Ransom Note

Based in Glasgow, Nightwave is the musical guise of Maya Medvesek - a singular producer, dj and artist with a great deal of energy and drive. For many years she has worked tirelessly establishing herself as one of the most forward thinking dj's in the city and as such has gone on to international praise and acclaim.

Her own musical output has been featured by a number of record labels which include the likes of A-Trak's Fools Gold, Dext Recordings, Musar, Unknown To The Unknown and Neutralizer. She has also worked alongside a number of hugely influential women on two EP's which have been released in line with International Women's Day.

In the booth Maya draws for the heat, often playing broadly across a collection of genres and styles. However, her love for all things Dance Mania and the affiliated have not gone amiss and when those records leave the bag things go bang. Trust us.

Last month London-based Frenchman Franz Kirmann returned to his analog hardware roots for his Madrapour LP on our Ransom Note cassette sub-label BYTES. A departure from the digital sound collages of his last album Elysian Park for Denovali Records back in 2016, Franz continues his sonic exploration of the haunting and the cinematic, something he also practises in his electronic/post-classical project Piano Interrupted with composter Tom Hodge.

In his own words "like a Monday this mix is a bit all over the place"; a mishmash of experimental and downtempo musings to kick off your week...

São Paulo is arguably one of the most forward-thinking cities in Brasil when it comes to underground music and night life culture. Warehouse parties like Carlos Capslock's have been going for almost a decade, while smaller spots like listening bar Caracol are catering to intimate and discerning crowds. DJ and producer Davis is firmly embedded in the music scene there, running his reputable ODD party series which brings together both local names and international artists including the likes of Courtesy, Daniel Avery, Funkineven and Legowelt. In May he added a label arm, ODDiscos, which has just marked its second release with an EP from local producer and ODD resident Vermelho, backed up with blinding remixes from Tolouse Low Trax, Sphynx and Khidja.

We invited him to take control of this week's Wednesday Alternative mix which he gladly accepted. Recorded in the city's aforementioned cosy spot Caracol, the mix is a segment of a set he played in the warm up for Lena Willikens...

London-based DJ and graphic designer Liv Ayers is a core member of collective and platform Rhythm Sister. Started three years ago and helmed by her pal Jessica, the collective seek to provide a safe and supportive space for women, non-binary and female-indentifying to learn to DJ through workshops and open deck sessions. On top of this Liv, Jess, and fellow members Hemlin and Eliza Rose, host regular parties and a monthly residency on Peckham's Balamii Radio.

Inevitably, as someone teaching and supporting other people to DJ, Liv is a dab hand behind the decks but this is matched by her diverse and wide musical palette that sees her seamlessly float from Turkish funk and percussive rhythms to euphoric trance and crisp breaks...

Not only is Stockholm home to the interactive Abba museum and the resilient Greta Thunberg, it's also the home of the next guest in ELSE club's mix series, DJ Clea.

For the past decade she's steadily built her reputation as one of the finest DJs in the city becoming known for navigating both the floaty and the euphoric corners of house and breaks. A few years ago she turned her attention to producing, releasing her first record last year on Unknown to the Unknown sub-label Hot Haus Recs. She followed this up with another EP for Study Records that, like her debut, explored the sounds and influences that reign supreme in her sets.

@djclea

Stem is the new guise of London-based DJ and radio host Jenny Cheng. Sonically her DJ sets and radio shows move through deep bass explorations and crisp shuffling rhythms that feel distinctly fresh and distinctly UK. These energetic selections have seen her grace the airwaves of stations like NTS, Noods and Rinse as well as holding down a residency, Sublime Portals, last year on East London's Netil Radio.

Having recently moved in a new direction with her DJ name, we thought what better time to introduce the world to the sounds of Stem...

@stem

DJ Neewt is behind some of the most exciting happenings in Offenbach, a city on the river Main outside Frankfurt. The DJ, producer and label head is a regular at Robert Johnson, one of the world's most respected clubs, and runs his own OK SPIRIT label, which launched earlier this year with an EP from Bear Bones, Lay Low. As DJ Neewt his own releases may be few but he has a knack for crafting crisp breaks and progressive house, highlighted on his EPs for YAPPIN, the label he co-runs with fellow producer and local DJ Slyngshot.

He gets us prepped and ready for the weekend with crunchy breaks and euphoric house in his aptly named psychedelic journey mix...

If there's one thing you need to know before listening to this mix then it's this: Lerosa does not f**k about.

The Italian producer and disc jockey remains an unrivalled force amidst outsider electronics and doesn't buy into hype or false pretenses. Based in Dublin he has steadily released music prominently for over ten years and has appeared on the likes of Uzuri, Ostgut Ton and Idle Hands amongst many more. His sound is always rough and ready, drawing for the experimental and abstract whilst challenging the preconceptions and social constructs of house and electronic music at every possibility available. A keen hardware enthusiast he has a workrate which is hard to rival and this much is clear through the sheer volume of music that he has released in what is a relatively short period of time.

His most recent album was released via Acid Test, a sub label of Los Angeles based record label Absurd Recordings. The "Bucket Of Eggs" LP is perhaps Leopold's finest work to date, showcasing an eclectic, thoughtful approach to music that is at times chaotic and coarse. It channels his humour and persona with intrigue and leaves the listener wanting more and more.

We invited him to record a mix for the site, a contribution which is long overdue.

Natalia Maus commissions music videos for labels like Domino, R&S Records, Island and Greco Roman, as well as working in sync, pitching music for TV, film and ads. Her new project Volumes, matches artists with novels, asking them to respond to the words musically via a mixtape or through original compositions. Aside from her regular 9-5 work she's also a really really good DJ with great taste to boot, something we had already caught wind of when we welcomed her for a guest mix on our R$N radio show earlier this year.

Suitably impressed by her eclectic selections, we decided to get her on board for a mix of squelchy electronics. A perfect soundtrack for your pre drinks this weekend...

Musicians Brian Allen Simon (aka Anenon) and Chantal Chadwick are the minds behind Pétra, a Los Angeles collective merging electronics and acoustic instrumentation. Their name, meaning "stone, rock", is inspired by a chance encounter with a photo by Daniel Boudinet as well as the geological formations of Greek volcanic island Nisyros, the location that their debut album 'Aunis' was wrote, performed recorded in 2018. The album is free-form, the ambient sounds and abstract vibrations driven by improvisation energy.

Outside of their work as a collective Brian is a multi-instrumentalist and producer who co-curates an ambient music series at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, while Chantal is a musician, dancer and founder of Assortment, an agency that supports artists working various creative mediums.

Compiling a mix of some of their current favourite compositions, they ease us through Wednesday with washes of twinkling ambient, leftfield electronica and cinematic soundscapes...