The weekly Resident Advisor Podcast featuring electronic music - https://ra.co
RA.932 1morning - 2024.04.15
Earlier this year, we described Los Angeles act 1morning as one of the funkiest young producers in modern-day techno. And we stand by it. The fast-rising upstart is building a solid fan base around North America and beyond with a rugged, vintage style of swung techno and hardgroove. His all-vinyl DJ sets and pumping productions on the likes of Fixed Rhythms and Mála Ádh stand out for their distinctly old-school flavour—steamrolling hi-hats à la Robert Hood, swift choppage behind the decks and deep, deep grooves. Like many of his all-vinyl heroes, he's also a treat to watch behind the decks The up-and-comer had a hell of a year in 2023, from playing in Japan to going on his first European tour, and his momentum shows no signs of slowing. He debuted at New York's dweller festival this year and K9 Unit, his duo with Bloodhound, recently did a night with fellow hardgroove king Regal86. It's only a matter of time until 1morning gets to a festival or a club near you so until then, enjoy his RA Podcast for now. The mix unfortunately came with some less than stellar circumstances, as the records 1morning pulled were stolen from his car, and so instead this RA Podcast became a statement of resilience and creativity—and, in his words, "an outlet for my rage." @1morning Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/932
RA.931 Setaoc Mass
Sam Coates took to techno like a diligent pupil, falling in love with the genre through labels like CLR in the late '00s. It didn't take long for the student to surpass his proverbial teachers. Almost immediately, the Manchester native was putting out pitch-perfect, functional techno records with everything intricately balanced. The requisite move to Berlin only sealed his fate as a future techno luminary, and by now, based in Kyiv, he's one of techno's most reliable, yet exciting, workhorses. Setaoc Mass records (and those on his label, SK_eleven) are minimalist but colossal, deceptively simple but not easy to pull off. We've praised him in these pages for his "sense of economy—how to get the hardest impact out of just a few elements," and that's the idea behind his RA Podcast as well. Put together from records old and new, and intricately layered, Coates's mix is like a time-travelling wormhole connecting disparate eras from techno, and highlighting the genre's most timeless attributes: mechanistic rhythms, careful pacing, rudimentary melodies made out of the strangest sounds and, of course, the power of the bass drop. It's hard to imagine anything that sounds more capital-T techno than this mix, which is a high compliment. It's easy to hear why his records and DJ sets are only more in demand from techno heads across the geographical and generational spectrum. @setaoc_mass Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/931
RA.930 INVT
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
RA.929 Introspekt
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
RA.927 MCR-T & DJ Gigola
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
RA.927 Sugar Free
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
RA Community Connections Miami - Panel with Danny Daze, Jubilee, Nick León, and Romulo Del Castillo
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
RA.926 FAUZIA
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
RA.925 Shubostar
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
RA.924 Bitter Babe
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
RA.923 Rick Wade
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
RA.922 Mogwaa
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
RA.921 Manuka Honey
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
RA.920 Client_03
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
RA.919 Ariel Zetina
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 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/921