into music that gives the perception that you are surrounded by tiny dancing creatures. She has been busy recently, too, with a new composition called 'Intermission' coming out on the forthcoming Unsound Festival album, as well as a new track coming out in December on the second 'Cache' compilation on SVBKVLT. For this week's podcast, 33EMYBW serves us up a live recording, made exclusively from her own music and mostly unreleased, with plenty of demos, new ideas and improvised sections included along the way. It is a fine snapshot of where she is at right now - which seems to be somewhere in an extra-terrestrial realm inhabited by impish spirits and alien lifeforms. Her synth lines ping pong about the mix with a mind of their own, her samples are mangled and distorted and her drum patterns wilfully off grid. It's a trippy world of sound that still manages to explore plenty of emotional nuances despite the otherworldly vibe and pure physicality of it all.

Retired rapper, outdoor garms connoisseur, king of the blend, genre bender extraordinaire... there is no one quite like @teki-latex. The Frenchman has a rare but healthy insouciance when it comes to rules and conventions of the dance floor, so isn't afraid to drop hip hop in a techno club, or weave a forgotten pop vocal into a contemporary club banger. He gets away with it because his hyperactive mind is matched by his hyperactive skills and the results are never less than brilliantly WTF?! Because a Teki Latex DJ sets has you riding by the seat of your pants, they can feel improvised and off the cuff, but in fact they are often meticulously planned. That is surely the case with this week's podcast, which is 75 spell binding minutes of musical ping-pong. It jumps around with the energy of a thousand frogs from UK funky to blistering techno, old school jungle to original 2-step via divisive summer smash 'WAP' and plenty of who knows what else. One thing's for sure, it will make you smile as much as it makes you dance.

Saharan artist @azu-tiwaline is inspired by the desire to explore her origins in the Tunisian desert. She did this to magnificent effect on Draw Me A Silence, a debut album released earlier in 2020 that unified traditional Amazigh music with contemporary dub cultures and hypnotic techno sounds. Defined by an ever-present polyrhythmic chiaroscuro - the contrast between light and dark - it's a mysterious album that gets you in a trance and encourages inward reflection. The same sense of intoxicating repetition and minimalism runs through this week's podcast. It is an often multi layered listen that has stringy, drawn out rhythms. What sounds like ancient ethic percussion and instrumentation mingles loosely with moody synth drones. Naturalistic field recordings - water, birds, vocal chants - enrich the mix next to trippy studio effects and make for something utterly beguiling. Somehow old yet new, surreal but earthy, these disparate worlds rarely collide in such harmonious ways.

@carrotgreen is very much a product of his Brazilian homeland. He makes and plays music that can place you deep into a freaky and humid jungle techno party, or transport you to a chilled out beach comedown. He played a masterful set of mellowness for us at our Sao Paulo festival way back in 2017 and by then he had already released a range of organic, deep and Latin flavoured house EPs. His latest release came in July on DJ Ground's Japanese Chill Mountain label and featured a pair of "murky late-night slow dub affairs," that get right under your skin. As this week's podcast proves, Carrot Green can pack all of those sounds and more into a one hour mix that will leave you breathless. It starts out with intoxicating and worldly ambient sounds but soon gets stuck into exotic house then slick and slamming techno. After working you into a frenzy with tight mixing and superb selections, he pulls back to mystic ancient dub sounds that leave you perfectly enchanted.

Italian-Dutch composer Aimée Portioli (@grandriver) is part of a new breed of artist who is meticulous in the way she sculpts and designs her sounds. Along with the likes of Donato Dozzy and Neel - who run the Spazio Disponibile label she debuted on in 2017, and returned to in 2018 with first album Pineapple - she imbues her deep rhythms with ambient beauty, classical minimalism and a real sense of symphony. She is a poly-instrumentalist who mixes tradition and formality with contemporary experimentalism, and also runs her own label One Instrument, releases on Ghostly and Longform Editions, and is an occasional A/V performer who is at home at the world's most avant garde clubs and festivals. This week, Grand River takes us on an ambient journey as meandering and meditative as her alias suggests. It's a study in absorbing sparsity, where beautiful drones are layered up next to rippling chords. Found sounds drift in and out of ear shot and delicate keys turn into vast walls of ominous sound. The whole mix is like a melting glacier, in constant but subtle motion that leaves you in an utterly different place from where you started.

One of @jossymitsu's skills is her versatility. She was born and raised in Birmingham before moving to London, so has been exposed to, and immersed in, a wide array of scenes. From jungle to 2step, techno to house, rave to leftfield, she has knowledge of it all and never fails to throw it down in electrifying style. Her Rinse FM radio show has proved that over the last few years, and earlier this year the 6 Figure Gang associate made her production debut on Astral Black's Frass FM compilation with the brilliantly bumping 'Whirl.' That track's cavernous bass and sparse late night atmosphere also characterises this week's mix. It's a selection filled with broken beats and metallic hits that lurch through desolate landscapes. As much as she can nail an absorbing atmosphere, Mitsu also knows just how to raise the levels by banging through flailing jungle, wild rave and blistering techno. But whether the hits are crisp and the kicks taught, swampy synths and low end wobble blast from the speakers or dark and dirty breaks bust out of the mix, this is pure body music that cannot fail to ignite your dancing spirit.

It was local word of mouth that elevated Australian @katemiller from local to international notoriety. Her ability to fluidly jump genres and eras always leaves dance floors in a spin, and after emerging in Melbourne she followed the music to Berlin when she eventually became resident at the Oscillate party at ://about blank. Those sets allowed her the freedom to explore and pick up a fan base, and now she is someone who tells long and winding stories, with selections and feelings that define her sets more than tempo or technicality. The 90 minute session Kate lays down for us is perfectly warm and rhythmic. It's united by rubbery kicks and deep, warm sub bass, but ever changing kick patterns and synths that range from absorbing and ambient to dark and paranoid always keep things moving. It is the sound of a DJ who is always in control, a masterclass in tension and release that means you're always on the edge, excited for what is to come. Tracklist: FFT - Forward Ulla - Leaves and Wish D. Tiffany - 4leaf DJ Sacom - Wisdom DJ Python - ooophi Toma Kami - Unreleased ITOA - Top Deck Spooky - J - Pfer YOUTH - Diamonds Facta - 4C Loop Cop Envy - Diving Board Mr. Mitch - Need More Fashion Friends SP:MC - Vintage Low End Activist - 19STR8BK Sepehr - Unfold Your Myth Kush Jones - Pre-Club Workout (feat. DJ Swisha & James Bangura) James Bangura - Broken Mind Jana Rush - Midline Shift DJ Fulltono - Melt into the Floor Raime - Ripli SNKLS - Isandula Flore - Uncoded Language FFT - Fask Toma Kami - Unreleased El Trick - Ko ko dak dak J. Majik - Hold You exael - Composure Kate Miller - Parker Street

GAIKA (@gaikasays) has been hailed as one of Britain’s most vital rappers. His confrontational music — and writing — is proudly Black, addressing as it does issues of the immigrant experience, gentrification and violence. It’s been called everything from gothic dance hall to industrial electronics for the way it distills Caribbean traditions and the contemporary sound of London, while he sees himself more of an afropunk with eyes very much on the future. Next to a full length and a number of EPs on Warp, this month he has collaborated with NAAFI affiliates on his new EP 'Seguridad' — which is out now —, while his collective The Spectacular Empire continues with its series of streams aimed at celebrating Black culture and raising money for Black causes. Over the course of an hour on this week’s mix, GAIKA serves up a positive musical selection. There are times when things get impossibly smooth, but pained passages often follow. It means one minute glossy r&b and purple funk fest you up, then gorgeous original instrumentals and sombre strings bring you back down. Complex and wide-ranging, it’s a mix that goes way beyond club functionality, instead managing to tell the sort of personal stories that real mixtapes should.

Talismann (@talismannrecords) is the techno alias of the Dutch house artist Makam. Under this name he makes dark, dubby, wormhole techno that is designed for dance floor meditation, and he exclusively serves it up on his own self titled label. The man behind the music stays in the shadows, and while his output is often heavy and doom laden, it is also alluring mysterious and atmospheric in a way that is never too oppressive. Today we're treated to a special mix filled with up-to-now unreleased tracks from Talismann's forthcoming, multi-part album 'Percussion'. Part 1 lands today on Bandcamp, however, with more to follow later in summer. Hearing all this material together in a mix, as the artist indeed, is a special treat which makes for a perfectly sequenced trip through empty industrial spaces, thronging warehouses and alien planets. It is hugely rhythmic, compelling techno, but is finished with a subtle sense of sound design that makes it as cerebral as it is physical. talismann.bandcamp.com/album/percussion-part1

Jamie 3:26 (@jamie3too6) has been a pivotal part of the Chicago scene for decades. Hailing from the South Side, he has been immersed in the city’s musical culture since day one, and not long after started to help shape it with his own expressive DJ sets and edits. Many of them made it into A Taste of Chicago on BBE, a compilation he put together of his own early takes on Windy City mainstays like Chip E, Jungle Wonz and Braxton Holmes back in March. Over the years, he has held various residencies in the city and soon went on to break out onto the international circuit, where he continually represents his hometown sound with real authority. Opening up with what sounds like a snippet from a pastor’s sermon, there is plenty of real life spirituality in this mix from the off. The ensuing two hours are a real lesson in groove and emotion, a panoply of house, funk, soul and disco that is loose limbed and expressive but also masterfully sequenced so as to tell a real story. It is a wonderfully widescreen representation of a city from someone who knows it as well as anyone, and one that will have you cutting loose and shifting shapes in no time.

@julianahuxtable continually crosses boundaries and breaks down borders. Her multidisciplinary art takes in writing, performing, poetry, DJing and running the Shock Value nightlife project in New York, where the Texan currently lives. She explores themes of history, the body, the internet and much more, often with a strong sense of personal identity. Next to solo exhibitions she has authored two books, worked as a Visiting Artists Program lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is involved with a number of collectives that challenge gender norms, interrogate notions of race and engage with socio-political issues and sexuality, often in visceral ways. This week's mix is just as direct and physical. It is a sound college filled with rage and confrontation, where brutalist industrial textures and squealing synths crash into banging techno. Human voices are mangled into walls of white noise and uncontrollable machines run riot in what could be a soundtrack to the end of the world, or the start of a new one.

Welsh singer, musician and producer Kelly Lee Owens (@kellyleeowens) has come a long way since her former life as a nurse. That was during her teens, before she went on to work in London's Pure Groove Records, play bass in shoegaze band History of Apple Pie and then link with Daniel Avery to provide vocals on his Drone Logic album. Those sessions had a big impact and served as the catalyst that fully converted Owens to techno. In 2017, her self titled debut album confirmed she was a vital new voice and picked up critical acclaim. Showcasing a bouncy, pop laced take on the genre, it was truly unique and will be followed up by new album Inner Song in August this year. Ahead of that comes a mix that plays with bendy bass and rubber kick drum patterns that can go from club ready one moment to more uncanny the next. Drones, resonant frequencies and a real grasp of empty space and absorbing atmosphere all define the journey, which means there is plenty of time to think, get drawn in and lost in sound.

@dannydaze has proven incredibly hard to pin down since he first emerged. After starting down a path that very quickly took him to the best clubs in the world but off the back of a sound that wasn't really his, he has managed to rewrite perceptions. After deciding to do things his own way, at his own pace, he is now known for what he really loves: techno, electro and IDM. Just recently he continued his collaborative work with Brazilian RHR on four dark, gritty and evocative cuts on OmniDisc, and has more music on the way soon on Schematic Records. This mix hints at what to expect from that EP, says Danny. "Due to the current conditions, I decided to go with chill zone session for this one mixed live with a bunch of the styles that influenced me over the last 20 years. Went a bit more trip-hop/IDM/electro with it which points to the direction the upcoming EP and album later in the year. Hope everyone has a nice week." So strap in for two freewheeling hours of interplanetary sonics, churning rhythms and otherworldly cinematics that will start your week right.

In the last couple of years, London's SHERELLE (@iamsherelle)has torn through the dance music world like a tornado. Everything she does is high speed and high impact, from what she mixes to the way she mixes it. Her dizzying mix of footwork, jungle and drum & bass has breathed new life into the 160bpm scene and got people all over Europe in a spin. As well as solo work, she plays as part of the 6 Figure Gang and runs the Hooversound Recordings label with Naina while also championing all things leftfield on her BBC Radio 1 residency. Of course, her 80 minute mix for us is pure fire, a bumping ride through thrilling kick patterns, shimmering toms and drilling bass. It's underpinned with a constant sense of tension that keeps you utterly on the edge of your seat and variously explodes into life, or pulls back to a moment of unsettling calm. It tells the story of a rich history of UK music, but with a fresh perspective that makes it all the more vital.

@garcon rightly considers himself an "expert in mood modulation." He is someone who carefully builds a groove, teasing with snippets, dropping in and out of tunes and drawing out the process of gratification and please. The Swiss man does it as resident at Elysia in Basel, often with a techno foundation but drawing on niches from all over the electronic spectrum. He co-runs the Amenthia Recordings label with Agonis and has said it takes its musical identity from the utilitarian space of his home club. This mix was recorded there last Friday, with CDJs and 1210s, but also a Space Echo that adds extra depth throughout. Starting in a cavernous industrial space from the off, the sound of sonic decay, eerie reverb and slow motion rhythmic automation all provide details that draw you ever deep into this industrial scene. As the drums become more prominent and the tempo hurries, the mood is no less unsettling and deserted. Broken techno, lurching bass and dark dub all feature in this most skilfully restrained yet highly impactful selection.

Robert Witschakowski-Jockel (@the-exaltics) has been a core part of electro's evolution since the late nineties. From early days bringing big names like Jeff Mills and Robert Hood to his hometown of Jena as a promoter, he soon elevated himself to become one of the best acid live acts in the game. Nowadays, he runs his own carefully-curated Solar One Music, has collaborated with Drexciya's Gerald Donald and released his own shadowy electro on Shipwrec, Clone West Coast Series and Crème Organization. He is a hugely prolific artist who is always tweaking and evolving his sound while staying true to his original sci-fi visions. All of that feeds into this week's mix, which is a bumpy, rough riding electro adventure that unfolds with a real sense of narrative. From the icy and high speed launch it quickly moves on to moments of smooth-cruising calm, guides you through solar storms and frantic acid work outs. The texture change, too, from ragged and frazzled to shiny and seductive, but are all stitched together seamlessly by a master of the form.

Planet Euphorique is the name of @d-tiffany’s label, but also a perfect summation of her sound: musically she reworks rave, euphoria, trance, electro, breakbeat and techno into all out emotional onslaughts that get hands in the air and chests swelling with joy. The Canadian - who also runs the xpq? label - has always got things done on her own terms, from running parties in her own house in Vancouver to making dance music with the gear she had previously used as part of a band via setting up her own women-focused Intersessions DJ school. This week she treats us to an extra special two hour selection that will take you to the heart of a rave in your front room. It’s a mix that bristles with life, from dusty and teary-eyed breakbeats that are shrouded in nostalgia to more clipped and kicking techno. The mixing is tight and urgent and after initially serving up plenty of lush moments of melody and IDM introspection, it grows all the more direct and unhinged later on.

New Yorker @acemo is an artist with an intense work rate. In the DJ booth he races through tunes, rhythms and styles with an insatiable sense of energy, and in the studio he is as prolific as they come. He has put out four EPs in the last year that take in jungle updates, battered techno and euphoric bass, and his self-released Existential album in late December came with a more thoughtful and philosophical dimension. This week's mix is a bumping one that hits the ground running. Impassioned and uplifting house soon gets you locked before you rough ride through dusty breakbeats, twisted acid and percussive work outs. Kinetic juke and footwork styles and more fist pumping, brain frying house are all touched upon throughout this most wide-ranging selection and breathless selection, so strap in!

Born and raised in Amsterdam and with his roots in Japan, Masalo (@masalo-music) is an artist who is firmly at the heart of the city’s music scene. He’s active in numerous ways, though his focus lies solidly on DJing and producing, in which he has been turning heads with his open minded approach that takes in music that brims with vitality. The Brighter Days party he runs with Kamma is famously colourful and friendly, like the man himself, and his choice productions have found their home on the Rush Hour label, the imprint he’s closely connected with. For this week’s mix he takes us on a two hour journey to a better place with an electrifying selection of organic dance jams, new wave, spiritual house and big hearted disco that will have you in a spin. The mixing is superbly tight given that the tunes jump around so freely from the old to the new, and it all adds up to a huge injection of escapist positivity that we all need in our lives right now.

@markknekelhuis is a world explorer who brings a love of live instrumentation to his dance music. The Knekelhuis label boss is a staunchly DIY operator who is also the voice of Volition Immanent, a live act along side Dekmantel regular Parrish Smith. He makes music that manages to be deeply personal but also immediate and arresting and that same style defines his radio shows on Red Light Radio. His mix for us is an exploration of deeply hypnotic sounds and dreamy breakbeats to slowly but surely wake you up right at the start of the week. Once you’re in the groove, there is space travelling electro and beautifully delicate melodic techno that continues to sooth your soul as you journey through the cosmos and off to a better place.

@roi_perez is at the beating heart of the queer dance music scene in Europe. His route to the top started with a residency back home in Tel Aviv, but since moving to Berlin 2013 he has gone on to make a wider impact with regular standout sets at fetish club Lab.Oratory and Berghain’s Panorama Bar. His focus is always on buying, playing and selling records rather than making them, so he is an adventurous DJ who is always evolving but is famed for his long, winding, eclectic sets that span multiple sounds and scenes. Even over the course of just an hour in the mix for us this week, he manages to travel far and wide. It's a party starting selection, for sure, with emotive breakbeats next to pumping percussive rhythms, steamy house and jacking acid. The rhythms are always raw and ragged, meaning Perez does a fine job of keeping you on the tips of your toes from start to finish.

rRoxymore’s music exists in the murky territory between house and techno. It is music you can dance to, but that never seems to be its primary intention. Shifting synth sequences bring rhythm, exotic percussion bring worldly feelings and her rugged and deconstructed drum machines bring inventive grooves. The Berlin based French artist herself calls it “mercy-less house” and has put most of it out on Don’t Be Afraid, including her Face to Phase album later last year, which was an album full of intriguing and exploratory sound scapes. In the past, rRoxymore has played percussion in a rock band, played hip hop and rare groove and soundtracked art installations, so she brings that widescreen understanding of groove to this week’s mix. It’s a leftfield selection of humid and tropical rhythms that dangle like vines in a jungle before morphing into broken and syncopated beats with a heavy low end. It’s compelling, stripped back rhythm music that seems to takes cues from UK funky, EBM, disco, techno and plenty more besides.

It is fair to say that Mark Fell is one of Rotherham's most acclaimed musical exports. His work is steeped in the industrial overtones that define the region in the North of England that also includes nearby cities like Sheffield and bands like Human League and Cabaret Voltaire. In particular, this sound artist and producer focusses on fusing together fragments of experimental, minimal music that has political overtones and unsettling, out-of-context atmospheres. He's released albums on Raster-Notion and Editions Mego, is one half of SND and performs at only the most avant-garde of clubs and festivals. This week he serves up some brilliant darkness and carefully deconstructed rhythms that will shake your bones and your brain cells loose. Artists that deal in soot-black synth, electro and post-punk sounds like Human League, Florian Hecker and Depeche Mode all appear, but there are also masterful sidesteps into hip hop, disco, pop from David Guetta, and words from William Burroughs. All these sounds take on hugely different moods and meanings when put together as part of Fell's unique lexicon, and make it a mix full of brilliantly unexpected moments.

France’s Emma DJ - not to be confused with Japan’s DJ Emma - had a hugely prolific 2019 that resulted in no fewer than three artist albums. The Paris-based Fusion Mes Couilles boss deals in abrasive textures and broken techno rhythms that chew up ambient, IDM, breakbeats and acid and spit them out in thrilling new forms. His year started with some debut shows in the USA, he also recently started his own show on France’s LYL Radio, and now keeps us entertained through the global lockdown with this week’s podcast. It starts with some paranoid, scene-setting ambience, sounds of factory automation and spoken words that are perfectly unsettling for these unprecedented times. When drums eventually appear, they’re slow and purposeful, there’s floating techno, visceral industrial and a flurry of breakbeats that are all run through with a real sense of dark mystery and otherworldliness. This is an intriguing mix that will keep you coming back for more.

Swedish born SPFDJ is a renegade spirit and ruthless DJ. She describes her own style as "trashy" and has said before that she disregards anything that might sound happy. To that end, she brashly bangs together techno, EBM, acid, industrial and trance in provocative and confrontational ways. She does so at her residency at Berlin's Herrensauna and also runs her own Intrepid Skin label, both of which are defined by big, banging kick drums. And so is this mix. 75 minutes of blistering textures, serrated synths and hammering drums that make for an impenetrable wall of ever evolving sound. As unrelentingly forceful as it is, monotony stays at bay thanks to the quick mixing and variation in mood, from marching and militant to acid and electric. Strap in, hold tight, and prepare for the ride of your life.

Sydney's club scene is thriving right now, and it is in no small part thanks to the likes of Adi Toohey. Her 360 degree approach takes in DJ sets, a long running radio show on FBi Radio, work behind the counter at The Record Store, and her own parties with the Rimbombo crew. All this has set her on an international trajectory that has seen her play as far afield as New York, Berlin and London. Her sound is accessible but high quality, with emotive house at the root of it all. Her mix for us makes no bones about that - it starts with some smooth and warm vocal grooves before a distinctive 90s flavour takes over. The mixing is tight and efficient, and breakbeats, progressive and big rave chords all colour in the bold, hands in the air grooves to make this a perfectly party starting set that wears its heart on its sleeve.

Nazira is a real powerhouse. She has almost single handedly built up an electronic music scene in her native Almaty in Kazakhstan. She runs her own ZVUK nights in a range of unique settings, was responsible for bringing a one off edition of Unsound to the region in 2017, and after word spread about her skills, she has gone on to represent around Europe while hosting workshops back home that aim to grow local talents. All this is even more impressive given how far removed her hometown is from the rest of the global circuit. As a DJ, host on Radio Cómeme and resident at Berlin’s Room 4 Resistance, Nazira brings physicality and angular rhythm to her work. For this week’s mix, she kicks off with skeletal bass and huge open spaces of futuristic ambiance before the jittery techno and industrial drum loops take over. Melodies rarely appear, instead the mood is dark, heads down, and focussed. It is the sound of an artist who is assured and uncompromising, which is a perfect reflection of the DJ behind it.

DJ Plead is a comparatively new alias for an artist who has been busy on the Melbourne scene for years. Jarred Beeler started as part of a DJ trio, then played in a percussive dance duo known as Poison, but as DJ Plead he has made most impact. Drawing on the Arab influences that come from being half Lebanese, he layers Middle Eastern percussion on top of lithe club rhythms and the results on labels like Nervous Horizon and DECISIONS are electrifying. This week's podcast proves he's also a master of threading together unhinged grooves and weird syncopations in the club. At times the drums are piled up so high and unevenly they feel like they're about to collapse in a heap around you, at others they're drawn out and deeper, sinking you into a hypnosis. Worldly drum sounds and intoxicating eastern melodies colour in the airwaves throughout, making this a series of glorious sonic collisions that up to one hell of a dance.

Eris Drew is one of those artists who seemed to blow up over night, but who had actually been hard at work for decades. A long-time residency at Chicago's Smart Bar brought her to international attention, and her own Motherbeat parties at various places around Europe furthered that reputation. It is there that she manages to cook up pure, unadulterated dance floor love and euphoria with hi-energy selections and a unifying sense of oneness that is put together with her own so called “orchestration” mixing techniques. An inquisitive musician and innovative recording artist, she has also just put out her debut solo EP on Interdimensional Transmissions and runs T4T LUV NRG with partner Octo Octa. This week's mix is all of the above and more: a throbbing, impulsive and full bodied experience that serves up the most bumping house grooves but run through with the warm ambient glow of a post-rave comedown. The music feels at classic but also thoroughly contemporary: it will make you pump your fist in sheer joy, but also sends warm waves of euphoria through your body. This is the sound of the Motherbeat. Eris on her mix: "In a recent interview for DJ Mag I talk about my connection to the song “Secrets of Mediation” by Dutch producers Alex Dijksterhuis (Jamez) & Gaston Steenkist (Dobre). At Chicago raves in 1994 and 1995, this track revealed to me that modern dance music contains archaic ritual elements such as trance-inducing resonances, penetrating sacred drums, and language transformed into glossolalia. My DJ mix for Dekmantel is inspired by my formative dance experiences and by the intense extended sets I play at psychedelic raves such as Motherbeat and No Way Back. The mix includes bass music, progressive, breaks, house, techno, and minimal, all of which I collage, drop and scratch to put us into a tunneling trance." Full tracklist here: dkmn.tl/270-ErisDrew

Mor Elian began DJing at parties even before she was strictly old enough. That was back home in Tel Aviv, and since then she has spent time in Berlin and Los Angeles. She now has also settled into her role as one of electro's most vital artists thanks to head-turning EPs on Delft and most often her own Fever AM, as well as recently minting Cinnaman's brand new Visible Spectrum with her Clairvoyant Frog EP. The strong independent spirit she has had since her youth led Mor to setting up LA-based party Into The Woods, and right now the music she makes and plays is just as singular as the artist herself. This mix proves that across 90 thrilling minutes which take in many different, futuristic blends of techno and electro. There's trippy sci-fi stuff for the afterparty, dark, strobe lit bangers for the peak of the night and deeper, more stripped back sounds to keep you in the zone. The tunes race by at high speed but also come stuffed with the sort of details that keep your mind in overdrive as you ride the rugged rhythms on the seat of your pants. Strap in.

American Phase Fatale is one of the residents responsible for defining the current Berghain sound. As well as regular DJ sets in the Berlin techno dungeon, his latest album, 'Scanning Backwards' — which was released on in-house label Ostgut Ton last month — was made with the cavernous club in mind. Just like his arresting DJ sets take influence from post punk, EBM and industrial, the album also looks outside techno's usual borders: snippets of speech, "brain-penetrating instrumentation" and plenty of raw textures all inform its grooves and make for a hugely visceral listen. On this week's mix, he serves up an uncompromising set of angular rhythms, doom laden synths and fizzing techno that is perfect for the darkest dance floors out there. Importantly, there are still nuances along the way despite the pumping machismo of it all. They keep you on the edge of your seat as the dystopian drama unfolds and all consuming bleakness draws you ever deeper into a world devoid of human life forms. It's beautiful brutality from start to finish.

It's impossible to talk about the sound of DjRUM without using the word cinematic. Whatever he does, it has a feeling of grand importance, widescreen elegance and moving emotion that elevates it way above a dance floor soundtrack. Throughout the course of his career, the UK artist has drawn on downtempo, blurred the lines between drum & bass and dubstep and always imbued his music with spoken words snippets, piano and chamber instruments. His Portrait With Firewood album was a real high-water mark in 2018, and last year his latest outing on R&S once again managed to draw on every aspect of electronic music and come up with something all his own. His mix for us this week is a perfect ethereal rave that finds plenty of beauty in the sparse rhythms he draws on from the worlds of garage, techno and drum & bass. There is a delicacy and elegance throughout, even when the beats hit hard and fast as they do at the overdriven and manic mid point. The amen breaks come thick and fast after that, but eventually melt away to propulsive ambient soundscapes that suspend you in time and space. Blissful.

Milos Kaiser is already confirmed for Dekmantel Selectors this August, and the São Paolo selector is exactly the sort of man you want to hear playing on a sunny beach. Over the past decade he has constantly excited people with his far ranging sets of rare and unknown gems. They represent every facet of Brazil's rich musical tapestry but always become dance floor heaters in his hands. He runs his own bar, Caracol, with friends, and is known for making his own edits of the tunes he plays. Over 70 minutes here he goes deep into a smorgasbord of synth sounds from tropical to pop, darker to more electro tinged. There are long legged and laid back grooves to get you slowly bumping, and more punchy tracks that get hands in the air and the good times flowing. All in all it makes for a joyous listen that is so warm and bright you will almost be able to feel the rays on your face and the sand between your toes.

It might well have been her set at Freerotation in summer 2018 that really got people talking about Gigsta. It was there that the hardcore heads in the crowd were all abuzz with her fresh mix of heavy bass, house funk, off kilter rhythms and kinked synths. Since then she has become more and more visible at key parties round Europe, not only as resident at Berlin's Room 4 Resistance but also through her painstakingly researched and assembled radio shows for Cashmere, where she takes cues from literature, NASA launches, spoken word pieces and plenty more. As the eagled-eyed will know, Gigsta has already been confirmed for Dekmantel Selectors in August, but to keep us going until then she has served up a special mix for us. You never know what you'll get with the Belgian artist, it could be hard and fast, could be grime, or could be garage. Here she goes for creepy and unsettling ambiance that eventually gets contorted into warped bass music, hyperactive club, hammering techno and euphoric jungle. It shows an unrivalled command of tempo and makes for a real seat-of-your pants ride.

Nene H has been hailed as one of techno's most strikingly singular artists. In the studio she mixes up her passion for folk and religious music as well as bruising club sounds with layers of spirituality, found sound and analogue aesthetics. Despite only first getting involved in the scene in 2015, she is already at home at places like Berlin Atonal, either playing live or laying down a DJ set, and also has a masters in piano. As a DJ she can often sound quite different to how she does in the studio: her mix here is hyperactive affair that will well and truly kick start your 2020 with brutal drum patterns and twisted electronics that take no prisoners. There's also distorted techno rap and malfunctioning club music tightly woven together in a light speed mix that somehow packs all this and more into just one hour.

Low Jack has been bringing an accessible experimentalism to club music throughout his career. The DJ and live act from France is a firm favourite on the digital arts festival circuit with a dark, tension filled and industrial tinged sound that has landed on L.I.E.S., Les Disques De La Bretagne and Trilogy Tapes and taken him to clubs like Berghain. Next to his techno he has also recently blended digital dub, dancehall and dubstep on newly self-released EPs that break all the rules and means he remains a fascinating auteur. His mix is the perfect way to awaken yourself from a post-festive slumber: its all bristling drums and rib rattling bass, crashing hits and broken beats that fire every synapse in your body. There are trap cuts, dark dancehall bombs and hyper speed jungle rhythms all somehow stitched together into a lively selection that covers a dizzyingly diverse spectrum of sound.

Norway's Prins Thomas is a giant of an artist whose influence looms large over the whole of the Scandi-scene. The space-disco king has a sound that draws on electro, krautrock, psychedelia and prog in melodically majestic ways and has given rise to a wealth of fully realised studio albums and classy dance floor singles, mostly on Smalltown Supersound. His latest record, 2019's Ambitions, is one of his best: it found him strip things back and reinvent himself once more over the course of plenty of gently absorbing grooves and mindful moods. As a DJ he is just as well equipped to take you on real dance floor odysseys built on ever present grooves, but coloured with melodies from the celestial realms. And that is the case on his 90 minute podcast for us, which journeys through frosty northern tundras as well as twinkling night skies with equal elan. The ups and downs along the way are subtle ones, but together they create something perfectly escapist and somehow very suited to this time of year.

Tutu is someone who people speak about with a real sense of reverence despite the fact she very much remains in the shadows of the scene. The reason? Her electrifying DJ sets, which are brilliantly experimental, brave and adventurous in the way they pay no attention to rules or traditions. The Spaniard born Gemma Planell plays anything from IDM to ambient, to grime, bass and plenty of hard to define sounds in between, all with a sense of precision and dexterity that few could match. After impressing at our festival as well as on Boiler Room, Red Light Radio and at Sonar, she now makes a much anticipated entry into our mix series. It starts in typically brazen fashion with a monologue about the power of silence and then, a passage of silence. A giant fog horn then gets things underway again and you're carried through ambient and neo-classical, experimental minimalism and hellish techno. Weird rhythms and odd sonic textures are constantly being served up into a brilliantly mind-bending whole.

Oceanic makes distinctly modern house and techno with attention grabbing synths and lithe sound design. The Dutchman's production is often quirky and curious and finds him bringing plenty of subtly inventive new ideas to his grooves. They have come on the likes of Nous'klaer Audio, while last year he put out a live recording of one of his many sets at Amsterdam's De School. It was an experimental ambient mix from the club's auditorium and this week he starts in a similar fashion before getting down to his more dance floor orientated sound. The mix races up to speeds of 150bpm, often with hyperactive drum programming and day glo synths lighting up the airwaves. The whole thing races by like a high speed hallucination, a trip to another dimension that somehow never sounds like house, or techno, or anything in between. It is genre-fluid, thrillingly unusual music littered with alien lifeforms and cyborg funk of the highest order.

Chicago born @Antenes is a Brooklyn based synth obsessive. She builds her own modulars and then sets them to the future to cook up rough edged warehouse tracks that are gritty and bleakly atmospheric, as well as more textured, detailed ambient work. She has done installations at Moogfest as well as playing as far afield as China, Colombia and Japan, and has appeared on LIES, Silent Season, Bunker NY and Mord. She DJs as well as playing live, has roots in goth and industrial as well as noise from her early years playing guitar, but also has a real love of techno, electro and experimental. Her darkly absorbing mix for us this week includes tracks from Electric Indigo, Stephanie Merchak, Fjader, Oisel, Rrose, Lonefront, DJ ESP, Erica Mar, Wata Igarashi, Silent Servant, Ewa Justka, Bergsonist and Uun. It reflects her interest in a healthy amount of ominous dance hypnagogia while also drawing from a large pool of influences from the experimental to her roots in the Midwest. “The ESP track in there has some weird filtering and panning with the crunchy drums for example,” she says, “I love hearing how raw it is”.

French born but Amsterdam based for almost 20 years, Kléo draws on her work as a visual artist when she's painting colourful musical landscapes in the DJ booth. She also takes the same approach when programming soul, jazz and boogie at Café Belgique. It is a homely space that suits her heartfelt sounds, while her Red Light Radio show has become synonymous with music that is just as sensitive. After appearances at both Lentekabinet and Dekmantel Festival before now, she finally brings her bright and beautiful approach to our mix series. Over the course of two hours she delves deep into lots of cuddly strains of house music from deep and jazzy to romantic, melodic and late night. Her tender touch draws you in close and keeps you there with lots of warm chords, pillowy pads and plenty of love struck grooves. This is one perfectly suited to long winter nights and snuggling up with close friends.

Many people have an NTS show, but few are as closely attached to the London station as much as DEBONAIR. A key part of the team in its initial days, she has not only become a much loved host, but as Programme Director in the station's first year she helped to make the station the vital and vibrant cultural hub that it is. She is an adventurous DJ who rides rough punk basslines, gnarly electro and EBM as well as various party starting house and techno styles. That ability has taken her to headline sets at cult clubs like De School, DC10 and Panorama Bar and now our podcast series. It's a mix that very much does its own thing and starts off on a high energy tip with plenty of punchy drums and flailing synths making you immediately cut loose. Things only grow more intense from there with as DEBONAIR explores techno and electro from many different angles - angry and coarse, spaced out and deep, thumping and futurist. This is the sound of a DJ in full flow, going with her instincts and very much keeping you on the edge of your seat and guessing at what might come next.

Last month, the Parisian duo of Guido Minisky and Hervé Carvalh aka Acid Arab took us on another absorbing musical tour with their latest album Jdid on Crammed Discs. Typically widescreen in influences, it is a real melting pot of sounds, melodies, percussion, strings and vocals from all across eastern music that bring new character to tried and tested house and techno rhythms. The Acid Arab sound is a daring collision of worlds but one this pair have managed to pull off better than anyone. And that is the case on their far-flung mix for us: it's an colourful one that takes you from a bustling African market one moment to a dirty warehouse the next and on to dusty dunes and expansive river banks, all with a sense of cohesion that somehow makes complete sense. The tempos remain slow and unhurried, but the mix itself is always on the move.

Plaid's techno is some of the most thoughtful out there, and the way the British pair deliver it is often just as interesting. Take Ed Handley and Andy Turner's latest album, Polymer, which came with its own interactive web environment and encouraged us to think about the role artificial substances play in our lives. Musically it was a harder-edged mix of broken techno and heavy snares, but still offered the sort of technicality and emotion that has always stood the Warp duo apart. In their mix for us they put all their many years of know-how into a timeless selection of tense and engaging electronic sounds. It touches on far-gazing and futuristic techno, melancholic ambient passages and onto scintillatingly melodic IDM and twisted jungle. It's a real rollercoaster from two jedis of the scene.

One of the many highlights of this year's Lente Kabinet was a radiant set from Barbara Boeing. It brimmed with music from her homeland of Brazil and spanned everything from funk to synth, pop to soul. After many years building up her digital archives, it was only a couple years ago that Boeing decided to start collecting vinyl in order to open up new musical worlds and challenge herself as a DJ. By now she is skilled at bringing together disparate and sometimes almost un-mixable sounds into one absorbing tapestry, and can often be found doing so at the Alter Disco night she runs in Curitiba with best friend Phil Mill. Coming off the back of her recent European tour she has put together a mix of superbly easy listening South American sounds from the worlds of AOR, pop, soul and tropicalia. Slowly working its way through the gears, the lively percussion gradually makes way for more propulsive house style drums that pump the dance floor with distinctly Latin overtones. It's a classy and uplifting way to start your week.

re:ni's secret weapon is the way she plays with rhythm with such ease. Whether banging 130bpm club tracks or nailing down slick UK techno, keeping it deep with 100bpm rollers freaking you out with acid she is a devilishly dexterous DJ. Because of this she has become an NTS regular, firm favourite at places like De School and Dimensions and counts Timedance boss Batu and the Livity Sound crew as fans. In the mix for us she serves up all sorts of futurist beats that are wired up with electronics or stripped back to more haunting and hypnotic sound worlds. Reni's ability to manipulate rhythm and texture, time and space is utterly thrilling and finds her go from slowed down dub to high octane minimalism and on to jungle with ease over the course of this slick 90 minute selection.

Cleveland bridges many different musical divides. He is a DJ, producer and party promoter from Luxembourg but based in Brussels, and in all those disciplines likes to focus more on mood and texture than specific genres. He has a sound that is thought provoking and complex but never too academic, and has explored the deeper, more synth heavy end of the dance spectrum onlabels like Hivern Discs, WHITE and ESP Institute. Across ninety minutes here he offers up lovably loose grooves that range from musical and lavish to more heads down and propulsive. Tripped out house bleeds into twisted techno and floating ambient laced grooves drift next to minimal classics, all in the sort of story telling fashion that also defines his excellent shows on Red Light Radio. Heady yet engaging, Cleveland's sound is very much deserving of your attention.

Aquarian makes and plays music that feels familiar but is hard to pin down. His take on techno, jungle, rave and bass is alien and unique, a blend of the Berlin, London and Detroit sounds we all know and love, but with a little something extra injected into it to give it a mutant sense of funk. The Canadian is now based in Germany and has released on Quiet Time Tapes as well as his own Hanger Management. His mix is a devastating study in rhythm, contorted drum programming and warped bass that is stripped back to its bare essentials but that is constantly on the move and keeping you guessing. It starts off twisted and tightly coiled, complex and involving, but slowly loosens up and heads straight forward in thrilling fashion. Electro, ghetto, IDM, drum & bass and more all get chawed up and spat out in ways that only Aquarian can.

To pick up five Grammy award nominations means you're pretty special, and American composer, electronic pioneer and neo-classical recording artist Suzanne Ciani is just that. In her early days she got pure magic out of the brand new Buchla synth that immediately set her apart and earned her the title of "America's first female synth hero". With a wealth of studio and live albums under her belt and new - as well as old but previously unreleased - ones coming as regularly as ever, she continues to be a pioneer more than forty years after first emerging. Ciani describes this mix less than one of her live sets and more like something for "a social gathering of friends and acquaintances for lunch or dinner." It draws on music from friends she admires and has worked with after meeting on tour around the world and kicks off with her latest archival release on Finders Keepers. The last track is "an old perennial favourite that still makes me cry a bit" and in between is an hour of glistening electronics, suspensory ambient and contemporary piano and percussion that lift your spirits in that way that beautiful music so often does.

Nummer's music is characterised by a passion for obscurity and authenticity. This characterises the records the French pair endlessly dig for, as well as the studio full of custom built and second hand pieces of hardware they collect. When used to make their own music, the results range from ambient soundscapes to jacking dance floor bangers via electro futurism. It comes on their Nummer Music as well as Going Good with slick stylistic variations that also define this mix for us. The live and DJ duo create a loose and gangly groove early on here and keep it up over the course of an infectious 80 minutes. There's flabby slow motion techno, wiggling electro funk and cosmic acid call upon along the way. What ties everything together so neatly are the atmospheres around the tracks, which are never less than mysterious and inquisitive, so buckle up and enjoy the trip.

Bulgarian born, Helsinki based Katerina has a unique take on rhythm and favours unusual moods in her music. That made her a perfect artist for the always left of centre Cómeme label, where she debuted late last year with a EP of improvised melody, post-industrial beats and lo-fi samples that swelled with fascinating ideas and emotions. In the club, she is unashamedly influenced by DJ Quik but brings her own psychedelic flavours and feelings to anything from techno too electro to punk. Initially here she takes a more bucolic approach with 20 minutes of genteel ambiance that is eventually consumed by a deep rooted minimal rhythm. The mix stays decidedly delicate and tender in the mid section, with astral pads and muted drums keep you in a state of dreamy hypnosis before getting more dark and unhinged thanks to rugged acid lines, lo-fi techno and a euphoric breakbeat closer that completes this most perfect paced and journeying mix.

London based, B. Traits is one of the most visible women in dance music who continues to champion underground sounds to cross over crowds. From intimate clubs to festivals and soon a guided meditation event in EartH, Dalston she follows an unpredictable path. It’s the same story with the mix she has put together for us this week. It’s a high energy selection which touches on every style of techno and never loses momentum. The tracks are busy, urgent affairs that are big enough to make their mark on a festival crowd but detailed enough to work in a more intimate club setting. That careful balancing between the two is what makes B. Traits so special.

Australian Lauren Hansom has the sort of expansive and immersive sound that makes her a perfect fit for a range of settings. She’s proven this with radio shows on Red Light Radio, NTS and Worldwide FM, as well as DJ sets everywhere from Lente Kabinet to Gottwood Festival via plenty of key European clubs. As an avid vinyl collector she delves deep into unknown corners of jazz, soft pop, acid, Balearic, you name it, and stitches everything together with seamless style. On this week’s mix, Hansom plots a global journey through sound that serves as a perfectly tropical and exotic post—summer comedown. After starting with new age bliss and clean synth tracks, the drums take on many forms from acid to electro to garage, all with a curious future-retro feel and wide range of cultural and musical references.

Antigone is a key player on the Parisian scene who has helped to bring techno back into focus. He did it with his residency at Concrete, but also his releases on labels like Token, Dement3d and Soma. Whether raw and rugged, melancholic and melodic or more tracery and big room in style, he has an always interesting and complex style that stands him out from the pack. In the DJ booth he is focussed on detail and texture and shows that here: after a subtle atmospheric start that sinks you into deep, cavernous rhythms, the ride grows much more ragged. Jittering electro, astral techno and supple breakbeats all get carefully threaded together into a tight but adventurous hour that exudes a real sense of style.

Istanbul born Debora Ipekel has been slowly but surely bubbling up on the London scene for a few years. She is an NTS and Worldwide FM host who digs deep during sets at cultured spots like Brilliant Corners, and also runs her Zel Zele Records. Mixing up anything from trippy fusion, Turkish folk and psych, jazz-funk or kraut, she plots worldly wonders and cosmic trips that are richly rewarding. The label is just as adventurous and far out, and reaches as far back into the past as it looks to the future. Ahead of her playing for us at Dekmantel Selectors, Debora invites us into her world with a 100 minute mix that deals in exotic, tropical grooves and traditional instrumentation. It’s funk, jazz and soul music that comes from a different, more psychedelic perspective than the norm, but is still drenched in so much sun and warmth it makes you feel like you’ve arrived on our little Croatian beach a few weeks early.

The last few years have seen Volvox rightfully come of age on the international scene. The self-styled “techno disciple” has been shaping and driving the Brooklyn underground ever since moving to NYC from Boston in 2011, but has been hosting events and laying down tough sets for more than a decade. A couple of residencies in that time have seen her push both an acid house sound and a harder techno outlook while she is now at home everywhere from De School to Berghain. In this searing 80 minute selection, Volvox tears through a range of electro sounds that race along with a high speed funk. Form punchy bass driven jams to visceral industrial and on to a sci-fi future, it’s a brilliantly widescreen but cohesive overview of a genre that is made for dancing.

CEM’s unique DJ style has been referred to as “emotive hysteria” and that couldn’t be more apt. He plays in highly intense and energetic ways, lacing together frenzied and frantic techno with a UK edge. A core resident at Berlin’s cult Herrensauna party at Tresor, he draws on his punk upbringing back in Vienna to cook up the sort of electrifying soundtracks that have become vital to the queer community. This mix is a perfect showcase of his race style: it’s just over an hour of blistering and always futuristic techno that never relents. Subtle diversions into broken beat, rave and jungle keep you on your toes and always locked in for what is the most thrilling of rides. It’s hard to play as intensely yet captivatingly as this, but CEM does it better than anyone.

Proud Brooklynite Adam X is one of the most pivotal figures in techno. As a founding father of the US rave scene with his brother Frankie Bones, he played hard and fast in the early years before losing himself in industrial. Having very much driven the revival of interest in that style, he remains at the sharp edge of the scene from his current home in Berlin, where he continues to turn out raw and visceral sounds on his Sonic Groove label. To read in depth about his backstory, check out the recent feature we did with Adam while you dive into his podcast on www.dekmantel.com. It is a timeless two hour selection that covers deeper techno as well as the sheet metal synths and hammering beats Adam is known for. Strobe lit, sweaty and grimy, it oozes the sort of realness that has always separated him from the crowd.

Austrian music obsessive Heap is someone who always digs deep into the past, but also the present. His empire includes Discus Throwers, which is a concept store that deals in special gems from the world of house, techno, synth pop and kraut, as well as his Neubau label, productions on labels like ESP Institute and Berceuse Heroique and DJ sets that can be brave and beguiling or banging and brash. For this week’s mix, Heap keeps it deep with a selection of leggy and gently cosmic disco tracks early on. His is a thoughtful take on the genre, with expansive tracks that could be brand new or 30 years old all sitting nearly next to each other. As things grower darker and more intense later on, elements of acid, electro and proto-house all make for a colourful and late night trip.

Galaxian is an arresting artist who blurs the lines between many different sounds and scenes. A militant style in the booth is matched by his helmet-wearing on stage persona: he gobbles up and spits out anything from industrial to electro, EBM to synth with an impossible amount of energy and improvisation. His dark drum programming and synth eruptions soundtrack cyber attacks that are utterly visceral and unorthodox and ah hour in his presence will leave you feeling exhausted he packs so much in. This week we have a live recording from his gig at Concrete in Paris from December last year. It’s a blistering trip through his world, a flurry of ideas, textures and genres that sound as if they are fired from a machine gun. It will get you up on your toes and keep you there, leaving you wide eyed and ready for action no matter what time of day you listen to it.

The attention the Amsterdam scene currently enjoys is, in no small part, down to the tireless work of Sandrien. She’s been there since the nineties, with residences at Trouw and now De School, close ties to Rush Hour and also through her own parties, which have been bringing the likes of DJ Nobu and Blawan to the city for years. Her uncompromising techno style has taken her around the world and to labels like Ben Sims’ Theory, amongst others. In short, she is a living local legend. Sandrien takes a long view on this mix, starting with an escapist ambient selection that gets your attention. It transports you to a different world before the DJ puts her foot down and brings the grooves. Things remain decidedly cinematic and intergalactic over the course of the next hour, with various shades of deep techno eventually ending up in a place of ambient beauty not far from where you started. It’s a rounded mix that begs to be played over and over.

The Netherlands has been an incredibly fertile breeding ground for electronic music in recent years, and Identified Patient is the latest fascinating artist to emerge. For that reason we snapped him up for a debut on our UFO series just this month: his Signals In Snakes EP is four tracks of beguiling acid, darkwave and industrial electronics that exist in their own weird universe and come after a breakout Boiler Room show and plenty of well regarded sets at De School in Amsterdam. Always exploring new rhythms and tempos, he continues to do so with a fine entry into our mix series. He really shows the breadth of his range here across a nearly two hour mix that starts like a soundtrack. It depicts cosmic landscapes, indigenous tribes and alien worlds through a series of sludgy rhythms and futuristic dub chuggers before more propulsive drums take you to the club. Identified Patient never hurries his work but is always moving you along, with spacious and eerie tracks, breakbeat bangers and deep minimalism all included along the way in a mix that is brilliantly evocative and otherworldly.

Deena Abdelwahed has a two way relationship with music: in her early years back home in Tunisia when she programmed nights at Nüba, she was known for introducing the likes of footwork, UK bass and kuduro along side experimental house and techno to the local scene. Meanwhile, her own music on labels like InFine has introduced European audiences to bass and techno with plenty of fascinating Arab influences. This was best showcased on her Khonnar album late last year, which came with plenty of inventive rhythms, weird sound designs and generally challenging musical ideas. Abdelwahed’s mix for us comes ahead of her performance at Dekmantel Festival in August and showcases her ability to twist basslines and layer in spiritual ambiance to absorbing effect. It manages to be punchy and physical yet thoughtful throughout, and also comes with plenty of the Arab influences - vocals, instrumentation, rhythms - that make her work so standout.

Just last month, Canadian Jex Opolis debuted on our label with a cosmic and feel good electro EP that came washed in Italo influences. It was the latest in a long line of colourful releases—largely on his own Good Timin’ label—that have explored a timeless mix of synth pop, leftfield, house and nu disco since 2013. As someone with a background playing in bands, he knows how to properly arrange a track, which always shows, and he even uses his own voice for extra layers of personalisation. His mix for us is a fun one: vocals ricochet around over boogie basslines, tropical percussions flails away next to glistening Casio keys and day-glo disco is never far away. House grooves take over later on and power through with more lush chords and it all makes for exactly the sort of thing you want to hear on an open-air, sun-kissed festival stage.

French trio J-Zbel keeps it low key. The unknown collective from Lyon has released exclusively on Brothers From Different Mothers since 2015, and in May this year offered up a fantastic debut album. The oddly titled Dog's Fart Is So Bad The Cat Throws Up was an eclectic double 12” mash up of rave, hardcore, breakbeats, acid and techno that is full throttle and uncompromisingly high energy. With little else to go on but for their music, it’s fair to say J-Zbel enjoy the sweat and intensity of the dance floor and are not afraid to take musical cues from outlier scenes like trance and gabber. That lends their music a thrilling and unpredictable edge that also permeates this podcast: it’s 1 hour 40 minutes of tempo hopping, mood switching sounds that are have your hands pumping to rave one minute and your body skanking to some abstract future grime the next. It’s a refreshing and widescreen take on strobe lit styes that hits like a train.

Iranian born Mozhgan has a love of dark and ghoulish sounds that always play out when she’s on the decks. In 2011, she started her own We Are Monsters party in San Francisco and it very much went against the grain, mostly thanks to her own definitive sets which draw on 80s synths and vintage hardware as well as exotic and ethnic rhythms, cold wave sounds and industrial textures. Since then she has established herself on the global circuit with sets at cult places like Burning Man and Panorama Bar. She will join us at Dekmantel Festival later this summer and tastes us with what to expect with this new mix. It’s a rugged and low slung affair with jerking body music and frosted synths making for an alien vibe throughout. While often abstract and desolate, there are moments of sci-fi beauty and heady depths along the way that make this mix a cinematic experience from start to finish.

Territroy is a coming together of long time techno innovator Stathis Kalatzis and Panagiotis Melidis, who is best known as Larry Gus from his work on DFA. This new collaboration explores the similarities and differences between the two distinctive artists: the club focussed drums and physicality of the former, and the meticulous song craft and chord structure of the latter. It has resulted in a brand new album, Skulls & Plants—due in June on our own UFO label—that explores rugged rhythm, dark internal spaces and twisted synth work that is a full of beautiful contrasts. That distinctive duality and sense of split personality is clear to see in the mix they have put together for us. And few in the series have started as wildly, with freeform jazz expressionism bursting out of the speakers before dying away to reveal a loose and tropical rhythm littered with percussion and hand drums. Looseness and, frankly, weirdness, characterises the next couple of hours as psyched-out synths and manic drumming, computer meltdowns and more radical jazz stylings all intertwine with each other in truly beguiling fashion. If you like your music to be challenging and rule breaking, this is the one for you.

Today we’re all super hyped for for Lente Kabinet this weekend so to get us even more excited we’ve got Job Jobse making his entry to the series. He will play a closing set at the festival and as resident at De School is a master for serving up the perfect record at the perfect time. Initially a slow burner, he’s long been loved by Amsterdam locals for his richly melodic take on house, techno, Italo and disco, and himself is happy to call it trance. It’s certainly a spell being and emotional style that characterises his work here. With something of an old school slant, there are stiff vocal cuts and robotic grooves that slowly loosen up and turn to more hands in the air and zoned out fair before getting more sci-fi and occult later on. As ever with Jobse, it’s feel good and fun without being obvious.

After a few years bubbling under, Cera Khin could well be about to breakthrough. And few deserve it more than the Tunisian born, Berlin based artist as she is busy on many different fronts, from hosting radio shows on NTS and Noods to running her own LazyTapes label. It has put out music she has made with Ossia as well as solo 12”s from Peder Mannerfelt, but her has not as yet showcased the full breadth of her tastes which range from Afro to Egyptian grooves, grime, rave and ambient. This mix is just as wild and full on from the off, but more directly focussed on the dance floor. High energy techno ranges from mutant to acid to hardcore, with corrugated ghetto funk and euphoric rave all mix in with tight and technical skills. It’s a blistering introducing to how Khin sounds in the club and is a great way to kick start your week.

There is an effectiveness and simplicity to Mall Grab’s house music that very quickly made him a star. The artist from an Australian town makes tracks as dusty as homeland, but imbued with feel good melodies, irresistible drums and smart samples that elevated them above pure tools. This raw, instinctive, unfussy sound has found him on labels like Looking For Trouble as well as the Steel City Discs label he runs with Jarred Kennedy and Jackson Fitzsimmons. Back in February he stepped out with an EP under his own name in a mission of “self-discovery” and it’s a journey the world continues to be closely tuned in to. His mix is a high octane selection of brilliantly physical sounds. From supersized house to throwback breakbeats, he slams it all together with a fist pumping efficiency that means two hours race by in a flash. It’s a fun mix, too, with old school rave flavours, saw tooth stabs and bumping kicks all brimming with the sort of life that makes Mall Grab such an appealing and accessible talent.

Kampire has been bringing the authentic sound of East Africa to Europe for a few years now. She was born in Uganda and raised in Zambia but paints a weird and wonderful musical picture that draws on Congolese rhythms, tropical bass and Afro-pop. Outside of music this core member of Uganda’s Nyege Nyege collective is a writer and activist who is fighting marginalisation and oppression and has an infectious energy that carries over onto stage as she platforms various underrepresented sounds, scenes and artists. Her punch one hour mix is a succinct snapshot of her sound. It takes us direct to her African heartland through a series poly-rhythmic beats and tumbling basslines that cannot fail to get you pump up and wiggling your behind. From restlessly energetic tracks to sun-kissed township sounds via hyper-driven futurism it’s a white knuckle ride that will have you on the edge of your seat.

Nu Guinea came together over a love of studio jam sessions. The Berlin based Italians fuse live instrumentals and synthesisers that journey to far corners fo the musical world, from weird disco to exotica, world grooves via ethno rhythms. Their most adventurous work has come in the form of albums on their own NG Records as well as Early Sounds Recordings, one of which found them rewire original Tony Allen drum recordings with their own jazz-funk vibes. In the mix for us this week they stir up a steamy summer session of boogie bass, township funk and squelchy synth goodness. It’s 90 minutes of storytelling music that speaks of a lifetime of digging deep into local sounds and scenes and stitching them all together with the sort of underlying grooves that transcend boundaries and bring people together under the sun.

OKO DJ is a core member of a few key collectives: the first is the Brothers From Different Mothers label she has been signed to, and the second is LYL Radio, where she heads up the Paris department and hosts the monthly Synchronisme ou Barberie with the Bruits de la Passion crew, as well as her own women-only show Pu$$y Nightmare. She is utterly diverse in the music she plays, which ranges from doom laden psych to 80s synth to cold body music via futuristic soundscapes. Mixing with a focus on vibe and feeling rather than scene or style, she is freed up to go wherever the music takes her. And so it is that her mix starts with an energised spoken word monologue then transitions to experimental beats, spooky synth tracks and jungle all within the first fifteen minutes. Dark and foreboding passages are often offset by more exotic moments of calming ambiance and for every frazzled synth and blizzard of drums there is a restorative dub moment to reset the mood. Such a series of highs and lows, darks and lights is not often found in the same set, and what’s what sets OKO DJ apart.

A true student of world music, specifically scenes across West Africa, Auntie Flo’s music is an always authentic distillation of afro drums and rhythms. His latest album was the finest example of that and featured collaborators from Senegal, Cuba and London who all added a true sense of character to his meticulous production. The tracks ranged from broken beat to string laced soul and featured found sounds from Moroccan markets and bustling townships that took you on a truly global adventure. His mix, of course, travels just as far and wide and plays out like an audio diary that tells a thousand stories. There's gorgeous instrumental fair setting the scene and sojourns into heavy drums that’ll have you in a trance psychedelic melting pots of intoxicating synths and wind instruments and steamy and menace, it takes you places you’ll likely never have been before.

Chinese born Tzusing has spent time in Chicago, Singapore and Taiwan and “this condition of dislocation” is what informs his music. It is a brash mix of industrial textures, harsh broken techno and subversive pop, trap and rap that is all blurred into one borderless offering that mirrors his own personal intersections. That music has come on LIES since 2011 and has given rise to standout LP 東方不敗 in 2017 that lead to shows on Boiler Room, Dommune and at Berghain. He was quiet on the release front in 2018, but has started this year with a new split EP on Pan, and now offers us a musical catch up ahead of him playing at Dekmantel Festival later in the year. Over the course of seventy minutes he jumps around restlessly, but somehow his sounds remain united by shiny metallic surfaces whether he’s mixing in Asian pop, whirring computer sounds in meltdown or horror-core. To us, it sounds like a futuristic soundtrack to some hyper urban metropolis that’s on the brink of collapse, and it’s genuinely compelling.

Mike Parker, you would assume, is a perfectionist. His techno is meticulous, his grooves as hypnotic as any. Over the course of two decades he has honed in on his vision with ever increasing accuracy. He manages to get huge amounts of detail into his tunes that elevates them above purely functional material and lands him on labels like Semantica, Prologue and Tresor in both EP and LP format. The American is just as deep and powerful as a DJ, even without the use of kick drums. And that’s the path he follows over the course of one absorbing hour here, laying out a cinematic journey into space that is propelled by ambient synths and sci-fi motifs that set real scenes and have a real sense of narrative. At times it is blissful, at others more unnerving, but rarely will you hear an ambient mix as coherent and compelling as this.

Detroit’s Patrice Scott is a lifelong student of the deep who brings something fresh to his more techno orientated hometown. His smoky, atmospheric house lays low and rolls on endlessly, getting you in a meditative state and keeping you there with spine-tingling vocal motifs and beautifully delicate keys. His own Sistrum label has been on a similar mission since 2006, and you’d be hard pushed to find deep house as raw and emotionally charged anywhere in the world. His podcast is a two hour masterclass in smooth and seductive house that explores plenty of different moods. Selections exude the sort of class and quality that Scott has made his trademark: he’s not afraid of a jiggy drum pattern, or a vulnerable female voice, but the kicks always remain rooted to the floor and impossible to ignore. Come rain or shine, outdoor stages or indoor sweat boxes, this is the sort of mix that will always make a mark.

Has anyone toyed with the rules and subverted expectation quite as much as DJ Fett Burger in recent years? We can’t think of many people who are more thrilling to listen to than the Sex Tags co-founder. Whether viewing ambient through a dubby house lens, getting wilfully weird with time signatures or wonderfully wonky with his grooves, the Norwegian is in a class of one. He’s fairly prolific too, with more than 22 EPs to his name since 2012, yet each and every time he steps out, he manages to sound more fun and freaky than before. It’s the same story with his DJ sets. The one we have here is a three-hour ready-made party: it starts with ass-wiggling funk and joyous disco before things begin to unravel into tumble-down house and heavily percussive afro drums. Fett Burger isn’t afraid to suddenly switch up the tempo or roughly blend in a new tune, either, just so long as the energy remains. And it does, with things ending up not far from where they started with a classic slice of Prince that will leave you wanting to do it all again.

VC-118A is a firm favourite with electro’s most hardcore fans. The Dutchman - who also works as Mohlao and Multicast Dynamics - covers every shade from moody and insular to purely for the floor. He’s a regular on the most reliable labels in the scene including Delsin (where he just released his new album 'Inside'), Frustrated Funk and Radio Matrix, and always manages to get rich contrasts in his music that make it as impactful as it is thoughtful. He’s also one of the most able live acts in the game; someone who soundtracks imaginary movies that play out while you’re lost in the darkness. He keeps it high tempo over the course of an hour here, with corrugated drum funk and glistening sci-fi synths all racing along and taking you with them. At times there is an aggressive sense of industrialism to the music, but just when the pressure is about to get too much, you’re off into more eerie and empty sonic worlds that forever keep you guessing. Sit back, then, and enjoy a master at work.

Techno collaborations don’t come much more exciting than Neon Chambers. Made up of UK titan Sigha and famously experimental Frenchman Kangding Ray, the pair have very much defined the modern sound of the genre with their solo careers. When coming together for their blistering live show, they fuse avant-garde sounds with machine-driven grooves and work up music that manages to make an impact on the floor as well as fire your cerebral cortex. Later this year, the pair will play at Dekmantel 2019, but before that we have a set to get you in the zone as to what to expect. Of course, it is a stylish and boundary pushing exploration of tempo and texture that is all up close and intricate synthesis one moment, then more laid back dub swagger the next. Never rooted to one sound world, there are cosmic vibes as well as raw industrialism all touched upon, and the result is as arresting as you would expect from this hugely proficient pair.

Jonny Rock knows how to entertain any sort of dance floor. The Worldwide FM radio host runs Turkish focussed labels Hamam House and Disco Hamam and has very much driven the renewed focus in Eastern music as a result. His record collection is a treasure trove of knowledge when it comes to unusual scenes and sounds and will put anyone’s to shame. He has held residences at places as diverse as Classic at The End, Key at Phonica and Herbal, and his own productions take in whatever he wants, be it house on The Nothing Special or techno on ESP Institute. There is no holding back over the course of his podcast, which gets straight to business with some wild breakbeat action. All forms of house from jacked up to deep, celebratory to acid then get seamlessly linked together into something that feels very much informed by the past but in no way a slave to the classics. It’s the sound of a man who very much knows what he’s doing in top form.

Although a relative newcomer to the DJ game, JASSS has really managed to shake up the dance floor in the last couple of years ( not least with her residency at Berghain's Säule). Releases on Anunnaki Cartel, Mannequin and iDEAL Recordings have showcased her rugged and gritty approach to EBM, industrial, acid and techno. Between those releases she has covered experimental sound art, soundscapes and more club focusses beats, all while playing to her own rules and fighting her own internal battles. On her Dekmantel podcast the Spaniard goes direct to the club with visceral drums and stark synths. It’s a mix that hurries you along for the ride, jostling you with breakbeats and rave stabs then rewriting your brain with prickly techno before allowing you a moment to breath in some more elastic and rubbery house music. It’s always full flavour, high impact stuff that is brilliantly compelling and strobe lit throughout, whether stepping at half time or falling over itself in a race to the end.

Kasra V’s unique fusion of eastern and western sounds has made him one of the most intriguing artists of the day. The Iranian has established himself with an NTS show (that is more than 100 episodes deep) and DJ sound that mixes old school UK rave with Belgian techno, acid house, trance and eastern grooves that make for spellbinding experiences. In 2018 he collaborated with Dopplerekkekt and is working on a reissue compilation series that focuses on Iranian sounds as well as original dance material. Later this year he will play for us at Dekmantel Selectors so you can get an insight into what to expect on this week’s podcast: It’s a whirlwind hour of trance-inducing electronics. Zoned out synths are layered up over smooth rolling drums, with sci-fi references and progressive grooves lifting you ever higher. Acid flashes, retro motifs and slick mixing all make it a perfectly absorbing trip.

Afrodeutsche’s music is a collision of many different worlds. She herself is British born, but with Ghanaian, Russian and German heritage, while her influences and inspirations span classical piano, film and documentary music. Based in Manchester, she is a composer and producer with a regular show on NTS that explores her love of techno and electro and which goes from dark and tough to jacked up and broken. Her mix for us is a 90 minute excursion through her musical mind: it’s a busy one that veers from ghostly ambiance to serrated machine music. While a subtle hardcore nostalgia colours the airwaves one moment, decidedly forward facing bass music will twist you inside out the next, and the whole thing is run through with a sense of menace and mystery that is perfect for shady, strobe-lit clubs.

Efdemin has all but perfected his deep, expertly reduced take on house and techno. The German artist has mastered his form over the course of numerous 12”s on various labels, including three albums on Dial Records. They are intricate, mind bending affairs that take you in on yourself and constantly explore new ground. His hybrid mix CD on his own Naïf imprint and Curle last year was another career high point, and recently he has turned himself towards experimental and microtonal composition with yet more fascinating results. February 2019 will see Ostgut Ton release New Atlantis, his latest album and one inspired by Francis Bacon’s unfinished 17th century novel of the same name. Promising to fuse his left-of-centre take on dance music with a new found passion for experimental sound art, it’s the latest chapter in a fascinating artistic story. His podcast for us is a decidedly club-focussed mix, featuring the sort of warped synths and underlapping grooves you would expect of the man. There are multi-layered tracks of percussion, sound design and stringy rhythms to start, then things slip into long, draw out passages of tunnel vision techno before the drums begin to hit harder to carry you home. At times playful, at others deadly serious, it sums up the career of Efdemin perfectly.

Beta Librae is the brightest star in the Libra constellation, but also one of the brightest stars in techno. Bailey Hoffman hails from New York City and arrived in 2015 pretty much with a fully formed and decidedly singular sound. Releasing albums and EPs on labels like Incienso and Allergy Season, she draws on ambient, downtempo, new age and house music to stir up weird atmospheres and slow motion grooves. Lots goes on between her lazy kicks, and it all serves to sink you into a cavernous and expansive world of beautiful melody and loose percussion. Over the course of ninety minutes, Hoffman’s wide sphere of influences are all exposed. There’s kaleidoscopic techno that traps you in a hall of mirrors as melodies refracted all around, ramshackle drums that are on the verge of collapse and murky house music that’s gritty and grimy. The transitions between these worlds are subtle, and for every passage of dark and dirty texture there are moments of light emitting beauty that keeps the whole thing moving. This is club music from a whole new perspective.

As soft and dreamy as their moniker may be, Clouds actually make some of the most brutal and destructive techno out there. The Scottish duo of Calum MacLeod and Liam Robertson have been doing so with ever more abrasive surfaces and twisted drums since 2010, releasing on the likes of Turbo, Opal Tapes and Soma. Two of their three albums, though, have come on Speedy J’s Electric Deluxe. The latest, Heavy The Eclipse, is a conceptual affair that comes with a brilliantly realised website telling the story of a city that was left to rot after social and economic collapse. This “post-industrial hell-future” is taken over by Germans and renamed Neurealm, and is soundtracked across 14 perfectly dark and dystopian pieces featuring snippets of vocals, tinges of euphoria, passages of desolate dub and frazzled industrial noise. In their mix for us, the pair continue with that bleakly immersive sonic imagery by using unreleased material only! Nightmarish screams are obscured by scuzzy sonic blizzards, rave synths spray about above overdriven drums and hardcore and dub culture references often poke through the mire. It’s an all out aural assault that takes you to the heart of a grotty, strobe-lit warehouse in the very dead of night.

After numerous compilation appearances, the first half of 2018 saw object blue put out her first two solo EPs—‘Do you plan to end a siege?' on Tobago Tracks and 'REX' on Let’s Go Swimming.’ Their impact, next to her spellbinding live shows, was so significant that by the end of the year she was one of the most talked about new artists around. The reason is that the Chinese sound designer contorts her drum machines and smudges her synths with utter disregard for any rules and lands somewhere fresh and new; some grey area between broken techno, warped bass and experimental club. A sonic meticulousness always manages to shine through object blue’s work, despite what can often be carnage beneath the surface. And that’s the case with the one hour session we end the year with here: it’s a symphony of layers that variously sooth and seduce or rough you up with rhythm. Despite the shades of sound art and musical collage that are never far away, a dance floor narrative underlines the whole thing and will keep you moving well into 2019, a year which promises plenty for object blue.

There are a great deal of things you can say about Dan Snaith. His list of achievements would burnish any CV: a doctorate in mathematics under one arm, and some of the 21st century’s most celebrated electronica albums under the other. He manages to juggle festival headline slots across the world with the live iteration of Caribou, while slipping out timeless dancefloor burners and one of the last ever FabricLive CDs as Daphni. Oh, and he’s a super friendly guy too. That experience – and crowd-charming magnetism – can be heard all over today’s Dekmantel Podcast, a three-hour tour de force of Daphni in peak-time mode at the peak of summer. Recorded on Sunday of Dekmantel Festival 2018, in the middle of a humble-superstar-sandwich of Jamie XX / Floating Points, Snaith glides between rave stabs, strutting funk, stirring soul, global grooves and everything else under the (very warm) sun. Here’s to the next decade of Dan’s dominance!

Amsterdam’s Mendel doesn’t want the headlines, he wants your heart. He’s a DJ who likes to make connections between sounds and scenes that span entire continents and generations. He works the floor into a loved-up mass that doesn’t know where it is going next. He often drops his own well crafted edits into his sets with a sympathetic touch that continues to win him an ever more ardent fan base. Next to a rare knowledge of soul and disco, he also loves house music. All these elements come together on his mix for us, which is another impossibly nimble jaunt through the ages. Energetic disco, heart swelling house and breezy, afro tinged groovers all sit smoothly together with acid jack and uplifting songs. Add in some old classics and future anthems that the 'ID?' crew will die for, and you have a perfectly tasteful party mix that works in any setting, during any season.

When New York City’s DJ Python (@wnkrs) is in the studio, very different worlds collide. His drums and rhythms draw on dub and reggae, his synths come from celestial ambient skies, and together they resulted in 2017’s Dulce Compañia album on Anthony Naple’s Incienso. As beautiful as it is beguiling, the music was hugely original and managed to make both a physical and cerebral impact. Since then he has made music for Moxie’s On Loop and also been installed as resident at Mister Saturday Night's New York venue Nowadays. In brazen fashion, Python calls his Dekmantel selection ‘Best Mix of The Year Let’s be Real’ and certainly does come correct over 75 minutes. As ever he serves up the unlikely but intoxicating pairing of dub rhythms and soothing ambient. Before long he has you utterly locked in for the ride as the drums get more long legged and upright, broken and steel plated. The synths get freaky, too, with cut up vocals and tropical percussion all colouring the airwaves in ways only DJ Python can.

Fred P’s music is not just deep, but spiritual. Under his own name as well as Black Jazz Consortium, FP-Oner and FP197, the man from Queens, New York imbues his bottomless grooves with pensive pads and emotionally loaded keys that sink you into another dimension. His DJ sets are also cathartic experiences for mind, body and soul, and he’s remained hugely prolific over the course of more than 11 LPs and 20 EPs during the last decade. His eternal aim is “to raise each other's consciousness”, and he never fails to do that whether playing all night long at one of his residences or serving up releases on his own Soul People Music. In October, that label came to an end after more than a decade, only to make way for Perpetual Sound, which launched with a new Black Jazz Consortium EP featuring remixes from Mr G and Fred P. His emotionally awakening style is present and correct on this 90 minute mix he serves up for us. It starts with warm and cavernous atmospheres and the sort of balmy pads and tight basslines that define his sound, before progressing into a zoned out techno sound. Always smooth and meditative, moments of jazzy musicality are never far away, and there is a timeless nature to everything Fred does. Without him, then, dance music wouldn’t be anywhere near as deep.

It was a long time coming, but last month Fatima finally dropped the follow up to her debut album Yellow Memories. And Yet It’s All Love—released on long time home Eglo—found the artist’s newly matured vocals taking centre stage amongst production that was slightly more paired back. It revealed her very real talents on the mic and her ability to go from buttery smooth slow jams to resoundingly chest pumping neo-soul anthems via curiously innocent lullabies and grown-up jazzy invention. Covering a wide musical and emotional scale, the record mixed up all consuming seriousness with the same sense of fun and playfulness that characterises her essential radio shows on NTS. They are treasure troves of r&b, hip hop and neo-soul that can be 20 years old or not yet released, and that’s what she serves up on her ‘Maple Motivation Mix’ here. It’s an intimate and personal listen that offers a window into the artist’s wide array of influences. Like Fatima’s own rich musical output, it variously bumps and grinds, melts your heart or empowers you, and will keep you coming back for more time and time again.

Chicago’s Specter is a maverick, but one who has remained somewhat under the radar. Over the course of twenty years, he’s continually turned out gritty house that manages to be deep yet physical. For the last eight of those he has released on Theo Parrish’s Sound Signature—a suitably unconventional home for his unconventional grooves. Most recently he excelled on his debut full length, Built to Last, which reworked house music into various colourful, experimental and bass heavy new forms. As well as rare studio skill, Spectre is a hardworking DJ who can light up a loft or jack a warehouse. On his Dekmantel mix, he decides to serve up a two hour mix that is suited to home listening. It’s all simmering, slow burning deepness to start with before gradually the drums grow more raw and angular. The mood remains reflective and thoughtful, though; a meditation on the more cerebral side of house music, which is just one of the many things Specter does so well.

Like his name suggests, Black Merlin is something of a wizard. His music is drenched in worldly sounds and colourful cultures, not least his forthcoming Kosua album, a second on Island of The Gods. Inspired by his love affair with the island of Papua New Guinea, it features recordings of the local tribes, jungle sounds, wildlife and ancient dance customs so is a living and breathing document that immediately transports you to the southwestern Pacific. It comes after years of dizzyingly diverse releases on the likes of Pinkman, Mannequin and She Lost Kontrol that mix up EBM, techno, ambient and house, plus collaborative projects such as Karamka and Spectral Empire. His 90 minute mix for us is as stylish and unrestricted as you would expect, and given that we’re in Halloween month, it feels like it’s come just at the right time. Starting out with soot black apoca-disco, it traverses its way through study industrial, urban desolation and factory floors in meltdown. It’s mechanical and shadowy, but always filled with a sense of tension and suspense that keeps you enthralled.

Lisbon is enjoy plenty of time in the spotlight at the moment, not least thanks to artists like Violet, who is busy on many different fronts at once. As a lone force she producers anything from big techno breakbeats to rave tinged acid house. Next to that she’s also co-founded Radio Quântica, which is an essential platform for local underground artists and activists. She also performs as part of an all female rap group and covers classic tunes made solely by woman. Besides that, she even found time to start her own new label, Naive, this year. It should come as no surprise that such an active mind packs a lot into her 75 minute mix. Tripped out cosmic breakbeats kick things off before the drums grow more distorted and synths begin to howl as you’re dumped onto a dance floor at 3am. A subtle rave euphoria washes over the mid section before dusty breakbeats and slippery electro see things out. Despite the driving nature of the underlying drums, this is a mix that exudes warmth, soul and romance.

Italian-born but Berlin-based Eva Geist doesn’t make music so much as cinematic trips. A composer, synthesiser and vocalist, she has made albums for Macadam Mambo and Elestial Sound that draw on sythwave, leftfield electronics and ambient to make for occult sonic adventures. Her mastery of analogue machinery results in enigmatic offerings than can variously be spiritual, tribal or trance inducing, but always take you into an unusual world of rarefied melodies and soft beats. Her mix for us is a very personal, living and breathing affair that was put together on a new setup. It’s a collection of jams, each recorded on a different day, and laced up with field recordings taken in glaciers in Kazakhstan during the filming of a documentary and art installation Eva is collaborating on (it’s called Baden Projekt and you can find details here https://vimeo.com/badenprojekt), as well as her voice, small acoustic instruments and some excerpts of speeches by Carmelo Bene, Paolo Barnard and Pier Paolo Pasolini. “It's basically a short novel about birth, consumerism, life as a big illusion and so on,” she explains. The resulting 45 minutes of ambient, drone, spoken word and found sounds is like a soundtrack to a movie that exists only in your mind, and is truly absorbing.

Last month, Andy Votel put out his Midlife Crisis Disco Mixtape on limited cassette and it sold out in minutes. However, the English producer, designer and DJ has very kindly given us the exclusive honour of releasing the mixtape digitally, for the very first time, through our podcast series. He is, of course the man behind reissue label Finders Keepers as well as Twisted Nerve, and has released a wealth of music under various pseudonyms on labels like XL. He is someone who is utterly free from categorisation having mixed jazz and hip hop at The Hacienda, documented the history of Welsh protest music on BBC Radio 4, collaborated with Demdike Stare, Suzanne Ciani and Gruff Rhys, and produced for Badly Drawn Boy amongst a lifetime of other dizzyingly diverse projects such as presenting radio shows for Gilles Peterson and NTS. As the title suggests, his latest mixtape is focussed on outsider disco, and is made from original vinyl pressings only. Like the tens of others he has done over the years, it’s a masterclass jam packed with heat, propped up by funky drums and run through with boogie baselines or soaring strings. The tape brims with squelchy synthesiser colour and features vocals in a range of languages that lend it a worldwide feel and global appeal. It’s one for the ages, that’s for sure.

Time sure does fly when you’re having fun, and so it is that we’ve already raced up to podcast number 200. We’ve managed to call upon a suitably large name for the honour; someone who has very much shaped the techno scene over the course of the last 20 years and continues to excite people every time he plays. That man is Surgeon. As a performer, Birmingham’s Anthony Childs was one of the first men to embrace and exploit the possibilities of Ableton Live and Final Scratch. His mastery of that technology made his sets even more improvised and innovative, and over the years he has never compromised his vision. He plays with a sense of devastation and destruction that explores the very outer edges of what is possible, while always keeping the dance floor absolutely locked in. It’s been the same since he founded his hometown’s first techno club, House of God, at the start of the 90s. As a producer—whether solo or in celebrated collaborations with Regis as British Murder Boys or Ben Sims as Frequency 7—he seems to be getting better with age. Right from his first EP on Karl O’Connor’s Downwards in 1994, surgeon has had a hard hitting, linear style that remains to this day. Recent years saw him return to a primitive rave style and incorporate the gritty industrial influences of his youth. But in 2018 he evolved again and served up what many consider to be his best album in years. Luminosity Device features a more rhythmic, playful sense of drum programming next to his meticulously crafted synths and enthralling sense of urgency and future paranoia. The nuance in his tracks is now as intriguing as the visceral power of the kicks, and it all adds up to an album that works as well on headphones, at home, as it does on the dance floor. It’s proper techno by a proper techno head. And so is the mix he has put together for us. Over 1 hour 45 minutes, the man calls upon plenty of pivotal names from Juan Atkins and Oscar Mulero to Donato Dozzy and James Ruskin. There are plenty of twists and turns along the way, so that zoned out passages of dubbed out drums are followed by intergalactic space battles and moments of synth laden intensity. It’s a testament to Surgeon’s skills that he can take you to such far ranging corners of the techno world without ever getting lost.

October welcomes Peaking Lights to our podcast series but also our label, because on the 15th of the month the Californian electronic pop duo serve up Sand of Sea. It’s their first release of the year and a six track trip into their woozy and immersive, dubbed out electronics. It comes after a decade of Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis and honing their sound on a broad selection of labels from Domino to 100% Silk. The husband and wife pair are known for their spellbinding live show and have put out nine LPs that mirror the shimmering horizons and long warm nights of their LA hometown. This super extended four hour jam is a comprehensive overview of what they can do. It has a global narrative that takes you to a humid African plain then on to a beach a sunset. It veers from clunky mechanical grooves to blissed out synthscapes with ease, and tempos always stay at an invitingly slow pace, so there is plenty of space to think and get lost between the beats. Summer might now be in the rear view mirror, but this mix will always bring some sunshine into your life.

Mathew Jonson brings lovers of all forms of dance music together. His live show is one of the best in the business: an elegant techno adventure with pounding drums and well crafted synths that endlessly twist and turn through emotional highs and darker physical depths. In short, he is someone as schooled in jazz as he is electronic synthesis. He’s a master of his hardware; a human who can speak through his machines. His meticulous approach also carries over into the studio and has given rise to plenty of underground hits on his own labels as well as a fine selection of others. His mix for us this week is a 90 minute recording of his masterful live set at Dekmantel 2017. Wasting no time in getting down to business, it kicks off with classic electro and from there the killer baselines just keeping on coming, some from his own back catalogue, some from outer space and some from the future. It’s a mix with a compelling sense of momentum and one that traverses sounds and scenes with ease.

VRIL is one of the most reliable artists in techno. He emerged with a style that was his own and has pretty much stuck to it ever since. Eight years after his debut, that loopy, dubby take on the genre sounds as vital as ever, and most often comes on labels like Delsin, Dystopian and Giegling. A live set from the German is just as floor facing and effective. It will veer from deeper moments of intensity to trippy, off kilter drum patterns that are designed to keep you moving. Here he serves up a perfectly mix that syncs perfectly with the changing season: it’s all warm and cuddly from the off, with cosy dub techno cocooning you in an inviting sound world that slowly transitions into more twisted and straight up techno. Whether the drums are thumping or laying more horizontal, there is an absorbing intensity to VRIL's work that proves he is someone who has a real mastery of his art.

Lawrence le Doux is impossible to pin down. The Belgian has been beating his own path since the nineties under a range of different guises. His latest album Host—following a soundtrack on Hivern Discs and years of everything from rap to hardcore to ambient—came on his home label Vlek and was an embodiment of the last 30 years of electronic music in his homeland. From digital dub to house to industrial, it covers plenty of ground in authentic style and made for a fascinating listen. Over more than eighty minutes here, he serves up an equally kaleidoscopic mix filled with beautiful moments. It’s a late night affair that takes in ambient house, trippy 5am techno, dubbed out grooves, beguiling broken beats, trance, afro and plenty in between. Transitions feel natural and coherent even if, on paper, they shouldn’t. It’s a mix that comprehensively proves Lawrence le Doux’s understanding and knowledge of electronic music runs deep.

Lots of artist like to think they have their own singular sound, but not many are as hard to categorise as Lutto Lento. The Polish artist cooks up intoxicating brews of churning drums, weird samples, lithe synths, jumbled percussion and plenty more. Is is dancehall? Is it techno? Is it ambient? Who knows, but it’s beautiful in its abstraction and makes for some of the most compelling sound collages you are likely to hear. As a DJ he has an approach to sound that is just as eclectic and magpie. This mix one starts off with warped, twisted synths that sound stripped from the UK hardcore continuum, before growing into big, tumbling drums. A flurry of dancehall, broken rhythms, raved up Indian bass all follow and leave you in awe of the man’s ability to thread to tether so much different stuff with such a strong sense of cohesion. Truly, he is one of a kind.

Olivia has been intrinsically linked wit the Polish electronic music scene for almost 15 years. Maybe most famously, she is a resident DJ at Unsound, but next to that she also runs her own Radar night at celebrated Krakow club Szpitalna 1—where she is also chief booker—and DJs as one half of Chrono Bross. Both technically excellent and well versed in the history of house and techno, she mixes liquid acid with cosmic melodies, Detroit futurism with Dutch rawness and is someone fascinated by the paranormal, the infinity of space and the potential of robotics. All this informed her full bodied and psychedelic debut release on K-Hole Trax, and the mix she has put together for us. There is a dystopian air to start with, where fizzing synths and malfunctioning machines make for uncomfortable listening before jerking rhythms tinged with elements of electro and EBM being to make you move. Unsettling and abstract throughout, it’s a dark mix for strobe lit dance floors that is industrial and dehumanised, but one that is never less than compelling.

Pariah has recently returned with Here From Where We Are, his first solo material in a while. The debut album on Houndstooth finds the producer develop beatless, synth heavy soundtracks into long, thoughtful pieces that are utterly absorbing. It’s a new musical identity for someone closely associated with visceral techno thanks to his work as one half of live duo Karenn with Blawan, but as a DJ he still pumps the dance floor. This mix is testament to that: it’s ninety minutes of diverse electronic music that dips into afro drumming, sleek minimalism and off kilter UK bass as well as some cheeky garage. As it wraps up, drums make way for subtle and supple synth rhythms that leave you utterly horizontal, a mile away from the sweaty state that proceeds it. Like Pariah himself, it’s tied to no one sound or scene and is wholly refreshing as a result.

Skymark is someone who flies rather under the radar despite being a DJ who can light up your spirit with his carefully constructed sets of deeply resonant music. Like his selections in the booth, his productions combine soul, funk, Brazilian, gospel and jazz into spine tingling moods and grooves that emanate strong life forces and fill you with positivity. They come in the form of perfectly sun kissed albums like Primeiras Impressões and boogie fuelled Waves From The Nucleus on labels like Neroli, nsyde and Rush Hour as well as his own his own Modern Sun Records. The Swiss born, Rio based artist is a real student of sound and so time in his company is always a genuine lesson, and so it proves with the all vinyl mix he has done for us. It’s a joyous mix of shimmering, shining disco, soul, boogie and gospel gold that takes you ever higher. Making tough transitions feel smooth and seductive, he provides an utterly perfect summer soundtrack that you will be reaching for whenever the sun comes out.

Don’t DJ breaks rules. He takes risks. He goes with his heart and not his head. The music he makes is littered with odd sound sources, from oversized flutes to the sound of crushed plastic cups to frog noises, and his rhythms are always complex and challenging. He releases it on Fullfridge Music, Berceuse Heroique, and also runs his own Disk and is a master of fusing different sound worlds into compelling new forms. And that’s the case on the podcast he’s done for us. “I got drunk and recorded an all over the place old time favourites mix. it’s cursed,” he says. That means it’s a raw, instinctive selection with the mistakes left in and plenty of tough riding transitions that make it all the more thrilling. It’s exactly the kind of approach you would expect from the man: who else could squeeze in the likes of MC Hammer, Neneh Cherry, Frak and DJ Sotofett and still make it work? This is truly the work of a standalone DJ.

Jonas Rönnberg is full of ideas. Since 2013 he’s turned out 15 albums and a handful of EPs that find the Swede forever cooking up moody techno landscapes. His atmospheres are heavy, and there is always a bleakness to his work; a darkness to his drones that is cannot fail to suck you in. Labels like Northern Electronics and Semantica have proved perfect homes for his longform sounds, and serious as his music can be, the man himself is also very playful: his latest release is a romance inspired album that rushes with the excitement of falling in love and soars with acoustic guitars and lush pianos. Over the course of an hour here he shows off many contrasting sounds and offers a real snapshot of his hyper-active mind. One moment you’re up against of wall of glitch, then pop vocals and heavenly pianos, then suspensory ambient that is as beautiful as the beats that follow are brutal. It’s an ambitiously freeform session that never lets you settle in one place and, despite—or maybe because of—the strangeness of it all, cannot fail to hook you in.

Each of Steffi’s three studio albums on Ostgut Ton have brought with them new musical explorations. The Dutch born Panoramabar Bar resident’s debut was a warm and classic house affair with steamy vocals. Her second in 2014 was a more techno and electro styled work that took cues from the sleek futurism of Underground Resistance. But her latest, World of The Waking State from late last year, was her most fully realised and individual yet. A deep affair with flourishes of IDM, it’s utterly emotional and intricate, with pulsing drums coloured by deft synths that flash about with a life of their own. It was a perfect continuation of the mix she served up for fabric, but this new one for us follows a different path. Slowly awakening from spaced out ambient, it explores kinked electro, more rugged EBM style grooves and tough, drum lead tracks that are all tied together by a sci-fi sense of atmosphere. Like everything Steffi does, it manages to pack a real punch at the same time as touching on a range of moods from melancholic to optimistic. Now over two decades into her career, Steffi remains as unpredictable and compelling as ever.

Samuel Kerridge is one of the most striking techno producers around. Offering up a wall of noise and rhythm, texture and experiential electronics, he stands alone and really doesn’t care what anybody thinks. This attitude allows him to push borders and explore new ground on labels like Downwards, Contort and Blueprint. There Berlin based Brit is as exceptional in the DJ booth ask he is the studio and live arena, and his output remains as vivid and vital as ever six years after his spellbinding debut. This mix is arresting from the off. It’s a blizzard of overdriven drums and frazzled synth lines that are impossibly restless and raw. Even the moments of relative emptiness and calm are pregnant with tension and menace before things race off once more and leave you gassing for breath. It’s an impressively exhilarating ride that balances light with dark and calm with chaos in just the right proportions so as to never let up and never let you go.

Magic Teapot Records is an exclusive online record store in Barcelona, but also a recently launched record label (run by Daniel Baughman— A&R at Hivern Discs, booker at audiophile venue Nica —, Marco Gegenheimer - who releases on Studio Barnhus as MLiR - and Jens Ingelstedt). The DJ duo though is made up of Baughman and Gegenheimer, and when they come together they unleash hidden vinyl gems that get you dancing and romancing. Their sound is one that has a lot to say and draws on steamy tropical delights and intoxicating world music that could be thirty years old or brand new. Their mix for us is a 90 minute live recording of them doing what they do best at Nica, namely taking us around the globe on a real adventure that has a sense of musical wanderlust running right through it. There are intimate moments of acoustic heaven bleeding into soft, drunken synths and glorious passages of churning reggae and twinkling disco along the way. It’s music with meaning threaded together by a air of expert curators.

DVS1 came up as a raver in the Midwest, throwing techno parties for over 20 years and getting up to mischief, often next to huge stacks of speakers that still influence him to this day. He is now well-established as a vital DJ and resident at Berghain and Panorama Bar.  This mix is something special and a side of DVS1 normally not heard or recorded! A true digger and passionate record collector running the eclectic Mistress Recordings and the more pure techno label HUSH. Here he crosses into house territory for a special dekmantel mix.  Of the podcast we have here, he says, “This mix is two hours of a four hour rare “house” set recorded LIVE in Sept 2017 at an undisclosed location. I make it a point not to release many mixes and while most people know and follow me for my techno sets, this mix is for those who dig a little deeper and appreciate it all… Enjoy!" There is still a real sense of pace to the mix as it glides effortlessly though flurries of percussion into vocal numbers, cosmic curveballs and piano laced anthems. It’s a fascinating insight into a whole other side of one of techno’s foremost talents.

Khidja is a Romanian duo focussed on fusion. They met at high school in Germany and since then have soaked up sounds from all over the world, as well as from their Romanian homeland. From jazz to gypsy music, traditional instrumentation to techno, they skip between genres and generations with ease. Mixing up synths and cult instruments like the setar or ney, their organic soundscapes have come on labels like Hiven Discs and [Emotional] Especial and always add up to intoxicating and esoteric trips. Across the course of 90 minutes for us, they lay all that bare. It’s a punk minded session that journeys through sci-fi noise, freaky disco and no wave sounds with real intensity, building to dense peaks before dissipating and sinking down into a slithering groove. Bold and adventurous, Khidja explore the roots and peripheries of electronic music in brilliantly beguiling fashion.

Every mix in our series is special for different reasons, but there’s no denying that a new one from DâM-FunK will always turn heads. The multi-talented American DJ, musician and vocalist is a one man funk machine who has spent his life distilling boogie, g-funk, electro and synth pop into his own modern take on the genre. The Stones Throw afficionado and Glydezone head honcho has an encyclopaedic knowledge of music, is a prolific producer and collaborator with the likes of Snoop Dogg, and for ten years has hosted his own LA party Funkmosphere. Also, make sure to keep your eyes and ears pealed for his upcoming release ‘Architecture II’, dropping in August. This selection is very much like a night at one of those events: at nearly three and a half hours long, it touches on every facet of DâM-FunK’s sound from the opening and closing eighties synth-pop of Prefab Sprout to Jayda G’s recent tribal house cut ‘Sestra’s Cry’. Next to those, an impossibly diverse list of house and funk names includes Omar-S and Sylvia Striplin, 808 State and Barry White, Bas Noir and YES. As is always the way with DâM-FunK, each track is given the respect it deserves. The mixing is unfussy, often allowing tracks to end before slamming in the next one. Sometimes he moves the mix forwards, at others he takes a brave sidestep that would seem impossible on paper but that makes perfect sense in the context of this mix. All that means its likely you’ll keep on coming back to this timeless selection for many years to come. Mixed live in Ladera Heights (Los Angeles, California), via all original wax pressings owned by DāM-FunK.

Batu’s on a roll. He always is. In a few short years, the Bristol producer has made his own Timedance label widely acclaimed as one of the best out there, while his own productions constantly nudge swinging, bass heavy and broken beat techno in subtle new directions. They have come on the likes of Fringe White and Hessle Audio, while earlier this month he signed to XL Recordings for his latest EP. Always experimenting, challenging himself and and challenging us, he is an innovative artist driven by creating something new. In the DJ booth he’s just as interesting, and here serves up 100 minutes of music that show off his many different styles. His characterful broken beats eventually turn to techno, UK funky drum patterns and then get turned inside out as you’re left to float in a sea of ambient synths and subliminal rhythms. It’s a mix run through with the spirit of UK music from across the ages and wilfully flips mood and tempo so that you can start and end the mix at any point and it will always make sense.

After a couple of well received releases for 1080p and Pinkman, Betonkust and Palmbomen II will properly consummate their relationship with Center Parcs, a debut album on our label this summer. It brings together two Dutch artists with an achingly nostalgic, perfectly washed out and saturated sound that calls on house, pop, ambient, electro and IDM and fills you with familiar emotions from a time and place you might never have actually experienced. On this new, rough edged and hardware heavy mix the duo offer timeless sounds coated in tape hiss and rich in fuzzy, lo-fi melody. There are dreamy ambient passages that are like looking at sunlight through a frosted window, crunchy drum tracks that bristle and prickly with sharp hits and glassy keys and 80s synth tracks that are beautifully naive and innocent. The whole thing plays out with faded kaleidoscopic colours that leave you in a dreamy reverie, and it’s utterly magic.

SHXCXCHCXSH’s techno is as mysterious and abstract as their artist alias. The Swedish duo has remained anonymous since their debut in 2012, largely because they believe that existing in isolation makes it easier to be creative. And they sure have been that, with a spotless run of EPs and LPs on Avian and Rösten that balance light with dark, noise with groove. Though the pair produce famously heavy, dense and gritty soundtracks, they never forget a powerful underlying groove that makes them an equal part artful noise band and compelling techno duo. Their mix for us is made entirely of their own new compositions and is aimed directly at the club after a few years making non dance floor material. It bares that out across an idiosyncratic hour of broken rhythms, fizzing synths and distorted textures "but we didn’t want to repeat tired old patterns and processes and tried something new. This experiment gave us a new way of working with rhythms and we never had as much fun in the studio. Much of the material that came out of the experiment is in this mix and much more will come out as one album called OUFOUFOF on our own Rösten in October, and one EP on Mord in November." As such the mix has all the dynamism of a impromptu live set as it shifts from the sound of malfunctioning machines to apocalyptic techno and back to anxious ambient. Unpredictable and challenging, it’s the sort of mix that leaves you thinking WTF and immediately heading back to the start for a second run, just to try and work out what you just heard.

Alessandro Adriani has been championing unusual and unknown synth wave and industrial sounds for a decade now. The Berlin based Italian has done so on his Mannequin Records label as well as on Pinkman and Jealous God and at his bi-monthly party at Säule/Berghain. An inquisitive mind and avid collector whose taste ranges from jazz to Italo to disco, he is a real treasure trove of musical knowledge, as are his DJ sets. There’s a real sense of discovery to the mix he has laid down for us. It’s filled with chilly synths and industrial textures that are sometimes manic and wild, at others stripped back and haunting. There’s also twisted techno and macho disco, all stitched together with a sense of style that manages to sounds as much from the 80s as it does some unknown future. Adriani’s world is a timeless world, then, but one you’ll be compelled to return to over and over again.

Shanti Celeste always gets the party pumping. Not by reaching for obvious tunes or resorting to the lowest common denominator, but with great selections and slick mixing. Her reach extends deep into house, electro and techno, and can take you way back to the early days or propel you into the future with a seamless ease. Her own productions pull the same trick, and have given rise to pumping vocal house, slippery electro or darker techno jams on key labels like Dekmantel, Idle Hands, Brstl and her own Peach Discs. The London based Chilean born artist also finds time to do an NTS show, and serve up red hot podcasts like this one. It is made up of predominantly new and forthcoming music from friends and peers such as Strategy, Peverelist, E-unity, Bass Cleff, SW:SVN, Talaboman remixed by L.B Dub Corp, plus FFT1 and LNS. And it sure does pack a lot in without ever sounding hurried. There are skeletal sci-fi rhythm tracks bleeding into corrugated electro funk, tribal broken beats and deep techno with a fantastic sidestep into the peerless neo-soul of Jill Scott. It’s a brave mix of styles and tempos that leaves you wondering how Celeste has made them all work together quite so well.

Kamaal Williams has almost single handedly made jazz cool again. The exceptional keys player first did so as part of the now sadly disbanded Yussef Kamaal. Their debut album Black Focus was widely heralded as a modern great, and will soon be followed up by The Return, which finds Williams link with bassist Pete Martin, drummer MckNasty and sound engineer Richard Samuels. It is said to be a natural successor that deals in the sounds of the London streets as well as plenty of visionary jazz. Williams himself also makes soul infused broken beats and house as Henry Wu on labels like MCDE and Eglo and plays mesmeric live shows, so is one of the most vital characters in the modern music landscape. Before he plays for us a Lente Kabinet he has served up a special one hour mix that offers up plenty of his inspirations and influences. From high speed jazz funk to languid, worldly jazz via transcendental guitars and summery soul, it bares all the beautiful hallmarks of Williams’s own music and makes perfect sense in warm weather.

Stanislav Tolkachev has been turning out experimental techno for more than a decade but might never have been as prolific as he is now. Hot on the heels of an EP on Raw Waxes that brimmed with dark IDM invention, this month sees him serve up his fourth full length, It Will Be Too Late Then. It finds the Ukrainian serving up controlled machine made chaos, cavernous grooves and his trademark arpeggios across nine forward thinking tracks. All this and more is showcased on his podcast for us. Tolkachev’s compulsive rhythms are the foundation for what is an end of days soundtrack that takes you from the heat of a percussive battle to a charred and desolate landscape. It’s cinematic music rich in texture, blistering drums and sharp melodies that is beautiful in its brutality.

Paramida is a breath of fresh air on the Berlin scene. Her sound and style goes against the dark, mono-chromatic, machine made music of most of the city and instead heads in a more colourful and Balearic direction. She pushes a bright and emotional sound, and runs the Love on the Rocks label with a similar aim. She calls herself ‘Berlin’s most hated’ but surely isn’t, instead she’s picking up ever more fans because of her “discofied tropical leanings” and passion for unusual house music. And you can expect plenty of that in her podcast. It soundtracks a slow awakening with retro synths drawing you into, and jumbled grooves ranging from dreamy to sunset in style. The overall vibe is one a late eighties house party in Ibiza with plenty of curveballs and moments of subtle euphoria all included. It’s refreshing alternative to the Berlin sound the world knows and loves, and is a timely and welcome edition to our own series.

Since the end of Sandwell District, Silent Servant has continued to be an influential presence in the techno world. The American’s Jealous God label defies convention and expectation with each release and his own avant guard productions remain utterly unique. Each one speaks to his roots—Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, The Cure—by fusing post punk and industrial with techno in chilling ways. His conceptual and sincere aesthetic carries over into his live sets, but also his DJ mixes. This latest one is special indeed: it is a mix of influences, in chronological order and “with only a few hiccups in dates” from 1972 to 2000 and all recorded on vinyl in one take. The resulting hour takes in plenty of those goth and alternative rock sounds, new wave, noise and experimental touchstones he grew up on in Los Angeles, but also seamlessly connects them to the techno that later influenced him so the likes of Kraftwerk, Neon, The Final Cut, Toddy Terry and Jeff Mills all make the cut. From stark and jerky rhythms early on to supple, strobe lit grooves in the second half, this is a personal mix that really tells the story of Silent Servant’s musical evolution.

SØS Gunver Ryberg makes big, powerful music. Hailing from Denmark the former stunt woman turned BAFTA nominated producer and composer lays down driving rhythms and textures for exhiliarating live shows at Berghain, Atonal, and on Boiler Room, or labels like Contort. Often stitching in field recordings to add texture and timbre to her work it adds up to a brilliantly dark and insular experience somewhere between noise and techno. Says the woman herself of her podcast for us, “this is a mix between unreleased tracks, jams and some already released tunes. All music is by SØS Gunver Ryberg except the remix for Else Marie Pade.” The resulting 45 minutes start off as an all out assault: a flurry of synths and frazzled lines, overdriven drums and apocalyptic overtones. But the heaviness subsides and the energy dissipates into muggy and dystopian ambient. Drums do then return and bring with them a real eeriness that makes this an utterly compelling session.

One of many debuts at Dekmantel Festival later in the year will come from Detroit in Effect aka D.I.E, the now solo project of Tameko J. Williams, also known as DJ Maaco. The Motor City artist has roots that run deep into techno and electro and have helped make him one of Detroit’s most under the radar but influential acts. Records like ‘RU Married’ are classic to this day, while other releases on M.A.P. Records helped established D.I.E’s sound as the artists themselves tended to stay out of the spotlight. But this mix will surely put Williams very much back in the headlines: it’s an hour of pure techno and electro heat from the heart of the 313 area code. Quick, slick mixes keep things moving at a real pace as slippery drums and squelchy bass race out of the speakers. Touching on everything from classic Drexciya to timeless vocal cuts, deeper grooves to all out physical assaults, it’s as much a mixing masterclass as it is a real history lesson.

Mafalda has quietly become a truly influential part of the London music scene. Born in Portugal but based in the English capital since 2014, she moved there after a powerful club experience involving Sadar Bahar and has since gone on to create many of her own. Not only does she play at Europe’s most cultured clubs and festivals, but she also co-runs the peerless reissue label Melodies International with Floating Points, DJ Love On The Run and Elliot Bernard, is resident at the much loved You’re A Melody night and worked at Cosmos Records. A serious digger and eye opening selector, she plays moving music with a positive message. In just over an hour here, Mafalda pours out her heart through a series of moving jazz tracks that are imbued with various elements of soul and Afroism. Sweeping vocal tracks range from raw and funk fuelled to blue eyed and sombre. As well as showcasing her ability to dig out high quality music that will have ID requests immediately flooding in, this perfectly sequenced mix is also the sort to get the right club in raptures despite the decidedly non-dance floor nature of the selections. As a DJ, curator and digger, then, Mafalda is one of the best out there right now.

The Maghreban is the most recent alias of an artist who has projects dating as far back as 1995. They deal in everything from drum & bass to jazz, hip hop to techno, and this most recent moniker doesn’t find the producer narrowing down his scope in any way. Proof comes with his debut album 01DEAS on R&S next month. It is a wildly diverse record that takes in 13 different genres studies from afro rock to freak house, jazz beats to dub rollers. Each one is perfectly produced and sounds utterly authentic. It should be no surprise, then, that the hour selection he has put together for us is just as wilfully schizophrenic. It’s a masterful mega mix of sounds and scenes and styles that really shouldn’t go together, but they do. Curious synth jams segue into serene electro, swinging dub house brushes up with horror soundtracks and high summer afro grooves dance next to cosmic disco in effortlessly coherent ways from start to finish.

Hot on the heels of his latest EP on Ninja Tune comes a new podcast from Nathan Fake. An outsider artist since day one, Fake uses cheap and easy-to-acquire technology to make his always idiosyncratic sounds. They have always been leftfield and thoughtful dreamscapes that fuse techno, experimental and ambient together, but have recently tended towards a darker, more intense place. That is played out across the 65 minute selection he has put together for us here. It features unreleased music from Fake and friends, as well as tracks from Karen Gwyer, long time Border Community label mate James Holden, plus Peverelist, Autechre and more. After a synth heavy and beatless start, lo-fi and fuzzy styles of electro, acid and techno all add up to the sort of primal yet intriguing trip you would expect from such a revered underground figure.

Twin Peaks is an improvised partnership made up of DJ Yazi from avant guard hip hop collective Black Smoker Records, and Future Terror resident Haruka. Both hail from Japan and their collaboration first started with a back to back DJ set. It soon—necessarily—evolved into a larger set up consisting of four decks and two mixers that allows the pair to fully realise their vision, which is to serve up a scintillating and diverse mix of sounds and scenes in seamless ways. Hardware is also occasionally added into the mix, but whatever tools they use, the results are always adventurous and expressive. This two hour session is a perfect example of the sort of magic that happens when this pair come together. Opening with otherworldly ambient bliss, psychedelia takes over before soot black broken beats begin to make a more physical impact. Things get ever-weirder from there, whether that’s with passages of spooky dub or paranoid techno. Throughout the session, though, you feel wholly consumed by, and lost in, a convincing parallel world that is as cinematic as it is cerebral.

Max Graef is at the centre of his own little musical world that includes being co-foudner of Money $ex Records and part of the Oye Records and Box Aus Holz crews. It’s a world of loose house grooves, jazzy influences and disco flourishes with lo-fi aesthetics that has spawned two essentials albums—on Tartelet and Nine Tune respectively—as well as countless singles. More recently he has delved into techno, though, proving that he is an inquisitive artist who has plenty of tricks up his sleeve. He is a wizard on a range of outboard gear as well as having some very real playing chops when it comes to keys, guitars and percussion. As a DJ his organic style always comes through, which means his mix for us is an impromptu thing that calls on lots of different grooves. Sometimes hurried and minimal, at others spacious and deep, it’s a showcases of all the many influences that Graef distills into his own productions and is a nuanced listen that stands up to home listening. Included along the way are a couple of forthcoming solo tunes, as well as one with long time musical sparring partner Glenn Astro, so have fun picking them out.

It’s people like Mano Le Tough who make DJing into an art form, as you can tell from the mix he has done for us ahead of our festival in São Paolo this weekend. The connection he makes with dance floors are always as deep as can be; with a real sense of melody, emotion and song like structure, he crafts sets that make a lasting impact on those who hear them. This has resulted in him being one of the busiest DJs on the circuit, on a par with deep house heroes Ame and Dixon, who he plays with regularly. As a producer, his smooth and mellifluous sounds land on labels like Permanent Vacation and more recently Pampa, which is a perfect fit for his curious sense of melody. This week’s mix is an hour of deep house that rumbles through a humid jungle, zones you out with hypnotic vocal tracks and encourages you to day dream amongst distant pads. Even when things turn more towards a techno groove later on, you still remain deeply entrenched in the groove, marching on through to a trippy climax that gently stirs you out of your hypnosis with a real celestial charm.

Courtesy is one of techno’s newest breakthrough stars. The Greenland born, Danish raised DJ, Ectotherm label boss and journalist first turned heads with some key online mixes in 2016 which showed she will reach for whatever works be that rave, electro or breaks. Since then she’s further established herself with her own regular NTS show and sets at key places like De School and Berghain, and in three weeks time she will play our festival in Sao Paolo. To get in you on the mood for that she’s first turned out a new mix which, as usual from Courtesy, is characterised by fascinating contrasts. It’s high in energy from the off, and races through a number of styles of house and techno that ranges from twisted to dubbed out to ghetto. Getting ever-quicker as it goes, there’s a subtle sense that you’re building towards something throughout the set. It makes it an absorbing, high octane ride that never settles in once place but at the same time feels like one complete story.

As long as Melbourne has had a house music scene, Francis Inferno Orchestra has been at the heart of it. Though now lives in Europe, the Australian’s sound is melody rich and tinged with disco dazzle when in the studio, while as a DJ he has an anything goes approach that turns up plenty of surprises. As well as co-running Superconcious Records, he releases on Let’s Play House and Drumpoet Community and has previously guessed on our Dekmantel Radio Show. For his mix, he goes sublimely slow and serene to start with. Beautiful ambient pads, twinkling keys and swooning strings encourage you to day dream before gently persuasive drums pick things up. From there, it’s an unpredictable ride full of twists and turns that one minute serves up acid, the next tribal drums, then hands in the air house. Before the end there is a return of ambient and even slow motion funk gets dropped. With spring just round the corner, this is a perfect mix to take us there.

UK artist Gatto Fritto is someone who operates in the shadows, in his own little world. The man born Ben Williams played our Selectors festival in Croatia last year and holds down residencies at Berlin institutions Sameheads and Renate, which prove why he is such a revered DJ. His work as a producer, too, has resulted in some exceptionally cosmic disco on standard bearers like International Feel and Dissident, as well as his own Fritto Morto. It’s twinkling, spine tingling stuff awash with melodies, FX and astral synths that transport you into the cosmos. A sense of frosty melody and plenty of pixelated synths characterise the nearly two hour selection he has put together for us here. It starts in abrasive and arresting fashion with serrated lines and stark drums before unravelling into sci-fi grooves then Italo, proto-disco and slippery electro. After exploring these diverse yet interconnected sound worlds for the first half, the second half races through an icy and intergalactic brand of techno that leaves you utterly breathless.

It is not the first time that we turn to a Cómeme artist for our next mix. The singular Latin American label was the first to release music by Ana Helder in 2011, and has continued to do so since. The Argentinian artist has a rough riding house sound built on kinked grooves and wonky synths. It’s uplifting and has taken her to DJ sets all round the world. Back home in Rosario she also promotes her own parties and has earned a reputation as someone with a subversive, unpredictable style. The hour she puts together here is a happy selection of upright tracks that pay no regard for genre or period: there is alternative 80s indie from Bob Chance, dubbed out drum tracks from Mr G and stripped back minimalism from Losoul and A Guy Called Gerald and its all mix up with African percussion and one of Anna’s own slippery and trippy cuts, ‘Sexe’. If Ana wasn’t on your radar before, this mix will certain ensure she stays firmly in your sights in 2018.

// 47 UMa b > DF-18 // Incoming transmission: Terence Fixmer

// OGLE-2012-BLG-0026L c > DF-18 // Incoming transmission: Patrick Russell Patrick Russell is one of the more under-the-radar DJs who hail from Detroit. The reason for that is his uncompromising style. He plays what he wants, not what he thinks you want to hear. Finally the world is catching up and the man brought up on the Midwest rave scene is making wider waves. He is a core member of the No Way Back party that reinterpret the city’s rave past for a new audience, and will be one of the many DJs playing Dekmantel Festival in August, so we invited him into our series to show off his skills. His sixty minute mix is a heady world of creepy and paranoid techno. From the sort of warped, 4am soundtracks that makes best sense in a pitch black club to brain frying and peak time stuff that bashes you round the head, it’s always on the move and always keeping you guessing.

// Kepler-61 b > DF-18 // Incoming transmission: Job Sifre Another of the many standout DJs to emerge from the ever-fertile Amsterdam scene, Job Sifre is now rightfully starting to get props from outside the city. Helping him on the way is his monthly Red Light Radio show, which shows off his cosmic and electronic take on synth heavy house. He has backed that up with compelling sets at places like De School and Salon Zur Wilde Renate, as well as with a fresh new wave and house EP that was the first release on Interstellar Funk’s new label, Artificial Dance. Job will play with us at Dekmantel Festival in August, so first offers up a snapshot of his current sound. Over the course of nearly two hours, he takes his time to go from laidback and horizontal to more upright and drum lead. The sounds are often laden with icy synths, the drums are heavyweight and the atmospheres are spooky and sci-fi. His is a truly electronic world devoid of human life and it touches on new wave, macho disco, cosmic house and prickly dub in frosty and freaky ways.

// KIC 8012732 b > DF-18 // Incoming transmission: Skatebård As is often the way with artists who hail from the chilly climes of northern Europe, Skatebard deals in a cosmic brand of disco. Usually coloured with elements of Detroit house and neo-Italo, his sound has given rise to hugely sought after mini-albums—such as 2002’s recently re-released Skateboarding Was A Crime (In 1989)—as well as plenty of functional yet emotive 12”s. Next to his own Digitalo Enterprises label, he has worked on the likes of Sex Tags Mania and Full Pupp, has produced with DJ Sotofett and is no stranger to a sense of fun when it comes to DJing. Midway through December last year he played, as he does regularly, at Fettschmelze in Karlsruhe. More than three hours of the set was recorded and is presented here as a fine overview of Skatebard’s broad skills as a selector. From carefree, key-laced disco to cosmic curveballs via sleek and futuristic house, it is a freewheeling mix that manages to glide effortlessly between sounds and scenes.

// Kepler-737 b > DF-18 // Incoming transmission: Ece Özel We head to Istanbul for our next mix, and it comes from Ece Özel. A key figure on her native scene thanks to her Ozel Zevkler party and residency at MiniMüzikhol, she is celebrated for her weird and wonderful take on electronic music. It’s won her the attention of Boiler Room, and encompasses experimental, lo-fi, ambient, acid and plenty of oddities in between, but all ties together thanks to the underlying sense of mood. Ece will be representing at Dekmantel Festival in August, so you can really get to grips with her sound. Before that comes her podcast for our series, and it’s one that builds suspense slowly but surely with sparse, stripped back rhythms that always twist and turn. There’s wonky techno next to kaleidoscopic electronic house, crisp new wave joined to unhinged drum tracks and even hands in the air disco. Always tied together by an occult and unsettling sense of being on the edge, it’s a a set with Özel’s notably unhinged aesthetic stamped all over it.

// Gliese 3293 c > DF-18 // Incoming transmission: Broken English Club roken English Club is a project by Oliver Ho that explores the “dark friction” between man and machine. It has spawned two albums, most recently June’s The English Beach on L.I.E.S., which soundtracked the desolate scenes of his surroundings with eerie experimental techno. Heavy on apocalyptic synths and doom laden drums, and occasionally run through with melodic optimism, it’s a brilliant testament to Ho’s evocative studio skills after ten years of making more straight up techno as Raudive. Elements of EBM and industrial come into focus on the album, as they do in the mix he has put together for us. In just over an hour, plenty of angular grooves, slapping drums and cold, chilly metallic surfaces unfold in dystopian fashion. Starting off sparse and menacing with French vocals and synths which survey the landscape, eventually the machines take over and grow ever more wild so that you end up in a dehumanised world of reverb, manic pixelated melodies and whirring lines that have a life of their own.

Techno is Gunnar Haslam’s starting point, but the New Yorker often strays way off grid once he gets started. Mostly that happens when in album mode, where he weaves weird melodies into beatless tracks that are laden with drones. When turning out 12”s for the likes of L.I.E.S., Delsin and Argot, he favours a chilly, slithering sound, and as Romans with Tin Man he cooks up elegantly mournful techno that sends you deep into your own mind. The former psychiatrist also plays live with Mike Servito and Justin Cudmore as Hot Mix, so someone who is always evolving and exploring new territory. It’s the same story on his mix for us, which wastes no time in dropping you straight into a bendy, supple techno groove that soon begins to change shape and sound. Along the course of 70 minutes, it becomes skeletal and stripped back, percussive and spaced out then hurried and funky. A pulsing drum line underpins everything while the real drama unfolds in a burrowing top line or mind melting acid squiggle up top. In condensing many different forms of techno into this one mix, Haslam masterfully showcases the breadth of his fascinating sound.

Montreal's Phoebé Guillemot plays records as DJ FATi and is an album specialist as RAMZi. Just this month her fifth full length, Pèze-Piton, dropped and was another beautifully unusual mix of tropical house, dub, future jazz and experimental grooves that are impossibly loose and inescapably infectious. Releasing on cult labels like Mood Hut, 1080p and Rvng Into., her leftfield sounds feel at once completely alien yet also wholly organic and earthy. They are jumbled collages of trippy vocal sounds, squelchy synths and tumbling drums that real new details with each listen. Playing live but also DJing under the DJ Fati alias, when in selector mode her sound is just as fresh. This mix is a worldly hour of laid-back beats, jungle house and new age grooves that ooze exotic flavours and tropical vibes. It goes through blissed out and baeachy passages of instrumentals, jumbled drums and shimmering synths that paint a perfect picture of a some imaginary paradise where all there is to do is soak up the sun and dance.

Happy New Year one and all! We hope you’ll agree there could be no better way to start it off than with a second mix from the one and only Ben UFO. Think of this as side-b to last week’s side-a as, says Ben, “I went about this in the same way I would go about making a tape: two distinct but related ideas that I think work better on their own than if I'd tried to jam them together somehow.” It is another standout selection that showcases the Hessle Audio co-founder’s dual skills as both a tireless digger but also a technically skilled and accomplished DJ. Where side-a was an often heady affair with plenty of open space for you to get lost in, side-b plots a more high pressure and intense trajectory. It’s the peak of the trip that really gets you on your toes as it hurries through slamming grooves and a whole history of electronic music. The kick drums come on thick and fast throughout. Some feel blissed-out and dreamy, others feel dark and menacing. There are nods to the funky dread of hardcore, slither of electro and swing of UK garage along the way, and every new drop helps colour the mix and ensure it is anything but a linear and predictable affair. Once again mixing crate-digging smarts with a rare dance floor dynamism, these two Dekmantel mixes are the sound of Ben UFO at his best.

Christmas is here! We hope you have a lovely one and, to help make it a musically memorable time, we’re playing Santa and will be delivering a couple of extra special mixes today and next week. Ben UFO is someone very close to everything we do here at Dekmantel. His taste is broad and well informed, and his rare skill in the DJ booth is matched only by his endless quest for exciting new sounds to play. In that regard he embodies our outlook perfectly: he is someone who unearths a previously unknown gem as often as he breaks a red hot new record. His sets have been a key feature of Dekmantel parties around the world and, for us, he is one of the very best DJs out there. In basic terms, this is a deep mid-tempo house and techno mix. But the reality is that it unfolds with such an intriguing narrative that it feels like so much more. The mixing is so smooth you barely notice where one track ends and another starts. Instead, without realising, you find the atmosphere constantly changes, taking you from sci-fi machine grooves to muggy bumping techno, from celestial and hallucanogenic synth lines to creepy meandering riffs that encourage you to follow them into the unknown. It’s a mix that places you at the heart of a smoky dance floor, but is one that offers as much of a cerebral thrill as a visceral one. What’s more, it somehow feels like only half of the story.

Anthony Linell was formerly known as Abdulla Rashim, the centre piece of a Stockholm techno collective who have been at the sharp end of the scene for the last few years. Mixing up club grooves with exploratory experimental music, the intriguing and mysterious artist runs the Northern Electronics label and, at the same time, put out much of his own music on his Abdulla Rashim Records. A master of atmosphere and hypnotic grooves that cannot fail to suck you in, this year alone has seen him put out two albums and an EP under his real name. The sounds are just as absorbing as always, and mix up dark ambiance with dungeon synth and desolate sonic landscapes. All this carries over into his DJ work, and the mix he has served up for us here is a beautifully bleak and lonely one. Underpinned by slick rubbery drums and detailed with everything from funeral to sci-fi to subliminal synths, it’s an intriguing musical rabbit hole that gets weirder and more unreal the further down it you go.

Not for the first time, our mix series now turns to a DJs who has earned himself a Europe-wide reputation thanks to his essential skills as a resident. He is Phillip Jondo and his musical playground is Salon des Amateurs in Dusseldorf, a place where he serves up mixes of minimal wave and mutant disco, leftfield house and industrial that also takes him on the road to plenty of key gigs. Next to this he holds down a monthly show, We R All Egyptians, on London’s NTS and it is another brooding affair filled with ceremonial rhythms. Next to this, he also works as Garland with Simon Weins. Their debut release Preludes lands on Lullabies for Insomniacs on January 1st and is a loosely rhythmic offering that echoes with wonder and channels plenty of otherworldly magic. For us, though, he has put together an ‘uptempo and clubby’ selection that is beautiful weird and beguiling and is nothing like a regular mix of four to the floor styles. Instead it is a fizzing and restless brew of mystic drums and forest synths, of impish spirits and cinematic post-human landscapes that make for an intriguing listen. Ending up with a flurry of future electro, it’s a mix that shows Jondo’s musical world is truly unique and offers you a sneak preview of what to expect when he plays Dekmantel Selectors for the first time in 2018.

Swede Peder Mannerfelt makes music that is hard to categorise. And whether producing for Fever Ray and Blonde Redhead or serving up albums and EPs on Archives Intérieures and Hinge Finger, he is fiercely inventive. From experimental tribal concept music like his The Swedish Congo Record to the disassembled and goth-tinged techno rhythms of his latest, Controlling Body, he always pushes boundaries in bold new ways. He is an artist who likes to forget what he knows and go with his instincts, and it has resulted in a body or work that is truly beguiling. His mix for our series is just as esoteric. It is a two hour collage that starts of as a voodooistic brew of shamanistic rituals, abstract noise and kinked techno that takes you to a dark foreign world. From there there are some more traditional passages of drum rhythms and wild machine-made sounds as well as diversions into plenty more uncategorizable sonic spheres thanks to tracks from the likes of Pinch, Errorsmith, Vatican Shadow, Machine Woman, Umfang and tens more. It’s music as warfare, as cinema, as experimentation, and it sounds like nothing else out there.

Alexander Nut is an expert curator. He first proved that as the only experimental hip hop DJ on London’s Rinse FM with a show that was a cornerstone of the station’s early years. Alongside that, he has made his own Eglo Records into a future facing outlet that puts out soul, jazz, house, techno and everything in between, and core artists like Fatima, Floating Points and Funkineven have emerged and remained loyal to it as a result. His own DJing now takes him across the world on an ever busier schedule, and on his travels he never stops digging. This podcast is proof of that as it freewheels through myriad different musical spheres. From breezy afro to photo house via spangled bass tracks and summery groovers, it is full of twists and turns and mixes and blends that few other DJs would even attempt. A lot is crammed into a busy hour, and along the way you will go up, down and round and round. It’s the sort of selection that is infused with the same sense of subtle spirituality that colours all that Nut does, and for that reason leaves a truly lasting impression.

Despite having a discography that dates back to the last millennium, Pittsburgh’s Shawn Rudiman has never quite enjoyed the spotlight he deserves. His often analog electro and techno manages to be tough but not austere, and it has come under his own name as well as in the duo THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) on a range of boutique labels. He’s a prolific artist who this month looks back on his career with a two disc retrospective, Timespan on Pittsburgh Tracks, that offers largely brand new tracks which “go from base-level warehouse to more cerebral sophistication”. That versatility shows when he lays down one of his mesmeric live shows, as he has done for us in this exclusive new set. It’s just 45 minutes long but packs a lot in, from soul infused Detroit techno to elastic house. Passages of serenity are often followed by a heavily percussive wake-up call or serrated acid line, but never do things feel forced. From dark to light, visceral to beautiful, it has many different moods and is a great reminder of the talents of one of techno’s lesser known stars.

Norwegian Charlotte Bendiks came up on the famous Tromsø techno sound of her homeland. It means her music is mystical, frosty and metallic, which made it perfectly at home on the Cómeme label where she released her first EP. She has also had outings on Love OD Communications and throws her own parties back home, all while serving up off kilter DJ sets informed by growing up in an isolated and lonely arctic town. That lends them a sense of escapism, fantasy and story telling that when married to her so called “body music” style, make them utterly compelling. Over the course of ninety minutes, she segues through hallucinogenic synth tracks, loosely jumbled percussion and acid flecked slow motion house that will jerk you into action. It’s a playful and intoxicating mix that will warm you through on a chilly evening and conjures party vibes in brilliantly off kilter and unusual ways. On this evidence, it looks like 2018 could well be her year.

From cult local beginnings on the Berlin circuit, Rødhåd is now very much part of the global DJ highway. What initially turned heads was his ability to hold down long and hypnotic sets of loopy, moody house and techno all masterfully mixed in immersive ways. His productions, too, mixed sparse ambient designs with rolling techno grooves on labels like Dystopian and Token, and just this month he put out his debut album, Anxious. It’s a filmic meditation on beautifully bleak and eerie sounds and is another reason we love the man after he turned in a memorable closing set on our UFO stage at this year’s Dekmantel Festival. Over a ninety minute live mix recorded recently, he gets more energised with plenty of hurried techno and urgent synth lines all tightly weaving round each other. It’s a high pressure and enchantingly linear set that touches on Millsian space vibes, industrialism and unhinged apocalypse music in one smoothly mixed and sequenced session that will leave you out of breath.

The Hacker has long been turning out essential electro sounds that show off his mastery of his synths. But November will see him reveal another side when he releases analog album Le Théâtre des Opérations on Dark Entries. It finds the Frenchman indulge his love of EBM, techno and wave music and cook up a rugged, gritty and raw selection of tracks that joins the dots between Jeff Mills and Front 242, Dopplereffekt and Drexcyia. It’s arresting and unpredictable from start to finish. Happily, the live artist and producer indulges all those passions and more on this blistering one hour mix. It explores every facet of electro, from squelchy and dark to smooth and grooving. It’s a history lesson, really, that takes us through the musical adventures of The Hacker as well as electro at large. Turn it on, turn it up and turn yourself on to a master of the form.

Canadians Pender Street Steppers appeared as if from nowhere in 2014 and quickly became one of the most visible acts in house music. Their loved-up sound was frayed and roughhewn, sprinkled with lovestruck vibes and built on ramshackle drums that sounded immediately aged yet thoroughly new and fresh at the same time. Their penchant for new age romance and earthy aesthetics are mirrored in the buy-on-sight Mood Hut label they run with a larger collective, and their DJ sets are just as relaxed and big hearted, which immediately stood out at Dekmantel Festival and Dekmantel Selectors over the last couple of years. Across an hour, the famously reticent pair—they’ve done no interviews—effortlessly segue through afro grooves, boogie laced disco and lo-fi house. It’s a timeless mix of sounds that could work a small back yard gathering as much a bigger club setting, such is its irresistibly colourful and emotive sense of charm. That being said, it's probably no surprise that having these two fine and talented chaps on our podcast series is a big honour.

Stellar OM Source is a producer who never sits still. Always growing with each new release, the French woman arrived on a wave of dreamy and evocative synth pieces then went on to make Drexcyian techno and acid laced sci-fi soundtracks. She’s done so over the course of eight albums and a handful of EPs mostly on Rvng Intl. and though quiet on the release front for the last couple of years, she still serves up compelling club sets. Her mix here is a short, snappy and freaky one that leaves you wanting more. It’s a selection composed entirely of Belgian music because, she says, "I wanted to give back some love to the people of the country where I live. So many great talents and so much inspiration. Most tracks have been given by the producers themselves." From frazzled industrial techno to haunting EBM, sparse atmospheric tracks to groaning electronics, it packs a lot in over a short time and is utterly refreshing.

There is no one quite like San Proper. The Dutchman is a rare and real character in a scene that is all too often devoid of genuine personality. It shows in the wild music he makes, the wonderful Red Light Radio shows he hosts and the often weird sets he serves up at clubs and festivals round the world. Releasing most often on Rush Hour but also on Dopeness Galore and Perlon, he can do dark minimal as well as big hearted soul and can lay down a big guitar riff or program an off kilter drum line all with equal élan. His Dekmantel podcast finds the Dr. dig deep into his vinyl collection and serve up 23 slabs of soul, funk and afro magic across two hours that feel very personal. Traversing scenes, styles and tempos with flawless mixing and blending, he tells a very colour tale that breaks all the rules of a usual mix yet still makes complete sense. It is the sound of a selector who has open ears and who, ten years since his first release, is as thrilling and unpredictable as ever.

Paul Woolford’s Special Request alias has developed into so much more than the jungle and breakbeat project it started as. Proof of that comes this month with his Belief System LP, a magnum opus spread across four slabs of vinyl. The first half is a techno trip full of visceral twists and turns scattered with references to his love of pirate radio. The second half is the soundtrack to a fatalist mind movie that is dark and broody. Woolford’s mastery of sound design elevates the whole thing to a new level, and listening to it is as absorbing and complete an experience as you could wish for. As a DJ with many years experience under his belt, his work in the booth is just as essential. In his Dekmantel Podcast he takes us on an unpredictable roller coaster that veers from sparkly New York disco through to haunted beats, twisted electro and monstrous techno. Spin backs, face melting basslines, rave and punishing drums make it as much a party starting main room mix as a heads down let’s ‘av it marathon. It’s fun, full on and pushes and pulls you in many different directions without ever letting the energy levels dissipate.

In 2017, Glasgow based label Huntleys + Palmers celebrates ten years in action. In that time, Andrew Thomson has ensured it became a fertile musical breeding ground and an impossible to pin down outlet that offers up anything from afro to techno to bass music. Auntie Flo, SOPHIE and Alejandro Paz have all emerged from the Glasgow based stable and have put out music that plays with off kilter rhythms. Andrew's curatorial ear has also made the parties of the same name just as unpredictable, and before it closed he was also a programmer at London’s legendary Plastic People. The mix he has served up here under the Huntleys + Palmers moniker, takes a typically widescreen view and includes “tracks that I've been playing for a while and expect I'll continue to play in years to come.” Starting steady and worldly with dub and deep cosmic grooves, it grows more twisted with wiry electronics and frazzled synths before pulling back again, then repeating the cycle. It makes for a perfectly paced and well balanced mix that bubbles and boils and always keeps you guessing without ever falling off the edge.

The music Dane MacDonald plays and releases on his Common Edit label is as warm as his North Canadian roots are not. Always serving up sets with love, he is a big bearded, long haired dancer at heart, and someone who has a close relationship with west coast disco dons Eddie C and Koosh. Now based in Berlin and still pressing up records that will always fire up a more friendly, cosy party, his reputation has grown beyond the cult. Digging deep through rock, new age and freaky disco, he knows how to throw a party as well as how to throw down records. Over the course of 90 minutes he takes us on a sparkling journey where only he knows the destination. One minute you’re lost in a warm and festive disco cut, the next getting down to a low slung boogie track. Heavier drum led house comes later on, before heavyweight dub disco tunes lead us to a jazz-funk crescendo that sizzles with real joy.

After only three EPs since 2016, Borusiade aka Miruna Boruzescu has proved herself to have a very specific and focussed musical aesthetic. It is a dark, shadowy style of synth laden and stripped back disco that is tinged with echoes of industrial, acid and EBM. Correspondant, Cómeme and Cititrax have put out her music, and her perfectly gloomy sound translates to her DJ mixes. She first started playing 15 years ago as one of the few women on the Bucharest scene, and as such knows how to tell an emotive story—no doubt in part thanks to her love of cinema as well as classical music. Her Dekmantel mix is an hour of stark post-industrial sound, desolate landscaping and noir disco techno. From rugged, rattling tracks that sound like a factory in meltdown to more deep and subliminal marching tunes that convey no human life at all, it is a mix that is always on the move, slowly but surely. Ending in a place of angst and paranoia, it’s the sound of a DJ at the top of her game.

In just a couple of years, Glenn Astro has emerged at the centre of an exciting new micro-scene. The German producer is a student of hip hop, funk, soul and jazz who uses that knowledge to imbue his own sounds with a looseness and roughness that makes them immediately appealing. Words like dusty, deep and woody always come to mind when listening to his music, and so far it has landed on Tartelet, Box Aus Holz and of course his own Money $ex Records. Last year he also put out an excellent full length with label co-founder Max Graef on Ninja Tune which went in cosmic new directions, and in 2017 he has continued to impress with his instinctive DJ sets. His mix for us is a one hour distillation of all these sounds. It’s variously lunges and romantic, then more club focussed and beat driven. There are some lovely cover tracks, plenty of jazzed up grooves and flourishes of disco, all knitted together with a great sense of pace. There is a live and authentic feel to much of the music that makes it sound almost like a studio jam than a mix, and that’s another reason you'll play it over and over.

Virginia wears many different musical hats and always has. The Berlin based woman is a DJ, vocalist, song writer and producer who saw chart success early on in her career, as well as receiving underground acclaim for her album Fierce For The Night back in May 2016. She has written music with the likes of Steve Bug, has played a hybrid live and DJ set all over the world and has ties to labels like Ostgut Ton, Dolly Deluxe and Underground Quality. She has also famously provided vocals to some of Steffi’s most classic vocal tracks such as ‘Yours’, so is very much the voice of contemporary house music. Her podcast for us is entitled Greetings From My Garden - Music For The Heart Mix and shows off another side to the artist. It is made up of music more suited to home listening than dancing in the club, and features tracks from Massive Attack, Slam, The Orb, plus a new one of Steffi’s forthcoming album on Ostgut Ton. As such it’s a soothing listen of dreamy synths and comedown sounds, deep grooves and selection emotions that is the perfect soundtrack to the last days of summer.

Lil Tony is a big part of the Finnish scene and revered name on the international circuit. Back home he runs some of the city’s key venues, such as Kaiku, and while on the road he spins well informed sets of house and techno influenced by the American Mid West, but that also expend to take in disco, soul, electro and more. In the studio he turns out slick tracks for Innervisions, HPTY and Mood Music, is part of the Nuspirit Helsinki collective and is all set to play at Dekmantel Selectors this week hosting a boat party with Kaiku. Now, he steps up with a mix consisting 100% of Finnish music mainly from the eighties. It touches on disco, new wave, ambient, soul, Italo, electro, funk and boogie and paints a vivid picture. “I want to give special thanks To Mikko Mattlar, Perttu Häkkinen, Joshi, Pirkka and Juha Mäki for helping me find some of these gems,” says the man whose hour mix starts icy, atmospheric and melodic before slowly thawing out. As the drums appear and the melodies get more cosmic, you begin tapping along then the diva disco vocals, big synths and retro grooves all sweep you away into a world of proto-house and pixelated chords that are brightly coloured and unashamedly fun. Catch the Finnish version of Charlie’s ’Spacer Woman’!

The dance scene in Istanbul might not be one of the most talked about in the world, but whenever it is mentioned it’s impossible not to talk about Zozo. She is a left of centre DJ who was previously in charge of the musical direction of Hush, a gallery and bar on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, and nowadays she plays cult clubs like De School and Salon des Amateurs. She has also put out key cassettes like ‘Witchez of Anatolia’ on Sameheads, as well as being part of the famous curveball label Macadam Mambo. Reaching for curious sounds from her homeland as well as new wave, disco, synth pop, house and acid, a Zozo set of "oriental crime" is as magical as it is mysterious. And her mix for us is no different. In her own words, "frogs, communication, Russians, aliens, nature, wizards, friends, psychedelia, technology, joy, fear, love, human beings, publicity, toxic world and internet" are all sources of inspiration here and it shows. Her 75 minute set is wholly intoxicating, with synthetic sounds and real world samples, languid grooves and drunken rhythm all slowly unfolding and pulling you into their midst before tripping you out. It's weird and wonderful, and sounds like little else out there right now.

After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, American DJ Richard went on to set up White Material. It’s a label and artistic collective including the likes of Young Male that became synonymous with roughed up, frayed house and techno. In 2015, Richard served up a debut album on Dial that was a deep meditation on foggy, ambient coated house drones. Since then, aside from DJ gigs round the world, he has been rather quiet in terms of releases. That means this podcast from him is timely indeed, and shows us just where he is at: serving up jagged rhythms, industrial cold wave cuts and bleak, grainy atmospheres that are devoid of human life if not for the odd dehumanised vocal yelps and pained cry. It’s fizzing, mid tempo but engaging stuff that is underpinned by a tension and darkness that always keeps you intrigued.

Byron the Aquarius is on a roll. As well as being a key proponent in the American house scene, and after a time spent as a producer for others, he is now making very much part of the conversation over in Europe. His music has landed on Theo Parrish’s Sound Signature, Kyle Hall’s Wild Oats and is forthcoming on Eglo. It is warm and deep, with the organic edge and smartly sampled soul that makes US house music so appealing. A keys player by trade, he is also a formal student of jazz, and all this shines through in his recorded output as well as the records he mixes together all over the world. Over the course of an hour for us, Byron serves up breezy and musical house grooves dripping with cosmic keys, jazz looseness and timeless good time vibes. It’s a mix with a big heart and effortless mixing style that manages to be deep but dynamic, and is one of the reasons we are so excited for him to play with us in Amsterdam in August.

Resom is part of the beating heart of Berlin. As a resident at the city’s ://about blank she creates resonant musical soundtracks and very real dance floor experiences from whatever is needed - be it electro, techno, house or ambient. Rather than focussing on genres, Resom focusses on a range of moods and does the same on her travels whether playing our festival in Amsterdam or an intimate club in London. Also a political activist, booking agent and gender equality campaigner, she is a new breed of artist who is mindful of how important her voice and platform can be in the dance world.  The mix she serves up for us is one of there longest we’ve had, and over more than two hours offers pad-laced stimulation for the mind as well as jerky machine rhythms that will make you move.“This mix has no deeper concept then to simply let go from having a concept”, Resom adds. Her contribution to our series is often dark and stripped back, there are curveball moments of wildness and heads down passages of electronic funk. Typically free from easy genre signifiers, this is dynamic music that always keeps you guessing.

Dekmantel Records label member Central is part of the Regelbau crew, which is one of the most exciting collectives in dance music at the moment. As well as putting out many records under his own name and as part of Hi Mount, Arhus based Natals Zaks is a record digger and and DJ that defies expectation. Besides that, he also runs Help Recordings alongside his brother, DJ Sports, and makes everything from breakbeat laced ambiance to roughed up house. Last month he stepped up to Dekmantel Records again with his soothing 'Pillow Peace' EP. Before that, he served up his Political Dance series with us and contributed to Part 3 of our 10th Anniversary series. Versatile and vital, he is a breath of fresh air for the scene, as well as our podcast series. Stretching his legs over the course of 100 minutes including loads of unreleased material, Central slowly sets the scene with summery ambiance made from pillowy synth clouds and melodies that drift by like a wispy cloud. It’s lazy and hazy and eventually evolves into shimmering pads and more cosmic atmospheres before some breezy, firmly rooted classic house glides you along. Perfectly feel good and with a big heart, this is the only mix you need for a hot day.

John Gómez is a new school tastemaker. The London based, Madrid born DJ has ties to essential collectives like Rush Hour—who he represents on a regular NTS show—as well as Invisible City and Music From Memory, for whom he recently compiled the critically acclaimed Outro Tempo: Electronic and Contemporary Music from Brazil, 1978-1992. A deep digging, versatile selector, he covers everything from house to afro, forgotten soul to niche disco. The best place to hear all these is at Tangent, the top East London party he has run with Nick the Record for the last few years. Across seventy odd minutes here, John keeps things sunny and tropical, with worldly sounds from niche disco, boogie and afro scenes all over the world. Each track oozes a sense of musicality as well as a solid underlying groove. The tracks feel joyful and happy, innocent and inviting and are all sequenced in a way that allows each one to really shine. All in all, it makes for a perfect soundtrack to a summer’s afternoon.

Umfang aka Emma Olson is one of the most influential figures in today’s techno scene. As co-founder of the Discwoman collective the American is doing essential work promoting female DJs. Of course, her own productions and DJ sets also further the cause as they lead by example and mix raw tension with experimental eeriness. So far coming on labels like 1080p and Allergy Season, videogamemusic, and Phinery, Emma has also played seven hour sets at Hot Mass in Pittsburgh and holds a monthly residency at Technofeminism at Bossa Nova Civic Club. Next to that, the youngster just dropped her new, promising album Symbolic Use Of Light on Technicolour. Clocking in at just over an hour, Umfang’s mix for us is filled with eerie and unusual rhythms that are often hugely roomy but underpinned by solid kicks. As the pressure builds, so does the tension, and by the mid point that boils over into raw and visceral drum tracks before falling apart into a flurry of distorted sounds, percussive hits and frazzled synths. Uncompromising and packing a lot in during a short space of time, it’s an eye opening mix that leaves you in a blissful place after a busy workout.

Marina "Dr" Rubinstein comes at her DJing from the perspective of the dancer. She grew up loving to get down to techno back home in Israeli (though she is Russian born and Berlin based) and will always be a hardcore raver at heart. It means her sets are defined by a certain energetic dynamism that finds her calling on acid, 90s rave and pumping techno to get the floor sweating. She does so at key places like ://about blank and Berghain, and this summer will play Dekmantel Festival. Her adventurous spirit and quest for that “special feeling” on the dance floor characterises her mix for us. It is seventy minutes of grooves designed to make you move, from rugged techno to slippery electro via pulsing kick drums that burrow deep into the night. Contrasting dark with light, wild acid with more streamlined sounds and overtly physical tracks with those that are more cerebral, it makes for an arresting trip filled with special dance floor moments.

Brooklyn’s Jacques Renault is a dance music polyglot. In his long career he has undertaken, and succeeded with, many different projects. Whether working solo or collaboratively, turning out original productions or cultured edits, DJing around the world or running his labels On The Prowl and Let’s Play House, he always comes correct. His sound is impossible to pin down as evidenced by his broad and sweeping DJ sets which range from Italo to techno, Afro to disco and back again. With this mix we find him in fine form across three enthralling and widescreen hours that showcase his democratic approach to digging. Effortlessly drifting from slow and tropical grooves to party starting disco, it embodies the sound of summer, of late afternoon BBQs and sunset sessions before getting more groove driven later on. Bubbly, breezy house becomes the order of the night, and it’s all underpinned by a loose and playful sense of love for the good times.

The Russia based Inga Mauer will proudly line up at our Dekmantel Festival this summer. And it is easy to see why: she has a high impact, strobe lit dark techno sound that is impossible to escape. This is true of her DJ-sets as well as her productions, which have been released on labels like Hivern Discs and shtum. Imbued with elements of EBM, hellish synth craft and psychedelic tendencies, she brings a fresh and widescreen persecutive to electronic music that really stands her out. Her mix is here just as alarming for all the right reasons: it quickly shifts from foreboding noise tracks to eerie drones, from cold wave styles to thudding house via nasty old school techno. Powerful and visceral throughout, it’s a muscular mix that takes many risks and veers off into a weird and wonderful world of sound that is never less than brilliantly unpredictable.

We don’t use the world genius lightly, but young Belgian based artist Roman Hiele might be just that. In only four years, he participated the Red Bull Music Academy and has put out five albums that have proved him to be an one of a kind producer with his own inventive sound. It is informed by a wide world of musical influence from classical to ambient, juke to acid via breaks and techno. Distilling all these into his his own rhythm noise, the artist works on labels Ekster and YYAA with great success. @hielehiele is known for his outstanding live sets and records that draw the perfect landscapes. But his one hour mix for us is one of the most brilliantly unusual in the series, and is completely dance floor orientated. One moment serving up kinetic drum programming it then flips into a retro synth world before dropping into a slow and atmospheric pool of pads and chords. Later on unhinged techno returns, dreamy house makes an appearance and experimental loops of busted drum and frazzled synths play us out. It’s perfectly anarchic and bravely left of centre and never lets up.

Any of you synth freaks out there will know all about London Modular Alliance. It is the alias of a live electronic act made up of Koova, Yes Effect and Pip Williams, but is also a much loved and cult synth shop of the same name in Hackney, London. In the club, London Modular Alliance do things properly: they cook up brain frying soundtracks, on the fly, with modular synths, no laptops, and many patch cables. Exactly what will go down at any of their shows is unknown even by the men behind the machines, such is their nature, but suffice it to say they always impress. Their studio sounds are equally beguiling and have come on Brokntoys and Hypercolour, and now they make their unique entry into our mix series. Clocking in at just over an hour, it is a one of the most alive soundtracks we have heard: the whole thing unfolds and evolves seemingly with a life of its own. There are no joins between tracks, no jarring transitions, just a fluid fusion of electro and techno grooves coated in that raw analogue texture we all love so much. Variously prickly and kinetic, raw and freaky or more supple and seductive, it is a splendid session from some of the finest synth maestros out there.

This week we turn to another close Dekmantel family member in Matrixxman. In just a couple of years the American has emerged as one of the foremost producers in the house and techno world. His rugged analogue sounds have come thick and fast over nearly 20 EPs and are famous for their balance of quality, invention and diversity. Never sticking to the same sound for long, his Sector series on our label proved that, roaming as it does from repetitive peak time techno futurism to mind melting acid and back again. Always focussed squarely on the dance floor, that carries over into his always body jerking sets, many of which have been at Dekmantel events and festivals around the world. Over the course of an hour here, the artist goes deep into a streamlined, intergalactic techno soundworld. Supple synths are layered up over pressurised and rubbery drums, manic melodies circle the grooves and there is a sense of darkness to the whole thing that is truly compelling. As energy levels ramp up throughout, you can’t help but go hard right until the blissed out ambient end game.

Interest in Japanese electronic music never wanes, and that is thanks to the work of producers like Gonno. As a key part of the contemporary musical landscape in the Far East, he has released on local as well as international labels like Perc Trax, Endless Flight and Ostgut Ton. He is someone who brings acid and melody to his techno and has put out fantastically realized full lengths such as 2015’s Remember The Life Is Beautiful as well as many EPs in the last decade. A regular guest at key parties in Europe as well as Japan, he recently played one such party on a Sunday afternoon. Taking place at a club near the beach called Oppala, he played for seven hours straight and managed to record the mix. Now he presented the first three hours for our podcast series. Starting with some unmistakably Japanese ambient sounds and delicate instruments, he then plots a journey through organic slow motion grooves that drip with musicality and tumble in pleasing ways. Never less than smooth and seductive, things get a little more energetic later on with more corrugated grooves, icy hi hats and bumpy beats and the whole thing makes for a rare recorded insight into the DJ side of this esteemed artist.

As boyhood friends, Dutchie @Jan-van-Kampen DJ’ed with founders Casper Tielrooij and Thomas Martojo as Dekmantel Soundsystem in Holland. Anno 2017, the skilled DJ is flying solo quite succesfully. He layed down a super sunny disco set on Boiler Room Dekmantel last year, and now he also comes correct in our mix series.  Over the course of ninety minutes he digs out a diverse mix of music from the moody spoken word opener through some breezy house and loose organic grooves. Always hovering around a steady tempo, its the details around the beats that keep you locked here - they are intoxicating and deep, late night and playful, with many different shades of heady house all touched upon in smooth and seductive fashion.

Underground Resistance founder Robert Hood is one of the pioneering old guard who is still doing it right today. He is the epitome of Detroit house and techno, serving up pulsing minimal, and has been since the early nineties. Last year he joined our label for a series of three EPs entitled Paradygm Shift and a full length which will see the light of day the 22nd of May. The project is aimed to take techno out of its current comfort zone and very much did so, as does Hood himself whenever he plays one of our parties. Now he has served up the latest mix in our series and once again subverts expectation. His hour long Paradygm Shift Mix water no time in establishing a rock solid kick drum, and then proceeds to colour the airwaves around it with hypnotic hi hat loops, rougher claps, and raw synths. As ever with Hood, it is a bouncy and fast moving mix that hurries you along at a great rate, but because there are so many thrills along the way, you are more than willing to go wherever he wants to take you.

Mumdance embraces a much wider world of sound than many. The UK producer is an experienced collaborator who grounds his sounds in anything from grime to breaks, techno to hardcore, experimental to world and afro. Making textured noise with a module set up, playing sets that run a dizzying gamut of genres and performing live with the likes of Novelist, he is a restless creative who works with labels like Tectonic, Keysound Recordings and XL Recordings. On top of all this, he runs his own Different Circles label, heads up one of Rinse FM’s most popular radio shows and designed sound presents for the relaunched 303 and 909 machines by Roland. His mix for us is a beguiling, hard to categorise blend of all of this, forthcoming stuff and more: from brain frying frequencies and skeletal grooves from somewhere on the hardcore continuum to sci-fi ambiance, deep techno rhythms and immersive passages of raved-up sound design, it is a singular proposition from someone who embodies many different aspects of UK electronic music past, present and future, often all at once.

The last couple of years have seen D.K. emerge at the centre of a new age, ambient laced and misty sonic sphere. Taking cues from boogie and synth pop, house and funk, the Frenchman’s subtly soothing sounds have come mostly on Antinote and sound at once nostalgic but also forward looking. Musical and lush, dreamy and balearic, it is music for warm climates and laid back moments in your life. And so is the mix he has put together for us: over the course of ninety minutes it takes you from the hammock to the beach bar and on to the club. Starting with the sort of smooth and serene sounds you would expect, things get crunchier and more hard hitting as you move along through prickly house, wild analogue jams and trippy four thumpers.

Since the turn of the millennium, UK artist Alistair Wells has been putting out a tough and abrasive brand of experimental techno that cannot fail to arrest your attention. Always skewing existing ideas into his own new—often brutalist—ways of thinking, his output has seen him become an in demand live act and DJ who plays across three decks all over the world. He does so under the alias Perc, mostly on his own label Perc Trax, and at the same time he has also brought on a number of likeminded artists from Ansome to Manni Dee. His own catalogue boasts albums like Wicker & Steel and The Power And The Glory, and these have rightfully won him deserved time in the limelight. That fact proves that although Wells has been around for years, he is as vital now as ever. As such he brings something new to our mix series across an hour of lively selections. Very quickly settling into a high tempo, high impact groove, there are maximalist techno cuts, passages of angst ridden noise and thumping bangers all bolted together into something uncompromisingly physical and in your face. Franky, it’s a vital visceral offering that would work at any point in the past, present or future of techno.

Here at Dekmantel we are a big fan of Berlin based Brit Objekt. Evidence: you will see him play our festival in Amsterdam as well as Lente Kabinet, and then Dekmantel Selectors in Croatia. And right now, the man known for his unrivalled technical nous is in a fine run of form. His recent, self-released EP is another testament to his ability to skew house, techno and breaks into his own imaginative forms. Following on from releases on Hessle Audio, Bleep and an album on PAN, it is another boon in his fine discography. And he is just as impressive across a 90 plus minute selection for us: it finds him serving up a cavernous world of intricate and hi fidelity sounds that are abstract and unusual. Moving through sparse minimal soundscapes into pummelling but atmospheric drum tracks and on to jungle, dub and experimental worldly rhythms, it is a wildly compelling and singular selection filled with unusual sounds that often leaving you wondering WTF?!

German DJ Vladimir Ivkovic is resident at Dusseldorf’s Salon des Amateurs, and he has truly made the place his own over the last 12 years. Quite what to expect from him on any given night is anyone’s guess: he can do folk and experimental, sludgy techno or abrasive noise that is always original and arresting in equal measure. The Belgrade born artist also runs Offen Music and manages Loco Dice’s Desolat, and this year will close down our Selector’s stage, something we're truly looking forward to. And it is that fact which informs the 80 minute podcast he has done for us here. Designed for soul soothing and post party contemplation, it is a meditative mix with basically no drums. Instead it is about suspensory ambient sounds, worldly lullabies and blissed out Balearic moments that encourage you to lay back and stare into the sky. As beautiful as it is beguiling, it is a mix that has us very excited for what is to come and proves what a singular talent this man is.