Best New Mixes from June 2018
Here's the list of mixes that we enjoyed the most in June. As usual you'll find mixes that are more suitable for home listening as well as mixes that can rock any night club or festival in the world. Mixes are listed in no particular order.
Powel - How I met the bass #124
We got spoiled by Powel. His mixes are always a piece of art, a storytelling through music in its best. The latest mix of his is exclusive for Marc De Pulse’s ‘How I met the bass’ podcast series. For this series, Marc invites his favorite DJ’s to tell the story of their musical influences of course through music and in a form of a mix. Listening to what kind of music influenced this super talented German is like going to class and listening professor talking about your favorite subject. We’ll skip mix description this time, just press play and enjoy.
DJ Rijkaard - KANNMIX 23
The new edition of KANN podcast series comes from Leipzig’s DJ Rijkaard. We don’t know much about DJ Rijkaard but that he’s a part of Young Shields collective from Leipzig. The beautiful music that he plays is enough for us. This perfect house music mixtape will definitely cheer you up if you feel down.
Jacques Bon - IA mix 279
The owner of Smallville record shop in Paris, Jacques Bon is super talented musician and DJ, who collaborated with artists like Christopher Rau and Virgo Four. His solo EP was released on Tim Sweeney’s Beats in Space label last year. Jacques made an exclusive mix for Inverted Audio ahead of his performance at Farr festival in England. It’s an amazing mix made of hypnotic deep house and psychedelic disco.
Kornel Kovacs - TRAX 297
The new mix from Barnhaus label head Kornel Kovacs is a pure uplifting house music escapade. Perfectly fitting for hot summer days, this mix, exclusively made for popular Trax magazine features tracks by Axel Boman, Samo DJ, Paul Woodford as well as the man himself, Kornel Kovacs.
Ivan Smagghe - Renate Podcast 047
Throughout his 25+ years long career, the legendary French producer, and DJ, Ivan Smagghe has influenced electronic music as we know it today in many ways. Constantly evolving, his genre-defying/defining style allowed him to work with many legendary artists like Andrew Weatherall or James Murphy to name a few. Ahead of his performance at the Voyage open Air party at Else in Berlin where he played alongside Fantastic Twins and Moscoman, Ivan made this mind-bending mix. It’s the type of mix that will keep you engaged from beginning to end while constantly asking yourself what’s coming next. Super mix.
Alan Ford - #1
After their unforgettable b2b 5hr marathon set at Cityfox for NYE where they played downtempo and ambient set, our residents Steve Graham and Gilles Wasserman started working on their new project together. The project that will focus on the slower side of electronic music, not necessarily 4x4, but all kinds of electronica and ambient. The project that they named Alan Ford! Alan Ford’s firstborn mix is magnificent downtempo and slow house music escapade. Something that you can listen in either car, at home or in a side room of a club, somewhere where you want to take a break and slow down. The new material is already in making and we can’t wait to hear what Steve and Gilles have under their sleeves for us.
Arkajo - PMX006
Over the time, Arkajo has become our usual suspect here in Fiction Lab. We love everything that this astonishingly talented artist from Sweden does. From his hypnotic productions, collaboration with Dorisburg as Genius of Time to marvelous mixtapes, just like this one. An exclusive for Dutch record shop Plata Morgana and their podcast series. The mix is in typical Arkajo fashion - deep, dark and tribal.
Cleveland - BAR radio
One of our usual suspects, Brussels-based Cleveland delivers yet another stunning mixtape. This time it’s for popular Bar Radio from Rotterdam. Broken beats and trippy atmosphere have become Cleveland’s trademark and we can’t get enough of it. This one is one for the books.
Confetti and Jules Gaardls - Monticule Podcast #20
Confetti and Jules Gaardls are new names that we stumbled upon while getting lost in SoundCloud, and we are so glad we have found them. The exclusive mix this duo made for the podcast of Monticule Festival in southern France is a real treat for all techno lovers. It slowly unfolds from hypnotic ambient to uncompromising dub techno. Excellent progression.
Jane Fitz - The Ransom Note mix
Freerotation resident and one of the most important music selectors hailing from England, Jane Fitz has had delightful last couple of years on a professional level as a DJ. Even though she’s been around for some time, her work has become more recognized worldwide in last few years. More and more fans around the world enjoy a truly remarkable sets from Jane Fitz. The latest mix of hers for The Ransom Note podcast series is real ear candy for music nerds. A blend of house, techno, breaks, and acid with hard-to-find records will keep you engaged throughout the mix.
Polo - N-Ice Podcast #011
In last few years we’ve seen two releases from Polo, a Leipzig based producer, on our beloved Kann record label. We haven’t had an opportunity to hear him in DJ action, well not until now. Polo made an exclusive mix for N-Ice kollektiv from Germany, and it’s such a good one. a fantastic blend of dub techno, breaks, and deep house. It sounds like a perfect match to hypnotic and uncompromising style in Polo’s productions.
Naveen G - Wildwood Podcast #42
Cityfox and Listed resident, NYC’s own Naveen G made a fantastic techno escapade for a Melbourne’s Wildwood podcast. As we got used on lately, Naveen steered towards darker techno side, and we are loving it. This mix can easily be played at the pick time in a club and it’ll rock the house.
Kiani & his Legion - Waar ist het aan Podcast #39
The Belgium electronic music virtuoso, Thomas Neyens aka as Kiani & His Legion, never disappoints us with his innovative approach in music productions. It’s edgy, it’s fresh and we absolutely love it. When DJing, Neyens doesn’t make compromises as well. His latest mix for Dutch techno platform ‘Waar is het aan’ is powerful and edgy, and goes places, very nice places, from techno to dub to breakbeat to acid and back, really cool journey.
Ame - NTS Radio
One of the most popular acts in electronic music, the Innervisions label heads, Ame took over NTS Radio in June. Well, one part of Ame, Kristian to be more precise. As one of the biggest influencers on the underground music scene in the last couple of years, Kristian's mixes are being listened with great attention. The 2hr set that he played at NTS Radio is true music lesson, it would be hard to list genres that he covered, but let’s put it as world music, an absolute magnificent journey through music.
Patlac - Good Morning from Hamburg
Patlac is one of our favorite DJs and his mixes are often featured on our blog. It’s for a reason. The artist who puts time and energy to deliver the mix that is not just another podcast deserves all recognition, and Patlac does it very well. Hamburg based artist made an extraordinary 2hr mix for ‘Everything will be ok’ collective and their ‘Good Morning from…’ mix series. Immaculate progression and tracks by Lawrence. Map.ache, Christopher Rau and man himself Patlac, just to name a few, make this mix a must listen.
Luc Mast - BAR Radio #56
We’ve been listening to the sets from BAR radio in Rotterdam often in last few months. The guest artists are always on point and present music that is quite refreshing. One of the new names we discovered is Luc Mast. Luc is part of De School family in Amsterdam, he’s a booker of this infamous club, but what we are more interested in, he’s super talented DJ. His mix from BAR radio is a very cool blend of electro, IDM, and breakbeat. It’s one of those mixes that keep your attention with each new track without knowing what to expect. We’re looking forward to hearing more from Luc.
Trikk - DHA #373
One of the most interesting newcomers in last few years is Portuguese artist Bruno Deodato aka Trikk. With his unique tribal style, Trikk has become a favorite of many DJ’s, record labels and fans around the world. Releases on labels like Lossless, Innervisions, and Optimo to name few put him shoulder to shoulder with leading producers in underground music circus. His latest mix is a contribution to infamous Deep House Amsterdam podcast series. It’s an amazing slow-burning tribal mix, something that suits so well next to the name - Trikk. Don’t trikk yourself and miss this mix ;) It’s one of the best mixes we heard in June.
Hyenah - EG 690
The master of Afro-house, the mysterious Hyenah is back! The remix package of ‘The Ritual’ and ‘You made me who I am’ saw a daylight at the end of June, via Hyeanh’s own Rise record label. In light of that occasion, Hyenah made an exclusive mix for our friends at Electronic Groove. And what a mix this is. For all fans of Afro and tribal house, this mix will be like a cure for their ears. It’s fresh, it’s groovy, it’s Hyenah!
Tunnelvisions - DHA #375
Tunnelvisions is an exciting new duo that emerged from ever blooming Dutch underground scene. Their approach to tribal and afro house brings necessary freshness to a genre which’s been around for many years and as every style needs new and fresh input in order to further evolve. Tunnelvisions’ mix for DHA has all ingredients of a good tribal mix. It’s groovy, bouncy, fun and uplifting, and the best thing in our opinion it sounds fresh. Keep up with great work Tunnelvisions!
Polynation - Atomnation podcast 018
The super talented Dutch duo Polynation has been growing with each new release, their latest single ‘Toba’ is a true piece of art. The fans of Nils Frahm, Kiasmos and Rival Consoles will find it close to their hearts. Polynation has also done a beautiful mix for Atomnation’s podcast series. The duo feels comfortable in their Atomnation home, and you can feel it while listening to this mix. It’s a magnificent music tale, a mix of electronica, idm and house music. The melodic escapade which is perfectly executed so the listener doesn’t get overwhelmed by mood changes but quite contrary really enjoys what Polynation have to say.