RA Podcast
About
Available on
Community
663 episodes
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
In December 2023, during Miami Art Basel, RA hosted a Community Connections event co-produced by Technique Records and RA City Manager Daniel Jinks. As part of the event, RA Senior Staff Writer Nyshka Chandran moderated a panel with four key figures from the Miami dance music scene: Danny Daze, Jubilee, Nick León, and Romulo Del Castillo to delve into the vibrant, broader history behind the city’s electronic dance music scene. Miami's music is dominating worldwide club circuits. The city's current sound—forward-thinking medleys of dembow, cumbia, techno, and breakbeats made by both vanguards and veterans—has been rinsed out at festivals and dance floors in recent years, catapulting the city back into global dance music conversations. This hybrid style has ushered in what many call a renaissance in Miami's creative underground, marking a new chapter in the city's electronic music lineage. How has this current sound been influenced by older, influential genres like Miami bass, electro, and IDM that have long characterized the city? Are there any new societal, cultural, and structural changes that are paving the way for ongoing genre cross-pollination? RA sits down with some of the city's most established names for a deep dive into the explosive growth and origins of Miami music. Technique Records https://www.instagram.com/techniquerecords/ Danny Daze https://www.instagram.com/dannydaze/ @dannydaze Jubilee https://www.instagram.com/jubileedj/ @jubileedj Nick León https://www.instagram.com/nicknoexit/ @nickleon Romulo Del Castillo https://www.instagram.com/schematiccommando/ @romulo-del-castillo
FAUZIA is an artist of many moods. The UK talent moves from IDM to soul on her NTS Radio residency, while her club DJ sets reveal her love for '90s-style breaks, electro and bass-heavy sounds. In the studio, she explores her softer side through self-released homespun dub and ambient jungle. In recent years, she's gravitated towards live performances. Her gossamer vocals, one of her strongest suits, cuts through live instrumentation like a hummingbird in agile flight. In 2020, the London-based talent told Mixmag that she was done being categorised as a "dance music" artist—and so far, she's succeeded. While she incorporates clubby touchstones into her work, there's a deep level of cross-genre knowledge and blending at play. FAUZIA's RA podcast makes that clear. Free of any four-to-the-floor music, it moves from experimental jazz to orchestral melodies to R&B ballads for a thoughtful and introspective journey full of her own unreleased music that points towards her newer interest in composition. This is music to be felt, so let your guard down and let it wash over you. @FAUZIA Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/926
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
If Bitter Babe was a perfume, her scent would be animalic—heavy musk, bergamot, worn leather and burnt spices. The Bogotá-born, Miami-bred and now Berlin-based artist has a heady, ultra-rhythmic sound that feels made for sweltering summer nights and feral fantasies. Combining pan-Latin styles with hard drum and industrial touches, she's crafted a singular mood that defines her DJing and production: hazy, high-energy and sensual. Bitter Babe's ascent on the international circuit has been tied to her role in Miami's electronic renaissance. Whether it's proto-reggaeton, dense ambient or guaracha, her sets and productions are characterised by evocative low-end, darting synths and distorted frequencies that exude drama. With releases on TraTraTrax, Air Texture and SVBKVLT, she's cemented her position as an experimentalist, leaving the door open for more deconstruction and abstraction. As cofounder of multidisciplinary project LATITUDES, Bitter Babe seeks to unify Latin America's electronic music communities. Her mixes are a great source for discovering under-the-radar acts from Peru, Brazil and beyond, some of whom are featured on her RA podcast. Starting with subby downtempo before moving onto swampy baile funk, technoid mutations of dembow and cheeky UKG, it showcases her expertise for trippy yet deeply kinetic grooves. @bitterbabe Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/924
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
In the music video for her new single with Manni Dee, Manuka Honey embarks on a money heist, robbing a venue with a comically tiny Louis Vuitton bag. Wearing a barely-there outfit, her cutesy goth girl demeanour and memeworthy one-liners capture many facets of modern-day pop culture. Whether through her music, fashion or astrology practice, the artist, born Marissa Malik, speaks to a large demographic of fans. Her sound is a composite of club genres from across the globe—everything from baile funk to gqom to pop edits. She he describes herself as an "unhinged, hostile girl" and is known for unfettered self-expression. "When you come to my sets, often, my tit will accidentally fall out or I'll step on the decks," she once told RA. Malik brings a sort of sensual chaos to the dance floor. Her DJ sets and productions are rooted in hot and humid rhythms that often distort into acrobatic shapes or blend into one another in a maximalist approach. Last year's Machete / 777 for Club Romantico combined elements of reggaeton with ballroom, while one Boiler Room show last year went from Waka Flocka's "No Hands" to new-school guaracha banger "Calentura Vaginal" (which translates to "vaginal heat"). She's dedicated to supporting the worldwide Latin diaspora through her music, which heavily skews towards regional styles like guaracha and raptor house, as well as with her collective and party SUZIO. Malik's many influences shine on her RA Podcast. Moving from dancehall to Afro house to bassy dembow, the hour-long high-intensity workout captures her core sound palette. It's energetic, steamy and a little disorienting—just how she likes it. @manuka_honey Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/921
Whoever Client_03 is—their official bio says "neither human nor machine"—they certainly love electro. In the interview below, they say making it is "all I do." The stubbornly anonymous project has been waking waves across continents and scenes, introducing audiences used to dubstep, drum & bass and trap to the distinctive joys of electro. Through a series of self-releases dating back to 2019, Client_03 has earned a fanbase with simple graphics and wonderfully jargon-y titles—"Prosperity Stream Divider," "Interpersonal Relationship Assessment"—that more than live up to the genre pastiche with genuinely funky electro grooves. Pitched between loose and robotic, their tracks are what we call rollers: stackable, interlockable and reliable. This RA Podcast was recorded live at last year's Bass Coast Festival, where the masked producer's set was among the most anticipated. They—or it—didn't disappoint, and here we've got 60 minutes-plus of smooth and occasionally raucous electro that eventually mutates into dubstep, jungle and beyond. There are several spinbacks, tons of Client_03 material new and old and a few select tracks from artists like Sam Binga, Nikki Nair and Fixate. It's the sound of a certain kind of future, as refracted through its past. @Client_03 Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/920
Ariel Zetina is as charming as she is talented—one of the many reasons she was named "Chicagoan of the Year for Pop Music" by the Chicago Tribune last month. A straight shooter with strong principles, her witty personality shines through on social media and in person. She radiates both best friend and boss energy. Musically, she wears her heart on her sleeve, infusing her personality into her DJing and production. Her sets and mixes are adventurous, moving from hard to soft to playful with precision. From producing theatre shows and opening for Beyoncé to releasing her RA-recommended debut album on Local Action in 2022, the smartbar resident approaches each venture with meaning and depth. That LP explored the complex experience of being a Belizean-American trans woman, using fiery house and techno to express vulnerability and triumph. Ariel Zetina's multifaceted personality is on full display in her RA podcast. There's baile funk-infused techno, crisp drum & bass and plenty of tracks from queer producers from all sorts of scenes, including Michael Cignarale, StrikeStone! and Perfect Lovers. It's a grand statement of power, flow and seriously good taste. @arielzetina Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/919
Soul Summit is a New York institution. The DJ trio have been putting on a summer festival in Brooklyn's Fort Greene park for well over a decade now, and those gatherings have become a yearly house music pilgrimage for fans from all over the Five Boroughs. The party embodies the ethos of house music: free for everyone, open to families both blood and chosen, a place where everyone is welcome to groove (or just relax) to uplifting, old-school dance music with inspiring lyrics and bumping basslines. Sadiq Bellamy, Tabu and Jeff Mendoza have created something truly special, and more and more lately, they've been spreading their gospel outside the park, too. They've become residents at Nowadays, where this RA Podcast was recorded as part of a Mister Sunday party. It was also released as part of the Mister Saturday Night's cassette box set to celebrate the party's 15th birthday. This one features an hour of the cassette's 90-minute runtime, plus an additional 20 minutes only available here. It captures this trio at their soulful best, letting vocal tracks play out long and leisurely with expert blends and gentle transitions. The feelings of warmth, love and welcome land with every kick drum and flow through every bassline. @soul-summit-music Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/918
Purelink have been described more than once as an "ambient boy band." (They themselves say "jam band.") It's not meant dismissively—the American trio purposefully mean to function as a band, even if their main instruments are laptops. Ambient might not quite cut it as a descriptor, though. The group's music crosses eras and scenes, touching on the late '90s clicks & cuts boom as well as the billowy ambient techno put out by labels like 3XL, West Mineral Ltd. and NAFF. Their most recent LP, Signs, released on enigmatic imprint Peak Oil (and one of our favourite albums of 2023), is especially impressive, made of stuttering rhythms and glassy textures. In other words, it's ambient-not-ambient. While members Concave Reflection, kindtree and Millia have all made excellent music on their own, something special happens when they come together. Purelink's RA Podcast is another stellar contribution to our post-New Year's tradition, where we highlight a more laid-back sound to soothe weary minds and frazzled brain cells after the heavy holiday celebrations. This is 90-plus minutes of intricately textured downtempo, dub techno and even UK garage, all cut through with a floaty, almost drowsy quality, with plenty of exclusives and unreleased cuts from the likes of Nick León, James K, Downstairs J and more. It highlights Purelink's position as a bridger of worlds, sounds and tempos. Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/917
Dr Banana is a name that commands a lot of respect in certain corners of the dance music world. The man has his Ph.D in record digging—not literally, mind you, but play along—and key to his success is the sense of fun, joy and ecstasy he brings to his DJing. UK garage historian? Sure. Blinding DJ? Definitely. He likes to play records you've never heard before, records that not only make you dance but might remind you of some of your favourite, formative records of yore. The UK artist started out with a fashion line and some records and ended up an influential label boss, collector and DJ. He made his name with skippy, retro UK garage—sometimes from new producers and sometimes unearthed from the archives—and nicely coincided with the genre's explosion in popularity. Since then, he's highlighted everything from old-school German garage to new-school producers like K-LONE. His DJ sets have only become more adventurous and, crucially, even more bumping. Jungle, R&B, tech house, you name it. His RA Podcast zeroes in on a vintage-sounding, rollicking kind of house music, full of seismic disco basslines and quirky vocal samples. It's as celebratory as it is mysterious. Once, Dr Banana was a not so well-kept secret for the heads—the kids in Berlin and London who were starting to realize the similarities between UK garage, minimal and tech house. Now, he's for everyone, and starting to earn the wider recognition he deserves. @dr-banana Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/916
Quest's RA Podcast starts slowly, with a thrum of synths that feels like watching a rocket take off in slow motion. Before you know it, you're in outer space, floating through zero gravity with waves of synths and gentle breakbeats. The Italian DJ is a premiere selector in the world of digging for rare records, but his outré taste shouldn't be confused with willful obscurity. He's a beloved DJ partly because of his approachability. There's a serene, early '90s feel to RA.915 that's reminiscent of some of the earliest and best ambient techno. When he's not DJing, Quest runs the label La Nota Del Diablo. He's only put out two records, including this year's Red Tears EP from his dear friend (and fellow esteemed DJ) Christian AB, which RA's Henry Ivry described as "a careful balance of late-night tension and early morning twilight." That's not a bad way to describe Quest's RA Podcast—if it's not a soundtrack for an astral journey, then it's perfect for an afterhours, for when the laid-back vibes come to a simmer for one last stretch of dancing. @questwax Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/915
Listen back to the DJ set recordings from the RA CC event in Joburg in collaboration with Lilies Radio and P_ssy Party. In addition to a panel discussion hosted by P_ssy Party, we hosted a mixer at Melville’s vibrant creative hub, The Plug. The mixer was be soundtracked by residents from local station Lilies Radio, a community-focussed organisation that also operates as a record label and events platform. This collaboration explored Johannesburg’s thriving scene, bridging connections between various local communities and celebrating the unique nightlife the city has to offer. https://soundcloud.com/user-123672995 https://www.instagram.com/wearelilies/ https://www.instagram.com/p_ssyparty/ https://www.instagram.com/theplugmelville/ https://ra.co/promoters/88700
Listen back to the DJ set recordings from the RA CC event in Joburg in collaboration with Lilies Radio and P_ssy Party. In addition to a panel discussion hosted by P_ssy Party, we hosted a mixer at Melville’s vibrant creative hub, The Plug. The mixer was be soundtracked by residents from local station Lilies Radio, a community-focussed organisation that also operates as a record label and events platform. This collaboration explored Johannesburg’s thriving scene, bridging connections between various local communities and celebrating the unique nightlife the city has to offer. https://soundcloud.com/ftmzhr https://www.instagram.com/wearelilies/ https://www.instagram.com/p_ssyparty/ https://www.instagram.com/theplugmelville/ https://ra.co/promoters/88700
Listen back to the DJ set recordings from the RA CC event in Joburg in collaboration with Lilies Radio and P_ssy Party. In addition to a panel discussion hosted by P_ssy Party, we hosted a mixer at Melville’s vibrant creative hub, The Plug. The mixer was be soundtracked by residents from local station Lilies Radio, a community-focussed organisation that also operates as a record label and events platform. This collaboration explored Johannesburg’s thriving scene, bridging connections between various local communities and celebrating the unique nightlife the city has to offer. https://soundcloud.com/buhle-mbongwa https://www.instagram.com/wearelilies/ https://www.instagram.com/p_ssyparty/ https://www.instagram.com/theplugmelville/ https://ra.co/promoters/88700
Listen back to the DJ set recordings from the RA CC event in Joburg in collaboration with Lilies Radio and P_ssy Party. In addition to a panel discussion hosted by P_ssy Party, we hosted a mixer at Melville’s vibrant creative hub, The Plug. The mixer was be soundtracked by residents from local station Lilies Radio, a community-focussed organisation that also operates as a record label and events platform. This collaboration explored Johannesburg’s thriving scene, bridging connections between various local communities and celebrating the unique nightlife the city has to offer. https://soundcloud.com/deniece_hob https://www.instagram.com/wearelilies/ https://www.instagram.com/p_ssyparty/ https://www.instagram.com/theplugmelville/ https://ra.co/promoters/88700
Detroit dance music thrives on intergenerational connections. In the late '70s and early '80s, the late Ken Collier mixed disco, soul and early electronic dance music in eye-opening DJ sets that left a mark on up-and-coming artists like Delano Smith. Once Smith established himself in the city's explosive techno community, he, in turn, influenced soon-to-be legends like Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Jeff Mills, Norm Talley, Mike "Agent X" Clarke and others. Now an elder statesman, Smith is etched into our history books as a crucial contributor to Detroit dance music, both house and techno. He's known especially for the Detroit beatdown sound he pioneered alongside Talley and Clark—slower, sexier records than what Detroit techno is generally associated for. (The trio even put out an RA Podcast under the name in 2010.) It's more recently that Smith has become known as a producer. He started his own label, Mixmode Recordings, and became a regular on Berlin imprint Sushitech, where he released many of his albums, including the jazzy deep house masterclass An Odyssey. His style has evolved over the years to incorporate ambient, dub and more contemporary techno influences. More recently, Smith's career has been sidelined by an ongoing battle with a rare and untreatable form of cancer. He's hosted livestreams throughout his ordeal to keep in touch with his fans. His RA Podcast, which he calls his "Legacy Mix," is a celebration of his favourite sounds: euphoric chords, jacking drums and deep-space melodies, the elements that have and will continue to reverberate through Detroit and beyond. It also marks the beginning of a more hopeful period for Smith, as he gets ready to travel again, especially with his Legacy Detroit series, which celebrates the lineage he's an indelible part of, and always will be. @delano_smith Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/914
It would be no exaggeration to say that 33EMYBW is one of the most original club music producers we've heard in recent years. In addition to being a talented visual artist and a bass player in the experimental band Duck Fight Goose, her solo productions are a highlight of Shanghai’s bustling underground scene—home to forward-thinking artists like Tzusing, Osheyack, Swimful and Hyph11e—moving with their own rhythmic language. She has a lexicon of drum sounds borrowed from all over the world, including tablas, bongos and mallets. As 33EMYBW, she puts together strange, multi-limbed rhythms that bring to mind images of dancing spiders and insects, something she addressed directly on 2019's showstopping Arthropods LP, released on the influential SVBKVLT label. As she says in the interview below, you basically need more than two legs to dance to her music. Maybe even eight. Her music deals with creatures that vary from the mythical to the everyday (her first album was called Golem). On her latest record Holes Of Sinian, also out on SVBKVLT, she imagines the mostly-unknown organisms from the recently discovered Ediacaran period. It's more esoteric, atmospheric and arguably even funkier than her previous work, with Marina Herlop on one hair-raising track that you can hear in a demo version on her RA Podcast. This mix is actually a version of her live set—a favourite at influential festivals like Unsound and CTM—featuring plenty of productions from across her career in mutated and improvisational forms. It's creepy, crawly and undeniably danceable. If you can keep up with it. @33emybw Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/912
What some refer to broadly as "Latin club music"—from dembow to raptor house—is having a moment on dance floors around the world. Since making his mark at Manchester's legendary Swing Ting parties in the 2010s, Florentino, who is of Colombian heritage, has melded high-pressure perreo, cumbia and other styles with high BPMs and fat-bottomed bass in his DJ sets and productions. The result is an ultra-kinetic, cross-cultural sound that's influenced by UK soundsystem culture as much as the sounds of the massive, diverse scenes across Latin America. The pan-Latin influences are a big part of Florentino's sound palette, but they by no means define him. Interspersed with dancehall and soca are dubstep, pummelling techno, house, UK funky, grime and more. Over the years, his experimental side has also crystallized, whether it's through the deep, sometimes trippy, reggaeton of Sangre Nueva, his collaborative project with Kelman Duran and DJ Python, his sought-after bootlegs of deconstructed guaracha, or the releases on his Club Romantico label. Most recently, he's signed with UK giant XL Recordings, including for his latest EP, Kilometro Quinze. His dizzying range and propensity for rhythmic contortions is on full display in his RA Podcast. This is a riotous mix with big drops, bouncy basslines and crispy textures, showcasing Florentino's talent as a proper party-starter. @deejayflorentino Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/912
At this point, Shy One might be familiar to most music fans as one of the hosts of NTS's daily breakfast show, Soup To Nuts, where she helps listeners across the UK and Europe settle into their morning routines with an eclectic and soulful selection of dance music and downtempo. But the London artist has been around a lot longer than that, with a discography that goes back well over a decade. She started releasing music as a regular on Scratcha DVA's label, and it was there that she sketched out a recognizable but impressively varied approach rooted in her home base of London. On her records, Shy One sometimes feels like London incarnate, synthesizing the histories of Black British dance music—drum & bass, grime, UK funky, broken beat, jazz, you name it—into one syncretic and immensely appealing sound. But her music glows with the warmth of American deep house, too, which lends it a timeless, ageless quality that has proven immensely appealing. She furthers this mission with Private World, a party she started with Ruby Savage. The name kind of says it all: she's inviting you to her own personal space, but what awaits is a whole wide world of music and culture. Her RA Podcast feels like a hybrid between a club DJ set and her morning show, and here, she zeroes in on a the lineage of American house music from the '90s and beyond, featuring tracks from the likes of Green Velvet, Marcellus Pittman, Roy Davis Jr., Wbeeza, Jay Daniel and more, plus a spotlight from Baltimore club king DJ Technics. It's patient and easygoing but perfect for a small dance floor (or a livingroom party), focused but stylistically diverse. It's everything we've come to expect from an artist like Shy One, who weaves stories and histories with her DJ sets, and does it effortlessly, too. @shyonebeats Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/911
Last month, with Goldie's guest curatorship of Resident Advisor, we focused on the history of one of the most important music genres and scenes to come out of the UK: drum & bass. With this RA Podcast from Kasra, we switch over to the style's cutting edge. He's probably best known for his long-running Critical Music label, whose name is instructive. You'll find some of the most essential, crucial drum & bass of the last two decades through its 20-plus year-old back catalogue. As a DJ and producer, Kasra embodies everything great about Critical and its approach: drum & bass with flair and personality, forward-thinking while staying true to the roots of the sound. The kind of music he plays is wide-ranging, but it usually leans towards the tight and minimalist. The basslines stop and start like stuck engines, drums hit with the mechanical precision of a Swiss-made watch, the MCs move with a tactical flow. Kasra's RA Podcast is a blend of new and old cuts from the likes of Skeptical, Halogenix, Break and the boundary-breaking Ivy Lab, plus a few cuts from the man himself. @kasra-critical Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/910
909 is a special number for us at RA—the name of one of the most hallowed drum machines in all of music, and one of the foundations of techno music—and we're more than happy to offer it up to a DJ who has been a long-time favourite of our team: Glasgow's Bake. In fact, we commissioned this mix roughly ten years ago, but you can't rush perfection. When Bake emerged as one of the heads heads behind the label All Caps—a relatively short-lived but influential imprint that released massive tracks like Flørist's "Marine Drive" and Kowton's "TFB"—he also quickly became one of the most impressive DJs in the post-dubstep access, appearing frequently at Hessle Audio events and sharpening his skills behind the decks at the country's best parties. Now he runs his own, Spirit, at Sub Club. He has a wide-ranging style that touches on all kinds of leftfield techno and broken drum patterns. His nearly two-hour RA Podcast finds him at the end of a sort-of comeback year after some time out of the public eye, and it touches on tracks from Shackleton, Laksa, Batu, Karima F and Levon Vincent, to give you an idea. It's the kind of mix that oozes expertise and practice without feeling showy—the signs of a truly great DJ. If you don't know Bake, then now you do. @bake-all-caps Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/909
With their Wisdom Teeth label, British artists Facta and K-LONE are at the vanguard of a sound that mixes New Age-inspired ambient music with loopy tech house and the staggered swing of Bristol techno. Now split between the West Country hotspot and Brighton, the duo have perfected a balance of carefully considered long-players and wicked club EPs, making Wisdom Teeth one of the most essential labels anywhere in the UK right now. As DJs, their sound leans more towards the clubbier end of Wisdom Teeth—and don't sleep on K-LONE's lovely other labels, Sweet 'n' Tasty (for garage) and Wych (dubstep-ish)—but they've got a slightly softer, slow-and-steady approach than many of their peers from their spiritual home of Bristol. It's clubby, but it's more hypnotic and loopy than loud and banging. The duo jump through a fair amount of sounds—and you'll still get some bass wobbles—touching on tracks from Genius Of Time, Martinez Brothers, Jan Driver, Polygonia and more, bridging not only genres but local scenes and continents. There's a measured and steady touch to the way they DJ, like musicians who know the instruments like the back of their hand, and as always, it's a pure pleasure to hear them put tracks together like only they can. @facta @k-lone93 @wisdomteeth-uk Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/908
Subcity Radio provided the tunes for RA's Community Connections event in Glasgow end of September, taking over Stereo`s upstairs bar from 6pm till midnight. Broadcasting for 28 years, Subcity and Glasgow's electronic music scene are intrinsically linked, with the station acting as a pivotal platform for those looking to get started in the industry. Come along to hear the next wave of Glasgow DJs... https://soundcloud.com/3rdcrush https://www.subcity.org/ https://www.stereocafebar.com/ https://ra.co/promoters/88700
Subcity Radio provided the tunes for RA's Community Connections event in Glasgow end of September, taking over Stereo`s upstairs bar from 6pm till midnight. Broadcasting for 28 years, Subcity and Glasgow's electronic music scene are intrinsically linked, with the station acting as a pivotal platform for those looking to get started in the industry. Come along to hear the next wave of Glasgow DJs... https://soundcloud.com/stroemera https://www.subcity.org/ https://www.stereocafebar.com/ https://ra.co/promoters/88700
