RA Podcast Folgen

Soul Summit is a New York institution. The DJ trio have been putting on a summer festival in Brooklyn's Fort Greene park for well over a decade now, and those gatherings have become a yearly house music pilgrimage for fans from all over the Five Boroughs. The party embodies the ethos of house music: free for everyone, open to families both blood and chosen, a place where everyone is welcome to groove (or just relax) to uplifting, old-school dance music with inspiring lyrics and bumping basslines. Sadiq Bellamy, Tabu and Jeff Mendoza have created something truly special, and more and more lately, they've been spreading their gospel outside the park, too. They've become residents at Nowadays, where this RA Podcast was recorded as part of a Mister Sunday party. It was also released as part of the Mister Saturday Night's cassette box set to celebrate the party's 15th birthday. This one features an hour of the cassette's 90-minute runtime, plus an additional 20 minutes only available here. It captures this trio at their soulful best, letting vocal tracks play out long and leisurely with expert blends and gentle transitions. The feelings of warmth, love and welcome land with every kick drum and flow through every bassline. @soul-summit-music Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/918

Purelink have been described more than once as an "ambient boy band." (They themselves say "jam band.") It's not meant dismissively—the American trio purposefully mean to function as a band, even if their main instruments are laptops. Ambient might not quite cut it as a descriptor, though. The group's music crosses eras and scenes, touching on the late '90s clicks & cuts boom as well as the billowy ambient techno put out by labels like 3XL, West Mineral Ltd. and NAFF. Their most recent LP, Signs, released on enigmatic imprint Peak Oil (and one of our favourite albums of 2023), is especially impressive, made of stuttering rhythms and glassy textures. In other words, it's ambient-not-ambient. While members Concave Reflection, kindtree and Millia have all made excellent music on their own, something special happens when they come together. Purelink's RA Podcast is another stellar contribution to our post-New Year's tradition, where we highlight a more laid-back sound to soothe weary minds and frazzled brain cells after the heavy holiday celebrations. This is 90-plus minutes of intricately textured downtempo, dub techno and even UK garage, all cut through with a floaty, almost drowsy quality, with plenty of exclusives and unreleased cuts from the likes of Nick León, James K, Downstairs J and more. It highlights Purelink's position as a bridger of worlds, sounds and tempos. Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/917

Dr Banana is a name that commands a lot of respect in certain corners of the dance music world. The man has his Ph.D in record digging—not literally, mind you, but play along—and key to his success is the sense of fun, joy and ecstasy he brings to his DJing. UK garage historian? Sure. Blinding DJ? Definitely. He likes to play records you've never heard before, records that not only make you dance but might remind you of some of your favourite, formative records of yore. The UK artist started out with a fashion line and some records and ended up an influential label boss, collector and DJ. He made his name with skippy, retro UK garage—sometimes from new producers and sometimes unearthed from the archives—and nicely coincided with the genre's explosion in popularity. Since then, he's highlighted everything from old-school German garage to new-school producers like K-LONE. His DJ sets have only become more adventurous and, crucially, even more bumping. Jungle, R&B, tech house, you name it. His RA Podcast zeroes in on a vintage-sounding, rollicking kind of house music, full of seismic disco basslines and quirky vocal samples. It's as celebratory as it is mysterious. Once, Dr Banana was a not so well-kept secret for the heads—the kids in Berlin and London who were starting to realize the similarities between UK garage, minimal and tech house. Now, he's for everyone, and starting to earn the wider recognition he deserves. @dr-banana Read more at https://ra.co/podcast/916