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The mastermind behind Basic Channel, Hard Wax and Rhythm & Sound doesn't do mixes. For RA.1000, he made an exception. Trace Mark Ernestus's path, and you trace the evolution of electronic sound itself. The timeline of contemporary Berlin is unimaginable without him. At first, that meant Hard Wax, the crucial hub that shaped the early era of the city's techno revolution. Carl Craig once said it plainly: "Mark was ground zero." From there, Ernestus never stopped. There's the birth of dub techno and the near-flawless catalogue that followed through Basic Channel and Rhythm & Sound. There's his immersion in Senegalese mbalax with Ndagga Rhythm Force. Lately, that means Open Ground the Wuppertal bunker that's letting people hear music as never before. As part three of RA.1000, Ernestus has kindly supplied his first studio DJ mix. As you might expect, it's technically immaculate, but more than that, it feels like a substantial and generous conduit to one of the world's most vital genres. Amapiano remains underexplored in music media. Publications like our own are still learning to keep pace with the South African sound's global pull, animating millions across the globe. You'll hear the range and richness of the genre across the near two-hour mix, from the gothic, percussive stomp of Caltetonic's "Bambela" to the devotional glow of GemValleyMusiq's "Something Spiritual." Through all of this, Ernestus has remained understated. He lets the music speak for him, with a quiet honesty that lies in decades of opening doors—creating the conditions for new sounds and scenes to flourish and carry the culture forward. @opengroundclub @hardwax Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/1011. Listen to all RA.1000 mixes, as well as the complete history of the RA Podcast, at https://1000.ra.co

RA.1000 continues with the pride of Palestine's techno scene, Sama' Abdulhadi. What makes the sound of resistance? For Palestinian DJ and producer Sama' Abdulhadi, it's the freedom to explore her artistic expression in all its authenticity and complexity. What stands out in her mix for our 1000th celebration is defiant energy, the kind that galvanises more than just dance floors. Born in Ramallah but a student of Beirut's underground scene, Abdulhadi plays charging, self-assured techno, as calibrated for basement parties as for conquering festival main stages. Her sets are powerful journeys through moods, tempos and stimuli, connected by a deep sense of love. A love for the music, the craft, the soil from which Abdulhadi grew. It's a love we've explored in a cover story, a film and now one of our ten RA.1000 mixes. As Abdulhadi notes in her accompanying interview, her entry to the series forms a link back to another "pride and joy of Palestine," with Bethlehem-descending Nicolás Jaar's entry on RA.500. Yet ten years on, the landscape is altered beyond all recognition. As we all watch the ongoing destruction of Palestinian land, this mix is an unequivocal reminder that we cannot look away. It continues techno's decades-old lineage as vital resistance music. @sama_abdulhadi Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/1010. Listen to all RA.1000 mixes, as well as the complete history of the RA Podcast, at https://1000.ra.co

RA.1000 launches with Theo Parrish, live at fabric: a vanishingly rare club mix from the king of deep crates and impossible transitions. There are DJ sets and then there are Theo sets. No matter how many times you've caught him in action, every time still feels like the first. Running hot, levels smoking, isolator working over time. You think you know dance music? Think again. Parrish's debut on the RA Podcast is a milestone for the series, one we've sought for over 15 years. So it was only right that Theo led off our 1000th celebrations. Recorded live at fabric last December as part of RA's party with the London club for their 25th anniversary, this three-hour segment documents the crescendo of his eight-hour marathon. The Detroit legend doesn't release mixes often, and when he does, they're usually studio recordings: think NTS shows, his 100% Detroit edition of DJ-Kicks or classic tapes Body (1997) and Methods of Movement (2000). A capture of the Sound Signature boss on the dancefloor is hard to come by. Sure, there's galvanising build-ups and crowd-pleasers, but laced throughout a Parrish beatdown are rarities designed to shock the system. In a business dominated by marketing, the vinyl master towers above thanks to a relentless hunger for lustrous melodies, moods and textures of all stripes, which he and he alone can fold into an inspiring and exhilarating joyride. On RA.1000, blissful reggae precedes new wave disco; '80s R&B morphs into synthy techno; bleepy Chicago jack makes way for a poignant vocal ballad. It's Theo through and through. Once again, he proves that anything and everything is possible with the right records. @theoparrish @fabric @soundsignaturedetroit @crownruler Listen to all RA.1000 mixes, as well as the complete history of the RA Podcast, at https://1000.ra.co