Last summer, Funkalicious James’ edit of Janet Jackson – That’s The Way got rinsed on the floors and beaches worldwide by anyone in the know from Soul Clap to Till Von Sein.

Funkalicious James is also one half of the Childhood ‘87 project with Le Loup – their edit of “Caught Up” on our 2nd Aux-Rec 12? outing made some serious commotion in 2010.

This year, he comes back with a full EP for Airdrop. Due out in the spring, it also includes stormer remixes by John Spring and Douze, who just dropped a really hot one on Le Loup & Seuil’s Hold Youth. Funkalicious James will be playing this weekend on Saturday, February 11th, at Airdrop’s winter shindig in Paris.

So in the midst of the year end craze, take a minute to load up Brandub’s latest mix into your iPod. This hour of genuine dubby euphoria lift us many strata away from any superfluous concerns. Brandub applied his craft in his home studio, in the city of Cordoba, Argentina. His debut EP on Airdrop last year displayed Brandub’s inclinations clearly – a warm, comforting sound oscillating between deep house and dub techno.

We also take on this opportunity to announce that Brandub’s next release on Airdrop is now mastered and ready. The ‘Bank Side EP’ features three originals and a Beat Pharmacy take realized by Mr. Brendon Moeller. This project is set for release towards the end of January, bringing an extra layer of warmth in the middle of the cold winter. Kick back and relax!

Hailing from Buenos Aires, he took on many guises over the years, putting out his incredible musical creations, ranging from deep house all the way to experimental techno. We are really proud to send you one of Leonel Castillo‘s many perfect selections, yet so rare to find. Here is a two hours selection of the best current pieces fitting in the Detroit House category.

Studio-side, Leonel Castillo is currently finishing a remix for Brandt Brauer Frick due soon on!K7 Records, alongside another remix by none other than Pepe Bradock… Leonel is also finishing a string of new records to come out this year on Groovear, his own imprint.

Finally, and following on his first US tour in October 2010, Leonel is already announcing to come back to the States in May / June and also planning a European tour for the Fall 2011. Be on the lookout for dates near you!

Paulo : You recently travelled to Japan, on tour… As a black belt Karatekark, we can imagine it wasn’t your first time there. With the Japanese public being one of the most energetic on this planet, your famous rush probably fitted right in!

Ark : I agree! Japanese people share an amazing spirit and I showed off my best Karatekark skills. In exchange, they invited me for the country’s best sashimi.

P : Your new album Arkpokalypse Now was released on Perlon this year. How did your production evolve since Caliente, released on the same label in 2005? On our end, we found the result more bluesy, maybe wiser. Would you be in phase of becoming a kind of House Buddhark?

A : Arkpokalypse Now is definitely quite calmer in its whole. But as my Gran’ma used to tell me… “be wary of sleeping waters” or rather “the calm before the storm”!

P : In true Shivark fashion, you placed your multiple hands in a variety of collaborations with Cabanne, Mr. Oizo, Pepe Bradock… the list is long, but you also produced remixes or were remixed by Salif Keita, Herbert, Akufen, Isolee, LoSoul or Robag Wruhme. Do you have any ongoing collaborations? Do you still hope to work with someone in particular?

A : I just released an EP on Thema, a super label from Brooklyn NY! And I am preparing another one for another Berlin based label. I will also prepare a new album for the end of 201, which will surely feature some special collaborations…

P : A little mouse told us about a documentary being produced about Jules CesArk. Could you tell us a little more?

A : It was actually just released online. You can preview it by clicking here.

P : As the world is about to collapse, who would embark with on your Noah’s Ark?

A : A bunch of animals, so I can prepare myself dinner!

P : Last remaining doubt in my mind : one night with Madonnark or Lady Gagark?

A : Nanark Mouskoury?

Mr. Spring is the man behind a string of records released over the last 8 years on the seminal German label Sub Static (directed by Falko Brocksieper and Cologne’s M.I.A). He develops a variety in sound ranging from the most intricate Techno, to forms of House that call on Mr. Jack in the most respectful manner.

Between then and now, John Spring presented many successful releases on labels like Crosstown Rebels, Resopal or Harthouse, licenced to the likes of Cocoon, DC10 and Four:Twenty. More recently, John Spring has been making a lot of waves as part of an anonym collective… that will stay that way, until further notice!

It is with immense honour that we not only send this new podcast episode to you, but that we also announce that John Spring took over Airdrop’s next record – AD018. It is set for release on the 18th of January 2011 and will laser-beam all your eardrums out.

Enjoy this very spontaneous John Spring mix. It made us tick all the required boxes at once and we are sure it will bring a lot of happiness and warmth to our cold homes!

While the man finishes the last touches of his move from San Francisco to Berlin, packing up his life into one suitcases (or two), he still managed to find some time to put this mix together for us! Be on the lookout for Alland playing close to you in Europe as he will be operating his tour from September to November.

In the meantime, here is an hour of purely magnetic mid-summer 115 unhurried bpm grooves! Enough to leave you completely strapped to your reclining chair, grilling by the cool pool. Kick back some more…

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…

While he greatly misses his Buenos Aires homeland, DIRTY ROOM nevertheless converted Berlin into his very own playground. Getting himself in the craziest adventures, being hunted down by all sorts of creatures… with DIRTY, instant party is a guarantee!! Come check it out for yourself and keep your ears open wide as his new release is already scheduled on Airdrop for the summer.

You surely remember Andres’ key record on Airdrop last year, the timeless ‘Seated Hopping EP’. Well start buckin’ up as we can tell you that the man will be back very soon with a most moving record : the ‘Something In Your Smile EP’. You lucky-lucky ones can actually get a sneek peek of it in this mix! Also present on the mix : Cobblestone Jazz’s new single ‘Chance’ on Wagon Repair / !K7, a Daniel Stefanik bomb and most importantly, an exclusive preview of Lucas Mari’s next record for Greener…

For those of you not yet familiar with it, Greener Records is Andres Zacco’s label. Founded in 2008 the project already counts with releases and remixes by Leonel Castillo, Franco Cinelli, Lineas De Nazca and Kai Maan. Following Castillo’s brilliant El NiÃ’o, Andres has already announced the next Greener release, and surprise-surprise! He will be responsible for him.

To celebrate this string of releases properly, Andres Zacco will be coming to Europe in June 2010 ! This will be a memorable moment for the public as it will be AndrÈs’ first time ever on the old continent…

LE LOUP & FUNKALICIOUS JAMES are the two childhood buddies behind this podcast and the amazing Inner Life edit on AUX02’s B-Side : Caught Up, has been lifting the spirits and elevating the floors over the last few months.

Being born the same year, growing up together and dancing break in their teens, the two rascals share similar ideas develloped here into one historically dense mix.

Raw old-school grooves, gritty house, disco and carefully selected songs à la Moodymann, make up for the perfect blend : calling sunshine into the cold weather, breaking the thick winter cloud layer… (Watch out for Funkalicious James’ edit of Janet Jackson’s “That’s The Way Love Goes”…)

This 35th episode prepared with love, respect and mastery by CHILDHOOD ‘87 is undoubtedly our favourite. Enjoy this soundtrack to an ardent mahogany evening, ’til the little hours.

So many things happened in PUNISHER’s life since then: between flying to countless gigs stateswide, rocking the Hejdrop @ DEMF 2009 and playing Tresor Berlin a couple months ago… dancefloors have been wallopped and ravers punished… And not with any kinda weapons, hot burning wax is PUNISHER’s apparatus of choice.

With releases banged out in 2009 on Airdrop and on Open Concept, the 2010 charger is packed with golden bullets for Pun Pun: a remix on the recently founded Kerohand (K.Hand & Kero’s label – check out the amazing 1st release here), a record on Hej (Punisher’s own) and a European tour planned for Summer 2010… Punishment is upon us!

“2009 was without a doubt the year that Soul Clap’s edits and bootlegs got the worlds attention. The “RnB FreE.P.” is the first installment of Soul Clap’s free music series on our website (www.soulclap.us). This series will showcase unreleased, but dance-floor-tested material for FREE DOWNLOAD. This first release is a special thank you to our fans and supporters this holiday season. With an RnB theme, the FreE.P features reworks & remixes of famed Bostonian Bobby Brown’s late 80’s hit “Humpin Around”, fallen diva Aaliyah’s seductive “Rock The Boat” and 90’s Waco Texas based pop quintet Hi-Five’s “Kissing Game“. Nuff said boys!

On this new AirPod episode, you will find of course previews of both tracks coming out on the AD 013 – Space Cakes EP, but also current jewels by Kasper, Christopher Rau, Kris Wadsworth, Just One Night (Gadi Mizrahi & No Regular Play), or the hit collabo between Sergio, Eli & Charlie – of Soul Clap – and Tanner, SECT! Be really really careful with this, handle it with A LOT of care…

To inaugurate what will be a string of fine, free for download, music, we are sending over to you a little beauty of a remix signed TILL VON SEIN & CHOPSTICK. The first part to this remix work was released in October as part of SOUL CLAP’s Definition EP on Airdrop Records.

Enjoy this second remix which includes the original SOUL CLAP melody present on their intergalactic hit 3 Wheel E-Motion…

Soul Clap – The Definition (Chopstick & Till Von Sein “Turkey Thien” Mix)

This set has been recorded while CRAZY LARRY was on his Las Vegas stop. Picture a lavish yet smutty Vegas downtown cocktail room and yes… this is the perfect soundtrack to it. All time house classics flirt here with new groovy pieces, randy Larry… shaggy!

For those of you who dont know CRAZY LARRY yet, it’s seriously about time you get acquaintened! CRAZY LARRY is one of the hottest deals between both shores: after fine-tuning his amazing live PA which includes all his vintage instruments, he teamed up with PIER BUCCI to form GLACIER, a freezy-frosty tech duo which pops up with releases on MATHEW JOHNSON’s Wagon Repair label.

During WMC in March ‘09, LARRY hosted MATHIAS TANZMANN’s entire Moonharbour label crew for a fantastic celebration. On the occasion of DEMF, May ‘09, he chartered a whole steam boat to host the WHIGNOMY BROTHERS, LUCIANO, LOCO DICE and the INNERVISIONS ORCHESTRA’s after festival sets … on three different decks!

In June 2009, CRAZY LARRY released the “Jenkim EP” on Airdrop Records, featuring two original CL bombs and a ROBERT DIETZ remix , his new record will come out on Hallucination Ltd, DJ THREE’s label and will feature a remix by GLACIER team-mate PIER BUCCI.

It’s always a refreshing delight to dive into what this inventive crazy tornado of a dude is up to and as as you can see 2009 has been a restless year so far for the man. We can only imagine what’s coming up next for him!

FASTER is 21 years old and Romania’s fresh shooting star, playing all the summer festivals in Mamaia and with his buddies Livio & Roby, FASTER is also one of the residents of Bucharest’s hottest spot, Studio Martin… We can remit our trust in his hands for convulsing nights of enraptured grooves and moves!

With a record due on Bloop – the Portuguese label we all admire – and many many more good things in the pipes. FASTER is about to receive all the attention he deserves. We are glad to feature his mix for AirPod that also features some Airdrop Records exclusives!

I am sorry to let you know that following that scheme, logically, the best producers and DJs on this planet aren’t the ones you think or know! However rejoice! Because evidently that’s what keeps it exciting for everyone. It’s a pleasure to introduce you today to one of Argentina’s finest and best kept secret, one to put on top of your list: LUCAS MARI!

The Rosario based artist is no newcomer. He became resident of ‘El Sotano’ – Argentina’s best underground club – in 2002. Along with his friends and resident-mates, Jorge Savoretti, Nico Purman, and Franco Cinelli but also with his dear production partner, Andres Zacco, Lucas Mari has greatly contributed to the construction of a very singular sound, characteristic of Rosario.

We mentionned to Lucas the idea of doing his own AirPod episode. One morning a few weeks later, as we were getting ready to drive up to the mountains the man himself surprised us, sending over this subtle beauty of a mix.

Oscillating between the dub side of techno that is so dear to him, to more housy and classic forms of sound, Lucas gives us a compact preview of his delicate tastes in music. You will be able to enjoy some perfect picks and unheard production by the fantastic producer STL – aka Stephan Laubner, Argentina’s special agent Lexdinamo, or Soulphiction’s brilliant remix of Thomas Brinkmann’s “Isch”.

Be sure to pay a lot of attention to the ending of this mix! Don’t think it ends 5 minutes early… Surprise! And honestly, we have never heard such a stunning and peaceful finale… Lucas Mari plays with the elements… and our feelings…

We all remember how excited he was to be on warm-up duties for such distinguished techno veteran as Mr. D! It was the evening of Wednesday May 6th 2009. Those who know Boston, know how long it takes for the temperature to rise, hence the deep melancholic vibes on this set. An appropriate mood as we all come back from holidays and try not to think about the winter that will be coming so quickly! Check out the outstanding tracklist below, involving some serious Argentine presence.

Comunicando took place on the 21st and 23rd of July 2009 in Naples – see our post here. Restart & Stone fans gathered from the whole region and country to hear them out at the space dedicated to Airdrop Records within the festival – see the pictures here.

Preparing their third release on Airdrop, Restart & Stone + Viesse have previously showed their tectonically-shaking grooves with the A1 EP (which featured a remix by Mirco Violi) and more recently with the Madeja EP, completed with versions by Airdrop’s own Soul Clap and Constar.

Listening to this set, one can easily tell the Restart & Stone and Viesse boys are hard at work, making sure the southern part of the Italian boot properly kicks its heels on the dancefloor!

You probably remember Mr. Dirty from his release on Airdrop (ADDIG008), the Itches EP, on which appeared two of his original bombs as well as remixes by the same crew of accolytes Fase Miusic Sender and Santos “Chuchugas” Resiak as well as a special appearance by Mr. Guti!

The energy is high on this set of Dirty’s, one can feel the shaking vibrations inside the famous Berlino spot, and the man is at the controls of this funky, groovy hour and half (edited to podcast length) recording. Watch out for more Dirty-ness coming up soon on Airdrop! But, not before you go clean your room you little rascal! NOW!

It did not take Elon a long time to go from being a DJ to one of the most sought after emerging producers of the US scene. From an instrumental background playing the guitar and bass, supplemented with sound engineering experience, Elon created an unmistakable sound with his signature splattered reverb and juicy metallic swing, that he calls “post minimal”. His productions have been released on major labels such as Clink, Dumb Unit or Made to Play.

This time around it’s at home Boston base that the recording was made. That’s right, Wednesday night at the Phoenix! A special night for Airdrop’s Paulo since the roles were inverted, Soul Clap were opening for him instead of the usual other way around! This was also to everyone else’s blessing since we can now enjoy the deepest, slower and grooviest aspect of Soul Clap’s sets. Some of you also had the chance to hear out other of their sets opening for Steve Bug at the HejDrop party in Detroit, or at 10AM at Wolf+Lamb’s legendary Marcy Hotel in Brooklyn, closing for Damian Lazarus and Jamie Jones. What has always been Soul Clap’s essence has been blooming now more than ever. The result: a specially cared and refined sound, which you can now appreciate in this beautiful mix and superior selection presented to you today, on AirPod’s silver tray.

Rub with the lady or Tug with the records, it’s all the same for Pat Fontes – LOVE. On this mix one can definitely feel the summer warmth enveloping the mood. With tracks by the Kollektiv Turmstrasse, Larsson, Christian Burkhardt and Minilogue, Pat sets the tone here for his brilliant summer, and I am weighing my words. Yes, Pat Fontes’ upcoming release – High Hopes – will be on Don’t Sleep Worldwide, and will feature remixes by Dave DK and Dave Mothersole. That’s without mentioning Pat’s oh-so-long-awaited release on Airdrop! Vatos locos forever homes!