Techno has always been about futurism, but in Russell E.L. Butler's (@russellelbutler) hands it becomes a vehicle for a more inclusive, communal and positive now. The Oakland based producer pairs their stripped back and powerful rhythms with uplifting sound design to make for music that is both defiant yet welcoming to all. They have done so on Left Hand Path, Mister Saturday Night Records and Spectral Sound since 2015, with 2018's 'The Home I'd Build For Me And All My Friends' album being a particularly standout work that showcased Butler's mastery of their machines.

In the studio, Butler is most at home manipulating modular machines and making propulsive techno, but as a DJ they expire wider sonic terrain. That's demonstrated on this week's mix, which begins with dystopian atmospheres and heavy rhythms that eventually break out into jerking EBM, bleak cold wave and mechanical house sounds. It's a brilliantly taught and tense selection with a careful smattering of human vocals that keeps it rooted in an approachable realism.

London duo @sicariasound has reinvigorated dubstep by pulling from every side of the 140bpm spectrum. The pair of Ndeko and Imbratura are longtime friends who have an unspoken understanding when it comes to DJing together, as was frequently demonstrated at their residency for Mala's Deep Medi. They also run their own Cutcross label which can serve up sounds that reference anything from breakbeat to grime, rave to bass. Despite this success - and the news this week that they are to put out Binate, their first official EP - they have also announced that they will disband the project at the end of 2021.

Thankfully, we will always have the mix to come back to, because it is a perfect embodiment of their sound. Well informed but never too serious, it takes in ice-cold wobblers as well as industrial strength steppers and skeletal, minimal dubstep sounds that hark back to the golden era. The whole thing is stitched together in a way that shows up the contrasts of light and dark, spaciousness and intensity and ensures you remain fully locked in.

It is no stretch to say that Sao Paulo's Trepanado is at the heart of the Brazilian music scene. His Selvagem party is one of the most influential in terms of the sounds it pushes, and his label Selva Discos is also hugely respited for the sounds it curates. Trepanado himself has also put out a vital compilation for Hello Sailor Recordings that spotlighted Brazil's Street Soul sound of the late eighties and early nineties. As a DJ he joins the dots between those classic niches and the contemporary electronic landscape thanks to his tireless devotion to digging for wax.

This multi-genre maestro distills also his considerable know how into a lively carnival mix that oozes Brazilian charm in the bird calls, whistles and Spanish vocals, but also seems to reference UK rave culture, traditional Latin rhythms and throwback house music. It's a full flavour, fully bumping mix that makes that feeling of being in the middle of an outdoor dance floor on a hot summer's day feel tantalisingly close.

Bristol's @giantswan came to dance music after formative years as guitarists in the band The Naturals. This lends them a genuinely outsider perspective which means their music breaks rules the pair of Robin Stewart and Harry Wright didn't even know existed. Coming on labels like Keck, Timedance and Whities, it is caustic and twisted, textured and dense with layers of abrasive sonic fuzz. Add in harsh vocals and unrelenting beats and you have a duo that sits in their own unique world somewhere between noise, techno, experimental and rock.

There is no concession to your lockdown life in the mix they serve up for us this week. It is a banging and thrilling collision of hi NRG techno, juke, hardcore and bass that bristles with confrontational energy and raw texture while making improbable leaps from Dizzee Rascal to DJ EARL, Kangding Ray to SOPHIE, SOPHIE to Theo Parrish.

Norwegian-Algerian artist Karima F (@karimakarima) doesn't fit in with the usual Scandi-disco stereotype. After many years of work on her local scene in Oslo, she broke out into the wider European scene playing soul, hi NRG disco, broken house, hammering breakbeats and plenty more. She holds down resident duties at Jaeger Club and also famously runs Schloss records from a defunct Porsche repair shop together with Ida Ekblad. "I want to be traumatised to work," she has said before, which explains her often dark, heads down approach to making you dance.

There is a lot packed in to her far-travelling mix, which is every bit for listening to as much as it is for dancing. From the kinked techno rhythms of the first half to the spoken word oddities at the mid point via loose limbed drum work scattered in between, Karima twists and turns her way through a leftfield world of sound that is very much her own.

Former military man and marching band member @jamesbangura is an artist who has roamed the world and picked up musical influences at every stop on the way. Be it drum & bass in Alabama, blog house in California or the rich house sound of New York, this Washington DC native is now distilling all those references into his own searing sounds. They have come on labels like Mister Saturday Night and can range from sauced out to brutally energetic.

And the latter of those two is what defines his unrelenting mix for us. It is a hard hitting collision of raw, decaying textures, pummeling drums and stark, post industrial atmospheres that are thrillingly harsh. The rhythms roam from the fringes of techno to the heart of jungle and on to an icy but powerful minimalism that very much consumes your body. So strap in, cause this is one helluva ride.

DJ Autumn (@autumn-bpr) plays various pivotal roles in the UK dance music scene. Firstly, he is label manager at Banoffee Pies Records. It's a buy on sight imprint and network of various sub-labels such as Otaku, Beats, Limited Series and the ambient Sonder Series that plots an always tasteful path between broken beat, garage and minimal clubs sounds from cutting edge artists. Those sounds also characterise his own DJ sets and radio shows everywhere from Worldwide FM to NTS to the BBC. From high tempo intensity to tripped out atmospherics, he's an ever present vibesman who also founded his own Headroom Festival in 2019.

His mix for us this week is a stripped back and dubbed out winter warmer. Always oozing a sense of cool and control, it builds through the most cavernous of bass spaces and icy sci-fi sonics towards a skeletal jungle workout that gets you on your toes. The sounds are always rich and soulful so pull you deep into a comforting musical world. And we can all make time for that right now.

BSS (fka @beesmunt-soundsystem) is Amsterdam born and bred artist, DJ and producer Luigi Vittorio Jansen. Over the last decade plus, formerly as a duo but now a solo concern, BSS established a sound with residencies at key Amsterdam clubs and radio stations plus the Opium Club in Vilnius, and with releases on the likes of Hivern Discs and Honey Soundsystem. The music is always about musical adventure so spans a wide remit from lush downtempo weirdness to tropical electronics via proto house grooves. 




The warmth and sensuality of the BSS sounds runs right the way through this week's mix. It slowly builds through ever more expansive synths and long legged drums to wake you from your post weekend slumber. It remains charmingly deep and hypnotic, with sinewy pads, frazzled synths and soft acid motifs all bleeding in and out of the mix to add detail to the trip. It's as mindful as it is subtly physical and leaves you feeling ready for action.

@cassius-select is a rhythm master. His grooves twist and turn you inside out and contort themselves into bold new forms. Drawing on the weight of bass music and the skip of garage, he has landed on labels like Matthew Herbert’s Accidental JNR and Banoffee Pies over the last few years. The Canadian - who is also one half of SUMAC Sound System - is now based in Hong Kong and continues to serve up killer club tracks with eerie vocal sounds and alien sound designs that make each and every production standout.

His mix for us is just as unique. It starts off by skating on low riding skeletal rhythms, bumping on stripped back bass and drawing you in with a rich array of vocal, percussive and synth details. Just as you think it’s all set to explode, the dexterous DJ draws back to a murky world of bass and dub then rebuilds with a more high pressure sound before ending on some blissed out r&b. It’s dark, sweet and thoroughly seductive.

Renata Do Valle (@hellosailornyc) was born on an idyllic island in the south of Brazil but is now based in Brooklyn, New York. Her vast music collection reflects the heritage of both places but largely draws on Brazilian sounds, be that samba, MPB, electro or soul. She also expertly curates her own Hello Sailor label and has a knack for transporting you from Brooklyn to Bahia and back again whenever she plays one of her expressive and eclectic sets.

This week's colourful selection is one packed with familiar cornerstones like electro, disco and house, but all reimagined through a Latin lens and served up with plenty of South American flair. Joining the dots between the old and the new, the classic and the unknown, it's a steamy and sunny mix that is perfect for parties inside, outside, online or in your headphones. It's such a sweet and full flavour mix that when it's playing you can almost taste the caipirinhas on your lips.