Fresh Soup

Engurland, Engurland, Engurland ... your Royal duty as a St George cross-bearing, sunburn-sporting, pint of Carling-swilling, monobloc polypropylene chair-chucking, international King of the louts is upon you. Let batty old Liz swear you into the court of chaos, say your oath to the spirit of Captain Tom, spit on the Marxist cult of BLM and shag a poppy. Your time is now, your country needs you. Or actually, just get in the sea you fascist fucks. Capturing the contradictory spirit of our troubled nation, Hilfingerz welcomes in the wonder and woe of football coming home, from flying chairs to brave lions, settle in for a rib cage-rocking set of tech house that screams 'take the knee', 'shut up you racist wankers', and most importantly 'fucking come on ENGLAND!' See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If you were in danger of having a lazy weekend, collapsing into your easy chair and tuning into Kenny Rogers, then fear not, our very own hero in a half shell is back to save your Saturday. With a familiar Soup session of squelching electronica and throbbing club-ready beats, the bandana-clad martial arts expert lures you from the sofa into his sewer. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Deep and delicious, Simon Howlett's mixes are made for sweltering late nights and balmy evenings as the sun sets on a city skyline. Dropping in another Soup session of house music inflected by gospel, soul, disco and more, this one's to the start of the summer we all deserve but probably won't get. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Summer is peaking through the clouds of Covid and threatening the status quo with the promise of fun. Remember that? To celebrate the return of sunburnt noses and sweaty briefs, our very own Øhm Dawg has cracked open a tinny and is luring us to his pool party with a session of future beats, lo-fi hip hop, neo soul and contemporary r&b. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Active from 1991 until his untimely death in 2017, Marcus Intalex was a true pioneer of drum and bass in the north west of England, and a force our Simm considered one of the very best their was. Also producing house and techno music under the pseudonym Trevino, this tribute to a prolific game-changer in dance music takes us from Intalex's frenetic and soulful d&b back down to the slower but no less intense sounds of his four-to-the-floor alter ego; Simm marking the anniversary of his passing with a mix that embraces tempos from 174bpm to 126bpm. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With a record bag capable of slaying a dancefloor at a rate more rapid than care home occupants were slain by a failed herd immunity policy, JBdeQ returns with another hour packed to the rafters with pitched up vocals, breakbeats, acid lines and booty-shaking beats and bleeps; working your inner hedonist into quite the stupor. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Corona and conflict, corruption and climate, uncertain times call for a measure of calm. Who ya gonna call? If global confusion were a ghost, our Matthew Egginton would be the embodiment of Bill Murray and his phantom bashing pals. Fanning out the noise with another session of soothing spiritual house music, lose yourself in the blissful beats of our very own bedlam buster. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The management would like to issue Mr Pete Carvell a formal double apology. Firstly, the blighter keeps making topical statements in his episodes: we are aware this is posted on the wrong day. Secondly, after finally making a date with a beautician, he asked us not to include this photo of his lockdown monobrow ... Actually, have just been informed neither of these devilishly handsome men are actually Mr Carvell, but they are in a pub, which keeps us inline with topical statements. Delivering another blistering hour of four-to-the-floor pumpers, our Pete celebrates an emergence from at-home drinking sessions and freezing cold terraces in typically boisterous style. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dishing up a Soup serving with another selection of lush house sounds more contagious than the Indian variant, big Mark Kovich is back behind our boogie box to take your weekend to the next level. Deep and dreamy, dandy and discoey, lose yourself in the hypnotic groove of house goodness. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Is it ending? Is it time to dance? Whilst the pandemic is far from over, the shift into summer has brought with it a renewed sense of hope; vaccines on both sides of the pond they call the Atlantic being pumped out faster than Michael Gove can hoover up a line of bugle. Whilst the third summer of love may be on ice until 2022, we can still revel in a little positivity, and who better to soundtrack it than our resident Portland-based disco chugger, Simon Howlett? Nobody, that's who. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Superstition is a load of bullshit, right? Wrong. Having just realised this was his unlucky thirteenth mix, our Pete promptly severed his toe on a picture frame. Bloody hell. Literally. Thankfully the curse didn't extend to this Soup session itself, Mr Carvell pumping out a typically rollicking affair that contains new music from Boys Noize, Perel, and Who Made Who, as well as a Frrrrresh drop from the elusive Burial which is as absolutely bonkers as it is brilliant. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What do you call it, garage? What do you call it, urban? What do you call it, 2-step? At the end of the 1990s, skipped garage beats were forming a new evolution of sound in urban dance music; flooding dancefloors from East London to Ayia Napa with good vibes, attitude and eccentric MCs. Taking the 'speed garage' that Americans Todd Edwards and Armand van Helden had pioneered to a new audience and setting forth a transition that would go on to form UKG and dubstep, this hedonistic summer-ready style was a critical juncture for the British underground. Hollering with the rinsin' sound, Fresh Soup's thememaster drops an hour of sun-soaked club music from the golden era of 2-step. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

From pop to post punk and back again, Buck delves deep into his mixed bag for another session of sounds from the nether regions. More colourful than a set of Downing Street curtains, but much less shady, let Mr Houston take your hand and help you frolic through our late stage capitalism dystopia with gay abandon. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Piling up the bangers higher than the stack of bodies Boris Johnson would rather have seen than another lockdown, JBdeQ is back with another hour of clubby, urban-edged house, electro and breaks. Soundtracking the sort of party we're all itching to get our bags out for, crank up the volume, piss off the neighbours, and lose yourself in the moment. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Inspired in part by Mr Rycroft's recent 'house awakening' Soup session, our very own Duke of Drifty Synths, Matthew Egginton, calls on some of his favourites from "back in the day" for an hour of progressive house that reaches right into the scene's roots; a world of atmospheric arpeggios, of early trance and Renaissance-inspired euphoria. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When you call yourself DJ Hell, it's obvious you want to let your listeners know what to expect. Sure, you could be plundering the Coldplay back catalogue, but you know whatever you're getting yourself into, it's not going to be easy listening. Thankfully, Helmut Geier doesn't seem keen on Chris Martin and his merry band of Tories, his brand of Hell is one of chaotic, punk-laced electronica; and his label, International DeeJay Gigolo Records, is a perfect expression of his sound.Founded in 1996, the label was a driving force in the sound that became known as electroclash. From upstarts such as Fischerspooner and Miss Kittin & The Hacker, to stalwarts like Jeff Mills and Dave Clarke, Hell's DIY label gained ground quickly, and established itself as Germany's most successful label of its kind in the new century. Celebrating the very best of its raw energy, Øhm Sweet Øhm plugs into the abode of the damned for a fiery helping of throbbing electro. Straight from Mr Hell's own inferno, this is International DeeJay Gigolo Records. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the 12 months where fun got banned, nostalgia for packed dancefloors, lasers and big fish little fish dance moves has peaked; the sound of British hardcore being reproduced by kids who weren't even a glint in their parents' massively enlarged pupils, and hipster Instagram accounts ramping up the likes with crackly VHS footage. It's easy to forget, though, that there was huge prejudice at the time toward these raves and their music; and from the dance music community itself.They say time heals, and for the hedonistic sound of hardcore, it's a nailed on truism; its sheer joy as infectious as it was back then, without any of the unnecessary and unpleasant elitist sneering that accompanied it. Through soaring piano riffs, falsetto vocals and skipping breakbeats, Fresh Soup's resident theme fan takes us on a blistering ride back to the mid-1990s, laying out the irresistible sound of 'Ardcore '94. You know the score. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our overlords have spoken and the doors are opening for a summer free from Covid restrictions, the prospect of being as one united under a groove looming ever closer. With sets frequently deeper than a certain German-Greek reptilian will be on Saturday afternoon, Mark Kovich is the man for this moment, his latest Soup session locking in electro, expansive house music, understated synths and squelching melodies fit to soundtrack our pending reunion. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If Hilfingerz' last Fresh Soup session was a moment of contemplation and calm, his latest is the storm it preceded; Tom saying no to shamanic mindfulness and a big yes to ass-grindin' mindlessness. GTFU (you can work out the acronym yourself) is a very Hilfingerz celebration of Britain's gateway to bad behaviour finally opening its doors; the next Manchester Renaissance painting as close as it has felt since the sorry shitshow began. From pricks in the arms to pricks in the bars, our world-renowned shamelessness is on the horizon once again. Watch out Boris, you cunt. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

He's got an obsession with Messrs‎ Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo; he's eternally thirsty; and he loves a throbbing banger of a tune. It's the one and only, Pierre a Soif, back to rock you out of your socks with another dose of club-orientated nu-school electronica. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's slap bang in the middle of the 1990s and a much-loved Vauxhall Nova is traversing the A55, the M56, and M53. The cloud of smoke is dense and the tunes are life-changing. A group of teenagers send a fleet of cars from North Wales to Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and beyond; clubs like Cream, The Haçienda and Back to Basics cementing sounds born in Chicago and New York into the foundations of England's north west. Matt Rycroft and his Nova would see many things in a few short years, and this is their story. A house music awakening where sweat drips from the ceiling and speakers are made for dancing on top of. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Can you resist the temptation of the dark side? Back celebrating the raunchy roots of house music, Simon Howlett lures us into the warehouse for another steamy session of disco, dirt and deep house designed to set temperatures soaring. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

His is a name hallowed around here as the man most likely to theme the soundtrack to his own funeral; such is DJ Simm's fervent dedication to moments in time, sub-genres and discographies. For one night only, our man in Preston, Lancashire, drops his playlists and descends into a frenzy of thumpers that simply tickled his fancy. Drum and bass deep, dubby, clattering and cataclysmic, hold on to your hats and dive into Fresh Soup 116. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's the third day after his crucifixion and old J-dog is as dead as a dodo, but who's gonna turn water into wine if that badass son of God doesn't turn in his grave? Bringing back the long-lost spirit of bank holiday raving so rowdy it could wake the dead, Pete Carvell crashes into our Easter Monday with a session capable of resurrecting Christ himself. Hold onto your Mini Eggs for an hour of Holy hullaballoo. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What's more random that digging your hand into a half a pound bag of pick 'n' mix? Buck Houston's track selection, that's what. The liquorice allsorts of Fresh Soup returns with another session selected from the deepest corners of his own mixed bag; all from synthpop to hip hop with new wave and rave in between. If you enjoy the cheap thrill of a lucky dip, Bucky's got you covered. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Time to stock up on flowers to send to the neighbours, JBdeQ is back with an unapologetic ode to his underground awakening. Honouring countless school nights spent staying up late listening to Colin Dale's Abstract Dance Show on Kiss FM, this is a blistering 60 minute session containing many of his favourite tracks from those heady days of '90s UK techno; from Slam to Aphex Twin, Dave Clarke to Baby Ford. Turn it up loud and check your home insurance documents. You're going to need some new speakers after this one. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Even in a global pandemic, we find it difficult to stop doing things. (Sourdough starters, that's all I'm saying.) The omnipresence of activity is inbuilt through decades of life in the neoliberal west, which is why many of us have tried, with varying success, to employ some kind of mindfulness to our routines. For Hilfingerz, his moment to stop and reflect, to enjoy life for what it is, manifests itself in a diversion from the 130bpm club bangers with throbbing basslines and skipping beats we've come to know him for. Tom might not be walking the way of the Rajneesh quite yet, but his baby steps are a reminder for us all to take a moment to ourselves; and what better an excuse than locking yourself into Fresh Soup 112 for an hour of carefree dance music mindfulness. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Prince of peacefulness is back, Matthew Egginton not crashing into our week, rather easing in elegantly from behind-the-scenes like a glamorous supermodel arriving at a shoot she's late for. With his blend of progressive beats and soothing synths, Matt's latest takes us on a sunrise journey to Eden; the perfect tonic for the 22nd of June. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As disco in its spiritual home of New York's debauched nightclubs fell out of vogue, European producers inspired by the sound persisted with gusto; taking their scene to the mainstream with chart successes moulded in the manner of the Warhol Factory cookie cutter process. Once a dirty word, Italo Disco has won a devout new following, its catalogues plundered for synth-heavy camp classics with inimitable feeling. While the sound wouldn't resonate in the English speaking West at its peak during the 1980s, its influence can be felt in the distinctive electro-pop of Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode and New Order; today its new audience has made cult classics of one-hit-wonders from obscure artists and aliases. The circle would be complete when Italo made its way into the nightclubs of New York and Chicago via American producers inspired by the high energy sound, the likes of Bobby O and Patrick Cowley evolving the scene as those in the UK had. For his latest deep dive, Øhm Sweet Øhm takes us on an uptempo ride through the individual sound of Italo Disco, the evocative scene that didn't know when it was beaten. Italians love synthesizers. And so do we. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

From a Croydon record shop called Big Apple to sold-out arenas in the city that goes by the same name, in the mid part of the 2000s to early in the following decade, a scene was born, exploded and its cultured ashes pissed on from a great height by an ugly American wave known ominously as EDM. Digital Mystikz, Coki and Mala, Loefah, Kode 9 a young Skream and Benga and many more helped transform a dark offshoot of UK garage into a dub-inspired haven of crackling tension and claustrophobic bass that would thunder through sound systems and onto dark and dank dancefloors. Those familiar with the sound's post-2010 demise may struggle to comprehend the gravity of this movement on electronic music at large. For those few years, dubstep was London's new punk. A blistering, DIY bolt of energy that warped sounds, crossed genres, and made clubbing exciting again. Honouring the scene's true sound, DJ Simm takes us on a quick tour from the underground to the edge of crossover with a selection of dubstep classics that stay true to their roots from beginning to end. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Soaring and sonorous, deep and delicious. And that's just the velvet voice of Fresh Soup's Pete Carvell. Dropping another hour of lush house and electronica into our hearty bowls, lose yourself in some Sunday slurping as episode 108 transports you to a strobe-lit main room of ragged revellers. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Feel the sweat drip from the ceiling and the moist embrace of an animated stranger. We will dance again, and to soundtrack the optimism that we're all allowing ourselves to feel just a little of, Mark Kovich is back behind the ones and twos with a hedonistic 60 minutes of deep and soulful house music, funky flex and disco dirt. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hold your horses, Johnny 5 is feeling alive in his guise a rootin'-tootin' sentient cow-bot. The nostalgia is back centre-stage at Fresh Soup, which can mean only one thing: Matt Rycroft is back with another hour-long good time session of electropop, tops off house joints and synth-driven electronica. Gitty-up all you robotic buckaroos, Saturday just got off to a flier. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Brace yourselves for another incoming attack from the United States of America. Simon Howlett has his deep and dubby disco guns a-blazin' again, rendering reluctant dancers helpless in their wake. From Portland, Oregon, to Fresh Soup with love, steady your stereo for another irresistible invasion of ware-house-music for the soul. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I went into a bookshop yesterday to see if they had anything about turtles. "Hardback?" The guy asks. "Yep, with little heads," I respond. OK, I'll quit it with the jokes, before we head for a turtle disaster. Crashing into the back end of your week, our favourite testudines returns with another blistering session of big room bangers set to leave you shell-shocked. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

They've been around the world, they're harder, better, faster and stronger, and they've played in the house of the guy who was the first to play them to the rock kids. They are Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, and they need no introduction. When your old man writes D.I.S.C.O. there's only one way to go, and through a fire of screeching 303 acid lines, they found their way home with nowhere left to travel. If you've been living under a rock or self-isolating in a lead-cladded panic room, the Daft Punks have bid adieu to one another, and this is our tribute to their legacy; Pete Carvell cranking up the energy for a thunderous rollin' and scratchin' ode to the two French boys who lived inside robots. To those who lost themselves to dance, we salute you. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The drums and the bass are there, but so too are vocals, moving melody and lush instrumentation; this is the soul of drum and bass. Switching out rampant hoover synths and chaotic bass-bin-bustin' subs for song structures, pianos and harmonies, Simm takes us on his most polite outing to date. This is drum and bass that you can take home to meet the parents. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Enter the sound of science, as Hilfingerz drops Fresh Soup 101; a joint ode to the technology that is slowly putting an end to our sad situation and that has shaped the music each and every Souper holds dear. Enjoy our own progress through tech, with a solid 60 minutes of bass heavy, urban-inflected dance music that celebrates the silent work of the scientists who shape our society. (And, yes, Tom does say it's his February mix, which is our fault not his. Sorry Hilf.) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Free-falling Fresh Soup into three numbers, Buck Houston takes a leap of faith for this momentous mix, fixing the metronome at 100 beats per minute. Marking the big one-hundred with a typically eclectic session of movers dialled into the same speed for just under an hour, dive into Fresh Soup 100 and celebrate this and the previous 99 sets of unwavering quality. Felicitations Fresh Soupers, we made it. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Tonight we're going to party like it's Fresh Soup 99. To mark our last session in double figures, resident raver JBdeQ gets our party started with a familiar blend of dubby and clubby house, breaks and bangers. Limber up like you've just heard the pandemic is over, put on your dancing shoes, and celebrate 99 marvellous mixes from team Fresh Soup. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Some say you have to be a tad unhinged to join team Fresh Soup, but perfectly-sane-of-mind Jim Damentalist shows those naysayers otherwise. Having whipped crowds into a crazy stupor at clubs from Cream to Pacha, Ibiza Rocks to the infamously hedonistic Manumission, Jim opens his Soup account with a soothing 60 minutes of melodic house and understated dancefloor drama. What's in a name? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In a world of uncertainty, some things are still set in stone. That the road out of the pandemic will be as precarious as Bolivia's Carretera a los Yungas; that a Pep Guardiola side will pass a lot; that Boris Johnson is a cunt. For fans of Fresh Soup, they'll also be familiar with the gold-standard certainty that an hour with Matthew Egginton will be a sonorous segue from the shit that surrounds us; a blissful session of atmospheric house music that makes it all go away. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

First standing behind the decks in 1969 at a club in a small town near Rimini, a young Italian DJ would spend the 1970s honing both his craft and a unique slant on the disco music that was being pioneered across the Atlantic. By the 1980s, Daniele Baldelli's Cosmic Disco was ready to lift off, literally; his DJ booth at Cosmic, an influential nightclub by Lake Garda, designed to replicate the cockpit of a spaceship. Informing a more esoteric brand of disco the world over, Baldelli's tendency to dig out unknown gems, to spin 45s at 33, incorporate instruments and live elements into his sets, had rubbed off onto a generation of space disconauts; a sound that has endured to this day through artists such as Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas. For his latest deep dive, Øhm Sweet Øhm takes us back to the 1970s and '80s via an ethereal realm of otherworldliness, a cosmic 60 minutes of dancefloor wooziness guaranteed to take you to places you could never have imagined. Get ready for lift off. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hotstepping from the genesis of jungle at the turn of the 1990s to the genre in its current form, DJ Simm is back with a clattering ode to 21st century jungle; drawing from the catalogues of two of the labels at the heart of the scene's shifting sound, Rupture and AKO Beatz. Like a vaccine supercharged with steroids, Simm's latest is a brutally brilliant session of hoovers and rave stabs, thundering bass and drums that have been programmed like weapons of mass destruction. In Soup 095, the jungle is very, very massive. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Happy birthday to us. As Fresh Soup marks six months of eclectic mixes and mid-pandemic merrymaking, the man who dropped our first session returns to his roots with a thunderous hour of alt-dance that draws on his hedonistic days as a resident at Ibiza Rocks; Pete Carvell blowing your bassbins to celebrate half a year of sensational Soup. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Not even a case of Covid can keep Mark Kovich from delivering the goods. After a tough session of isolation, Mark presents Soupers with a deep and dark hour of house music that conjures the polar opposite of seclusion: that primal essence of clubbing, that we are all one under the trance of repetitive beats and squelching synths. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"If you have a friend who's a robot, they'll never cross you. They're loyal because their love can't be bot." I'm here all week. With Paulie Pennino's robotic butler at his service, Matt Rycroft is back at the Fresh Soup ladle to dish up another helping of nostalgia-soaked, party-minded house music to make your weekend infinitely more danceable. Just don't ask Peter Crouch to show you his moves. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As deep as Jeff Bezos's pockets, our latest incoming from Portland, Oregon, is another woozy walk into the weekend. Funk, filters, fuzz and flair all come together under the virtual strobe lights, as Simon Howlett takes us on another hour of deep and soulful house music. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Call April O'Neil on the case, Pierre is back with another 60 minutes of leftfield house on the half shell. A deep, club-forward innings of beats and bleeps made with nostalgia for the dancefloor, tune in, turn up and wiggle your way to the weekend. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Like a mutant strain that won't be suppressed by no vaccine a human could engineer, JBdeQ is back with another blistering session of high energy dance music. From techno through Baltimore club by way of clattering drum and bass, this party gets pitched up to a relentless 160bpm and stays there from the off. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's the turn of the 1990s, and the sound that Fabio and Grooverider had honed at London's infamous Rage club night was influencing a whole new generation of ravers; names like Goldie and 4hero shaping a new direction with their label's Metalheadz and Reinforced, the former beginning as a dubplate offshoot of the latter. A mutation of acid house that would form the basis of drum and bass in the latter half of the decade, the junglism of the early '90s is captured in its raw and primal essence by DJ Simm in his latest genre deep dive. Welcome to 'Jungle Origins'. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.