Just The Music Please

Well, Group Therapy 700 (two weekends ago) was definitely one for the record books! In the midst of weeks of beautiful September weather, the skies decided to open up at 8:30 pm on Saturday night, unleashing enough rain and fierce winds to pause the show. The lower bowl at The Gorge had to be evacuated, the entire show was paused, and we lost at least 2 1/2 hours of music from Oliver Smith, J Ribbon, and Ilan Bluestone.

However, I'm not here to talk about that. I'm not even here to talk about Above & Beyond's main set (which was terrific, as usual). I'm actually here this week to present their deep set, which really kicked off the weekend's festivities. Unlike previous years, where the deep set is pre-recorded (usually on a boat) a few days before the weekend, this one was live, kicking off the livestream at 7:00 pm on Friday. Also unlike years past, this one was 90 minutes, rather than the usual hour.

Tony, Paavo, and Jono each took turns manning the decks for 30 minutes, playing loads of new music and really setting high expectations for the remainder of the weekend. A friend described the set as "PROFF-coded", which I think is an apt description. Another description would be: it's just really good. It's definitely the best deep set (to open a live Group Therapy show) they've ever played.

1. Above & Beyond - Eclipse

Original post: https://youtu.be/Xh8bXVtoAWw?si=xMrq-uE43dXHwCQB

In honor of Group Therapy 700 happening next weekend — we'll be there! — I'd like to post a deep cut from the archives this week. The first Group Therapy show I ever went to was 300 (in Hong Kong) and Grum was one of the artists on the lineup I was really looking forward to. He's one of my favorite progressive producers and his set that night was right on the money; I can still remember being in the center front of the crowd and feeling the bass reverberate through my chest while he took all of us on a 1-hour voyage into space.

Sadly, this set and Grum's album Deep State were caught in the crossfire of a legal battle between Anjunabeats and Chris Sevier, a lawyer-turned-musician who had recorded vocals on a few Grum tracks and co-wrote some music. I don't want to give a lot of oxygen to this, so let's just say that it became known to people that Chris was a fringe, far-right nut, with some extreme and bigoted views that do not gel with the dance music community, which is known to be welcoming and inclusive. He and the label parted ways, but this caused a number of Grum tracks to become embroiled in legal issues. The YouTube set was taken down and Deep State had to be delayed and reworked before it could be released, which didn't happen until the following year.

With all that nastiness out of the way, I will say that this is an excellent 1-hour Grum primer. It's not my favorite set of his (see Episode 004 for that), but if I had only 60 minutes to sell someone on Grum, I would play them this. I think the real treat here is that it lives in Anjuna lore as the only Group Therapy set that's ever been taken down (to my knowledge). Well, the other treat is the final song ("Hiding Place") which is honestly my favorite Grum track ever... but it'll never see the light of day, so you'll have to enjoy it here!

I will dutifully post a YouTube link at the bottom like I always do, but since it's a random re-upload from a fan, there's no guarantee it'll keep working in the future. I actually have the entire set in video form (recorded from the live stream), so if you ever want it, have your people talk to my people and we'll make it happen!

1. Grum - The Pledge

Original post: https://youtu.be/7mlnYCO3VSc?si=90NC1OjlhcTjwRo_

This week we're heading to a rock quarry in northern Portugal for two hours of big room melodic house from Arodes, a Spanish DJ and producer who's mostly new to me, but has been on the rise recently. In the last few years, he's played Tomorrowland, Coachella, Burning Man, and ADE, on top of residencies in Mykonos and Ibiza.

Nómadas Festival takes place at Pedreira do Monte Castro, a quarry just outside Braga. It was started to give Portugal an event built around Afro and melodic sound, so Arodes was a perfect billing. His set is mostly his own tracks, remixes, collaborations, and mashups; it's filled with great Keinemusik vibes and fun emotional drops.

1. Arodes & Mahmut Orhan & Jamek Ortega - Gaia

Original post: https://youtu.be/AdbLMGkTICI?si=r0OEjXujPic_Xkcl

As promised at the end of my last episode, the Kyky's did indeed have a blast in Ibiza and Albania last month, and JTMP was indeed on a hiatus, though for much longer than I would like. Appropriately though, we're back with music from one of the highlights of our trip: Claptone at Chinois!

Claptone has been a fixture in the house scene for many years. His music is always fun and driving and a party, oscillating among melodic and quasi-retro and just plain "thonky". That said, he's probably best known for his caricature of an image: all black clothes, white gloves, a top hat, and a golden plague doctor mask. A few years ago, we attended his live Q&A session during ADE, and he remained fully in character the entire time. He masks his voice when recording his radio show and used this same voice modulator during the interview; it was surreal and actually pretty funny to hear his serious answers about music in the voice of a kidnapper making demands on the phone.

There's also a "conspiracy theory" that Claptone is actually multiple people (namely, multiple white guys with beards with similar body types). Based on a cursory "enhance" of Internet photos and the fact that he has tour dates across the world in a way that would seem to defy the laws of physics, maybe there's some truth to this?

These days, Claptone is known for his Masquerade party, and the one we attended at Chinois had all the trappings: fun decorations, dancers in elaborate costumes, (fake) candles, and even an aerial dancer who went above the crowd on silks. My memory of that evening was that of a very fun and engaged crowd — and we had a blast with all our friends! — but the crowd in this YouTube video is definitely underwhelming, though I guess the video is useful for seeing what the space looks like. My advice: listen to just the audio here, then go to Ibiza and see him in person!

1a. Powers That Be - Planet Rock (Acappella)

Original post: https://youtu.be/2W5hVN62o1g?si=PjtfUDa2nK4JyJBc

LP Giobbi has been making a name for herself more and more in recent years, from jazz-influenced dance music to her remixes and after parties for The Grateful Dead (yes, for real!) to her own brand of fun piano house music. She is a classically trained jazz pianist and studied classical piano at UC Berkeley, and this musicality is very evident in her music.

Moreover, she has been doing important work with Femme House, a non-profit she co-founded which provides education and opportunities for women, minorities, and LGBT folks in the music industry. Beyond the education and fund-raising, Femme House also has a weekly radio show with guest mixes and interviews.

At this year's Coachella, she played the Weekend 2 sunset slot on the Quasar stage. The video is honestly not that great, especially by Coachella's standards: it's mostly just close-ups of her, dancing and smiling and putting on a pretty stanky bass-face. (Shots of the crowd or the sunset are few and far between.) Ignoring that, her set is fire: some IDs, some older deep cuts, and everything flows seamlessly. Is this "femme house"? I'm probably not qualified to say definitively, but it sure is fun!

JTMP Industries will be going on hiatus for the month of June, as the Kyky's will be traveling to Europe to go to Ibiza and Anjunadeep Explorations this year. Wish us luck! And enjoy this episode until we get back.

1. LP Giobbi - ID

Original post: https://youtu.be/kbVq3KRUitc?si=ElDHvnVkDy0KZEHM

Firstly, many apologies for the lack of content so far this year! Even though we haven't been traveling, somehow this spring has felt busy, for side projects at least. I'm hoping to pick up the pace soon and get back to my usual cadence.

I realized recently that I haven't done a David Hohme episode yet, so I'd like to remedy that this week. David is an absolute master of melodic deep house and I've been a fan for many years. He also has a prominent place in Dr. Kyky lore: Mrs. Kyky and I saw David on our first date (true story!).

This set is from last year's Burning Man, which David usually attends as part of the Bubbles & Bass camp. It has his customary fun and joyful sound, and even though it's filmed in the desert, it absolutely sounds like a pool party. Put on your bathing suit, crack open a cold one, and enjoy!

1. Ricardo Angeles - ID

Original post: https://youtu.be/hr6UKSedwA4?si=n7EJur4XTTJQRuAz

Hi kids! Do you know what the word of the day is? Well I'm going to tell you: today's word is "shamelessly". As in: I will be shamelessly reposting someone else's podcast episode today. But not just anyone! The maestro of dark, driving progressive house himself: Eric Prydz.

After an 8+ year hiatus, Eric has suddenly resurrected his podcast, EPIC Radio. I have fond memories of being in coworking spaces in Asia, pecking away on my laptop, listening to his radio show. Much more so than other producers, Eric would fill his show with deep cuts, unreleased tracks, and works in progress. It was always a fun and interesting listen, so I was disappointed when the podcast quietly stopped getting updates. But the man has clearly gotten a second wind and it sounds like he'll be posting new shows regularly this year.

Normally I wouldn't blindly repost another show's episode, but this feels like a momentous occasion worth celebrating and highlighting. I encourage all of you to subscribe to his show! Based on his commentary, it sounds like he'll be releasing a lot of new music this year too.

In true Eric Prydz fashion, literally every song in this episode is unreleased and/or unnamed. I present to you the most worthless tracklist ever:

1. ID - ID

Original post: https://youtu.be/xv6hpdqKlxg?si=CFgVOaYOlCzlqlhP

Happy new year! Just like everyone else, JTMP Industries is back in the office after an extended holiday break. Cheers to another year of excellent dance music!

To kick things off in 2026, I've reached into the archives for a bit of a deep cut: Pilgrim's Diary, the second album by Gregory Esayan. Gregory is a Russian producer who has released on Monstercat (formerly Silk) for many years and very much embodies the label. That said, this LP adds an extra wrinkle to the usual "hopeful melodic" sound that Monstercat is famous for. While the album is indeed melodic and proggy, it's also spacey, dreamy, druggy, and even slightly new age. I'm not sure if this is even a real genre, but "psychedelic progressive house" seems like the perfect description. It's a real "Lucy meets Molly" vibe, if you catch my drift. "Taxi" — the exact middle of the album — is the beautiful, dreamy gem here.

Turn the lights down, put on a good pair of headphones, maybe pop a gummy or two, and really sink into this journey.

1. Gregory Esayan - Healer

Original post: https://youtu.be/H4ik3SE8btI?si=lkxn9-OHEunsGtyR

Cream Ibiza Sunrise is a bit of a deep cut and maybe only marginally noteworthy (more on that later) but holds a funny, sentimental place for me. Starting in 2013, I left home and backpacked for the better part of two years, taking photos of my travels and writing a blog about my adventures. Especially in the first year, I would periodically sit in a cafe with my laptop, editing photos, writing, and listening to music. I usually listened to that week's Group Therapy Radio, but also this album, which I somehow discovered during that time.

This (mixed) Anjunabeats compilation was made for Mixmag in 2011 and came out about a month after Group Therapy (the album) was released. Sitting at 75 minutes long, it fits nicely on a CD, which was probably not an accident. It has a few big tracks, but a lot from the back catalog too. The club mix of Sun & Moon appears here, probably for the first time (or one of the first times) ever, since the album had come out only a month before. In classic Above & Beyond fashion, the track appears at roughly the three-quarters mark, which would become the tried-and-true formula for their live shows too. On this album though, I think Sun & Moon is eclipsed (see what I did there?) by "Rebound" (by Arty & Mat Zo), appropriately played at the very end.

Even if you're an Anjuna fan, you've probably never heard of most of these tracks. Still, it's a fun listen as a time capsule: it captures a very specific Anjunabeats sound from the days before Group Therapy. It's not better or worse than the music of the last decade, just different. For me, listening to this album brings back memories of sipping a coffee and pecking away on a clunky Dell laptop somewhere in Southeast Asia.

1. Hybrid - Original Sin (Myon & Shane 54 Orchipella)

Original post: https://soundcloud.com/mixmag-1/anjunabeats-cream-ibiza-sunrise

Just in time before the clocks turn back and the days get shorter, here comes one last gasp of summer: the latest chapter in the "live on a pirate ship" series from Hot Since 82. Fittingly, we are getting on a flight today to the Mediterranean — instead of Ibiza, we'll be heading to Malta for the 4-day Anjunadeep festival — so this set has been in heavy rotation lately to get me in the right mood.

To be fair, this video is actually super fun and entertaining (just like all the other pirate ship videos), so I highly recommend you put it on at some point. But the set itself is also phenomenal and deserves recognition. It's groovy, melodic, smooth, catchy... pretty much a perfect 2-hour Ibiza mix from start to finish.

Don't let summer slip away just yet!

1. G-Club Presents Banda Sonora - Guitarra G (Afterlife Remix)

Original post: https://youtu.be/zFg5MlRVsOY?si=Go15GzEuoKECt630