Tag: techno

RA.877 Eddie Fowlkes : As he’ll happily tell you, Eddie Fowlkes has been DJing for 42 years. That’s a long time for anyone, but especially for someone who never really stopped. From his early records on Juan Atkins’ Metroplex record label through to newer releases on his own labels City Boy and Detroit Wax, he’s been doing his thing and staying true to himself and his timeless combination of Detroit dance music genres. He doesn’t always get his dues alongside his fellow Detroit techno pioneers in the Belleville Three, probably because his sound was always more hybrid, a blend of techno and house that he would come to call techno soul, including on his landmark 1993 album with Moritz von Oswald and Thomas Fehlmann, The Birth Of Technosoul.

But Fowlkes is still a force of nature, and a master at mixing too, having four decades to hone his craft. You’ll hear that skill on his RA Podcast, which comes in the wake of two more prominent releases, for Rekids and Classic Music Company/Defected, that might help (re)introduce him to a wider audience. Touching on soul, jazz and funk, this is functional but deep stuff played by a master selector, whose hands you can always hear in the mixing—a personal, human touch that defines techno soul.

Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/877

RA.876 Rebolledo : Mauricio Rebolledo is one of those veteran artists who has stood the test of time. He can play Burning Man, go back-to-back with DJ Tennis and mentor young producers with unwavering finesse, staying true to his signature sound of sparse, psychedelic chuggers. Where many of his peers have embraced a more commercial sound, the Mexican artist likes to keep it weird, opting for touches of Krautrock and hazy atmospherics in both his sets and on his albums.

He tends to be associated with tribal drums and screwy trance, but in reality, the Hippie Dance cofounder and long-time Kompakt affiliate is a man of many influences—as heard on his RA Podcast. Whimsical interludes of French dance pop and retro synth-wave are interspersed with shoegazey electronics (“Dive” by Pale Blue) as well as plenty of his own productions, which blur the lines between minimal house and techno.

This is a hypnotic, brooding journey that starts and ends with versions of Justus Köhncke’s “Elan,” which adds to the mix’s loopy feel. (There’s also a Prins Thomas remix thrown in for good measure.) No peaks or climaxes here, just long plateaus of zigzagging synths and winding chords. Turn on, tune in and drop out, as they say.

@rebolledostyle

Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/876

RA.875 ISAbella : There’s an old-school touch to ISAbella’s sound. Breakbeats, rolling tech house, progressive house and trance pepper both her studio mixes and her debut EP, transporting listeners to a place of peak ’90s indulgence. It’s no wonder, then, that vintage rave sounds are a signature tenet of MARICAS, the club night and label that she helped start in 2018.

Her love for the ’90s is tangible on her RA Podcast, an emotional journey across breakbeat house, trancey techno and funky electro. First-rate throwbacks such as Canyon’s “Move” and “Lightspan Soundwave” by The Shamen exude a carefree euphoria, while heavier cuts like Desert’s “Moods (Club Mix)” intensify the feeling of rapture. Even the contemporary releases, like Bashkka’s excellent “C-quence Of Calamities,” feel rooted in nostalgia.

MARICAS mixes are usually energetic from the get-go, but ISAbella opts for deep, drum-heavy cuts like dBRm’s “The Third Room” for a good half hour before picking up the pace, eventually closing out with winding, psychedelic techno. The mix’s most striking element is how personal each track feels—a reflection of her intimate relationship with these records. Each one evokes a special poignancy and though these ephemeral selections were largely improvised, ISAbella believes they “show what’s going on lately and what’s going on forever.”

@bellasalmonella

Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/875

RA.874 Parrish Smith : “I am going to take you on a ride where I will challenge you to back down or go with me,” Parrish Smith says in the interview below. “If you don’t like to do this, and you see a glimpse of me, you will dislike me. But the second time it happens again, I will be there to change your mind again, just to be challenged.”

It’s a confident, confrontational idea that goes with an unusually confrontational RA Podcast, a mix that represents a truly free spirit in the European dance scene. Smith, who also moonlights in the band Volition Immanent with fellow Dutch trailblazer Mark Knekelhuis, makes and plays hard, aggressive techno. But instead of gabber BPMs and overdriven kick drums, he directly incorporates ideas, sounds and influences from rock, punk and metal, a tricky combination that he nails like few others have been able to. (Just check his album Light, Cruel & Vain.)

Case in point: this mix blends Regis, Tzusing and Playboi Carti with Sepultura, Juno Reactor and Celldweller. It’s a journey to the end of aesthetics, where opposites don’t attract so much as crash and melt into each other. It’s a fierce hour-and-a-half but never quite overbearing or overwhelming, gracefully weaving in and out of chaos like the work of someone who knows the real impact and art of heavy music.

@parrishsmith

Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/874