Category: Podcasts

RA.869 Avtomat : We’re not in the habit of quoting press materials all the time, but in Kajetan Łukomski’s case, it feels appropriate. The first sentence of his bio is “Avtomat is a person with way too many interests.” If you know any artists from Poland’s wide-ranging, always-growing electronic music scene, chances are he’s one of them. He’s a DJ, producer, organizer and activist, once a member of the queer feminist collective Oramics, and is endlessly passionate about supporting, spreading and playing music from the Central European and Eastern European regions.

With roots in metal, goth and electroclash, there’s a certain spikiness to Łukomski’s style, but also a polyglot knowledge and a hunger for new sounds. He’s found a fitting home on Tańce, a Kraków label that blends electronic music with Polish folk traditions (they also released Naphta’s RA-Recommended Ża​ł​o​ś​ć album, which features on this mix). That’s something of the mission of Łukomski’s RA Podcast, but it’s also just the jumping off point. In these almost four hours of expert blending, genre-jumping and incredible pacing, Łukomski touches on almost every style of dance music you could think of, with aplomb and occasionally surprise (like that irresistible Bloc Party edit). If you can, it’s worth digesting all in one sitting, so you can truly appreciate the ground he covers.

@avtomatmusic

Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/869

RA.868 Femanyst : Before she was Femanyst, Akua Grant was called The Lady Blacktronika, also known as the First Lady Of Beatdown. Beatdown was a type of of ultra-deep house characterized by creamy chords, soulful melodies and, in Grant’s case, honeyed vocals. She ran an integral label called Sound Black Recordings, home to some of her best tracks. But around 2017, she turned towards what was essentially the polar opposite: industrial-tinged super hard techno, full of distortion and anger.

This is where we find Grant now, as Femanyst, with a mix that shows off heavy-duty techno that still has a heart. She started her own new label, called Dark Carousel, and has released on Paula Temple’s Noise Manifesto. She manages to take some of the hardest techno around and imbue it with her signature melodic style. This is probably one of the toughest RA Podcasts yet, but it’s also full of feeling, dynamism and tension. Get your best listening setup ready and sink in for two hours.

@msladyblacktronika

Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/868