Six-time turntablism champ turned sleek tech groove-provider,
Japanese DJ and producer DJ HI-C has had many lives before settling as a
merchant of stripped-back, zen-like ambiences and mesmeric club
rhythms. Elegant and dynamic, his productions sit halfway deeply
organic, atmospheric blends and a further steely, hi-velocity strain of
techno. Mind-bending by nature, his mixes open a wide window into a
pulsating headspace, rife with ebullient bass drive and obsessive loops,
constantly pushing the envelope of danceable material as we know it.
Tailored to emphasize the impact of a limited number of components
rather than drowning his listener under an avalanche of sonic stimuli,
HI-C unleashes a storm of painstakingly textured layers and ripping
melodic stabs. Bringing together minimalism with soul is an art, and
HI-C is an absolute master at that.
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Reclaim Your City 639 | Bastienne
Hailing from Amsterdam, Bastienne has been making waves with her
impeccably laid-down mixes and carefully curated selections. Through
chiselled, laser-precise sets that showcase the breadth of her scope and
minutely woven floor narratives, Bastienne moves the cursor from
straight pumping house jack in Detroit fashion to Birmingham-style
techno hybrids, via rowdy electronics and forward-pushing dubs. The
result is a propulsive journey across techno music in the broadest sense
of the term, with all its sister genres, sub-divisions and offshoots
taking center stage by turn as Bastienne ensures the cocktail blends in
just nicely. No-nonsense, all-out dance floor-destroyer ahead.
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Reclaim Your City 638 | ROD
For the past fifteen years, Rotterdam-based DJ and producer Benny
Rodrigues alias ROD has been carving out a lane of his own in the realm
of contemporary techno. Piling up one massive release after the other
for the likes of Axis, Figure, Soma, Klockworks or his own record label,
Rod20, the Dutch artist has been laying the foundation to a catalogue
driven by thrill-seeking curiosity and a vibrant desire to bring techno
into a whole new dimension, just as the pioneers did. That epic-sized
vision and deeply innovative breath infuse both ROD’s studio productions
and sets, and his RYC podcast vouches for that very ground-breaking,
limit-busting take on the medium. Flush with galloping grooves,
mind-altering distortions and heavy-duty analogue funk, the present mix
is as much an ode to the early scene’s unfading visionary impulse as it
is a future-ready manifesto for our age.
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Reclaim Your City 637 | DJ Sodeyama
Over two decades of unfaltering devotion to production and DJing,
dishing out some of the finest slices of opulently textured techno along
the way, Tokyo-based maestro DJ Sodeyama has been honing a sound
signature both intricately hypnotic and boundary-pushing. Blending
delicate melodic strains of electronics ranging from deep, ambient music
to verbed-out, atmospheric techno, often laced with hints of jazz and
soulful discoid expressions, his productions and mixes combine the
satiny elegance of loungey daydream with that of more rugged,
deep-diving dubs a la Basic Channel. From light to shade, and
vice-versa, DJ Sodeyama builds pieces of music where the ever-changing
lighting and shifting angles swath you in an oddly comforting headspace.
A most fascinating trip for the body and soul.
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Reclaim Your City 636 | Mary Lake
Lacking no oomph, the mixes of Amsterdam’s one and only Mary Lake
tick all the boxes of a quality hi-NRG set. Boasting a definite knack
for those volatile hotchpotches of big-room-ready jack and a surgical
DJing skillset, Mary treats us to a frantic whirlwind of paced-up
machine funk and absolutely imparable industrial-inflected maneuvers.
Cranking the heat one notch up with every bar, the Dutch DJ certainly
knows how to bring dance floors to a simmer and keep crowds under her
spell through wave after wave of an uncompromising floor-destroying
exposé. No-surrender, adrenaline-stacked ripper of a mix thru and thru,
consider yourselves warned for the tumultuous ride ahead. Hectic.
Rotterdam-via-Berlin based outlet reuniting underground purveyors across the globe as they methodically scan and showcase various nerve centers from the techno Internationale.
UK