Despite having a discography that dates back to the last millennium, Pittsburgh’s Shawn Rudiman has never quite enjoyed the spotlight he deserves. His often analog electro and techno manages to be tough but not austere, and it has come under his own name as well as in the duo THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) on a range of boutique labels. He’s a prolific artist who this month looks back on his career with a two disc retrospective, Timespan on Pittsburgh Tracks, that offers largely brand new tracks which “go from base-level warehouse to more cerebral sophistication”.

That versatility shows when he lays down one of his mesmeric live shows, as he has done for us in this exclusive new set. It’s just 45 minutes long but packs a lot in, from soul infused Detroit techno to elastic house. Passages of serenity are often followed by a heavily percussive wake-up call or serrated acid line, but never do things feel forced. From dark to light, visceral to beautiful, it has many different moods and is a great reminder of the talents of one of techno’s lesser known stars.

Norwegian Charlotte Bendiks came up on the famous Tromsø techno sound of her homeland. It means her music is mystical, frosty and metallic, which made it perfectly at home on the Cómeme label where she released her first EP. She has also had outings on Love OD Communications and throws her own parties back home, all while serving up off kilter DJ sets informed by growing up in an isolated and lonely arctic town. That lends them a sense of escapism, fantasy and story telling that when married to her so called “body music” style, make them utterly compelling.

Over the course of ninety minutes, she segues through hallucinogenic synth tracks, loosely jumbled percussion and acid flecked slow motion house that will jerk you into action. It’s a playful and intoxicating mix that will warm you through on a chilly evening and conjures party vibes in brilliantly off kilter and unusual ways. On this evidence, it looks like 2018 could well be her year.

From cult local beginnings on the Berlin circuit, Rødhåd is now very much part of the global DJ highway. What initially turned heads was his ability to hold down long and hypnotic sets of loopy, moody house and techno all masterfully mixed in immersive ways. His productions, too, mixed sparse ambient designs with rolling techno grooves on labels like Dystopian and Token, and just this month he put out his debut album, Anxious. It’s a filmic meditation on beautifully bleak and eerie sounds and is another reason we love the man after he turned in a memorable closing set on our UFO stage at this year’s Dekmantel Festival.

Over a ninety minute live mix recorded recently, he gets more energised with plenty of hurried techno and urgent synth lines all tightly weaving round each other. It’s a high pressure and enchantingly linear set that touches on Millsian space vibes, industrialism and unhinged apocalypse music in one smoothly mixed and sequenced session that will leave you out of breath.

The Hacker has long been turning out essential electro sounds that show off his mastery of his synths. But November will see him reveal another side when he releases analog album Le Théâtre des Opérations on Dark Entries. It finds the Frenchman indulge his love of EBM, techno and wave music and cook up a rugged, gritty and raw selection of tracks that joins the dots between Jeff Mills and Front 242, Dopplereffekt and Drexcyia. It’s arresting and unpredictable from start to finish.

Happily, the live artist and producer indulges all those passions and more on this blistering one hour mix. It explores every facet of electro, from squelchy and dark to smooth and grooving. It’s a history lesson, really, that takes us through the musical adventures of The Hacker as well as electro at large. Turn it on, turn it up and turn yourself on to a master of the form.

Canadians Pender Street Steppers appeared as if from nowhere in 2014

and quickly became one of the most visible acts in house music. Their loved-up sound was frayed and roughhewn, sprinkled with lovestruck vibes and built on ramshackle drums that sounded immediately aged yet thoroughly new and fresh at the same time. Their penchant for new age romance and earthy aesthetics are mirrored in the buy-on-sight Mood Hut label they run with a larger collective, and their DJ sets are just as relaxed and big hearted, which immediately stood out at Dekmantel Festival and Dekmantel Selectors over the last couple of years.

Across an hour, the famously reticent pair—they’ve done no interviews—effortlessly segue through afro grooves, boogie laced disco and lo-fi house. It’s a timeless mix of sounds that could work a small back yard gathering as much a bigger club setting, such is its irresistibly colourful and emotive sense of charm. That being said, it's probably no surprise that having these two fine and talented chaps on our podcast series is a big honour.

Stellar OM Source is a producer who never sits still. Always growing with each new release, the French woman arrived on a wave of dreamy and evocative synth pieces then went on to make Drexcyian techno and acid laced sci-fi soundtracks. She’s done so over the course of eight albums and a handful of EPs mostly on Rvng Intl. and though quiet on the release front for the last couple of years, she still serves up compelling club sets.

Her mix here is a short, snappy and freaky one that leaves you wanting more. It’s a selection composed entirely of Belgian music because, she says, "I wanted to give back some love to the people of the country where I live. So many great talents and so much inspiration. Most tracks have been given by the producers themselves." From frazzled industrial techno to haunting EBM, sparse atmospheric tracks to groaning electronics, it packs a lot in over a short time and is utterly refreshing.

There is no one quite like San Proper. The Dutchman is a rare and real character in a scene that is all too often devoid of genuine personality. It shows in the wild music he makes, the wonderful Red Light Radio shows he hosts and the often weird sets he serves up at clubs and festivals round the world. Releasing most often on Rush Hour but also on Dopeness Galore and Perlon, he can do dark minimal as well as big hearted soul and can lay down a big guitar riff or program an off kilter drum line all with equal élan.

His Dekmantel podcast finds the Dr. dig deep into his vinyl collection and serve up 23 slabs of soul, funk and afro magic across two hours that feel very personal. Traversing scenes, styles and tempos with flawless mixing and blending, he tells a very colour tale that breaks all the rules of a usual mix yet still makes complete sense. It is the sound of a selector who has open ears and who, ten years since his first release, is as thrilling and unpredictable as ever.

Paul Woolford’s Special Request alias has developed into so much more than the jungle and breakbeat project it started as. Proof of that comes this month with his Belief System LP, a magnum opus spread across four slabs of vinyl. The first half is a techno trip full of visceral twists and turns scattered with references to his love of pirate radio. The second half is the soundtrack to a fatalist mind movie that is dark and broody. Woolford’s mastery of sound design elevates the whole thing to a new level, and listening to it is as absorbing and complete an experience as you could wish for.

As a DJ with many years experience under his belt, his work in the booth is just as essential. In his Dekmantel Podcast he takes us on an unpredictable roller coaster that veers from sparkly New York disco through to haunted beats, twisted electro and monstrous techno. Spin backs, face melting basslines, rave and punishing drums make it as much a party starting main room mix as a heads down let’s ‘av it marathon. It’s fun, full on and pushes and pulls you in many different directions without ever letting the energy levels dissipate.

In 2017, Glasgow based label Huntleys + Palmers celebrates ten years in action. In that time, Andrew Thomson has ensured it became a fertile musical breeding ground and an impossible to pin down outlet that offers up anything from afro to techno to bass music. Auntie Flo, SOPHIE and Alejandro Paz have all emerged from the Glasgow based stable and have put out music that plays with off kilter rhythms. Andrew's curatorial ear has also made the parties of the same name just as unpredictable, and before it closed he was also a programmer at London’s legendary Plastic People.

The mix he has served up here under the Huntleys + Palmers moniker, takes a typically widescreen view and includes “tracks that I've been playing for a while and expect I'll continue to play in years to come.” Starting steady and worldly with dub and deep cosmic grooves, it grows more twisted with wiry electronics and frazzled synths before pulling back again, then repeating the cycle. It makes for a perfectly paced and well balanced mix that bubbles and boils and always keeps you guessing without ever falling off the edge.

The music Dane MacDonald plays and releases on his Common Edit label is as warm as his North Canadian roots are not. Always serving up sets with love, he is a big bearded, long haired dancer at heart, and someone who has a close relationship with west coast disco dons Eddie C and Koosh. Now based in Berlin and still pressing up records that will always fire up a more friendly, cosy party, his reputation has grown beyond the cult. Digging deep through rock, new age and freaky disco, he knows how to throw a party as well as how to throw down records.

Over the course of 90 minutes he takes us on a sparkling journey where only he knows the destination. One minute you’re lost in a warm and festive disco cut, the next getting down to a low slung boogie track. Heavier drum led house comes later on, before heavyweight dub disco tunes lead us to a jazz-funk crescendo that sizzles with real joy.