Podcasts about ra podcast

A mix beamed in from the future by singeli's young star. If singeli has a new era, DJ Travella is its leading light. At just 23 years old, the Tanzanian producer is pushing the genre into fast, frenetic and unmistakably futuristic territory. And while there aren't too many entries in the RA Podcast's 20-year history where you can say, "this has no parallel whatsoever," RA.984 shatters that assumption in style. Singeli emerged from Dar es Salaam's underground in the early '00s, forged from limited resources and unlimited creativity. Producers looped and sped up taarab instrumentals using basic software like Virtual DJ, creating a sound that was chaotic, witty and lightning fast. With support from local studios like Sisso and Pamoja, singeli took root as the breakneck pulse of Tanzanian youth culture. Travella—real name Hamadi Hassani—came up outside that infrastructure. He began producing music aged ten, self-taught and internet-savvy. By 2022, he was touring Europe with Kampala-based collective Nyege Nyege and gaining global attention for a distinct style he's dubbed "cyber-singeli." Like gabber, hardcore and jungle before it, singeli is unapologetically go hard or go home. It's unique and utterly infectious. After all, what could possibly connect pop provocateur Arca to the late president of Tanzania? Not much—except singeli. Travella's RA Podcast is a white-knuckle ride through this blistering sonic universe. It's wild and joyful yet controlled—a window into one of the most exciting young minds in global club music. @user-643479850 Find the interview and tracklist at ra.co/podcast/984.

Tripped-out excursions through percussive club music with the Nowadays resident. Ayesha Chugh, AKA Ayesha, makes club music that activates the body. The Brooklyn-based artist has spent the last few years carving out a distinct lane in modern club music. Her fusion of dubstep, techno and essential '90s rave elements into dynamite club tools that test and support dancers in equal measure. This time though, for her RA Podcast, Chugh purposefully tilts in a "more colorful wonky direction." Since first turning heads with releases on labels like Fever AM and Kindergarten Records, she's continued to refine a sound that feels both playful and punishing, marked by writhing basslines, rumbling drums and an innate ability to make bodies move. Her productions capture a kind of kinetic precision—tracks that are slippery yet forceful, balancing psychedelic textures with dubstep-like physicality and club-focused power. As Andrew Ryce wrote of her debut, Rhythm is Memory, her skill is "full of textures that wrap around the otherwise thudding, sub-heavy kick drums." After a serious accident in 2024 stopped her in her tracks, this year marks a full return to global touring with a new vantage point on life and the sound she seeks to push. RA.983, clocking in at nearly two and a half hours, finds Chugh flexing that club muscle once again. Offering a tour through global club music both old and new, it's based around a set at her home base Nowadays this February. It's a patient but relentless ride: from deep, tunneling psytrance, progressive techno and slippery electro before really turning on the gas at the half mark, moving into slanted UK techno territory. As she explains in the Q&A, it's a carefully curated selection of tracks that probes "what we perceive as tasteful." It's a mix that speaks to her deep knowledge of dance music's lineage—and her intuitive ability to push it forward. @aye5ha Find the interview and tracklist at ra.co/podcast/983

Another Barker masterclass. Sam Barker asks more from techno. The artist known simply as Barker is one of electronic music's most consistently conscientious and curious producers, challenging listeners to question the norms we accept about our shared culture—whether it's the music that fills the room, the process behind it, or the purpose of the space itself. British-born yet based in Berlin since 2007, Barker forged a connection to many of the city's leading institutions, including Ostgut Ton, and over the course of a long and fruitful relationship, he carved out one of the more singular paths on the club and label's roster. Not one for orthodoxy, Barker challenged four-to-the-floor techno framework in favor of melodic experimentation. By decentering or completely stripping away the typical trappings of kick drums and claps, his productions are both light and immersive, buoyant in low-end presence and shimmering in weightless space. Six years after Utility, his sophomore album Stochastic Drift arrives this month. Shaped by pandemic-driven reinvention, it burrows deeper into harmonic twists and freeform drift. "At some point I became conscious of the process," he wrote of his latest album. "The only thing you can do is embrace the uncertainty and see every change as a potential positive.” Consider his RA Podcast another sequel. Like his much-beloved 2019 mix for FACT, it's a collage of live recordings and a fitting expression of the artist's own internal spring. RA.982 radiates wide-eyed optimism: percussion cloaked in foggy, swirling pads and trance-like chords, neatly synched in synthetic glimmers. All in all, it's an hour of music crafted for contemplation, collective euphoria, or heads-down epiphany—or for that matter, any moment, really, its emotive depth seemingly endless. @voltek Find the tracklist and Q&A at ra.co/podcast/982

Big feelings for big rooms with the Club Heart Broken founder. Club Heart Broken is perhaps a misnomer. The party and label, founded in Cologne by MALUGI, may take its name from one of life's tougher emotions, but the vibe is all about unfettered, unadulterated joy. It's a state of mind its founder fully embodies—he's called himself the "happiest man in dance music." (We tried fact-checking this, but watching him perform seems proof enough.) Club Heart Broken's motto is simple: a party should be fun. A "party for lovers, loners and losers," the crew also made up of ferrari rot, SURF 2 GLORY and fellow maximalist Marlon Hoffstadt, represent the sound of young Berlin in the 2020s, notorious as they are beloved. Since relocating from Cologne, the party has snapped the German's capital infamously serious techno stereotype with its anything-goes, unpretentious music policy. It's made him and Hoffstadt especially in-demand worldwide—queues used to extend out of the door of Watergate and across Oberbaumbrücke. Musically, MALUGI is the most eclectic in the crew. His metaphorical record bag carries a lot of label material, from zingy Eurodance to upbeat pumpers, but also plenty of steppy, tuff UK bass music. Releases from Main Phase and Interplanetary Criminal, the likes of dubplate label ec2a, and even the odd Big Ang record pepper his sets, much of which you'll hear here. MALUGI's RA Podcast is a window into the more house-y side of his sound. From bubbling garage to chunky chords, RA.981 is a testament to MALUGI's belief: the best parties should leave you grinning, not crying. @malugienergy Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/981.

Modern hypnotics from a new techno star. It's a tale as old as time: techno DJ moves to Berlin to chase a dream. Philippa Pacho is part of the latest wave of talent to tread that familiar path. But don't let that fool you. She's one of the classiest artists around—no TikTok gimmicks here. Pacho's formative years were spent in her native Stockholm, navigating a vibrant DIY party scene that included warehouse raves and illegal parties. She eventually took up a long-standing residency at beloved local club Under Bron and the experience, as she details in this week's Q&A, sharpened her technical skills, teaching her to handle every type of set—whether opening with patience, supporting a headliner or closing with finesse. She also played with countless touring DJs, from Answer Code Request to Antony Parasole, which ultimately inspired her move to Berlin. That relocation has firmly paid off. It's a testament to Pacho's talent that you'll find her playing pretty much every big club and festival across Europe, from Berghain and Dekmantel to FOLD and Monument (we were exhausted just looking at her upcoming listings on RA). Other recent highlights include closing out Bassiani's tenth birthday, and back-to-backs with Fadi Mohem and Sandrien. Pacho's RA Podcast showcases her preference for classy, hypnotic techno, striking a balance between muscle and subtle groove. Her aptitude for what makes dance floors tick is also evident on her two labels—Phorum Records and positivesource (co-run with Blue Hour)—both of which mirror her DJ style, blending intensity with delicate textures. positivesource has released several standout records, including this year's "Psycho" by BLANKA and Phil Berg's "Psyckik" (which you'll hear on this mix). Spanning 70 minutes, RA.980 is a window into Pacho's thoroughly modern sound (the oldest track is from 2018). And yet it retains a refined, sweeping quality. Give it a spin and you'll soon twig why she's in demand on dance floors worldwide. @philippapacho Read the interview and find the tracklist at ra.co/podcast/980

Mesmerising dance floor tapestries from a singular experimental musician. Can you reinvent the human voice? The oldest musical instrument in existence, our voices are the foundation of music as we know it, and few push its limits in electronic music today like Lyra Pramuk. On her masterful debut, Fountain the Berlin-based, US-born artist's voice was the only instrument. No drums, no synths—just her voice warped, synthesized and layered to achieve orchestral-like electronics. Five years on from her breakout, Pramuk's practice has steadily evolved, with a continued interest in ideas of folk and futurism, and how technology can enable us to build community beyond boundaries of time and space. There's a holistic nature to her artistry, one that extends seamlessly into her DJing (she's also a quantum physicist by training). As she explains in the Q&A accompanying this week's RA Podcast, she sees her work as "part of a continuum of sacred, folkloric, and communal music represented by many different subcultures and communities across the world." It's an approach that, like much of Pramuk's output, feels explicitly choral in nature. The first voice we hear on the mix comes from Lonnie Holley, his woozy Southern drawl calling out, "Earth will be there to catch us when we fall." (Although, you have to wonder, if we keep flogging the Earth, will it?) More voices follow across an eye-catching tracklist, from the poetry of friends (Nadia Marcus) to esoteric French chantresses from the '80s (Anne Gillis), while Pramuk wraps an extensive amount of her own forthcoming material around tracks from SD Laika, Leyland Kirby, rRoxymore and 33EMYBW, to name just a few. By the end, voice and noise become indistinguishable—stammering, glitchy vocals colliding with an orchestra of instruments. The effect is mesmerising. Unfolding as one continuous composition, RA.979 exists somewhere between an ambient set at Kwia and the main stage at Unsound, voices and textures blurred into a fluid tapestry of sound. It's a singular offering to the series from a singular artist. @lyra_songs Read the interview and find the tracklist at ra.co/podcast/980

Regis and Function's first mix in over 10 years is a unique paean to Silent Servant, heavy on unreleased material. When it came time for RA to compile our Albums of the 2010s, one record with a tauntingly limited availability of 500 copies was never in doubt: Sandwell District's era-defining 'Feed-Forward'. Encompassing Karl O'Connor (Regis), Peter Sutton (Female), David Sumner (Function) and Juan Mendez (Silent Servant), Sandwell District had the underground in a vice grip for over a decade. The collective imploded in 2013, with Sumner and O'Connor's relationship appearing beyond repair. And yet, an unlikely second phase is here, featuring imminent comeback LP 'End Beginnings' and their return to the RA Podcast after 16 years. In 2023, the trio of Function, Regis and Silent Servant had been performing and laying down new material before the latter's shock death last January. It's in the shadow of loss that this unique mix was forged. Founded in 2002 as a spiritual sister to seminal Downwards, Sandwell truly began to hit its straps in the late '00s, as shadow-stalking cuts sliced through clubland orthodoxy like a switchblade. In parallel, the label's artwork—a noir recombination of Burroughs cut-ups, DIY zines and arthouse amour that Silent Servant made his own—helped fortify a movement which placed an aesthetic premium on grit, grain and sadism. By the early 2010s, this fixation on the dark arts had utterly permeated the mood inside techno's masonic temples. Labels like Blackest Ever Black, Stroboscopic Artefacts, Avian and Modern Love were in their pomp, razorwire legends like Severed Heads and Chris & Cosey benefited from second winds, and it was briefly a jailable offence to not have a press photo in black and white. 'Feed-Forward' was the exceptional coronating statement. RA.978 features a stack of unheard recordings from each of the trio, as well as close allies Stefanie Parnow and Tropic of Cancer, while also gathering many of Silent Servant's all-time favourite songs, including Psychic TV, Grace Jones and Galaxie 500. It's a strikingly vulnerable listen, one without many parallels on the Podcast. We're glad to run it. Read more and find the tracklist here: ra.co/podcast/978

Raucous club jams from the trio setting pace for a new generation of electronic fans: Dazegxd, gum.mp3 & Swami Sound, AKA EldiaNYC. Something exciting is happening on the margins of online club music. As one generation ages out, another, predominantly made up of Zoomers and Zillennials who fell into rave music mid-pandemic or arrived via gaming, is on the rise. Some of the most dialled-in electronic fans out there have threadbare connection to formalised nightlife, filling their diet instead with DJ Ess, Jane Remover, Jet Set Radio and a thriving ecosystem of global splinter styles that would draw stares from anyone who settled into their preferences pre-2019. Leading the charge—while pointedly reaffirming the value of connection as they go—are EldiaNYC, whose combination of jungle, garage, vintage Black American dance music, regional rap and screen-glued splinter styles hits like a shot of adrenaline. Swami Sound broke first with sexy drill-laced 2-step edits, and last year we named gum.mp3's "Black Life, Red Planet" as one of our favourite records—but it could have just as easily been Dazegxd's breaks-splicing "exhibition mode" instead. Eldia stack sets on radio and at parties with startlingly-fresh producers, many still in their teens. This might also be the only RA Podcast to fold in soulful ghettotech from Mr De', head-in-the-clouds plugg from rising star 454, edits of both Bounty Killer and Toro Y Moi, and multiple names (Guido YZ, synta3x, DJ B) who haven't registered on the series before. With one eye on the occasion, Eldia tip their hats to lineage, too. The trio kick off with a double scoop of Fred P, before ramping up steadily through slick forthcoming material and ironclad modern anthems on their way to a crescendo of footwork chops, baile drums and breakbeat delirium. Leaders of a new wave in the US, it surely won't be long before Daze, gum and Swami have swept the international circuit. For now, RA.977 will leave your subs smoking. @dazegxd @eldia000 @masutaswami @gum_mp3 Find the interview and tracklist at ra.co/podcast/977

21st century electro-futurism, Helsinki style. Sometime around a decade ago, electro started to surge onto dance floors again. A new generation of DJs, from Helena Hauff and DJ Stingray, brought the sci-fi, cyborg funk to new audiences, as a modern retool of the style began enjoying the ubiquity of its four-to-the-floor cousins. And few embody its future for our current decade like Sunny Seppä, AKA Sansibar. Cutting his teeth in Helsinki's underground with residencies at Kaiku and Post Bar, Seppä's sound draws from a broad range of influences far from the Finnish capital. His first releases channeled the high-definition Motor City school of electro, but he has since evolved. Not one to be confined by the narrow confines of any genre, the Finnish producer and DJ's discography has steadily begun to encompass a wider palette of influences, including releases with fellow new-gen electro artist Reptant. It's no wonder Seppä has found a home on Kalahari Oyster Cult. Sans Musique was released by Rey Colino's label, and both are united by a love for an amalgamation of gritty and ecstatic sounds of the '90s. As Colino put it himself, the Cult espouses "nostalgia with a modern sound design." You can hear that peppered throughout Seppä's RA Podcast. From Simulant's stone-cold classic "Wav.Form" to shades of tech house from the late '90s and early '00s (as well as some of his own unreleased material), the full vision of his broad sound world comes alive on RA.976. You won't technically hear too much electro in this mix—but underscoring many of the selections is the retro-futurism that electro elicits, that bleary-eyed optimism of dance music's halcyon era. @sunnysibar @sin-sistema-sin Find the interview and tracklist at ra.co/podcast/976

The in-demand US DJ unfurls dubby, dance floor poetry. Where does sentimentality fit on the dance floor? For Liv Klutse, AKA livwutang, the answer is everywhere. The New York-based DJ is guided by a deep desire to stir connection, finding themes and points of correspondence across an impressively broad range of sounds, tempos and eras. This emotional intuition lends Klutse's sets a depth few others can match. Her selections can seem unpredictable, rooted in an appreciation for feeling over genre—hard and soft sounds are carefully balanced with surrealism and bursts of nostalgia (for instance, the Lazy Dog bootleg edit of Everything But The Girl's "Tracey In My Room"). But as versatile as she is, a few signature traits colour her style, such as a love for dubwise music and rhythms from across the Black diaspora, alongside a refreshingly introspective energy that invites dancers to find moments of meditation—even during peak time. A former staffer at our New York office, Klutse has long merited an RA Podcast. Her slow-burning blends and mystical selections have graced near-enough every major festival and club out there, from Dekmantel and Sustain-Release to Nowadays, where she's been a resident since 2022. Despite this cross-continental touring schedule, she still plays plenty of grassroots venues—testament to her days with TUF collective and Orphan Radio in Seattle, as well as her enduring belief in the power of DIY, community-orientated dance music. "How did you come down off life?" James Massiah asks at the beginning of RA.975. Across nearly 90 minutes, Klutse's downright beautiful mix seeks answers to this question, reflecting on hedonism in times of political decay. She's in full-on dub mode, moving through meditative bassweight, glitchy house and flat-out weirdo techno with a deftness we've come to expect from one of the most promising, singular voices in dance music right now. She's got there all on her own terms—and we couldn't be prouder. @livwutang Read more and find the tracklist ra.co/podcast/975

Three hours of high-intensity heaters from the trio lighting up US club music. "If the baby boomer generation had the three from Belleville, millennials can say…we have Black Rave Culture." Lofty praise from Spain's WOS Festival, and yet the undeniable buzz surrounding the Washington, D.C. trio of Amal, James Bangura and Nativesun makes it feel merited. The Black Rave Culture experience is physical from start to finish. The trio's glide through the rich canon of Black dance music is, naturally, a huge chunk of the appeal. You can hear them slamming ghettotech into gqom, threading UK garage through East Coast club, stitching antic juke and swung techno, and landing the odd Mad Mike all-timer with flair. Their productions mine a similar store of energy, and you'll find plenty of those on RA.974 too. Perhaps most importantly, their tangible chemistry and sincere, undimmed enthusiasm for tunes are what makes this group so magnetic. While their RA Podcast is split threeways, it could just as easily be a round-robin session behind the decks. RA.974 is an exhilarating exercise in creating serious dance floor pressure while having a ball in the process. @black-rave-culture @jamesbangura @dj-nativesun @ama_l Read more at ra.co/podcast/974

Kaleidoscopic psychedelia from one of Australia's finest. While it might feel early to call bets on DJs of the decade, Kia Sydney, best known as Kia, is undoubtedly one of them. The Animalia founder began in Naarm's (Melbourne) underground scene in the mid-2010s, crediting a trip to the influential deep techno Japanese festival, Labyrinth, as the inspiration behind her sound. Deep techno might not cut it as a descriptor for Sydney's sound, though. Hypnotic ribbons of steely techno mix with atmospherics and nimble grooves, drawing from IDM, dub and tech house, sharing as much with DJ Nobu and Donato Dozzy (try to find the track that overlaps with Dozzy's own RA Podcast) as well as modern practitioners like Priori and Beatrice M. This distinctly Australian scuttling psychedelia has made Kia one of the most sought-after underground DJs globally. Her brainchild, Animalia, showcases a plurality of sounds and scenes, serving as living proof of the fruitful shift of the 2020s: less serious, perhaps, but with a sense of open-minded worldliness that offers a far more promising vision of what dance music can be and achieve. Sydney's rare talent lies in forging connections, bringing people, sounds and ideas together with a distinct playfulness. Her RA Podcast showcases this alchemy in abundance, weaving classics like Monolake and Enya with peers such as OK EG, Cousin and Command D. As she told us in her 2023 Breaking Through profile, "people tell me I have quite a distinctive sound but I can't tell so much because I hear so many different versions of it." RA.973 serves as confirmation that Kia's style is, to say the least, the mark of a generational talent. @kia-sydney @animalia-label @cirruslabel Read more at ra.co/podcast/973

Party-starting stompers from a crossover star. Even if you've never met Adam Longman Parker, AKA Afriqua, you can get to know him pretty well through his music. His lyrics ("Would you house me in a house, would you house right in my mouth?" from "Dr. House"), track titles ("Wagwan Bhagwan?") and cover art exude a charmingly cheeky demeanour that makes his music personable. It helps that his latest records are absolute smashers–funk bombs with jacked beats and bouncy grooves. Once ensconced in the minimal world, the Virginia-born artist gravitated towards Miami bass, Midwest house and zesty techno before the pandemic. Thankfully so: his recent discography combines Moodymann's slinky swagger with The Neptunes' killer sense of rhythm. Just like those legendary acts, Parker carries weight in both the underground and mainstream—he's released with Tomorrowland label CORE Records and DJ'd at Ibiza superclubs, while still appealing to more headsy crowds. His career expansion hasn't cost him his principles, either. A champion of Black history and culture, the classically-trained pianist infuses overlooked Black musical traditions like psyfunk into his work. Coloured, his debut full-length, was a tribute to what he called the "Black musical tree." "Genre is just temporary housing," the now Berlin-based producer noted in a recent Instagram post. That mentality informs his RA Podcast. From '90s-inspired house and luxurious harp melodies to some of his originals and even a "Satisfaction" remix, it's a celebration of unpretentious, feel-good music. Put simply, it slaps—hard. @afriqua Read more at ra.co/podcast/972

Enter the wormhole with one of the techno artists we're most excited about in 2025. Born in Osaka and now based in Tokyo, DJ MARIA. joins a decorated lineage of Japan's psychedelic elite, cut from a similarly explorative cloth as Wata Igarashi, Haruka and esoteric icons ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U and DJ Nobu. This nerdy sanctum of deep techno is a notoriously hard world to break into: only the very best make the grade. DJ MARIA.'s head-spinning sets emphasise why she's already part of the club firmament at home, and is now in the midst of a global breakthrough. Her trademark is tapestries of acid, trance and techno that strike a perfect balance between vibrancy, impact and restraint. She bit the bug through a teenage discovery of DVDs showing legendary psytrance raves like Solstice and Vision Quest, yet it wasn't until 2014 that she started DJing, balancing gigs with shifts at Tokyo's Face Records and, as of late, motherhood. Today, as well as producing and touring venues such as FOLD and Bassiani, she helps run two boutique forest festivals—Moment and Transcendence—both of which play a big part in upholding Japan's storied techno tradition. DJ MARIA. has reached these heights principally because of her exceptional talent as a DJ, which is on full display on this week's RA Podcast. The two-hour mix is pure manna for psychedelic techno heads, though we're confident the depth of feeling, subtle pacing and seamless stitching will lure in fans from across the electronic spectrum. RA.971 is a total treasure—the latest wow moment from an artist destined to have a career littered with them. @djmaria-jp Read more at ra.co/podcast/971

The Dekmantel favourite kicks off 2025 in an exploratory mood. Since her breakout in 2017, Thorsing has built an enviable CV: a debut release on Nous'klaer Audio, an album on Dekmantel and a residency at former Amsterdam clubbing institution De School. Over these years, she's honed a singular sound, navigating wild variations in tempo and mood that dance along the edges of techno, IDM and drum & bass (we could list many more, but you know the drill). Her creative arc has seen her delve into ever more abstract concepts, such as 2024's ambient-leaning album, Strange Meridians, exploring the interplay between synthetic and natural textures through drumless experimentations. As she explained in her 2018 RA Breaking Through profile, "I just want to hear the weirdness in the music." Thorsing's RA Podcast showcases exactly why she's one of the most consistently adventurous names in dance music. Describing it as "a mix with a narrative," the former landscape architecture student flexes her ability to build sonic environments, beginning in a landscape more akin to a swamp than a club. Across 90 minutes, she moves through numerous layered terrains, exploring everything from Skee Mask's lucid, beatless techno to the piercing acid of Mike Parker. Unfolding with a restless sense of curiosity, RA.970 captures an artist challenging the boundaries of electronic music, ever upward. @upsammy Read more at ra.co/podcast/970

A wintry collage from one of 2024's breakout stars. As far as crossover electronic success goes, Barry Can't Swim's 2024 scorecard would take some beating. His singles have racked up hundreds of millions of streams, he bagged a Mercury Prize nomination and has the range to both pack out festivals as a DJ and sell out tours worldwide with a string-accented live show. Barely 12 months on from the release of debut album "When Will We Land?", it's fair to say Josh Mannie is one of the most in-demand artists working in dance and electronic music right now, with a follow-up LP nearly done, he says. For RA.968, he pulls in the complete opposite direction from any of that. Sure, there are nods to Mark Leckey and late-night jazz haunts throughout his catalogue, and the ruminative clouds drifting across his signature golden-hour glow do suggest an artist with a sharp grasp on meteorological melancholy. But a beatless collage featuring Suso Sáiz, Slow Attack Ensemble and Lorenzo Senni? It's a surprise, and a welcome one at that. Speckled with exclusive airings of brand-new ambient material, Barry Can't Swim's RA Podcast charts a path from This Mortal Coil to Ryuichi Sakamoto, with a detour through some Linkwood and Anthony Naples deep cuts we've not heard for a good while. (He even includes a Stars of the Lid favourite which namechecks Fulham's home ground, an act of mid-table grace for the diehard Everton fan). RA.968 has the crackle of a frosty night walk set to tape—a holiday gift from one of the most popular acts in the game. 'Tis the season. @barrycantswim Read more at ra.co/podcast/968

A lesson in rhythm from a former De School resident. When it comes to minimalist dance music, Ruben Üvez, AKA Konduku, is one of the best in the game right now. With a masterful and ever-shapeshifting understanding of rhythm, the Berlin-based artist crafts sublime dance music with a staunchly leftfield bent. Don't just take our word for it: how many DJs, after all, can claim to have moved De School to a puddle of tears? Musically, Üvez is hard to pin down. He's often billed as a techno artist, but actually you'll find his sound sits outside of the genre's many conventions. With an outsider's curiosity, he leans into diverse moods, tempos and genres, though one throughline is always how he arranges his drums. Whether it be deep, Nobu-core techno such as 2023's Hayal EP or UK beat science á la Peverelist on 2019's Gegek, he leads with rhythm across his DJing and production. The end product is a hypnotic, one-of-a-kind sound that hits the body before the brain has time to catch up. In short, it slaps. As Üvez's RA Podcast demonstrates, he's got a serious knack for crafting and selecting tunes that can deeply captivate a dance floor. Clocking in at just over 90 minutes, RA.967 is an excursion through a timeless sound, packed with long, layered blends, flick-of-the-wrist transitions, locked grooves and spine-tingling atmospherics. In 2020, we called Ruben Üvez one of techno's brightest new talents. This mix sees him ascending to a seat at the top table. @kondukukonduku Read more at ra.co/podcast/967

The producer best known as Huerco S. accompanies One Day, our record of the year, with two hours of minimal and dub introspections. This summer, Kansas-raised DJ and producer Brian Leeds released One Day under his revived Loidis alias. Enamoured with the restrained, loopy sounds of early '00s dance music, the album's eight tracks linger in the air, luxuriating in dubbed-out chords, swung beats and sub vibrations. It's our favourite record of 2024 for a reason. It's a sound he's coined, in his typically teasing fashion, "dub mnml emo tech." All winks aside, it's no wonder One Day became the soothing balm we all needed. In a scene overwhelmed by hard and fast trends, the softer—and Leeds might argue, more sincere—stylings of minimal and dub techno enjoyed a welcome second wind. Not only was One Day one of our favourites of the year (more on that this week), but it also inspired us to break our usual no-repeats rule, inviting Leeds back to the RA Podcast under a different alias after his 2019 turn as Huerco S. "The prevailing trends in dance music are more and more maximalist," Leeds noted. "I missed restraint, subtlety, and sensuality." Clocking in at just under two hours, RA.965 embodies that ethos in spades. @huerco_s Read more at ra.co/podcast/965

The longtime Perlon affiliate goes for big basslines and big grooves. It's 1996, and a young Fumiya Tanaka is shelling out hefty yet minimal percussive techno at Club Rockets in Osaka to an audience enraptured. Released as Mix-Up, the 90-minute recording captures Tanaka sounding rather like Jeff Mills or Surgeon. It's far cry from the sound he's known for today, as one of the key figures among Perlon's coterie of DJs pushing restrained, funky cuts across the globe. Fumiya Tanaka's creative arc has seen him move away from these thunderous sounds to warmer shades of house and minimal. Since 2016, he's found a home on the inimitable German minimal label, crafting out a distinctive sound within the labels roster with an affection for tumbling basslines and spooky atmospheres. From 1996 to 2023, Tanaka ran a party series in Tokyo, Osaka and Berlin called "Chaos," which encapsulates the ethos of freedom Tanaka brings to a party. "When you hear music you've never heard before and encounter unknown territory, you will be so happy and totally absorbed," he told us back in 2019. "I want to keep that feeling." RA.964 achieves exactly that. Nearly three decades on from Mix-Up, (and after a good few years of asking), Tanaka's RA Podcast captures the Perlon maestro in a full house mode. Recorded at a Slapfunk party in Amsterdam, Tanaka keeps the vibe funked-up, chunky and warm, punctuated by the occasional big breakdown and the odd lick of garage rudeness. No tracklist for now—but as Tanaka knows well, half the fun lies in the mystery. @fumiyatanaka_official Read more at ra.co/podcast/964

Punk house and techno from a modern Midwest icon. Every DJ has their own genesis story: a pivotal sound, a formative scene, a defining philosophy. Kiernan Laveaux is no different, yet her philosophy, rooted in psychedelia and experimentation, stands completely apart from her peers. Inspired by Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, and New Order, she came of age in Cleveland's acid house and queer party scenes, developing an ethos that constantly pushes dance music's limits. Her DJ style is scrambled (in the best way), with zany tricks like scratching, creative EQing and modulation. This approach reflects the Midwest's DIY tradition, where artists thrive in isolation and cultivate a radical disobedience, as seen in contemporaries like Eris Drew and ADAB. As Laveaux recounted in a 2023 interview with GROOVE Magazin, "Titonton Duvante once told me that being a Midwest DJ is about playing music from anywhere and making it sound like a piece of your spirit." Spanning two-and-a-half hours, Laveaux's RA Podcast showcases this spirit. It's a testament to her decade-long career, blending tracks from friends and cherished memories into a transcendent mix. It's "music to shake your hips to and decalcify your pineal gland." (For the curious, the pineal gland helps regulate your circadian rhythm.) RA.963 will make you dance and think in equal measure—a beautiful, restless and resolutely wicked journey through a singular imagination. @kiernan-laveaux Read more at ra.co/podcast/963

A dubstep legend roars back. When dubstep ruled the roost in the late '00s, electronic music had no shortage of icons and spinoff variants to rally around. But one rumble from Bristol stood out: the Purple sound. Popularised by Joker, AKA Liam Mclean, with Guido and Gemmy in support, it hit like a beam of bright light flooding through the basement dank. When America cottoned onto bass quakes in the next decade, Mclean's taste for chiptune-coded synths and maximum intensity kept his vision alive at arena level, even while he retreated from view as an actively touring performer. In 2023, "Tears," a collaboration with Skrillex and Sleepnet, helped remind the world just how much Joker's juddering sound could put us in a headlock. True to form, this year's gargantuan "Juggernaut"—Mclean's first solo single in six years—crashes through the speakers with as much glorious crunch as earlier classics like 2009's "Purple City." Mclean has kept busy in the studio applying his perfectionist streak as a producer and engineer to many sound system anthems, which means his influence is never far from a dance floor being turned inside out. The fact that Joker had never laid down an RA Podcast before was, being honest, a blemish in our copybook. RA.962 fixes that in style. @jokerkapsize Read more at ra.co/podcast/962

A new record for the longest RA Podcast ever: Ten hours from the powerhouse duo sweeping techno, Chlär and Alarico. Both commanding performers in their own right, sparks fly when the Swiss-Italian duo of Funk Assault combine. The buzz surrounding their productions, DJing and their label Primal Instinct is at fever pitch, and short wonder: when it comes to gritty, high-impact sets that barrel through multiple shades of techno, few are in their league right now. RA.960 was laid down at Watergate this March during a signature Funk Assault marathon. The pair ramp up incrementally, and even before they hit top velocity, you can hear them ripping through records with tenacity and verve. You don't need elbows in your face to tell the place is rocking. We're informed that ID'ing the set would probably take longer than playing it (fair enough), so no tracklist for this one. Instead, fill in the blanks at your leisure. As well as 150+ BPM stompers and groove wormholes, there's everything from tribal to ballroom, electro to bassbin rattlers, and plenty of classics. As an encapsulation of a night out's full arc, RA.960 does the business—and best of all, you won't even need a trip to the bar for water. The gauntlet has been thrown down. @primalinstinctrecords @funkassault_og @chlaer @alarico_katana Read more at ra.co/podcast/960

Effervescent club cuts from one of Southeast Asia's rising DJ stars. In Indonesia, the term santai (relaxed) is more than just an adjective—it's a lifestyle, one endearingly embodied by DITA. The Bandung-born, Bali-rooted DJ's breezy attitude to life is reflected in dreamy, blissful euphoria. DITA's RA Podcast is a window into both her disposition and sound, blending wiggly breakbeat into tweaking acid, Detroit house into Spanish electro, Balearic to '90s house and some grittier club fare, too. Her sets are rooted in a feel-good philosophy that allows her to freely play with energy and mood. Don't just take our word for it: DJ Harvey is a major fan and hand-picked DITA to be a resident at his new club Klymax, nestled within the world-renowned Potato Head Bali, where DITA is also Head of Music. With gigs at everywhere from Panorama Bar (the first Indonesian woman to play) to Rainbow Disco Club and Dekmantel under her belt, the world is now taking notice of DITA's killer groove. A breakout 2025 surely beckons. @dita-putri-widyanti @headstream Read more at ra.co/podcast/959

Maximalist house from the sibling duo at the forefront of Berlin's new wave. Berlin is built on dance music. But of the many DJs who live, work and play there, few represent the evolution in the city's club culture like Tania and Dominik Humeres-Correa, AKA S-candalo. If the city was once governed by the tyranny of minimal, the post-pandemic era has cemented its reputation as the spot for "more-is-more" club soundtracks. It's still house and techno, but the chords are big, the drums are big and the basslines are even bigger. Nowadays, S-candalo are firm favourites at hotspots across the German capital, from Panorama Bar to Multisex and Radiant Love (not forgetting La Noche, their own burgeoning party). The duo find rich inspiration in '90s-era Latin house, a sound that takes New York house and incorporates rolling percussion from Latin genres such as samba, popularised on labels like Cutting Records and Strictly Rhythm (there's not one but two records from the latter in this mix). RA.956 fittingly lands at the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month in the US (more on that to come) and it's a resolutely fun affair. The duo's RA Podcast has got drive, sultry vocals and enough bounce to make you want to keep dancing way beyond the 90-minutes, marrying percussion-heavy house and ballroom with trance-inflected Eurodance from the '90s and early 2000s. (Oh, and a Shakira moment.) Genres aside, the duo's musical raison d'etre is pleasure. Perhaps the real scandal here is how it took us so long to get them on the series. @s-candalo @thc_dj @dhc_bln Read more at ra.co/podcast/956

Living, breathing, banging techno from an artist defining the highly-textured new frontier of the sound in 2024. Lindsey Wang, AKA Polygonia, has an amorphous style you could call organic—or, better yet, harmonious. She interweaves unfamiliar elements with a mercurial touch. Wang can make something completely otherworldly sound totally, well, natural. It's made her a fixture everywhere from Munich's BLITZ to major festivals like Sustain-Release and Draaimolen. Unsurprisingly, Wang is not one to be pinned down. Be it the sound design-anchored side project Lyder, her own label QEONE, or co-producing an album's worth of experimental percussion alongside jazz drummer Simon Popp, it's fair to say her personal output matches the feverish energy of her mixes. There's multidisciplinary, and then there's Wang: Poly-disciplinary, you might say. Wang's entry into the RA Podcast series is no different, another stellar emphasis of her artistry. RA.955 is a voyage into wild variations of texture, rhythm and feeling, guided along by the principle of endless metamorphosis. Supple driving grooves meet crinkled surfaces, scuttling hi-hats meet chattering sonics, and good luck keeping hold of a consistent drum pattern for long. Behold a living organism raised by the club and the great outdoors in equal measure. @polygonia Read more at ra.co/podcast/955

Three sizzling hours from the mind behind one of the world's best labels, Kalahari Oyster Cult. What you'll hear on this week's RA Podcast is the closing set of 2024's Organik Festival—already a coveted moment. But as the sun set on Taiwan's north coast, something else was going on: Rey Colino was laying down quite possibly the set of his life. We're big fans of Colino, AKA Colin Volvert, here at RA. Few do it better when it comes to the type of pacy, lysergic thumpers that have become synonymous with both Kalahari and the distro One Eye Witness. A quick glance over the Belgian label's impressive alumni confirms how deeply his work flows through contemporary clubs. On RA.954, Volvert's sharp ear and swaggering DJ style are on full display. He locks in with many shades of his record bag, alongside a grip of new and forthcoming KOC cuts—some so fresh, the ink on the deal is barely even dry. We could go into the particulars, but it's best to just get stuck in: this one's a deep, deliriously effective trip. @reycolino @kalaharioystercult @oneyewitness @smokemachinetaipei Read more at ra.co/podcast/954

90 minutes of mania: here's Two Shell shelling it, live from Horst. We've been angling for an RA Podcast from Two Shell ever since they shifted from lowkey producers into hijinx hackers rummaging around the dance music mainframe. Now that we've bagged a mix from clubland's premier mischief-makers, it still poses more questions than it answers: Was this pre-recorded? What's the deal with that AI voice guiding the set along? How can we be sure it was even them? Hang on: is "even them" even them? What we can tell you is that the duo floored RA's stage at Horst Arts & Music 2024. Few genres were left untarnished as they veered off-piste on a thrill seeking mission toward breaking the 170+ BPM speed barrier. No tracklist, so ID crew over to you (Alex Gaudino makes an appearance, you can have that one as a freebie.) True to form, Two Shell always do it their own way. @twoshell @horstartsandmusicfestival Read more at ra.co/podcast/952

Ask Berlin's network of revered deep diggers who their favourite "DJ's DJ" is, and there's a strong chance you'll hear one name immediately pop up: KRN. Phil Kearney, AKA KRN, is one of those rare types who has built a reputation away from the limelight. Formerly a resident at The Ghost's Hoppetosse party as well as a Get Perlonized devotee (plus, full disclosure, reviewing events and working at RA in the mid-2010s), he's well-versed in both wiggle and waft. The hubbub around KRN can be put down to the fastidiousness of his approach: he unearths rare gems from the roots of the underground, before mixing it up with a deft hand. Kearney's RA Podcast, sweetly subtitled "Dadhouse," is an ode to his partner and newborn, as well as a window into his personal palette. He starts in serene IDM territory, before shifting into playful grooves and tactile house oddities. Good lucking ID'ing many of the tunes—we asked for a tracklist but, deep down, already knew the answer. We know this, too: one listen and you'll be hooked. @k_rn @theghost Read more at ra.co/podcast/951

A glorious ode to sound system culture. For her RA Podcast, Brooklyn-based DJ Ayanna Heaven celebrates vibrations echoing down the ages, connecting seven decades of trailblazers and trendsetters. It's a soundtrack we've timed with an eye to that golden late summer run of Notting Hill Carnival, Brooklyn's West Indian Day Parade and several crucial dates in the Jamaican calendar. Since 2020, the Brooklyn-based DJ, ethnomusicologist, dancehall advocate and promoter has held down two shows on the city's most popular stations: the monthly "Sounds of Heaven" on The Lot and biweekly "Across 110th Street" on WKCR. That's roughly 72 hours of radio every month. Light work for Heaven, though, whose sound traverses the limitlessly fertile ground of reggae, dancehall, funk, soul and beyond. From Sly & Robbie, Aswad and Vybz Kartel through contemporary heaters and reskins of platinum-plated standards like "No Games" and "Sun Is Shining," RA.950 is a story of a thriving culture, grounded in the past yet with intentions set firmly on the future. @ayanna-heaven Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/950

A roaring hour from one of the most vital talents in Naarm: First Nations producer Paul Gorrie, AKA DJ PGZ. The Gunai/Kurnai and Yorta Yorta artist is a fixture of forward-thinking dance music in Australia, with releases on labels like Butter Sessions, Pure Space and !K7, as well as numerous club and festival gigs on the circuit. An international breakout moment now feels inevitable. There's much to be said about the lack of visibility and support for Indigenous artists within the global electronic ecosystem (we'll be publishing more on this soon), but at the root of all PGZ's disparate interests are community building and the advancement of marginalised peoples. To that end, DJ PGZ's RA Podcast is notably laced with multiple cuts from Nene H's Gaza fundraising compilation. It's distinctly fresh—the oldest track you'll find is from 2022—as he gallops through Kalahari-style wigged-out prog and techno, through to harder drum syncopations. Consider this a firm tip from us: PGZ is the truth. @dj-pgz Read more at ra.co/podcast/949

Speedy percussion meets screwface basslines: the Parisian club maestros are in session. Trying to find one word to describe the music of Amor Satyr and Siu Mata could run you into difficulty. But if we were to try, we'd reach for amphibian: slippery, nimble and evading borders with ease. With solo and shared releases on labels like SSPB, HARDLINE, TraTraTrax and their own WAJANG, they have evident kinship with what moves contemporary dance floors. The pair are also linked to the rise of an alchemical style they like to call "speed dembow"—taking the looping rhythm of dembow before pitching it up to modern club tempos and adding muscle. Combining tribal techno, baile funk, dubstep, jungle, dancehall and beyond, their RA Podcast makes for one hell of a ride, with over two hours of romping percussion, lysergic effects, high drama and plenty of wobble. @amorsatyr @siumata Read more at ra.co/podcast/948

What does great techno sound like in 2024? Enter LYDO. This week's RA Podcast captures @lydole in full flow, combining the old-school vernacular of European and North American techno—reduced rhythms, hi-hats and punchy 909s—with tracks from the new guard (Sev Dah, GiGi FM, D.Dan) sprinkled throughout. After moving to NYC in 2015, the Vietnamese-American sound artist and X-XTRA.SERVICES founder became one of BASEMENT's first residents; the scene built around the revered Queens club has helped nurture their adventurous sound. Lately they've been making waves beyond North America, playing with the MARICAS crew in Barcelona and locking down slots at De School, Bassiani and Draaimolen. RA.947 is the sound of artful hypnosis: it's techno with elegance, depth and just the right amount of thump. Rig this up on a proper system, turn off the lights and any worries—about the genre's direction of travel, or otherwise—might melt away. Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/947

Bangers from around the globe. Dar Disku launched with a question: how to channel heritage into dance floor elation? Well, when your name translates to 'home of the disco,' the brief feels pretty self-explanatory. In the first few years, that meant crafting edits of Khaliji hi-NRG and Bollywood soundtracks to fit contemporary 'crates. They took off as DJs through a run of radio and parties in the UK—where they currently reside—flexing deep finds from across the SWANA region. Their vibrant debut album, out in September on Soundway, furthers the mission. True to form, their RA Podcast is stuffed with heaters from all over the map: Algeria, India, Chile, Jordan, Australia, Turkey, Libya and Morocco get a look-in, as well as a few staple acts that betray the kind of high-wattage European festivals the duo increasingly frequent. It's not hard to see why—this mix is 90 minutes of sunshine. @dardisku @soundway-records Read more at ra.co/podcast/946

Wormhole techno from a DJ you need to know. KYRUH is a high-impact specialist forced in the crucible of modern NYC's notable spaces, including WIRE, Dweller and Bossa Nova Civic Club. Their sound is that of a DJ skilled at applying waves of pressure without requiring shortcuts through obvious terrain, adept at hammering it without defaulting to speed alone. After years burning a hole through the American underground, 2024 is proving to be a tipping point. KYRUH's appearance on Kelela remix compilation RAVE:N in early spring lit the touchpaper for a run of gritty productions and increasingly prominent slots across North America and Europe. The tracklist for their RA Podcast goes deep, accommodating contemporary producers like x3butterfly and Faster Horses alongside veterans Lady Starlight, Femanyst, House of God resident Paul Damage Bailey and underrated Swedish ripper Tobias Von Hoftsen. To those still wondering where to find 'proper techno' in 2024: look no further. @kyruhx Read more at ra.co/podcast/945

As a producer and DJ, TSVI is in the form of his life—which you can't always say for an artist a decade in. He's been an enduring presence through several underground cycles for a reason: the man knows how to flow. TSVI's RA Podcast features a solid number of new and forthcoming cuts from the current vanguard pushing club music forward, amongst them Verraco, Surusinghe, DJ Plead, Doctor Jeep, DJ JM, WOST and Dj Babatr—who just dropped a split 12" with TSVI on TraTraTrax last month. Alongside the names you might expect, TSVI also leans into a streak of personal history. On RA.944 you'll hear fast, deep and percussive '90s and '00s cuts from Spain, Latin America and his native Italy, with a particular focus on the kind of playful progressive trance minted by the late, great Franchino. It makes for a truly dynamite mix. @tsvisions @nervoushorizon Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/944

The first thing you might realise during a MUSCLECARS set is the sheer musicality of the duo's selections. Vocals glimmer at the centre, unfolding into enchanting, soulful coos, while drums strike captivating rhythms and gilded synths reach towards the sky. It's a jazzy New York house sound mythologised by pioneers like Joe Claussell, Carlos Sanchez and Timmy Regisford (whose songs all make it to this RA Podcast). For years, New York natives Brandon Weems and Craig Handfield have run their Coloring Lessons party as a way to introduce a younger generation to this vital piece of dance music history. In a city that prides itself on fast walking, fast talking and, as of late, fast BPMs, their music is an invitation to ease into a more relaxing pace. This RA Podcast comes at a golden time for MUSCLECARS. In May, they released their RA-recommended debut album, Sugar Honey Iced Tea!, whose sultry (and undeniably catchy) lead single "Tonight" has gotten the stamp of approval, and a remix, from New York legend Louie Vega. And this Sunday, they hosted their annual Juneteenth block party outside the Lot Radio, where scores of Black dancers latched onto one another during sets from a multigenerational crew of Black DJs including Ron Trent, Lovie, Shawn Dub and MUSCLECARS themselves. This two-hour-plus mix takes us through the spiralling jazz of Herbie Hancock, the flashy disco of The Originals and lands us, finally, in "Water," the track that also closes out Sugar Honey Iced Tea!. @musclecarsnyc Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/941

Actress' highlight reel needs little exposition. Darren J. Cunningham has been a prominent yet inscrutable figure in electronic music since the late 2000s, typically flickering to life from the margins before receding into the shadows. Beloved albums like R.I.P., Karma & Desire and Splazsh may switch up the template, but the Actress hallmarks of haze, murk and showstopping beauty remain. As you'll see in the interview below, he's a man of few words—that's in character for him. What's characteristic, too, is a taste for surprises. Ahead of the release of tenth studio album Statik on esteemed Norwegian label Smalltown Supersound next month, here's the "Дарен Дж. Каннінгем RA Mix"—a tapestry of 100 percent original and exclusive Actress music you won't find anywhere else. Flowing between pensive, rugged and stargazing moods across an album's worth of unaired tracks, Actress' first time stepping up on the RA Podcast was clearly worth the wait. @actress1 Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/938

Julia Govor is one of those artists who can take the fundamentals of techno and make it sound hers. At this point in her career, the Georgia-born, New York City-based artist has established a style that feels half-Rome school, half Japanese hypnotic techno, but fully Julia Govor. Her label Jujuka has become a home for the stuff, featuring plenty of her own work along with like-minded folks like EMIT and Victoria Mussi, and she recently put out the biggest and best release of her career with the hefty Laika And Ulka Were Here on Semantica. Her production style carries over to her DJing. Govor's RA Podcast is made up over half her own tracks, and the cuts she picks from others match her style: twirling arpeggios, rushing cascades of synth, heavy but groovy kicks. Much has been made of her childhood in a military family, and how she fell in love with techno via her classical musical education, where she felt drawn to the darker, romantic shades of composition. You get some of that here, but to call Govor's style "dark" would be overly simplistic. Instead it's sleek, aerodynamic and fluid, the kind of techno that gets you lost in a wormhole. @juliagovor Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/937

"All in my life, I've gone back and forth between North and East London," Karen Nyame KG said in a recent mini-doc about her studio process. "These areas are multicultural [...] you just become a sponge for that type of energy." More than two decades into her career, these parts of the UK capital remain a defining influence on The Rhythm Goddess, whose music weaves together ideas from across London and the diaspora, blending R&B and soul with global dance music forms. A leading face of London's hybrid club sound, KG's sound is seductive and luxurious. Her excellent productions, which span UK funky, amapiano and East Coast club, have a velvety touch, as if cut from high-end fabric. Her ear for smoky, sultry grooves, showcased on her Rhythm In The City party-turned-label, is impeccable, and her tracks have become more song-oriented, ranging from sultry to braggadocious. Her classy DJ mixes are a study in bounce and groove, incorporating everything from highlife to Afrotech to dubby rollers. Since re-entering the club circuit in 2018 after a six-year hiatus, KG has become a role model for women talents in the electronic music world. Her stance on racial and gender disparities within the industry has helped orchestrate safer spaces in music, inspiring aspiring Black creatives in the process. KG's RA Podcast is nothing short of sexy, loaded with swung rhythms and lithe drums across gqom, Afrohouse and jazzy deep house. It radiates a level of confidence and intimacy that can only come from years of vision—and a constant passion for sensual, soulful music. @KARENNYAMEKG Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/936

Simon Aussel is known for a particularly wild DJing style and leftfield bassy bangers, and it's his curious and playful approach to clubland that's won him loyal fans over the years. Whether photographing drink tokens from gigs or creating an 8-bit version of his debut album on a Game Boy cartridge, he seems to approach every endeavour with childlike joy and wonder—rare qualities in an industry that can leave so many jaded. The Nantes-born, Paris-based artist's love of club culture, digging and world-building has set him on a blazing path in club music. He's released an exceptionally wide range of music, including a Memphis rap tape for Trilogy Tapes, dubstep-trap-jazz hybrids with Egyptian singer Abdullah Miniawy and deadly hard drum for Livity Sound. His mixes, meanwhile, are fast becoming DJ lore thanks to his knack for connecting seemingly opposed genres like new wave and fast techno. Look no further than his now-infamous Dekmantel Selectors set from 2021 or a marathon back-to-back with Skee Mask in 2022. As the French DJ gets more comfortable with story-telling, he's getting more personal and focusing on deeper, slower sounds. That's evident on this RA Podcast—six months in the works—which incorporates woozy downtempo, weighty dub and bleepy beats. Of course, in the chaotic middle section there's plenty of huge basslines, plus old-school electro, acidic techno and even a bouncy edit of the Montell Jordan classic "This Is How We Do It." Showcasing his quirks, influences and growth, this is Simo Cell in prime time. @simocell Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/934

By anyone's standards, KI/KI has had a meteoric rise in the techno scene. She started DJing at queer party Spielraum in Amsterdam in 2018, and by now she's one of Europe's most-talked about techno DJs. She blends modern strands of the genre with trance and particularly acid in a way that feels all her own, veering away from the sugar highs of other DJs or the clobbering kick drums of so much fast techno. Her style is aerodynamic and sleek, not bludgeoning. In addition to her DJ career, KI/KI runs the label slash, which has put out music from the likes of Alpha Tracks, peachlyfe and Newa, artists who share her canny blend of techno aesthetics and sneaky pop sensibilities. She loves acid too, as shown by her 5HRS OF ACID concept, and the decades-old style has become a key part of her style and appeal, as you'll hear on her RA Podcast. It's a barreling hour-and-a-half through modern techno with trap and dubstep accents, breathless but perfectly-paced. @ki_slash_ki Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/933

Earlier this year, we described Los Angeles act 1morning as one of the funkiest young producers in modern-day techno. And we stand by it. The fast-rising upstart is building a solid fan base around North America and beyond with a rugged, vintage style of swung techno and hardgroove. His all-vinyl DJ sets and pumping productions on the likes of Fixed Rhythms and Mála Ádh stand out for their distinctly old-school flavour—steamrolling hi-hats à la Robert Hood, swift choppage behind the decks and deep, deep grooves. Like many of his all-vinyl heroes, he's also a treat to watch behind the decks The up-and-comer had a hell of a year in 2023, from playing in Japan to going on his first European tour, and his momentum shows no signs of slowing. He debuted at New York's dweller festival this year and K9 Unit, his duo with Bloodhound, recently did a night with fellow hardgroove king Regal86. It's only a matter of time until 1morning gets to a festival or a club near you so until then, enjoy his RA Podcast for now. The mix unfortunately came with some less than stellar circumstances, as the records 1morning pulled were stolen from his car, and so instead this RA Podcast became a statement of resilience and creativity—and, in his words, "an outlet for my rage." @1morning Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/932

Sam Coates took to techno like a diligent pupil, falling in love with the genre through labels like CLR in the late '00s. It didn't take long for the student to surpass his proverbial teachers. Almost immediately, the Manchester native was putting out pitch-perfect, functional techno records with everything intricately balanced. The requisite move to Berlin only sealed his fate as a future techno luminary, and by now, based in Kyiv, he's one of techno's most reliable, yet exciting, workhorses. Setaoc Mass records (and those on his label, SK_eleven) are minimalist but colossal, deceptively simple but not easy to pull off. We've praised him in these pages for his "sense of economy—how to get the hardest impact out of just a few elements," and that's the idea behind his RA Podcast as well. Put together from records old and new, and intricately layered, Coates's mix is like a time-travelling wormhole connecting disparate eras from techno, and highlighting the genre's most timeless attributes: mechanistic rhythms, careful pacing, rudimentary melodies made out of the strangest sounds and, of course, the power of the bass drop. It's hard to imagine anything that sounds more capital-T techno than this mix, which is a high compliment. It's easy to hear why his records and DJ sets are only more in demand from techno heads across the geographical and generational spectrum. @setaoc_mass Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/931

Most underground movements in the arts can be boiled down to one key ingredient: friends doing dope shit together. Childhood BFFs Luca Medici and Delbert Perez have been doing just that with INVT (that's "innovate"), a multidisciplinary art project that spans club music and streetwear. Before exploding onto the international stage and playing to massive crowds in Ibiza and Tulum, the Miami natives built a solid community at home through electrifying DJ sets, releases and fashion. They might be globe-trotting artists now, going back-to-back with artists like Skream and playing Panorama Bar, but their raw DIY spirit stays strong. Their tunes and live hardware shows fuse jungle, techno, East Coast club and dubstep—and lately, tech house and tribal house—with bass-heavy Latin genres like cumbia and guaracha. A reflection of Miami's diverse demographics, their genre cross-pollinations bring together skaters, dancers, artists and various subcultures. Their clothing lines are equally cross-cultural: repurposed vintage items made from screen printing and acid washing, using photos and designs that represent their home city's vibrant street culture. True to their grassroots ethos, everything's done in-house, from mixing and mastering tracks to embroidery. The next-gen duo's ultra-rhythmic productions, characterised by deep, swinging drums and trippy textures, is delivered to the world at a rapid-fire pace, testament to Medici and Perez's seemingly insatiable hunger. Their explosive career has helped bring fresh shine to Miami talents who feature heavily in their sets, including this RA Podcast. Featuring DJ Babatr, Coffintexts and plenty of their own unreleased heaters, INVT's mix represents their friendships, community and Miami's thrilling melting pot of dance music that they're still a core part of even as they move across the globe. @invt305 Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/930

Last year, when we wrote that "the best UK garage is coming out of Los Angeles," we were talking about Introspekt. The US DJ, who has since moved to New York, really understands the genre—its appeal, swing and unique, bassy whomp. Listen to any of her tracks, like last year's "Forlorn," and you'll hear someone who produces like she's been making UKG all her life. This is probably partly because she comes from a dubstep background, but either way, if you're looking for new UK garage beats, Introspekt is one of the best going right now. Her DJing also hits a distinct sweet spot, zeroing in one of the proto-dubstep, dark UK garage days when producers like El-B were making the hottest shit around. Her sound is both retro and forward-looking, as you'll hear on her RA Podcast, which balances vintage Big Apple cuts from Skream & Benga with new-school tunes from Amaliah and Surusinghe. It's not so much a throwback as it is a rejuvenation of an old sound—a new way to look at it and a new way to make it. If hindsight is 20/20, then Introspekt has perfect vision, and mixes like this are the perfect way to educate listeners, make them move and innovate a little in the process. @sageintrospekt Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/929

Berlin label and collective Live From Earth crew does things its own way. And it works. Over the past ten years, the team has become a major force in the city, mixing a killer ear for techno and house with a sense of humour and pop sensibility that has proven irresistible to audiences and scenes around the world. That's why we chose Live From Earth for our latest cover story: its DIY attitude, humble origins and tenacious spirit are everything we love about underground dance music. Accompanying the cover story, this RA Podcast features a recording of a live back-to-back between two of the label's chief artists, DJ Gigola and MCR-T (the latter of whom has produced some of Live From Earth's biggest hits, including horsegiirL's "My Barn My Rules"). The hour-plus recording makes for a handy microcosm of the label's sound, rushing through contemporary and vintage techno with plenty of raunchy vocal samples and hip-hop a capellas. It's blazing but never too hard, catchy but never predictable. Above all, it's fun—the group's guiding principle. @mcr-t @djgigola @livefromearth Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/928

Of all the Berlin DJs who make a living spinning strange, I'm-not-sharing-the-tracklist kind of records, Sugar Free might be the most fun. She plays bold, colourful tracks with an air of sci-fi and sleaze, somewhere between Italo, hi-NRG, electro and house. (Her Dimensions Mix last year was one of our favourites of 2023.) She's the kind of DJ who messes with your perception of genres and tempos by how she blends tracks together, and also a DJ with a rare grasp of mixing melodies and moods—just check out the first transition of this RA Podcast for a spine-tingling example. Sugar Free doesn't speak much publicly, and you won't find a lot about her on the internet. She prefers to let her DJing speak for itself. And her RA Podcast says a lot: proggy basslines, heart-in-mouth descents into reverb-heavy breakdowns, eerie vocals and a general feel of psychedelia and '80s decadence. It's difficult to tell what era these records are from, which is part of the charm. For a bonus point, try and pick out two just-completed Sugar Free originals, some of her first productions ever after her debut track came out on Limousine Dream in 2022. @resugarfree Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/927

Shubostar's RA Podcast begins and ends with video game music. (The beginning kind of sounds like Mary Poppins, actually.) Lots of DJs and producers play or make music that emulates the nostalgic sounds of old-school gaming, but the South Korean artist goes direct to the source. Before falling in love with dance music, she went to an animation-focused high school and learned how to make video games—so it's basically in her musical DNA. And while her DJing isn't as out-there as you might expect from that description, '90s and '00s Japanese video game (and anime) soundtracks offer a good idea of what her playing sounds like: lush, synthetic and a little naive, full of wonder and positive vibes. With releases on labels like Permanent Vacation, Internasjonal and her own uju Records, Shubostar is also a student of cosmic space disco, inspired by artists like Daniele Baldelli, Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas. Lately she's been rubbing elbows with Âme and Dixon. She picks tracks from across eras and genres on her RA Podcast, with cuts from Yellow Magic Orchestra, Baldelli and Kraftwerk alongside selections from DJ City and Private Agenda. It's a mix full of mood shits, dazzling keyboard runs and, of course, melodies that seem to reach out towards the heavens—or outer space. @shubostar Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/925

Detroit might be synonymous with techno, but it also has a rich house tradition. And Rick Wade—FKA Big Daddy Rick—is one of Detroit house's key players. Along with the likes of Keith Worthy, Theo Parrish and the late Mike Huckaby (who Wade had a lifelong friendship and friendly rivalry with), he created a hybrid sound that is both techno and house, effortlessly soulful, sculpted and glowing—and Midwest to the core. As Tajh Morris said in a retrospective review of one of his classic records, "growing up in Buchanan, Michigan, meant that Wade was much closer to Chicago than he was to Detroit." Many of Wade's best records were released on Harmonie Park, his era-defining label that also featured plenty of work from Huckaby. Those EPs still sound fresh and timeless today, qualities that extend to Wade's RA Podcast, which features 90 minutes of smooth-as-butter house old and new. Over the years he's kept the flame burning for the smouldering sounds of Detroit house, working in sounds from younger producers like Folamour along the way. Enjoy listening to a master at work. @rick-wade Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/923

Mogwaa is a Seoul-based DJ, producer and multi-instrumentalist who can seemingly do no wrong. Since his debut EP in 2017, he's developed a stellar track record of releases and live performances that have made him an in-demand name across East Asia and beyond. And he's only just getting started. The South Korean artist's multi-genre palette and hardware expertise have earned him the description of boy wonder from peers and collaborators. His work is awash in bright textures and dreamy moods, whether it's electro-fused techno for Peggy Gou's Gudu Records, limber jungle for Klasse Wrecks or dubby dancehall for Sound Metaphors. At Wonderfruit festival in December, he played a thrilling live set of spacey techno and loopy acid, infusing rich sound design into elastic groove. His stamina and enjoyment of music is tangible—he could probably play all night long and still be raring to go. After learning classical piano, guitar and trumpet in his early years, he taught himself to compose and produce. He's now determined to work with South Korean producers through Walls And Pals, a label he runs alongside Jesse You. Mogwaa's RA Podcast offers a glimpse into his multi-faceted sound. It's full of club-ready heaters, from trippy house to breakbeats, that pack a serious punch. Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/922