Coming from the Basque country but freshly relocated in Paris, Onra tbl is a 24 years old DJ and graphic designer. He is been seen playing with Frivolous, Cabanne or The Micronauts lately.

His smart selection equally dark and groovy, mixing techno, electro as well as Rock is highly seducing !

Contemporary electro from a Dutch mainstay.

It’s somehow satisfying when scenes collide. Dutch producer Remy Verheijen made everything from driving trance to quirky rock during the ’90s, but settled on a sound—electro—and a name—Dexter—at the turn of the millennium. Looking back to his early releases on Clone and Klakson, the label he ran alongside Ostgut’s Steffi, it’s easy to hear why bass music figures such as Boddika and Bok Bok are still playing his music. There’s something about Dexter’s elastic basslines and sense of funk that dovetails neatly with what’s going on in the UK these days. Or it could simply be the timeless nature of electro itself. Who knows? Dexter appeared to return the nod from the UK earlier this year with the release of “Great Northern Diver,” a track that through its warp-speed vocals and hyper-kinetic rhythms felt decidedly south London circa-2011.

As he explains below, though, the man himself just sees this as the continuation of a sound he’s been pushing for over ten years. Plenty of UK names make it on to his mix for us, along with fellow electro adopters from his homeland and original innovators from Detroit.

What have you been up to recently?

I’ve been working on my liveset and just finished a remix I did for a new Dutch label, Balans. Also working on ideas for an album and finishing stuff that already had to be finished, like a release on Steffi’s Dolly label and a collaboration with Steffi for Klakson, which is the label we used to do together, and that we wanted to use for this joint release. Most important is probably the move to a new studio place which cost some time to get used to and get things set up.

How and where was the mix recorded?

The mix was completely done in Ableton with no editing and just two controllers that I also use live. Just one take, straight through my mixing desk and recorded it into Logic. I can’t work with Ableton as a studio tool. The only part I know is the live part. I didn’t want to get into that and wanted to keep it fun to do. So as you can hear there are some mistakes in it but I didn’t feel like taking them out because I didn’t want to take out the raw edges.

Can you tell us about the idea behind the mix?

First I wanted to do it on my iPad. My idea was to do an eclectic thing with all the musical genres I like. So I put a lot of songs on my iPad and tried to do a mix with an app called Idjay. Very cool app but I think the iPad1 is a bit too slow for the way I work… or the app is too slow. I’m changing ideas all the time and the loading time for tracks was just too slow. And at a certain point I got fed up with that touch screen.
So I thought I should just do it the way I play live: throw everything in Ableton and start to build something out of the chaos.

After trying a few times I decided that too many different genres was getting too chaotic or I needed to do a lot of editing that I didn’t want to do. After all, I’ve stopped DJing for a long time now, I always play live. But after having so much fun putting this mix together I feel like doing some DJ gigs. So, I decided to do a mix with the music from producers I’ve been listening to most over the last couple of months and just have some fun selecting and mixing the tracks I like.

The mix and your recent Clone release feel like a new direction for you. What does this all stem from?

Actually I’m not sure if it’s such a different direction. Of course I’ve been influenced by new music and also some of the younger bass music guys from the UK (I actually never heard that name, bass music, until recently when we received feedback on theGreat Northern Diver EP). But also I got influenced by some Dutch guys like Martyn and A Made Up Sound or artists such as Dâm Funk for example. I always will have my love for electro and funk, and my roots in techno… And I just love trying out new things, and even though I don’t release that many records I always do new tracks and stuff when I play live, so for me it feels like a natural progression and not something completely different.

What are you up to next?

Checking out new gear, working further on ideas for an album, looking for new ways to do live gigs and right now finishing a remix for Clone and some releases that already had to be finished but got delayed because of moving to the new studio space.

Download format : FLAC

(Thanks RV for finding)

A rare recorded session from one of techno/electro’s cult figures.

There’s not too much to go on when attempting to decipher Gerard Hanson, AKA Convextion. What’s clear is that he resides in Dallas, Texas, records techno as Convextion, electro as E.R.P and released his debut 12-inch back in 1995 through Matrix Records. His biography also isn’t particularly enlightening—merely a run through of his influences and releases—but does confirm that throughout his 16-year recording career Hanson has remained “willingly anonymous.” This mysterious shroud coupled with a limited number of releases (Hanson put-out only two 12-inches between ’97 and ’05) has led to something of a cult Convextion/E.R.P. following. Those who’ve tracked Hanson’s limited manoeuvres have seen their faith rewarded recently, however, as fresh E.R.P. material came to light through highly regarded Spanish imprint Semantica, revealing some of Hanson’s finest work to date under either moniker.

On this live set, recorded last year at a Bleep43 party in London, you’ll hear Hanson moving through his trademark sound of fast-paced techno and electro.

They’ve been away since 2007, honing and creating their sound into a new full length work that will surely re-wire the sound of indie-electro crossover in 2011. They dropped new album ‘I love You, Dude’ this week on Cooperative Music and are gearing up for a busy summer ahead of them – with this in mind, DT thought it would be the perfect time to re-introduce you to this innovative and driving duo, as they step up to be the next subject of our DT Podcast.

Headman provides the latest RA Podcast, a ravetastic mix featuring Hot Chip, Cut Copy, an electric Daft Punk remix and the latest Headman single Moisture.

Five years ago Headman, real name Robi Insinna released his first artist album ‘It Rough’ on Munich’s Gomma label. The LP was one of the first of the post-punk-funk sound combing dancefloor production with the raw edge of an indie band. Now on his third album ‘On’ released in March this year, Headman continues to mix guitars and beats, collaborating with friends such as Steph from Soulwax, Matt from The Rapture and Erol Alkan who all provide vocals on the new release.

RA caught up with Headman on the road during a recent North American tour…

What have you been working on recently?
I have just finished a few remixes, the last one is for a band called the Valentinos from Australia. I have to do some more. I’m doing my own mixes for the Headman 12 inches. I did one for Moisture and I’m working on the next one…

Where was the mix recorded?
While on tour, in Toronto.

What are you up to next?
Next up is mixing the Relish Records label compilation and preparing the compilation EP. I’m working on loads of Relish releases coming up after September.

Since the early 1990s, Orphx (Rich Oddie and Christina Sealey) have been creating and exploring a grey area between techno, industrial, and electro-acoustic music. Using analog synthesizers, software, feedback systems, and homemade instruments, Oddie and Sealey draw upon the darker tendencies of techno, electro, and dub, and combine these elements with the experimental aesthetics of early industrial music.

Terence Fixmer’s sound, which deftly avoids repetition by developing soundscapes that appeals to the club crowd, whilst still maintaining musical depth and integrity. Sombre, defined by surging rhythmical structures, Terence’s music appeals as much to dancingfeet, as it does to the searching soul. He above all preserves an original style, an increasingly experimental, simultaneously ruthless and unrelenting interpretation of modern Techno, instantly recognizable.

With his new lonplayer ‘Comedy Of Menace’ Terence Fixmer created a true techno album, with an instantly recognizable pure sound and a deep and dark atmosphere throughout. The Album is, in many ways, hypnotizing and mental, yet keeps the energy and effectiveness for the dancefloor. Besides the Album release in September, the EP ‘Comedy Of Menace pt1.’ will be released with a Planetary Assault System mix.

New remixes done for Niederflur, for Traversable Wormhole on Chris Liebing’s CLR and Echologist aka Brendon Moeller will appear in the coming months. On Top, his EP on Tiga’s Turbo will hit in november .

In summary: Two solo albums on Gigolo, DJ Hell’s mythical Munich-based label; the seminal “Muscle Machine” (1999) that single-handedly spearheaded a new style, “techno body music” (a unique combination of modern techno and EBM of the founding fathers from Nitzer Ebb to Front 242); copious maxis on prestigious labels, such as Gigolo, Novamute, Datapunk, Different, Music Man; and remixes for various techno gods, from Sven Väth to Dave Clarke, DJ Hell, Speedy J & Radio Slave…

As the year concludes, we find ourselves taking a wistful look back at the music that’s been produced and launched forth over the last twelve months. From a list of thousands we filtered it down to hundreds, and finally down to the forty that made the End Of Year polls. Whether you agree with the choices or not, it’s hard to argue the quality line-up compiled for this download album, an exclusive extract of those very choices.
In association with AllSaints and Clash, these are fourteen tracks that exemplify 2010′s place in music history.
Download, enjoy, and dance your merry way into January.

LCD Soundsystem – All I Want

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/01 I Can Change (Live).mp3
So farewell, then, James Murphy. After helping to redefine dance music in the Noughties via LCD Soundsystem the DFA don has decided to pack up and move to pastures new. Confirming a farewell tour with Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem leave on a high with ‘This Is Happening’. Rightly acclaimed, James Murphy’s production has rarely been so searching, so emotive and so self-assured. A vital album from a truly seminal group.

Chrome Hoof – Crystalline

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/02%20Crystalline.mp3
Electro-rock is a much abused term. Away from the world of Delphic, Two Door Cinema Club & Co. sit the adventurous sonic explorations of Chrome Hoof. Taking the genre to mean ‘electronic rock’ the multi-limbed London collective melt synths down into sparkling new shapes. Returning with their new album ‘Crush Depth’ the band have honed their often bewildering material into something approaching coherency. The sudden twists and time signature changes are still there, but Chrome Hoof simply have more light and shade, more depth to their experimentation.

High Places – Can’t Feel Nothing

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/03%20Can_t%20Feel%20Nothing%20remix.mp3
Originally from Brooklyn, High Places are an example of the exploration going on in American music right now. The duo mix acoustic instruments with electronic loops, abandoning buzz terms for something more worthwhile. New album ’High Places vs Man Kind’ was ambitious both in a sonic sense and its apparent need to retain a common humanity. Rightly praised, High Places are almost impossible to classify yet difficult to discount.

Lissie – In Sleep (Live)

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/04%20In%20Sleep.mp3
From Marianne Faithful to Cat Power, female songwriters have matched stunning beauty with tender songwriting. The next in that illustrious line could well be Lissie, whose debut album ‘Catching A Tiger’ is a deeply honest vision of Americana. Moving from alt country to sweet 60s pop, Lissie’s debut album is more than a mere conglomerate of styles. Rather, what emerges is a unique voice gathering together component parts. A stunning first step, ‘Catching A Tiger’ is made all the more effective by hinting at the glories which could follow.

The Phantom Band – Walls

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/05%20Walls.mp3
Enshrined as a hub of indie pop, Glasgow can be a tough place for guitar groups. The Phantom Band are about as far away from twee as it is possible to get, with their second album ‘The Wants’ being a Krautrock inspired journey through exhausting emotional terrain. Somehow eclipsing their critically acclaimed debut album, The Phantom Band have also opened up new avenues for exploration. Drenched in stark, folk derived influences what emerges as a brave, distinct new voice.

Matthew Dear – Slowdance

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/06%20Slowdance.mp3
Techno is built on maverick spirits. Attracted to Michigan to be closer to techno’s Motorik roots, Matthew Dear is one of the most strikingly out there talents in dance music. Signed to Ghostly International, the producer returned this year with the nightmare oscillations of ‘Black City’. Easily his most accomplished work to date, Matthew Dear effortlessly combined the physical with the ethereal in an expression of 21st century gloom.

Perfume Genius – Mr Peterson

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/07%20Mr%20Peterson.mp3
A Seattle based solo artist, Perfume Genius specialises in the kind of skin crawling songwriting Nick Cave is capable of producing. With the same gleefully lo-fi attitude to production as a young Beck, Perfume Genius crafts material which is unexpectedly bizarre. ‘Mr Peterson’ is a twisted song about lost youth, spend in the company of a mentor who introduces the songwriter to weed and Joy Division. The homoerotic – even paedophilic – undertones are too strong to ignore, with the track ending in Mr Peterson’s suicide. Chilling, and difficult to forget.

Max Richter – Journey 1

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/08%20Journey%201.mp3
A classically trained composer, German born Max Richter is one of the few genuinely unclassifiable artists working today. Moving between electronic composition and daring avant garde pieces the producer is passionate about breaking down barriers between styles, genres and disciplines. Returning with ‘Infra’ Max Richter has once again challenged both himself and the listener, pushing his thought provoking compositions into new and exciting areas.

Walls – Gaberdine

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/09%20Gaberdine.mp3
An internet fuelled success story, London duo Walls released a handful of free downloads last year. Attracting the attention of German imprint Kompakt, the duo were able to work on a full length album. Glitchy techno, Walls absorb a diverse set of influences while still retaining their own voice. That rare beast, a side project which overshadows its parents, will Walls match demand for more material?

Avi Buffalo – What’s In It For?

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/10%20What_s%20In%20It%20For_.mp3
One of the year’s most prominent newcomers, Sub Pop signings Avi Buffalo do a neat line in intelligent post-Shins songsmithery. Hailing from California, the group have sunshine pouring through their music but it is a wrought with the darkness often associated with the West Coast. Alt rock noir, the band’s self-titled debut album has been justifiably lauded as one of the finest efforts.

The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/11%20American%20Slang.mp3With the rise of groups such as Animal Collective, Gang Gang Dance et al there is a danger that simple, American blue collar rock could be forgotten about. Not with The Gaslight Anthem around, though, with the New Jersey group blasting back with their new album ‘American Slang’. Indebted to Springsteen’s legacy, The Gaslight Anthem add a punk urgency to the American liberal tradition. A hard working band for hard working times.

Male Bonding – Year’s Not Long

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/12%20Year_s%20Not%20Long.mp3What with the deluge of indie rock emerging from the United States its easy to ignore groups closer to home. Male Bonding hail from Dalston and despite sounding like Husker Du trapped in reverb drenched cathedral epitomise a new confidence in British guitar music. Debut album ‘Weird Feelings’ was striking, confused and deeply inspiration.

Maps & Atlases – Solid Ground

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/13%20Solid%20Ground.mp3Though their initial EPs marked them out as math rock stylists, Maps & Atlases broke down those preconceptions on their debut album ‘Perch Patchwork’. Sure, there is still plenty of math in there but above all Maps & Atlases are striving to find their own sound. Deeply ambitious, ‘Perch Patchwork’ was a triumph of new ideas and classic soundwriting, with Maps & Atlases balancing the two with rare grace and understanding.

No Age – Glitter

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/14%20Glitter.mp3
Sure ’Nouns’ was a good album, maybe even a great one but ‘Glitter’ took No Age into entirely new dimensions. Adding a sampler, a hell of a lot of feedback and an increasing sense of daring and the Los Angeles duo were able to cough up their finest work yet. Mixing electronics with post-hardcore riffs, No Age never forget the human dimension, wearing their hearts on their sleeves in a sentimental yet entirely unforced way.

From his label, Ghostly International:

Its drums are militant, its pace is unswerving, and the squarewave synths that start falling like mortar shells are searing and wide-eyed.
Then there’s the marbled voice of Dear himself, pent-up and sexually charged, beckoning you for a ride in his “big black car.

Is it hot in here, or is it just us?

The track has nothing in common with the fantastic “I Put a Spell on You” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (aside from the sexual tension), but that’s no reason to pass up a good thing.

READ : Gilb’R – Tsugi covermount mix CD – track by track commentary by Gilb’R (in french)

The time-traveling producer brings out a funk-filled selection for the RA podcast.

Space Dimension Controller was born sometime in the 24th century. Lucky for us, then, that he traveled back in time, crashed his Electropod and has been stuck here for just long enough to release some of the finest and funkiest electro-tinged records of 2010. (That, or he’s Jack Hamill, a young Belfast producer obsessed with hardware.) SDC’s sound may be retro-tinged, but it has excited everyone from Kyle Hall (who remixed SDC on Clone’s Royal Oak) to Josh Wink to the brains behind legendary techno label R&S. The latter will likely put out SDC’s debut full-length next year. To tide us over, SDC has found time in between repairs on his Electropod, filling in for Tensnake at our ADE party this year when the Hamburg producer found himself with wisdom tooth troubles and otherwise touring around the world on old-fashioned airplanes to put together a mix that stitches together his own tracks with a healthy dose of (mostly) old school treats.

What have you been up to recently?

Since narrowly avoiding death by sending myself back in time to the year 2010, I’ve just been enjoying myself on Planet Earth. Of course, I need to get back to my own time, but unfortunately my Electropod was damaged when I crash landed on Earth. I’m trying to fix it, but there are so many distractions here… So many synthesizers and other hardware that I could never obtain in the future are easily accessible and, with all this access to amazing equipment, I just finished my debut EP for the label R&S. Along with the EP, I’ve also just done a remix of Model 500 for R&S and a remix of Anthony Shakir for Rush Hour. The annoying thing is that I had already been in contact with R&S from the future and had a whole album’s worth of music aboard my main vessel, but that will have to stay there until I fix my time travel device and I can send it back to them for Earth to enjoy.

How and where was the mix recorded?

The mix was recorded aboard my Electropod which is docked in my secret base in an uncharted area of the Atlantic Ocean. I used my laptop, various machines and hardware effects plus a few old mixers to give it a real gritty feel.

Can you tell us a little bit more about your idea behind the mix?

I didn’t want it to be just another laptop mix, so I kind of treated it like I treat my own tracks when was making it. I like scrutinising tiny details and starting to loop tracks out of nowhere, then bringing in a drum machine or two or filter a tiny bit here and there. I don’t like things being repetitive for too long, which could be seen as a bad thing if you’re playing a set in a club, but I don’t really care. I’d rather do what feels right in my head even if it means the dance floor gets angry because I cut out of a track before it even gets to the peak time full support bangerschnerden bit.

What are you up to next?

Depending on how long I’m back in your time, I might end up making another single for R&S before I fix my time travel device. Once I’m back in the year 2352, I’ll make sure to send my album back in time for R&S to release it to the world. Those guys at R&S really are the best and they know exactly what’s going down. They have made my stay here on this primitive, yet funky planet so much easier. I’m a complicated man, but no one understands me like my synthesizers.

Drums Of Death’s Generation Hexed has confirmed suspicions that the Scottish voodoo-electro producer and singer-songwriter was set to be one of the UK’s most innovative and exciting electronic stars. A riot of a debut album, it boldly displays his quirky songwriting style alongside a torrent of rowdy riffs and rave heritage, and it’s been acclaimed across the board.

We can’t wait ‘til he rips up our Halloween Party at London’s Silver Bullet on Friday 29th October with his raucous live set – make sure you secure your space in the intimate venue by buying an advance ticket for £5 from www.datatransmission.co.uk/party and enjoy his special DT Podcast, featuring upfront bassy goodness, gruff electro, house classics and a bit of Gil Scott to finish. We told you he was dangerous…

You are listening to my live set from Space in Ibiza from the end of July 2010. If you have not been to the island, you have the chance to experience the great vibe the place has to offer. It is a one hour set which will get you in the best mood to be your mischevious self! Don’t sit back and relax, you’d better clean up your living room and put your dancing shoes on!

MP3 / 320 Kbps / 2:02:52

Biography

France’s most wanted radio host and selector, Ivan Smagghe stands at the crossroads between glamorous parisian hype and musical integrity. 

His Test radio show and compilations imposed a new vision of leftfield electronica on Radio Nova and his programming for the two past years has been a faultless example of quality eclecticness. Though Smagghe hails from the early days of the Parisian underground – both through his connection with the defunct Rough Trade record shop and remixing contributions on various formats – he came back to music production in 2001 by launching his own Set imprint.

Allez-Allez present a diverse array of approved cuts alongside an interview with Luke Abbott (Border Community).

The second installment of our weekly podcasts featuring interviews, mixes and musings… Sam Willis and Steve Nolan host the first of the Allez-Allez monthly shows on Bleep and take you through their selection on electronic, guitar, and disco cuts. Joining them is Border Community’s Luke Abbott who talks synths, Brian Eno, Krautrock, his influences and his recording processes.

Vive le Smagghe! The French DJ/producer/label boss turns in a selection of dance floor treats for the RA podcast.

Ivan Smagghe comes from an older school of DJing: Gloriously eclectic, unafraid of a wild jump in tempo, selfishly confident in his crate in the best way possible. It most certainly stems from his days at Rough Trade, educating Parisian record buyers to all manners of electronic (and otherwise) music. Since Smagghe transitioned to DJing and producing full-time, he’s been stunningly prolific, churning out iconic mix CDs, guiding Kill the DJ to international prominence and bringing his open-minded sensibility to audiences around the world. For his RA podcast, he spans old and new in a set that you might find him playing at peak-time during his upcoming all night gig in London. Until…well, we won’t spoil it for you.

What have you been up to recently?

Quite a bit actually. We’ve moved the It’s a Fine Line studio, which was quite a piece of work. Analog gear is nice but… We should be getting back to work soon now. In the meantime, I did a solo remix for French label Remain, something I have not done in ages. Also, French fashion emporium have just released a super limited promo CD of edits of mine, some taken from my blog, some not.

How and where was the mix recorded?

At home, involving the usual mish-mash of techniques, from scratchy old vinyl dusted off the shelves to the latest Traktor Plugs from Native Instruments. (Am waiting for the Kontrol S4.)

Can you tell us a little bit more about the idea behind the mix?

An idea? Hmmmm…

Think of it as a machine made out of cables all pulling out in different directions and me just trying to maintain the equilibrium, playing with the tension. I’m not really one for the 60 minutes tunnel, but it still has to have some kind of coherence, if not an “idea” or a theme. Not that simple when you want to have the old, the new, a bit of yours and some of your close guard, the electronic dark disco and the strange rock (I’m quite happy to have included a 140 BPM rockfish ending this time), the straight hypnotic feel and the rickety funk… To make it short, it’s about trying to give an idea of yourself in 60 minutes. If that’s possible…

You recently started a blog. Why?

It’s the best way I’ve found to do “online” communication, MySpace and Facebook not being my kind of thing. (Some weird fans are doing that for me, even quite badly). Just a bit more personal than the rest… I actually started with two other blogs, for books and movies, then thought about doing it for the music…

We’ve been told you’re into magic. What’s your best trick?

Do magicians talk about their tricks? Hmmm… My best one may well be still being around though…

What are you up to next?

I’ll be in the States and Mexico for Halloween. Getting back in the studio with IAFL as I said… We are going to produce Battant’s second album, As I Ride with No Horse. Also busy with my label Kill The DJ (it’s our ten year anniversary next year). We’re launching a year-long series of digital releases. First are remixes from Chloe’s album by Magda, Alex Smoke, George Issakidis, Jenifer Cardini and Plein Soleil; then there will be a 12-inch by RMVN, a collaboration between Roman Flugel and myself. Remixes of Battant by Capracara and Tim Holmes, a 12-inch by Clement Meyer, etc. Loooooads of stuff.

Macro’s techno-rockers go live on this week’s RA podcast.

In his review of Elektro Guzzi‘s eponymous debut album, RA’s Richard Carnes remarked that the trio were “one of the most unconventional 4/4 outfits of current times,” and it’s not difficult to see why. Comprised of guitarist Bernhard Hammer, bassist Jakob Schneidewind and drummer Bernhard Breuer, the Vienna-based musicians formed five years ago in order to create groove-based music with rock instrumentation.

The members covered noise, dub and jazz in their previous outfits, and they bring all of these influences to the table, along with a heavy dose of techno and Krautrock, as Elektro Guzzi. The album sees Austrian electronic music legend Patrick Pulsinger helm the mixing desk, although the band are adamant that they use no overdubs, laptops or loops when they record.

The album’s clinical sound suggests that the trio are very much at home when they play live, and we’re sure that particular part of their reputation will be compounded once you listen to them action on this week’s RA podcast. Taken from one of their live sets earlier this year, the whole recording is one long continuous groove, Schneidewind and Breuer locking into their typically tight rhythm while Hammer builds the atmosphere and rhythmic interplay. Our advice? Take this one for a ride on headphones. It’s one RA podcast that demands a close listen.

What have you been working on recently?

We have been recording some new tracks and a studio-live set in London with Brandon “Octave” Harding which was a great experience for us. We were also playing music composed by Stefan Goldmann for a ballet performance at the Time Warp festival. And, of course, we have been playing a lot of live concerts to present our new album in clubs like fabric and Berghain.

Can you explain a little bit about your live set-up? How much of your performance is improvisational?

We play with drums, bass and guitar and do not use any prepared loops or computers. We create everything in the moment of performance and push the sonic boundaries of our instruments, using effect pedals and preparations on our instruments. When we started Elektro Guzzi, the concept was to perform completely improvised, but over the years we developed towards using more fixed patterns and sounds. Structure and form are still improvised and therefore different every time we play.

When forming the group, did you have a pre-conceived idea of what it should be?

Yes, we wanted to play techno with our instruments and with all the things we learned over the years about producing different sounds with our instruments. Through using them in a different way we found enough material to let our music sound very special.
Some of the album sounds like techno but played with a live band. What sort of electronic music do you enjoy listening to?

As a band we listen to a lot to techno, dub and experimental electronic music, but also African and Brazilian music. To name just a few artists: Jeff Mills, Basic Channel, Underground Resistance, Cristian Vogel, Carl Craig, Rhythm & Sound…

How come it’s taken you so long to get material out?

Because we are perfectionists and it was a long time before all of us were satisfied with the material. We wanted to get to a point where we really got our very own and special sound, so we had to spend a lot of time in the rehearsal room.

How did you come to the decision to work with Patrick on the album? Was it his idea to send it to Macro?

We did a few other projects and live performances with Patrick before, so we already knew each other. We asked him if he wanted to work on the album with us and he was very enthusiastic about the project. It was a great collaboration for us because he really shaped the sound and gave it the perfect room. We were searching for a label that has an open-minded policy and that does releases on vinyl. We read an article about Macro in a magazine, sent them a demo and they wanted to release the record.

What are you up to next?

This summer we are going to work on new material for the next album, which we hope to release in 2011. We will finish the tracks that we’ve already recorded and will try to release them by the end of this year. Most importantly, we are going to play a lot of live concerts to take the music to the next level.

Tigersushi bosses Joakim and Mattias get in the mix together on this week’s RA podcast.

This week sees the release of Tigersushi’s More G.D.M. X double-disc collection. It’s a celebration of the ten years that have passed since Joakim and schoolmate Charles Hagelsteen first founded the Tigersushi.com website and, soon after, inaugurated the record label of the same name. They started by reissuing classic tracks from the likes of Psychic TV, Cluster, Terrence Parker and Material alongside new material from Metro Area, Maurice Fulton and John Tejada on the first More G.D.M. compilation. Much like Joakim’s own music, the label has brought together rock and dance influences into a coherent vision, with dance-punkers Panico sitting happily on the roster alongside DyE’s experimental electro and quirky house.

Joakim’s brother Mattias started to work at Tigersushi in 2005, following his graduation from a photography school in Brussels. He’s gone on to become the label manager’s and occasional snapper, but he’s also known for his deft touches behind the decks, DJing solo as Mattias and also alongside Space Oddities curator Alexis Le Tan and Vidal Benjamin under their Tigersushi Bass System moniker.

This week’s RA podcast sees Joakim and Mattias come together for a rare back-to-back recording, which manages to meander through electronic disco, house, techno, electro and even a bit of dubstep in just over an hour. We spoke to the pair of them to ask about the mix, Tigersushi Bass System and their previous history behind the decks.

What have you both been working on recently?

Mattias Bouaziz: Releasing records! More G.D.M. X (10 Years Compilation), new signings Nakion and Maestro, new Panico material, a split 7-inch with Optimo. Also setting up a tour for the ten years with all the crew.

How and where was the mix recorded?

MB: It was recorded on hot afternoon in Paris, at Joakim’s studio.

Can you tell us a little bit about the mix?

MB: This is a kind of megamix, isn’t it? Western influenced with slices of East.

Joakim Bouaziz: Yes, and basically we made the mix back-to-back, both of us choosing one song after one another.

Have you DJed together much in the past?

MB: Not so much. Actually, it’s the first time.

JB: True. But we’ll be doing a few gigs together for the ten year anniversary tour. In Nottingham and Bristol this month for instance.

What are Tigersushi Bass System up to at the moment?

MB: I think they are digging somewhere…

JB: Tigersushi Bass System is Mattias, Alexis Le Tan and Vidal Benjamin (and me). Alexis and Vidal are simply the craziest record diggers in Paris. They can drive hundreds of kilometers on a weekend to go to a specific flea market where they hope to find amazing rare records for a few bucks.

Your recent compilation celebrates ten years of Tigersushi. Do you have any particularly fond memories from your decade in the game?

MB: Guess so… I’m really happy to have met the P.O.G. and for all the time spent with them and beyond, Guillaume Teyssier and his dreamy cat Loubavitch, Poni Hoax and the she-males, Panico the Hispanic and Benicassim the wild epic, August 7th, 2005, DyE and his Nikes, Sir Alice and her unruly hair. Not already happened: a big Tigersushi warehouse rave in Toulouse on June 25th.

JB: I’m definitely looking forward to that “rave” too. We’ll try to launch Summer Of Love 2010 with me versus Jackson, George Issakidis (the love minister), Tigersushi Bass System and DyE.

What are you up to next?

MB: The music will tell…

Here’s what he had to say about this special mix he’s done for us:

“Artists are always asked some mix for radio shows, webzines…short ones, then longer ones, then… there’s always a new brief to make what finally appears to be quite the same thing. This project I’ve been working on for a while is different, at least to me: it’s my own Yuksek mix.

As I’m about to finish the “Away From The Sea” tour, I wanted to make a review of all the things that happened to me last years: all the people I met, the collaborations I had the chance to do, the artists I discovered and liked….

I started with the remixes I did this 3 last years, and added to the remixes other artists and friends made of my own tracks.

Hope you enjoy it people!”

Yuksek’s new EP with Brodinski as The Krays feat. Ebony Bones We’re Ready When You Are! Is out now on new label Abracadabra.

Martin Eyerer has been a DJ for 20 years – and just as many years a producer, label owner, radio show producer. Throw in his two young children and it seems that the energy never leaves his side. Martin Eyerer is not a laptop artist, but a true musician. His high-end studio meets the highest requirements and has become an interdisciplinary interface for mastering.

As an important platform for his music Martin Eyerer has founded his own labels – Kling Klong and Session Deluxe. Due to the conscientious release policy Martin Eyerer was able to establish an independent sound between electro, minimal and tech-house on Kling Klong and more housy and underground on Session Deluxe.

Whether collaborations, solo works, remixes or compilations, all his works appear almost monthly on dance-floor dominating labels, like Kling Klong, Systematic, Audiomatique, Great Stuff, Kickboxer… The most unbelievable aspect of this is the variety of styles Martin Eyererstands for. There is no segment from Deep House to Minimal Techno that the man is not in control of…

With his street smart and club savvy mix of syncopated and pumping Latin rhythms, Caribbean bottom end, disco and electro flourishes, Diego Morales embodies much of what has come to define the style of MATHIAS AGUAYO’S Cómeme collective.

Performing as part of the special live band on the festival’s NOCTURNE 1, DIEGORS the DJ, will kick off the festivities with a fat Latin disco set replete with crisp hand claps, sizzling riffs, and serious dancefloor grinders.

Hi Manu- how are you today?

I’m fine thanks, tired but fine.

What prompted you to start Abracada?

It’s part of a global project, and also a teenage dream. Abracada is the last (sic) part of the global Savoir Faire project.

Your first release is a collaborated effort from the Krays (Yuksek and Brodinksi) and Ebony Bones- how did this release come about?

It’s a 100% natural collaboration, the project came from the artists. Pierre and Louis have been working together for a while, and they had this idea to work on a more funky track. Then Ebony asked them to do a remix of one of her tracks. The idea of a swap came immediatley and Ebony was really excited about this Krays project.

You have a pretty hectic work schedule- running the Social Club in Paris and managing acts like Das Pop, how do you find time to do everything?

I’m quite a workaholic, but I was lucky enough to have the chance to do exactly what I was dreaming to do since I was 15. But honestly this question is a bit rough for me because, I’m also Daddy and Husband, and I know that I dont spend enough time with them. So it’s quite a rough question for me.

What do you think is the most important skill when managing a label?

Always keep music, creation and art in the centre of the story, never create a fake story for a marketing reason, and share all that stuff with nice people. Abracada is a real collective project, with Dirk of course as co- A&R but with the whole team Lydie, Thibaut, Manaré… and with the artists. It’s one of the main ideas of the project : most of the artists we plan to work with are really involved in the project, we dont spend time on myspace or other web link to find the brand nu cool stuffs, it’s 100% human.

What advice would you give to budding producers out there looking to get signed?

Stay an artist, stay a musician, work on the music you really feel, you really love …. and never follow the leader. Create your own movement, your own style! And of course be patient. Most of the great stuff I love is done by people who have spent hours and hours, even years and years working on their project. I’m in love with the young generation, I fell really close to them and I always try to give them the time to work well.

What does the next year hold for Abracada?

It’s a secret… :) We’re working on the Autumn collection, I really like this idea of seasonal collections. Personally I dont want to listen the same music if it’s 40° on the beach, or if it’s a rainy November morning. We already have some ideas but I prefer to wait a bit before to talk about them.

Finally- can you describe your label in three words?

Young, Young, Young.

K-ohm, invité d’honneur de la Psykofunk #1, fait parti de ceux-là. Intègre, passionné et perfectionniste, son nom commence à retentir comme une bouffée d’air frais dans une atmosphère contaminée par la grippe porcine… Rencontre sonore avec ce personnage qui nous offre, au travers de ce mix réalisé en exclusivité pour Jekyll et Hyde lors de son passage à Paris, un vaste étendu de son talent, ENJOY !

His selection of crunching, techno-infused hip-hop and dubstep-not-dubstep was a revelation, presaging the sound of Rustie, Hud Mo et al that we now all take for granted. Later, when we told him how much we enjoyed the set, he said, “Yeah, I was DJing with one deck because I lost one of my Serato records in my house the weekend before and I forgot - it was a fucking nightmare. Glad you enjoyed it though.”

That kind of sums up why we like the guy, and why we asked to him record a FACT mix for us. Fast-forward to 2010 and Numbers – the Glasgow-based label and party collective co-founded by Spencer – has become something of a phenomenon, the toast of everyone from The Guardian to (probably) Oprah. Combining the forces of Wireblock, Stuff and Dress 2 Sweat, what makes Numbers and its personnel special is the breadth and depth of their tastes. Though always on the look-out for the new thing, their sensibility is anchored in ageless techno, electro and hip-hop; the championing of upfront b-more, grime, dubstep, juke and funky doesn’t come at the cost of repping heroes like Juan Atkins, Kraftwerk and Drexciya. Numbers, and particularly Spencer, know where they’re coming from.

Spencer’s FACT mix is therefore a kaleidoscopic and history-hopping affair, packing thirty deadly tracks into a taut hour-long duration. Midwest sci-fi classics like Cybotron’s ‘Cosmic Cars’ and Mr Fingers’ ‘Distant Planet’ can be found alongside fresh dubstep and UK house from Sully, Altered Natives, Addison Groove and Mosca, and a glut of new and forthcoming Numbers cuts from Deadboy, Kavsrave, SRC and Taz Buckfaster. What more do you need to know? We can guarantee you’ll find no better soundtrack than this for the scorching weekend ahead.

Sharam Jey has a long and proud history in dance music. He’s never been one of those A-list names, but from the cooler blend of groovy trance he touted in the late ‘90s (as Billy Hendrix) to the groovy house of Shake It in 2003 to the electro-disco of the mid-2000s up to his present day, he’s got a lot to be proud of. With a new album, In My Blood, out now, we thought it was about time to get a Podcast from him – and his mix of hooky electro grooves and upfront disco is a real peak-time thriller.

Sum up this podcast in 10 words…
From edgy funky new disco sounds to banging electroclash beats.

What’s your personal favourite track on it?
That is difficult to tell. Usually I build up my live sets from a more deep-funky sound at the beginning over to more danceable stuff to heat up the crowd up to some banging eletrco tunes to finally hit them on the head and make them scream for more.

And with this mix I tried to put all these emotions in just a 1-hour-mix. So this is so to say the essence of my sets. But If I would need to name one it would be of course my current single Army Of Men with Cornelia on vocals which is taken from ym new album In My Blood. Remixed by Disco Trash Music, some talented guys from Germany

What’s the special ingredient in this mix?
As I said with this mix I try to range from Blondie-like disco-elements with some hymnic vocal tracks to pumping sounds to get people in the right mood for a nice night out in the club. Plus you will get some nice gimmicks like some old school ’80s samples newly interpreted.

What’s the best gig you’ve played recently?
The last 3 months I was fully engaged with my album in the studio and office. Now the album is out I am ready to hit the clubs on a worldwide tour again.

But one of my most memorable gigs was the Hultsfred-Festival in Sweden last year where I was the only DJ among just rockbands like The Strokes or The Babyshambles. I also enjoyed palying in front of 20,000 people at Tomorrowland in Belgium also last year. You can have a look at it on YouTube.

What have you got coming up?
Well, the highlight recently has been the release of my new album In My Blood. It features some great tunes like Monday Morning with Princess Superstar. She already loved the original instrumental club version and she had the idea do vocals on it. The track The Things features Tommie Sunshine on vocals. Honestly I was a sceptical on this but the result just blows me away.

Currently as I said Army Of Men is out as a single with remixes by Arthur Baker TAI, Dirty Disco Youth and more and a video that is just eye candy.

The next single will be “Hearts Of Stone” featuring Andreas Hogby who is the singer of Swedish rockband Torpedo. I got to know him from the director of both the “Monday Morning” and the “Army Of Men” videos. He told me about that rock guy who would like to go a bit more electronic with his music and wanted to sound like my productions. So he quickly agreed to do a song on the album and the collaboration was cut and dried.

And finally, do you have a special message for our readers?
Be positive, stay true to yourself and have fun in what you are doing…  And of course support my album as I have put lots of endless nights and passionate work in it…

Thanks!

Eric Estornel, under the names MAETRIK, MARIEL ITO, MACEO PLAEX, and simply ESTORNEL – has been contributing to his musical world around him since 1993. Always searching for the future of electronic dance, Eric has never let himself be confined by the rules of styles or genres as he makes his way through such a political and fickle industry. As a Cuban American, Eric has always been around music. His father was a salsa musician and enthusiast, and at a very early age Eric became fascinated with musical composition and began experimenting with different acoustic and electronic instruments. In 1991 at the age of 14 Eric discovered electronic music from a local radio show. Quickly Eric grew infatuated with the electronic sounds and intricate percussion and grew more and more fascinated with the Dj culture and Production side of the industry. By 1993 Eric was experimenting with mixxing music of many styles and quickly became a major vinyl junkie and techno enthusiast with a broad knowledge and love for all forms of electronic music, not just techno. By 1995 Eric was a known and respected young local DJ , when he really focused on his talents in his production. Collecting and toying with different cheap synthesizers and drum machines and emulating his idols from Aphex Twin to Maurizio. And by 96 he was already developing his unique blend of techno and electro. Fast foward to present day, Eric with all of his different sudonyms has released a very large catalog of singles and albums on labels like Mothership, Dumb Unit, Resopal, Sender, Treibstoff, Modern Love, Morris Audio, AI, Immigrant, Sub Static, Scsi Av, Onitor, etc… etc…

Having remixed the likes of Boys Noize, Felix da Housecat and Digitalism, a remix album was a palpable choice.

‘Teppan-Yaki’ A collection of remixes is out on Southern Fried now.

We don’t know much about Sully. Most people don’t. Discogs claims he’s one half of drum’n’bass duo Spectrasoul, but this might not be true [edit - it's definitely not true].

What we do know about Sully is that he’s something special. Nicknamed the King of Swing amongst dubstep heads that know, his ‘Phonebox’ single from 2008 is one of FACT’s very favourite dancefloor jams of the past few years, and it’s one of several underground, overlooked bangers to Sully’s name.

The next step in the Sully story takes the form of a 12″ for Martin ‘Blackdown’ Clark’s Keysound label, who also have released / will be releasing singles by Skream, LHF, Kowton and Zomby. “Sully is a really key artist for me”, Clark told FACT in a recent interview.

“With all the talk about garage and the new hybrids of it … his ‘The Loot Remix’ is speed garage but ‘In Some Pattern’ is a perfect example of how you can have a swung 2step framework but go in completely different directions with it, in this case part 80s electro part detuned synth/purple wow.” Both tracks are featured on the aforementioned 12″.

Anyone with half an interest in swinging, percussive garage and gorgeous, enveloping melodies should have a full interest in Sully’s FACT mix – it features new, untitled productions from your man, plus fresh material from Kowton, Sbtrkt and more.

The producer behind RA’s #1 album of 2009 starts off the year with an acoustic-electro ambient mix.

Terre Thaemlitz, AKA DJ Sprinkles, AKA G.R.R.L., AKA Kami-Sakunobe House Explosion K-S.H.E, AKA Social Material, AKA Teriko, AKA Terre’s Neu Wuss Fusion, is something of a polymath. After moving to New York in the mid-’80s and getting bit by the house music bug, Thaemlitz adopted the aforementioned Sprinkles guise and quickly found a place via idiosyncratic DJing that combined the undeniable glamour of house music and “challenging, elaborated structures” as Thaemlitz bio puts it.

It was a combination that didn’t exactly make for populist sets, to say the least. But in listening to mixes since, you can tell that Sprinkles knows how to party. Nonetheless, this alienation from the house scene found its way back into Thaemlitz’s music at various points—most powerfully as part of Midtown 120 Blues—but the RA podcast prepared for us is largely geared towards the voluminous work done under Thaemlitz name. Encompassing tracks that Thaemlitz has dubbed “acoustic-electro ambient,” like The Orb‘s first podcast of 2008, it invites you to start the year slowly, in a contemplative manner.

What have you been working on recently?

For the past four years or so I’ve been working on a new computer music project called “Soulnessless,” which you might categorize as the follow-up to Lovebomb. It is a massive project investigating the limits of the album format in the MP3 era, with a 30 hour piano solo filling a single 4GB MP3 file (the largest currently allowed on Mac & Win according to FAT32 restrictions), an hour-long video DVD of other materials, pages and pages of text and photos in .PDF format… But the end is in sight, as I am working on the video and text now. Hopefully it will be done in the first half of 2010.

How and where did you record the mix?

I mixed it at Meow, my home studio in Kawasaki, using a standard digital audio sequencer.

Can you tell us a little bit about the idea behind the mix?

The mix combines a lot of genres, spanning a lot of years (from the ’70s up to today), and putting in some of my own tracks to show the influences they had on me. I enjoy this kind of cross-genre and cross-era mixing, rather than hammering people with a single genre from a single era. I also wanted it to reflect an electronic sound, but not necessarily digital. It’s quite old-school ambient DJ-ing.

Were you surprised by the reaction to Midtown 120 Blues in comparison to previous work around the same themes? Was the time simply right?

I assume we are not just talking about on RA, but reactions generally. To be frank, the difference this time was business, and I think it would be a mistake to romanticize it as anything else. The album was released through a commercial label with established distribution contacts and promotion. And visibility or chatter do not necessarily equate with sales. So I’m rather detached from it all—not as a jaded bitch, but as a person alienated by labor under capitalism.

For example, none of this has generated interest in my other projects or my own label’s releases, so it really seems quite isolated as a phenomenon of the commercial music industry—connections between labels, distributors, retailers and press. It’s only in critical relation to this context that any of the reactions take on a meaning that is possibly valuable to me. This is not to dismiss the good wishes of individuals. It’s simply positioning those wishes and desires in relation to the commercial processes through which they find expression—which is also how I receive them.

You talk a bit about the house scene in NY during the late ’80s on Midtown 120 Blues. Tell us a bit about what your Deeparama parties in Japan were like.

They were quite different from New York parties in that they were not revolving around sex, cruising or drugs. And, surprisingly or not surprisingly, the biggest difference resulting from these changes was that people were actually listening to the music. I feel conflicted about this sort of situation—about the loss of sexuality versus the gain of listening attentively. The K-S.H.E album Routes Not Roots was made when those parties were running, and really tried to deal with the contradictions of being a white, transgendered, queer DJ playing what is commercially naturalized as black music at an a-sexual event in Japan. But the overall feeling of the events were sincere people who danced for hours on end. Personally, I really enjoyed it. I’m still doing “Deepa-Licious” events in Kyoto once or twice a year, and they’re trying to bring them to Tokyo as well—we had one at Club Module (where Deeperama was held) a few months ago, and will hopefully do that again in 2010.

What are you up to next?

In the first quarter of 2010 there will be some more DJ Sprinkles vinyl releases on Mule (Japan) and Skylax (France). The Berlin-based publisher b_books is also supposed to come out with a book compiling all of my writings (bilingual english/german). Meanwhile, I’m trying to wrap up that damned “Soulnessless” project!

A first-class reference for the closing ‘09 DJL Podcast, a rockin’ dancefloor set with the personality of his author in the whole mix.

Tracklist