7 must-hear mixes from July 2018: Warehouse electro, ’90s techno and Fractal Fantasy

It’s almost impossible to keep on top of everything that SoundCloud, Mixcloud and online radio has to offer. In our monthly column, FACT guides you through the must-hear mixes of the last 30 days, whether you want a club session to warm you up for the weekend, ambient soothers or a set of vinyl-only obscurities.

This month, we have a clutch of must-hear mixes for techno fans: a storming session of warehouse bangers from one of Berlin’s most exciting rising DJs, ’90s sounds from one of the city’s cult producers and a mix from The Bunker New York’s latest signing that dives deep into a sea of twitchy electro rhythms.

There’s also an eclectic Beats In Space mix from Brooklyn favorite Yaeji, an album companion from Fractal Fantasy’s Xzavier Stone, sweaty summer sounds from N.A.A.F.I. artist DEBIT and a killer session of ambient and experimental gems from PAN affiliate Kohwi.


Crack Mix 220: Nene H
Banging warehouse electro from DJ Stingray’s new fave

Turkish pianist Beste Aydin began exploring electronic music as an escape from her studies, and after moving to Berlin notched up a slew of acclaimed releases on Seagrave, Bedouin and Eotrax. Her Crack mix is a wonky warehouse excursion, whooshing from deep, bassy electro into the kind of ragged 4/4 you’d expect to find in the EU capital of techno. It’s hardly surprising that, according to Crack, Detroit’s own DJ Stingray has given her the thumbs up. High praise indeed, and fully deserved. JT


Blowing Up The Workshop 92: Kohwi
Billowing ambient and under-the-radar experimental sounds

PAN affiliate Kohwi delivers the latest in the consistently brilliant Blowing Up The Workshop series (seriously, has there ever been a bad one of these?), a mix that curator Matthew Kent describes as “clouds of coloured gas turning solid and bouncing off the floor”. A few of the names will be familiar – Andreas Tilliander, Suns of Arqa and Two Lone Swordsmen – but on the whole this is a deep dive into the lesser explored corners of contemporary experimental music from a seasoned Bandcamp digger. SW


Trushmix 123: SVN
Blissed-out house and techno from a cult Berlin favorite

Cult Berlin producer SVN once dubbed the sound of the SUED label he runs with SW. “rainforest techno”. However, his music doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it’s equally indebted to the spaced-out, colorful techno of the ’90s, a sound that’s touched on the latest in the Trushmix series with classics from short-lived Warp trio Tuff Little Unit, Nubian Mindz and The Sabres of Paradise alongside gems from Josh Wink and SUED artist PG Sounds. Proof, if ever we needed it, that ’90s techno will never die. SW


BIS Radio Show #944 with Yaeji
Eclectic happy hour selections from the ‘Raingurl’ producer

Kicking off with that haunting, endlessly delightful Yves Tumor track, ‘The Feeling When You Walk Away’, Yaeji’s set on Beats In Space radio ends up feeling as eclectic and memorable as the ‘Raingurl’ producer’s own AF tracks. More like a summer jam session than a deep DJ mix, it’s an hour of mixed-up selections that put a smile on your face with each new twist and turn, with hazy beach moods from Pacific Coliseum, big ol’ breaks from Special Request, glittering J-house by Soichi Terada, and a cracking Madonna edit, to name just a few. Turn it way up and keep the negronis coming. CR


Xzavier Stone – Pointclouds 2
Fractal Fantasy’s latest signing showcases his diamond-cut sound

If you haven’t been following Fractal Fantasy over the past year then you’re missing out on a club label at the top of its game. This month saw Xzavier Stone graduate from an appearance on the last Visceral Minds compilation to releasing his debut album, Thirst, which also got its own companion mix, Pointclouds 2. Described by Stone as “a musical journey” through the album’s creation, it comes loaded with exclusives from Stone and the Fractal Fantasy family, including edits of Lil’ Kim’s ‘The Jump Off’, The Neptunes’ ‘Light Your Ass On Fire’ and Brandy’s ‘Sittin Up In My Room’, Fractal Fantasy style. Check it out on the FF website for the visual version. SW


The Bunker Podcast 173: Abby Echiverri
Techno and electro with an engineer’s ear for detail

Stepping up for the latest podcast from The Bunker New York – the long-running label and party that’s home to techno brainiacs like Wata Igarashi and Donato Dozzy – is a new name with a promising future. Abby Echiverri just joined the label for her debut EP, a stunningly impressive set of pin-sharp techno and rolling broken bass. She’s not a newcomer to the industry, though, having work for many years as a sound engineer, DJ and VJ (she used to play in punk bands, too). On this mix she shows off her studio ears with a journey through pristine techno, itchy-glitchy rhythms and – after a long, almost tantric build-up – a bunch of roof-rattling electro bangers. Austere and not a little bit challenging, it’s the perfect cold shower of a mix for these roasted summer days. CR


FADER mix: DEBIT
A fun, relentlessly sweaty summer blend of bangers from the N.A.A.F.I. alum

N.A.A.F.I.’s DEBIT, aka Delia Beatriz, impressed earlier this year with Animus, a debut that fused hazy ambient compositions with devastating club constructions. For this FADER mix, Beatriz aims solely at the dancefloor, slickly blending bouncy, bass-heavy cuts from Siete Catorce, M.E.S.H., Helena Hauff and Club Chai’s Lara Sarkissian. It’s a perfect reminder of just how urgent and invigorating contemporary global club music is right now. JT


Read next: 10 under-the-radar club tracks you need to hear in July 2018

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