Wild City

In its first quarter itself, Paloma's Wild City mix connects the low-end rattling bass of Joy Orbison's 'Flight.fm' to the tribal house of Nick Léon's 'Xtasis' before proceeding to the melodic runs of Charanjit Singh. This itself clues you in on the quick genre-hopping that the DJ, surfer, model and TV host does on the mix, which reels dancers in with the popular, more accessible numbers before going on to deeper cuts of acid house, melodic techno and adjacent styles.  Taken from her performance on New Year's at Sri Lanka's Closenberg Hotel, the regular spot for Tropical Wax, the party-throwing and lifestyle collective co-founded by Paloma, the mix progressively echoes the shifting of night into the morning, turning the mood gradually to the introspective as the psychedelic textures of Floating Points' 'Fast Forward' usher in the final quarter of the mix. For more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/21160-wild-city-249-paloma

New Delhi DJ Sheral doesn't wait for a build-up on our latest Wild City mix, entering above 140 BPM from the get-go and keeping it relentless for the first quarter of the mix. When eventually we arrive at the special sustained blend of the vocal hook from Vin Sol's 'Wts' against the percussion breaks of Burland's 'Untitled 140', the first quarter emerges as a high-octane warm-up leading up to a dynamic ride of glitchy, quirky textures that follows, passing an upbeat and low end-heavy array of styles that majorly feature only deep cuts (though dubstep lynchpin Kode9 makes an appearance for the high point of the mix).  For more information & tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/21137-wild-city-248-sheral

Roan Sable's Wild City mix is the kind that makes listeners reach for Shazam time and time again. Peppered with deep cuts that the Pune-rooted DJ elevates to the efficiency of classics, the mix traverses through house music, reaching for the genre's upbeat vocal hooks and syncopated basslines. The journey, which Roan played out in Hyderabad for Sunday Playground,  is led by elaborate blends and surprise drops in equal measures to keep things from becoming stagnant. In the process, we pass through highlight moments like Leon's 'Beautiful Girl' coming together with Locklead's 'Morning Krew', elevating the underrated tracks beyond their merit as standalone records, giving a glimpse of his mark as an experienced selector. For more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/21095-wild-city-247-roan-sable

When T.L. Mazumdar aka EveryNowHere started the podcast series Tapasya Loading in 2020, one of his key goals was to pool together the worldview of artists that he had found inspiring without the confines of styles, geography or experience levels. As the multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and educator celebrates and zooming past 100 episodes with a Wild City Mix, naturally his selection follows the same ethos.  The mix is ripe with artists who have appeared as guests on the podcast, connecting topics from music education and the diaspora artist experience to mental health and the creative process for a holistic view of what it's like to be a creative practitioner. Consequently, the selection can go from sparse electro-R&B ('BLUE' by LO) to Punjabi yearnful laments over tabla rhythms ('Tera Jugg' by Kiran Ahluwalia) in less than 10 minutes. While every once in a while there are works showcasing virtuosity within a defined genre ('7 Cows Jumping Over The Moon' by Kai Eckhardt Band), the mix mostly seems to be tied together with the quality of pushing beyond any stylistic boxes and seamlessly jumping between them. More information & tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/21058-wild-city-246-everynowhere

With field recordings of birds and frogs stitched between transient meanderings of synths and soundscapes from her own work and that of her contemporaries from the experimental music space of India like Hemant SK, Bengal Chemicals and REVANT, Surbhi Mittal aka Pale Blue Dotter's Wild City mix is like no other. But then again the New Delhi sound artist isn't interested in being an artist like any other, often questioning the default notions around listening and creation and consequently finding space for her work in art galleries, theatrical productions and the sombre corners of music festivals as well.  Yet the mix isn't a snippet-to-snippet glimpse of leftfield music but could work as an album with a clear cohesion and intention – showcasing the magic of raw moments of inspiration that propel creation and juxtaposing them with profound reflections on self, the world and the relation between the two. For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/21031-wild-city-245-pale-blue-dotter

Bangalore's Vaibhav S Narayan aka SourFunk's Wild City mix is for the point where the dancers for the night embark on their journey on the dancefloor for the rest of the party. Functioning at the confluence of house and disco – something to be expected from a member of Stalvart John's Dynamite Disco Club – the mix is inviting, presenting edits and remixes from prominent house heads like Kerri Chandler, Honey Dijon and Mousse T. peppered with recognisable melodies like 'Ain't Nobody' to grasp onto for even casual listeners of the genre before SourFunk takes you deeper. By the time you are into the spoken word passages of ABANA's 'Sativa Jazz', you know the immersion has completely taken over to make you part of the love letter to house that this mix ultimately becomes. For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20958-wild-city-244-sourfunk

Born in Kashmir and operating between Goa and New Delhi, Zainab Wani aka Zequenx is in the midst of a transformation from the perspective of her listeners. The DJ and producer has added ambient live sets to her usual fare of four-to-the-floor dancefloor journeys. It's an addition to her musical being that is now reflected in her mixes – like the one she has made for Wild City.  A nearly 2-hour-long affair, the sonic journey starts from ambient sound bath-like curation before the clouds of pad start giving way to percussive elements that settle to the rhythms of techno. With influences of laidback trance feeding into it, the mix presents a highly immersive state ripe for introspection while the body clings to the guttural chant of the kick drum's thump. For more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20928-wild-city-243-zequenx

Anyone regular to the upbeat lighthearted dancefloors in New Delhi over the past couple of years has likely witnessed a set by Aditya Mehta aka DJ Pants as the multidisciplinary artist/live sound engineer become a frequent fixture to the capital city's nightlife.  Recently, Aditya branched out as a producer, coinciding with the London and Bristol-based party-throwers PARADIA branching out into a label with a local-to-global V/A compilation that featured Aditya's debut single 'Extra Style'. Aditya marks the release for us with an exclusive Wild City mix. In contrast to the more bass-heavy house of the single, the mix assembles tribal performances from around the world, infusing some Balearic influence to create a blend of new-age electronica. With tracks like 'Oki' by Sound of Mo and 'Mind Thieves' by Osamu Kitajima, the mix maintains a bright mood while the steady energy and lofty vocal parts create an introspective atmosphere over the energy of downtempo breakbeats and deep basslines. More info: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20911-wild-city-242-dj-pants

Warehouse Mix, the collective of DJs and other creatives, is one of the very few new faces in India's dance music space that is keeping the word "community" meaningful, building it with a sincere DIY ethos and love for house music. They've received some help from one of the genre's pillaring veterans in the country, Hamza Rahimtula and his Windhorse Records who has also paired with them to create the recurring event AQI.  To give a taste of the event, Warehouse Mix's Tartaruga and Hamza have share their vinyl mix from their last AQI event exclusively via Wild City. With an old-school mixing style, the selections play out in extended sections, getting enhanced and layered by two masters of the fundamentals of DJing. Usually a fun ride with the constant oomph of house's four-to-the-floor beats, selections like Louie Vega's 'Come Away' featuring Kerri Chandler takes an immersed listener to psychedelic places of respite.  More information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20888-wild-city-241-tartaruga-b2b-hamza-rahimtula

The first 3 minutes of Aashna Anand aka Nariki's Wild City mix itself are a good statement on simplicity. After a straightforward introduction of the rhythms and textures that one can expect, the music soon dials back pretty soon – like the stop before the first drop on a roller coaster ride that sets the energy for the rest of the journey. It's moments like this or the tasteful midpoint break of 'Athenia' by Derek Carr that keep pumping energy into the mix which is a short and subtle affair.  Operating at the point where house starts to look a lot like techno, Nariki's mix is completely led by its selection and its flow, which she lets play out. It allows her to be highly intentful in her choices, picking mostly deeper cuts with an evaluation and insight honed by her background in music journalism. For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20869-wild-city-240-nariki

Bangalore's Ishan Gaur aka I7HVN says he wants to play his Wild City mix "in an intimate, dark room". That is rather an apt aim for the abstract works he stitches together on the nearly hour-long mix as a soft pulse underpins a parade of elements that seem to appear out of nowhere, devoid of predictability for most parts. It's a mix that carries the qualities found in the whole of I7HVN's artistic voice – with his latest release, the 6-track EP 'Innate Needs', featuring similar unpredictability though with more hard-hitting grooves underscoring them.  Not quite ambient, though it practices a similar restraint, as it rewards giving attention to its surprising minute details, the mix comes off as a seamless extended composition even as it moves from deep-cut artists from foreign shores to Indian contemporaries of I7HVN like Yidam, Innerworld and Mythopoet alongside the producer's own work. For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20827-wild-city-239-i7hvn

Bangalore's Rishii Rohra aka Peach Blok might choose laidback moods for his productions but for his Wild City mix, the DJ-producer goes to the heart of dance music. Kicking off with some house cuts, the mix practically begins with the kind of tracks you'd imagine upon the words 'club music' as strong four-to-the-floor grooves are decorated with whirring psychedelic undertones of acid arpeggios. Keeping the beat firmly placed through the first half of the mix, Peach Blok curates the ebb and flow through the whirring psychedelic elements. He gives a break from it with selections like the classic house of Gome's 'Come On (Piani mix)' and the percussive breaks of 'Boogie Check' by Baka G before spending the second half treading through a range of styles all the while dialling up the grit without losing the fun. For more information & tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20801-wild-city-238-peach-blok

Trained under veteran DJ and producer Stalvart John and seasoned as the resident DJ of the Dynamite Disco Club parties, Bengaluru's Carissa D'Almeida can easily be expected to have a flair for the syncopated basslines and energetic vocal and instrumental runs that define disco, house and their adjacent genres. What elevates Carissa to one of Dynamite Disco Club's most recognised alumni is how the selections are tied together to form a narrative. In the instance of her Wild City mix, with which she highlights 90s tracks that carry a no-frills-just-fun approach, things kick off in puristical joyous grounds of house as Carissa chooses gradual layering of records to create vibrant interplays between instrumental motifs, busy percussion jams and beckoning vocal calls. Each time using unhurried loops to provide a respite without dropping the incessant groove, the selector enters more sombre moods with Todd Terry's 'Jumpin'', stays in its psychedelic and immersive nature until a mix of DJ Pierre's 'Let The Music Take You Higher' before dialling up the pace onto more contemporary grounds for the final run of the mix.  For more information & tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20762-wild-city-237-carissa

Delhi's Tech Panda and Kenzani are one of the frontrunners of the wave of electronica that has turned its focus towards India's rich folk sounds, recontextualising them for the urban dancefloor. The latest iterations from the pair come through collaborations with Punjabi popstar Talwiinder and Akulu Records-released Punjabi-folk-meets-French-sermon track 'Kamli'. The duo celebrate their run of releases with a Wild City mix. The sonic journey reflects Tech Panda x Kenzani's extensive experience as one of India's in-demand DJs, laying itself out like a live performance that starts and ends with grandiosity. In between, the selections feature mostly originals, works from collaborators and even a peppering of Harry Styles – a testament to how the full tapestry of folk sounds the pair utilises is tied together with the immersive rhythms and soundscapes of deep house and melodic techno alongside the sensibility of pop. More info: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20732-wild-city-236-tech-panda-x-kenzani

Since stepping behind the console after years as a familiar face in the fashion, beauty photography and live music events space, Anushka Menon has been steadily rising as a selector. The success of her pumping selections-filled Boiler Room set is the latest achievement in that ascent.  Off the back of it, the Goa-based multi-faceted artist recorded a set at the freshly opened venue JUNA which she shares exclusively as her Wild City mix.  For the Wild City mix, Anushka opts for the syncopated energy of breakbeats as she drops into the rhythms after an ambient welcome. She kicks things off with expansive introspective selections to immerse you before jet-setting onto more fun-focused grounds halfway through as Logic1000's 'Rush' rolls in. Making use of her multi-faceted artistic expression, Anushka has also curated visuals to go with the mix. To experience it and see more information and tracklist, head here: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20702-wild-city-235-anushka

A member of the Feel My Bicep crew alongside the likes of Matt McBriar and Andy Ferguson (who'd go on to form the duo Bicep), Rory Hamilton aka Hammer isn't just someone who has a sense for discovering interesting electronica works. After decades of hosting parties in Glasgow and later London, as well as spinning records the world over, the Belfast-born talent knows how to stitch together those records to create moments of passionate revelry. India has bore witness to that skill multiple times at this point as Hamilton returned to the country earlier this year after half a decade, adding dates in Goa and Kolkata alongside Delhi and Mumbai before jetting off to Sri Lanka for further performances with Tropical Wax for an 8-show tour of India and Sri Lanka. He recorded a mix for Wild City in Sri Lanka at the end of his tour to look back at his time in the region, which also included signing on Kolkata's 8-bit culprit – the second artist from India to work with the label after New Delhi Anhad Khanna aka Sublime Sound. "From the first ever gig I played in Auro in New Delhi, I learnt that the dance floor in India is special in that the sense of excitement is genuinely palpable. Taking risks pays off," says Hamilton. "I've also learnt that like every country, each city is different and you need to be ready to fit into it." Consequently, while often operating close to house, disco and some techno, how Hammer uses a particular style can vary. Recorded at The Luna Terrace of Galle's Closenburg Hotel, the HQ of Tropical Wax, the Wild City mix goes from an unreleased remix of Syreeta Wright's chants on 'Shanti', to the disco-inspired Baldo Remix of Demi Riquísimo & Manami's 'Sugar Snap'. Testifying Hammer's abilities to create notable moments in his sets, the mix offers several instances – from the melody-led energy of Two Mamarrachos to the respite of the laidback chords of Madvilla's 'Galactic Banana'. The best, however, is the house-meets-pop euphoria that comes almost as a cinematic euphoric climax to the mix with an unreleased track featuring the voice of Lili Chan. For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20609-wild-city-234-hammer

For years, we kept clubbing the word "psychedelic" with Lahore's Talal Qureshi. Even as the Pakistan's electropop pioneer has transformed from a Coke Studio mainstay with esoteric productions on the side to someone who brings his worlds together and creates the collaborative woofer-friendly bangers, that characteristic zaniness remains. As evident by his 2023 debut album 'TURBO' and its recent re-release with a deluxe edition, it has married itself to the sound of South Asian hip-hop with sometimes a satirising presence of Pakistan's hyperlocal elements.  It is embodied in the announcement he makes at the start of his Wild City mix before launching into cuts from the 15-track release, unreleased demos, edits of his other work and even someone Skrillex to demonstrate how his work can boom alongside the globally prominent. Contrary to most mixes of nearly all-originals, Talal's quick-moving mix is a product bigger than the sum of its selections. Constant flow through hard cuts between collaborations that feature the likes of Seedhe Maut, Faris Shafi, Hasan Raheem and Natasha Noorani speaks to the effective structures of Talal's productions. It's a mix worth a listen even if just for the reimagined energy of Talal's take on 'Faltu Pyaar' and 'Muaziz Sarif'.  For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20584-wild-city-233-talal-qureshi

Akshay Mathker aka Innerworld's Wild City mix doesn't just move subtly, it moves you with the most subtle forces. Starting with dark ambience, the mix is defined by its hypnotic atmospheric nature even when the languid textures clear to the thump of the techno's proprietary grooves.  Like an experienced DJ, the Goa-based artist layers his selections, elevating them from their standalone value. The ebb and flow between lulling ambient numbers and compelling rhythms begin to combine as distorted gritty kicks creep up from behind the aqueous pads and slow breaks of ULV's 'My Sofa Turns Into A Desert'. The influence of Goa's trance heritage is doesn't shy away as deep airy washes remain a near-constant part of the selections – before the mix slowly turns towards more zany and esoteric cuts for the final push for energy.  More info: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20560-wild-city-232-innerworld

Whenever Chennai-born Brooklyn-based DJ-producer Krithi reaches for rhythms and sounds from her native land and the like, they fit into the mould of dance music as if they've always been a natural part of it rather than (as it often is) a forced gimmick of limited yield. Her achievement seems to go further on her upcoming EP 'Coping Mechanism' as she finds the style a vessel of personal narratives, calling the release a "sonic exploration of how she communes with the shadows of depression". Both the released singles from the EP 'Suppress' and 'Medicate' demonstrate that within Krithi's Wild City mix which features a heavy dose of original unreleased work and glimpses of the record that drops on January 15. Introduced through 140BPM techno, the mix quickly shifts to and operates in and around bass and breaks. A peppy start moves into sombre moods as a slightly slowed down 'Heist Track' by MALFNKTION staggers into Krithi's own work before a jubilant return with the standout moment of Yourboykiran's Bollywood flip 'Yamma Yamma'. For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20494-wild-city-231-krithi

With the Magnetic Fields Festival taking over Alsisar this weekend for its 9th edition, New Delhi producer, DJ and Qilla Records co-founder Madhav Shorey aka Kohra and Thailand's globe-trotting polymath Sunju Hargun are revisiting their B2B set from last year.  Performed at the Resident Advisor afterparty, a highlight for the dancefloor-dedicated with its music going from the late hours of the night to the earliest moments of the morning, the accumulated energy of the night and its transformation into the morning audible in the set. Acid's mind-bending textures give way to increasingly guttural techno, pulling heavily from its minimal repertoire. As the night sky begins to lighten, the emotions are guided by the wash of the pads for a more refreshing conclusion. For more: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20488-wild-city-230-kohra-b2b-sunju-hargun

Our Wild City Mix section is not just a reservoir of some sonic journeys from formidable selectors coming out of India and beyond but often also a place to familiarise oneself with some rising forces. Our latest edition comes in the latter category as it brings to the fore one of the country's meteorically rising acts: Kandy Kuri.  With not much more than a year to her name, Kandy Kuri has found herself supporting the likes of Yung Singh and Lady Shaka alongside featuring on lineups of Bass Camp and Magnetic Fields Festival off the back of authenticity-focused selections across styles that she weaves together with a gentle gradualness – as brandished on her Wild City mix. The mix puts focus on textures evoked by the percussion within shades of breaks, garage and house while touching upon techno. Even as vocals come to the limelight with 'Fundamentals' by Worldcolour, they only serve to augment the atmosphere as a textural element, playing to the purpose of creating a whirring hypnotic mood. For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20455-wild-city-229-kandy-kuri

Versatile but always uptempo, Farhan Rehman treads the joyous sound of house music on his Wild City mix.  The DJ-producer from Mumbai is able to tread a wide scope of genres with his reputation as one of the city's most experienced selectors. But on his hour-long mix, he keeps to the constant thump of four-to-the-floor kick drums as rousing vocals and instrumental runs take flight on top of it. Selecting tracks that are undercuts to the casual listener and classics to the house aficionados, Farhan's mix educates the listener of the infectiously celebratory essence of house music, fulfilling that classic, often-forgotten, and pivotal role of the DJ to be the informer of public taste.  For tracklisting and more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20391-wild-city-228-farhan-rehman

One wouldn't usually place Indian artist's resurgent 80s hit 'Aaj Shanibaar' right next to works by British hip-hop group The Streets – but that is exactly what happens on Mumbai DJ-producer Himay's Wild City mix. The connecting thread is a no-frill embrace of house music in all its shade.  To present that, Himay kicks things off with his usual fare of acid house with an unreleased original work that testifies to a level of simplicity and focus that mostly only a seasoned artist can achieve. The mix builds upon the classic analogue sounds gradually till we are dealing with some modern masters like Eris Drew and Omar Souleyman before ending upon two of 2022's biggest dance music hits like Eliza Rose and Interplanetary Criminal's 'B.O.T.A.'  and Mella Dee's 'Love It Or Not' (ft. Infinite Coles). For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20339-wild-city-227-himay

With Amapiano, Gqom, house, techno, hip-hop, sprinkles of R&B and ending on some drum 'n' bass, DJ MoCity and Nash demonstrate what many DJs claim to feature but few achieve: bending genres to the point the definitions of styles cease to matter.  Remixes of Ice Spice and Jorja Smith are sandwiched between works by popular dance music names like Breaka, Nick Leon, Flowdan and Skrillex and several underdogs alike. Works by Indian forces SUCHI and Oceantied also make an appearance while the languidity of Batu's 'Marius' and the deviation from the western moulds with Mostafa Omar's 'Eleila Doob on Steroids' serve as examples of elements that add an ebb and flow to the fast-moving mix. boxout.fm co-founder DJ MoCity and close dancefloor compatriot Nash find threads between varying works that only such seasoned selectors can – stitching them together and elevating them with their art to provide a masterclass on mixing.  For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20278-wild-city-226-dj-mocity-b2b-nash

Vedant Chandra aka Alboe recently released his new album 'Love Languages', which he marks for us with our latest Wild City mix.  Made of 7 original numbers, the mix highlights the underlying theme behind the New Delhi electronica producer's music, which he has introduced over the years and expounded upon with this new album. Pristine sonics borrowed from genres like future bass, melodic house and italo-disco are used uniquely with an Indian sense of melody before giving those duties to vocals spanning across languages. The result creates a dense melange of influences concurrent with his moniker which is an abbreviation of: "A Little Bit Of Everything". "My personal taste in music is more melodic and story-like and I try to imbibe the same in the music I compose," says Vedant about the inspiration behind his music. "I have taken a lot of inspiration from artists like Jungle, Daft Punk and even A. R. Rahman in the manner with which they approach compositions. To me, their songs seem like one cohesive unit where they are unafraid to experiment with various sounds to complete their desired vision. I try to embody the same." For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20238-wild-city-225-alboe

A mainstay of the dance music in India, Pramod Sippy aka Sindhi Curry is one of the most seasoned commanders of the dancefloor in the country. For our latest mix, the DJ marks signing up with the agency Maushi by running through the several stylistic excursions he has tried over the years to engage with a musical atmosphere he hasn't explicitly offered to the public ear before. With the special mix entitled 'Garage & House Origins', Sindhi Curry steps away from his usual genre-unrestricted fare of circling the moodier grounds of disco and techno. He dives into his vaults for a sense of old-school house and garage without necessarily choosing classic cuts – but rather, picking up selections that serve as either example of that era or a love letter to its no-nonsense fun. Taking off from the black music flavours of Korda's 'Move Your Body(To The Sound)' that reminds of the early vocal-based house music, you don't notice when Sindhi Curry transforms the atmosphere completely by the time Krautrock-reminiscent 'World Rebellion Plan' by Westbam makes an appearance midway. Tying it all is an upbeat energy suitable for reinvigorating a laidback summer afternoon.

Our latest Wild City mix comes from Durban's quintessential Gqom icon DJ Lag who uses it to commemorate his first tour across India in February as part of Ultra SoulFlyp. Born in Clermont, Lwazi Asanda Gwala aka DJ Lag is regarded as one of the earliest artists to popularise the thumping visceral sound of Gqom, a genre born out of South African variations of house music, across the peninsula and then to the world. With early works uniquely released over WhatsApp to get youth across the nation to dance to them, Lag counts collaborations with the likes of Beyonce among his career highlights besides being a genre pioneer and a flagbearer of the sounds coming out of South Africa.  His Wild City carries the same qualities that define him as a producer: hard-hitting with an impeccable sense of building tension before a gratifying release all through an intricate control of the low-end. With tracks ranging from his own collaborations and his contemporaries, the mix highlights an emergent version of gqom which subtly shares influences with genres like amapiano. For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20155-wild-city-223-dj-lag

Lush Lata's Wild City mix moves from thumping kicks-backed Sarod meanderings of 'Maharaj Trio and Nickodemus' to the booming hip-hop beat of 'Go Again' by A-STAR to cuts by Overomono, SBTRKT, Romare, Breaka and Fred Again alongside works by homegrown talents like Oceantied, Potter and Stain, while also slipping in Udit Narayan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Swarnalatha and Karsh Kale. With 40 tracks in less than an hour, the New Delhi selector's mixing moves quickly just like her trajectory as an artist. Starting as a member of the femme collective Coven Code and a staple figure of boxout.fm, Lush Lata has built her work over an embrace for Bollywood and the grooves most Indian kids grow up around while connecting it to her deep love for hip-hop and bass. The individual voice recently led her to be featured at Berlin's CTM Festival this year with a talk, DJ-ing workshop and a performance at the Panorama Bar of the dance music's most iconic club The Berghain. "I am way more open to new sounds and musical experiences than before. Also, they love what's going on in India right now," says Lush Lata, recounting her time in Berlin which she also does by ending her mix with Shy FX and T-Power's 'Shake Ur Body (feat. D.I.)', a track that she describes as "the tune that took my night at Berghain to another level when I heard it on the dancefloor in DJ Voilet's set at CTM festival." For more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20112-wild-city-222-lush-lata

With selections from James Blake, Jamie xx, Four Tet, Thom Yorke, some lesser-known cuts by the likes of Loma and sir Was, and his original works, Curtain Blue leverages how his Wild City mix will likely be enjoyed. The mix weaves its journey around emotions instead of energy for a narrative seeped in sombreness and sensuality.  A particular defining moment comes with New Delhi producer's own track 'Sunkissed' leading one into the introspection of 'Her Revolution' by Burial, Four Tet and Thom Yorke echoing distantly alongside sitar loops before the follow-up jolts you awake. Sandwiching between such famously effective numbers, Curtain Blue aka Abhishek Bhatia places his own work like the collaborative track 'Birds and Bees' with Komorebi, which recently received an extended music video in collaboration with Indian fashion powerhouse Satya Paul, and also of his contemporaries like Frame/Frame to pivot towards a triumphant uptempo finish.  For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20050-wild-city-221-curtain-blue

Whether collaborating with traditional Indian musicians or flipping Bollywood cuts, Shantanu Gursal aka kSaya's musical home is the frantic rhythm of the breakbeat – as he works as an Asian Underground revivalist over the past 2 years. It is no surprise then that the Mumbai act's Wild City mix comes replete with a near-constant underpinning of the iconic beat and its variations. The selections remain far from the heavy onslaught of breakbeats' pacier sub-genres, instead embracing the pristine atmosphere of styles like slow garage and the more modern anthemic dance music takes by the likes of Bicep. The ethereal atmosphere remains the true defining feature of the mix as it opens up rhythmically with selections like Terry Da Libra's 'U' and 'Early Hours' by Fløa & Furcloud before plunging back into the grooves that kicked things off – this time emerging out of the focus on reverberating pads to lead with the emotionally direct vocals on a mix of 'My Stripes' by Marsh. For more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20024-wild-city-220-ksaya

At the outset, Mohit Tyagi aka Mocid is firmly rooted in the conventions of hard-hitting techno. That even includes the genre's association with retrofuturism and obsession with the extraterrestrial, as he attaches the moniker's artistic vision to that of a "space traveller exploring the Universe, searching for intelligent beings and establishing the first contact with them through rhythmic sound vibrations." A closer listen to his latest release 'Bioterror' unpacks layers more unique to the New Delhi DJ and producer – whether it is the juxtaposition of spacious soundscapes and pulsating low-end on 'Voodoo', the near-descent into noise on 'Poltergeist' and, most notably, the standout title track which lifts off from the genre with the tribal drums and engulfing pads that combine to form a journey that's led by its textures as it is by its dancefloor rhythms. Marking the release with a Wild City mix, Mocid details the influences that inform such qualities with his selection going from multiple tracks by Mekromic, through even Indian talents such as Audio Units before culminating the relentless ride with Matrixmann. For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/19998-wild-city-219-mocid

What connects experimental composer John Cage, Michael Jackson, the pop-punk group Paramore, blues legend Buddy Guy and an electronic producer like Floating Points? They all figure into the plethora of influences and listening palette of Parekh & Singh, which they highlight with our latest Wild City mix.  The Kolkata duo of Nischay Parekh and Jivraj Singh, who stand as modern royalties in India's indie music at this point, recently released their third album 'The Night is Clear' – bringing to the forefront the same whimsical sense of lyrical melodies that ushered their meteoric rise but with an enhanced palette of sonic colours. Parekh & Singh firmly uphold the defining relatable heart-touching songwriting in the centre and dial-up the experimentation in the backdrop without encroaching the centerstage. Strings akin to The Eagles' cut on the mix pervade most of the 9-track album while the arpeggiation on 'Seven Days' and the bursts of pitched percussion on 'The Nightingale' hint at the electronica influences. With such a varied selection of styles, the consistency of the mix is in its ability to surprise with drastic turns. It really is what one would expect to hear at an intimate gathering at the metaphorical common house of Parekh & Singh with the records getting cued according to the lively conversation about all the music that make a person.  For more information and tracklist: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/19985-wild-city-218-parekh-singh

In a recent interview with Mixmag Asia about her debut EP 'Young Hate' and its just-released lead single 'Stonefruit', Sijya laid down the following as her artistic agenda: "It's a bit rebellious I'd say. I think it fights the notion that there are certain ‘correct' paths to reaching a certain level of knowledge or making." Carrying out that rebellion against the run-of-the-mill on the back of an intuition-led meticulousness, the New Delhi composer, producer and visual artist has begun to unveil her abstract take on art-pop and downtempo with the single release, which she marks for us with her Wild City mix.  The penchant for doing things differently pervades the curation and mixing as she uses the selections to celebrate Accidental Records, the home of her debut EP. Forgoing the commonplace approach of building things up gradually, the mix kicks off with a near-abrupt heavy rhythmic onslaught to firmly demand attention before finally clearing into captivating simplicity to provide a moment of sublime rhythmic relief with Dominic Voz's 'Right To The City I'. Sampled components of different tracks on the mix are re-arranged like a musical collage to manoeuvre through drastic dips and climbs of energy levels, as Sijya ventures into heavily distorted grounds and back while showcasing the uniqueness of her labelmates with works from the likes of Micachu, Crewdson, Mica Levi and ultimately, label-boss and British musical royalty, Matthew Herbert.  For more information and tracklist: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/19961-wild-city-217-sijya

Ever since Bangalore's Eashwar Subramanian started supplementing his white-collar professional life by putting out music nearly 5 years ago, he has done so relentlessly. A regular fixture in the country's ambient music landscape, Eashwar's work sets itself apart from the rest in the genre by creating placating dissipative soundscapes primarily through minimal melodies than abstract textures – naturally borrowing from the cinematic and new age. Initially putting out the work at a staggering pace primarily over SoundCloud, the composer-producer has lately started to consolidate his work with distinct EPs and albums, each featuring a minute but noticeable growth or experiment into the new. For his Wild City mix, Eashwar gives a snapshot of that journey as he curates an all-originals set that connects music all the way from his 2018's 'Ambient Hamlet' with the just-released 'String Theory' – his latest 5-track EP which sees his melodic motifs dissipate between percussive beds of plucked strings (on 'Fireflies'), pitched mallets (on the standout 'Mountainsong') or reversing samples of ethnic strings (on 'Turkish Wedding').  Consequently, the mix highlights the different ways Subramanian can offer pacification and invite introspection whether with simple piano melodies, like on 'Verdant Nature' from 'Polar Drift', or, in a rare instance, by actually choosing to paint with abstract texture, like on 'Expanse' from the latest EP 'String Theory'.  For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/19944-wild-city-216-eashwar-subramanian

For almost a year now, M.A.P // A.M.P has explored the intersection of activism and music in South Asia with a variety of platforms, from performance and pirate radio to documentary films and podcasts. One of the biggest efforts from the Goethe-Institut-led multi-pronged project has been its crowdsourced library which presents a repository of socio-political from around the world, spanning several hours' worth of music.  M.A.P // A.M.P gives a glimpse of the library's far-reaching span with our latest Wild City mix. The mix goes from shades of folk music to hip-hop and rock, juxtaposing a myriad of languages and themes. Much like M.A.P // A.M.P's other efforts, especially the documentary series 'Awaaz', it highlights the parallels between voices demanding their right and justice, and the common device of art for people speaking truth to power – irrespective of how different those truths and those powers may be.  For tracklist and more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/19916-wild-city-215-m-a-p-a-m-p

Aashish Gupta aka AAGUU, better known for his work as one-half of the duo TechNomads while erstwhile remixing Indian cinema undercuts, curates a love letter to the formative days of house and techno on his Wild City mix.  Assembling deep cuts and familiar sounds from primarily the early 90s, the Bangalore artist taps into the nostalgia for the joyous glossy strands of the two adjacent genres – hovering closer to their Italo-disco roots. High synthetic string lines, plastic-y melodic percussion, sensual vocal samples and flute sounds created in the early days of MIDI instruments take one on a trip down memory (whether lived or imagined) lane, punctuating it just occasionally with the more sombre acid house cuts. Even while throwing in more modern numbers like Ewan McVicar's 'Amnocairn', the connection to the classic evergreen sounds remains with its snappy house piano.  For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/19850-wild-city-214-aaguu

Earlier this year, the Twitter electronic music world chortled around a "Two Guy Theory", which is centred around the observation: "From Bicep to Overmono to Two Shell, the trend of two fellas coming up with elaborate excuses to hang out a lot has been picking up recently. Guys can't just be mates anymore, there has to be a catchy and fresh take on underground dance music involved." Towards the Indian sub-continent, two of the latest purveyors of that theory are Ishaan Gandhi aka Okedo and Rohan Sinha aka Dolorblind. The two music acts, who are likely familiar to anyone with an ear tuned to the electronica talent of New Delhi, have recently joined forces to create an amalgamation of their monikers with Okedolo.  The story goes that the pair had initially met in childhood through their parents' attempts to get their introverted kids to make friends within the neighbourhood. After growing apart and becoming recognised members of the Indian independent music scenes as visual artists, instrumentalists, record engineers and musicians in their own right, Ishaan and Rohan reunited nearly two decades later at a gig. The pair found themselves sitting next to each other, unbeknownst that they were once childhood friends, and grumbling about the wider industry before discovering their shared past. Building upon their rediscovered camaraderie and encouraged by the anti-isolation instincts many of us experienced after the COVID-19 pandemic's lockdowns, the two musicians started collaborating to play around with music they wouldn't otherwise do. "When we first started making music, we realised our approach to music making was on opposite ends of the spectrum, yet we found ourselves really liking each other's music (& taste in music), we knew we had to dig deeper, says Ishaan, to which Rohan adds: "Our one and only goal was to make music that's enjoyable to make. We are not confined to any genres but we do absorb the influences of our current surroundings." While the act is yet to disclose much about the resultant work to the wider public, early previews indicate bringing together Okedo's penchant for layered percussive production and Dolorblind's affinity for booming basslines and textured synthetic ambiences in entirely new contexts. Reflecting upon the sounds that informed it, Okedolo have curated the latest Wild City Mix which, even though touches upon various sub-genres of dance music, doesn't present itself as a dance mix. Hudson Mohawke's zany arpeggios creep up behind Hikaru Utadu's uptempo drama while a standout number by Burt Cope punctuates selections of drum 'n' bass and techno that completely disregard any technical common ground as long as they share the common emotional plain.  For more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/19819-wild-city-213-okedolo

Few sets invite one into a trance as quickly as Deep Brown's Wild City mix, which instantly whirrs you in with the arpeggios of Nathan Melja's 'Back And Forth'.  A long-standing DJ originally from Kolkata, Ankur Kedia aka Deep Brown gradually lets the arpeggios dissipate into textures focused on percussive numbers and bass melodies tailored for the dancefloor with the techno and house set. Within the incessant thump of the genre that never overbears and never lets down the energy, the selection traverses a range of styles, riding waves of pristine productions to the raw retro energy like the deep cut remix by DJ Smeagzy of Andy Kas' 'Funky Roadway', a particular highlight in the sonic journey. For more information and tracklist: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/19643-wild-city-212-deep-brown

Few in the country have embraced the canon built upon the quick energetic hits of the breakbeat as closely as Smokey, whose hold on the sub-culture has seen her connect the underground deep cuts with popular tastes on stages of increasing magnitude. The Mumbai-based DJ brings a specific modern pop sentimentality-soaked colour of the genre to her Wild City mix.  With soft-centred lyrical tunes, Smokey sets apart her selections from the majority of our Mixes before recontextualising it back for the dancefloor with her staple breakneck rhythms. Riding the high energy of the drum breaks, the mix keeps the intensity steady and carries the ebb and flow by shifting the limelight from vocals, to basslines to chopped up synths and often the minimal elements of drum 'n' bass – interjecting with a breather each time the risk of stagnancy appears on the horizon.  For more information and tracklist: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/19554-wild-city-211-smokey

In the progressive, tech and deep house-dominated nightlife of Sri Lanka, Sunara Jay stands out by instead choosing to explore around the genres of glitch-hop, hip-hop, funk and nu-jazz. Consequently, the DJ and visual artist has been counted upon to represent the island's alternative underground culture with shows in Norway, UK, Germany, Pakistan and India.  With a practice of spanning over a decade of spinning tracks to different types of audiences, Sunara knows well to use the console as an instrument and how a set can elevate a track beyond its standalone value – as she does on her Wild City mix.  Venturing into assortments of glitch over the steady rhythm of house music, the selections are consistently sparse and spacious, assuming an ambient nature even with their softly thumping energy as you settle into the experience. The mercurial basslines keep one hooked while the off-kilter elements feel nothing short of a musical dream, which Sunara plays to by throwing in echoes and other time-based manipulations every once in a while. It's a trip that leaves you relaxed than tired.  More info: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/19517-wild-city-210-sunara

Based out of Delhi, Antariksh Records has quietly but strongly left footprints in the global landscape of underground dance music over the years – releasing left-of-centre techno, break, acid house and electro tracks that have found their way onto dancefloors around the world while championing homegrown talents like Marbman, Fr4ctal, Planet Meta and Sepoys. The leftfield approach to dance music gets underlined as the imprint stitches together its repertoire and inspirations with a label mix for Wild City.  Peppered generously with four-on-the-floor cues of Marbman's analog rhythms, Sentient's acid screeches and deeper synth runs of Russian producer Nightdrive and label-head Anandit Sachdev aka AarAv's electro excursions, the set finds its highlights in the extremes of Antariksh Records' timelines – the dreaminess of Egyptian act Wahba's 'Nazra' from the label's first VA compilation and the dense 'Calculated Thoughts' by Mutable Mercury, an artist the label seeks to work with in the future. For tracklist and more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/19475-wild-city-209-antariksh-records

Mumbai-based Udai Sharma aka Maddeof manages to pick up the genre of lo-fi house and dust its mess off to contextualize it perfectly for the COVID-19 lockdowns, using the time when the dancefloors were shut to redefine his sound and utilising the style to offer some of the most effective releases of the period which offered familiar rhythms but with more laidback moods befitting to the new and constrained listening habits. The producer, DJ and audio engineer however doesn't primarily stick to his now characteristic style for this Wild City Mix, jumping instead between different guises of house music.  After slipping through some more hard-hitting classic sounds from the more iconic numbers like Paco Osuna's remix of Phuture's 'Acid Track' and rarer cuts picked from the crevices of the web, Maddeof begins to slip into moodier selections post the flamboyant zaniness of Simon Mattson's 'Thug Life'. A tinge of the lo-fi appears with the atmospheric samples on 'Rowdy Boy' by Enzu Leep and Medu, but soon enough the mix shifts to the gospel-inspired disco house of Javi Alvadi & THC – never staying in space for too long, flowing instead with a sole focus on the core energy of house music.  For tracklist and more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/19170-wild-city-208-maddeof

Electronic act KillZen construct their Wild City mix with only original and unreleased work to introduce their body of work in a free-flowing journey. The duo of Abhishek Chaturvedi and Anannya Gupta musically embody a musical duality in their work, even naming themselves after it. They signify the intense, raging, compulsive and club-friendly part of themselves as 'Kill', and on the other side of the coin put their immersive, placating and introspective work, referred by the 'Zen'. Their nearly 40-minute-long mix for Wild City details how the two seemingly contrasting and opposite sides connect with each other to maintain an ebb and flow of hard-hitting drums and basic but emotively relaxing synth textures. KillZen doesn't just use the mix to introduce their work, but use their work to tie together a fluid sonic journey similar to flowing downriver, sometimes immersed in a calming silence and other times privy to the thrashing of the flow.  For more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/18658-wild-city-207-killzen

Starting as a radio show and a continual chain of song edits by DJ-producer Stalvart John, Dynamite Disco Club has since evolved into event curators championing artists which, as their name suggests, specialise in a motley of disco styles with heavy inclusion of house. The growing collective has an unfailing ability to create a musical oasis at festivals and club nights with curation that focuses solely on providing pure dancefloor fun. A Dynamite Disco Club event sticks closely to the ethos of a dance party in its truest and original sense, throwing in selections of some of the best edits of time and geography traversing unmissable undercuts interluded by the surprise of better-known hits while exhibiting a timeless sense that is free from the concerns of ongoing trends or mixing vanity. Expanding even further, the multi-hyphenate brand has just started a label arm – carrying over its ethos to provide a platform for original music, the first of which arrives in the form of 'Disco Lives' by Italian act Babert.  Dynamite Disco Club spearheader Stalvart John has created a mix for Wild City, highlighting the influences that dictate the curation of the label and some of its unreleased material. Uncharacteristically and yet delightfully, the mix meanders through a confluence of acid and leftfield for a short while before the relentless thump of the four on the floor kick drums kick in to usher a parade of funky guitars, dramatic string lines and frenzied percussions – some of the defining elements of disco and the edges where it flows into house. For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/18605-wild-city-206-dynamite-disco-club

Whether at a late-night slot at a club in South Delhi or a sunny pool-side party, Vijayant Singh as GIRLS NIGHT OUT always cues his selections with a natural sense of the occasion and the energy of his audience, always rendering sweating it out on the dance floor an effortless and compulsive experience. While the ongoing pandemic has kept the local dancefloors empty for most parts, the half-lawyer half-DJ transports the listeners energetically to the clubs with his Wild City mix, adding an extra sense of nostalgia with classic club sounds delivered through surprising and revelatory selections. The mix maintains Vijayant's intrinsic dynamism inviting the listener in quickly yet smoothly with the subdued bass phrases of Robert Leiner's ‘Aqua Viva', then turning up its guttural factor through thumping kick drums and later some breakbeats before diving headlong into house and its surrounding strands of dance music. Keeping a finger on the pulse of his audience, Vijayant lets the listener cool down every once in a while with the trippy sensuousness of tracks like Dream 2 Science's ‘My Love Turns To Liquid' and Hawke's ‘3 Nudes In A Purple Garden' before resuming the exciting frenzy that defines a GIRLS NIGHT OUT mix. For tracklist and more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/18583-wild-city-205-girls-night-out

boxout.fm-regular Jaskaran Rana aka Sleepy Insomniac is known to take to the internet radio every month for his show ‘Lucid Dreams’, inviting the listeners into a psychedelic trip through guises of dance music. The New Delhi-based selector attempts the same on his Wild City mix, kicking things off with the abstract textures of Australian and Canadian electronica forces Roza Terenzi and D. Tiffany with their recent track ‘Melting Ladies’. The mix latches on to the intensifying assault of percussions as they reach the frenzy of breaks on Adam Pits’ ‘Variation 2’, before the pulsating basslines of acid and inspired genres begin to take charge onwards from ‘2 The Dawn’ by Eoin DJ. While mid-way, Russian act Maruwa’s ‘Mercurial Edge’ offers a brief respite from the engulfing energy of the previous selections, Jaskaran begins the crescendo of intensity yet again, consolidating his most disjointed selections for the listeners who brave to stay on till the end.  Consequently, Jaskaran’s Wild City mix is a rollercoaster of dance music’s undercuts and fresh takes by popular acts, peaking and trailing to exciting heights of intensity and passing through different styles without losing its focus. For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/18424-wild-city-204-sleepy-insomniac

As we try to differentiate our mix curation with the inclusion of our first mix from a label instead of it being representative of a single individual, none felt as unique in that sub-category as Amarrass Records. Started by Ankur Malhotra and Ashutosh Sharma in 2009, the label, management, booking and vinyl pressing agency stood apart from most of the music industry, which was looking at the West-imported strands of music modern Indian culture, by turning its focus towards the 21st-century face of India’s traditional arts that had been pushed further into the fringes. Highlighting that very face in all its variety, the label has stitched together works from its artists and events for their Wild City mix. The selections make the case that even the traditional arts aren’t without modern adventures as Amarrass’ early signing the late Padma Shri award-winner Kamaicha-player Sakar Khan conjures a wall of lute’s screeching, reminiscent of Steve Reich with ‘Train No. 2’. The contemporary re-contextualisation of folk arts continues through artists like Barmer Boys, one of the label’s most popular offering, meanders through the placating Malian kora-playing with works by Vieux Farka Tourè and Madou Sidiki Diabatè before offering some of the folk music in its most puristic shades. From the latter, the prowess of Lakha Khan, the recent Padma Shri winner and one of the last Sindhi Sarangi players, and Rehmat-e-Nusrat cut through. Bringing the colourful journey to a conclusion, Ravana’s dub backdrop sneaks in behind the hyperlocal spoken-word style of Jumme Khan, from their collaborative album ‘Dubfounded’ before a final flourish with the legendary Charanjit Singh, the Indian pioneer whose ‘10 Ragas To A Disco Beat’ is now celebrated as the first acid-house album. For tracklist and more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/18365-wild-city-203-amarrass-records

Aalhad Joshi aka Marbman makes a case for taking dance music to the energy of its early roots when the genre wasn’t replete with as much explicit seriousness, but he does so with modern selections on his Wild City mix. Holding onto a penchant of fun-filled vocal refrains – as he does on his productions, the most recent of which ‘Class’ released on the Portuguese label No, She Doesn’t – the Mumbai-based producer ties together works of the likes of Four Tet, Cignol, Ilana Byrne, L Major and Admo, dipping in and out of a house-based selection to stay rhythmically dynamic. A third way in, Joshi drops the vocal refrains in favour of more atmospheric numbers, immersing the listener in distant textures while the pulsating drums keep intimate company before returning into the mix’s formative mood with DJ Gigolo and Kev Koko’s trance/electro number ‘Papi’ – all the while maintaining a leisurely mood without relenting the tempo or intensity. For more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/18278-wild-city-202-marbman

Among the many styles of DJs, some selectors rely on the quality of their selections to create the mood while others make the case of how mixing equates with performances by “traditional” instrumentalists – where entire sets come together cohesively akin to a single song, constructed with a zoomed-out vision by meticulously combining isolated, sometimes morphed, phrases and sections like individual musical notes. Anhad Khanna makes a similar case with his Wild City mix as his new moniker Sublime Sound, which he debuted recently with the EP ‘Final Call’. Take for instance, how a repeated phrase from Boyard’s ‘Interstellar Express’ merely interludes the transition from Wayward’s ‘Back To The Old Days’ and Baby Rollen’s ‘Swimming with Dolphins’, never fully coming through itself but only adding as a part of the sum to create an entirely new composition which utilises the three tracks. Khanna doesn’t just stitch together selections but creates a performance out of his mix, sometimes using the squelching arpeggios as the connecting thread, sometimes the resounding kick drum, and other times latching on to a found phrase from evolving hi-hat parts. Moving from Desert Son Colony’s remix of Third Son to his own original number ‘ID’, the narrative of the mix is driven purely by the engulfing texture and its evaporation to reveal thumping rhythms. There’s almost a technical meticulousness that pervades the mix by Khanna, an artist who has worked as a record engineer and producer with artists across Indian indie music landscape while himself presenting more contemporary excursions as part of Anhad + Tanner. With Sublime Sound, the New Delhi-based talent ventures into more adventurous explorations of electronic music, reflected by the relentless and sometimes jarring (at least, for the uninitiated) dance tracks of his high-octane Wild City mix. For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/18219-wild-city-201-sublime-sound

As we reached the milestone of hosting our 200th mix, few artists felt as befitting as Discostan. The outfit started as a personal endeavour of Hyderabad-born and Los Angeles-based Arshia Haq, who was inspired by her own decentralised idea of a “homeland” as a modern-day immigrant in a globalised world, to carve a unique space on the dancefloor for a consolidated decolonised musical identity of South Asian, West Asia and North Africa uniting it with all its shared sense of heritage, trauma, struggle and achievement. Transforming soon into a collective and later also into a label, with Jeremy Loudenback joining Haq at the helm, Discostan turned into a space for community-building among the brown diaspora and a go-to for radio shows and platforms to highlight and discover the canon of disco often overlooked by western lenses. Imagining the “past, present, and future soundtracks from Beirut to Bangkok via Bombay” the collective and label offers a counter approach to the colonial-mindset curation that birthed blanket categories like “world music”. Haq and Loudenback don’t dig deep in vinyl crates but cultures, having a dialogue with local voices of the regions they find their records (and sometimes even field records) from, to evoke sounds from collective memory. Curating with the same approach for Wild City’s 200th mix, the pair embraces the past disco sounds from Asia and Africa, with works from the likes of Nermin Niazi and Sohail Rana, and highlight its musical bloodline as it flows through forward-thinking present-day artists like Ammar 808 and Deena Abdelwahed. Most importantly, Discostan doesn’t focus on educating you but simply celebrating the music they resonate with personally and inviting you to join the celebration. For tracklist and more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/18134-wild-city-200-discostan

Few individuals can be ascribed the descriptor “musical polymath” as justifiably as Natasha Noorani. A singer-songwriter, playback singer, producer, voiceover artist and ethnomusicologist, the Lahore-born artist felt perfect for our 199th mix when we found ourselves enjoying her collaborative NTS Mix with Discostaan where she displayed her musicality as ‘Peshkash’, her project through which she is highlighting and archiving sound art and oral narratives of 20th century Pakistan.  However, it is the country’s indie scene which Natasha is synonymous with – fully ingrained in its legacy as the co-founder of Lahore Music Meet, the annual event which not only saves space for Pakistan’s alternative music but has a reputation for bringing to limelight some of its budding members. Natasha carries the same approach to her Wild City mix, highlighting the canon of the country’s predominantly-independent music.  Latching herself to that theme, she gives regard to the style of her selections only in the aspect of making sure it’s varied. Electro-pop, folk-pop, traditional, singer-songwriter, hip-hop and techno – there’s a striking amount of genres packed into the mix, tied together as a cohesive unit by the thread of Natasha’s singular taste as a seasoned curator. True to its purpose, the mix serves to introduce us to a fresh crop of Pakistan’s talent as it’s likely to do for most of its listeners.  For more information and tracklist with information to give context to each selection, head here: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/18097-wild-city-199-natasha-noorani