Coldcut Solid Steel

In Hour 1 we welcome Frank Bretschneider who was raised in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz) in the German Democratic Republic. He is the founder of the influential East German underground band AG. Geige and co-founder of the prestigious Raster-Noton label. He lives as a musician, video artist and producer in Berlin. He had this to say about his mix;
"The mix is to promote the SICHTEN 1 album I had the honor to compile, so it contains mainly the music of the artists represented there on. But instead to just repeat the tracks from SICHTEN, I thought to chose new, partly unreleased material as far as available: the title track of Zavoloka’s brand new PROMENI album, new material by Benjamin Brunn, two tracks from Warnecke’s 2016 album COMPUTERMUSIK EINS (FÜR DIE OHREN), and some collaborative work by Retina.It.
The mix includes as well two tracks by raster label mates Island People, resp. AtomTM (in its ’94 incarnation Lassigue Bendthaus), plus some music I enjoyed recently.
Hope you enjoy too."

In Hour 2 it's Graham Van Pelt who recently released 'Time Travel', his first record in the four years since he moved from Montreal to Toronto, and he’s no longer Miracle Fortress, or Inside Touch, or any of the aliases he’s used to record over the years. He’s just Graham Van Pelt. He told us;
"This mix includes some of the tracks I turned to for inspiration while I getting my new record ready, as well as some other vibes I've been feeling more recently.  Larry Heard and Ben Cenac(Dream 2 Science) are the producers I've been most inspired by while working on tracks over the past couple years, while labels like Sounds Of Beaubien West, Rush Hour and ASL Singles Club have been keeping things fresh and fun in my world.  I think this mix spans a lot of my tastes both old and new and gives a good sense of my moody headspace of late."

Hour 1 - Frank Bretschneider:

Framework 12 - Mads Emil Nielsen
Love Control feat. HPRIZM - MimiCof
Pet Peg Step - Benjamin Brunn
Stream 08 (Diebs for Kane Remix) - Dieb
Jove Layup - Lee Gamble
ZeroZero31 - Julia Govor
Logicmix - Retina.It + Komet
Promeni - Zavoloka
Spark - MimiCof
Frank Bretschneider
Stroboscopic Tricks - Pierce Warnecke
Open Circle - Håkan Lidbo
Space Swamp - Badun
Smog (feat. AKN) - YPY
So Much Love - Farben
Avenza - Svreca & Retina.it
Right\Shit - Soul Center
Titel 09 - Bretschneider & Brunn
Waterway - Island People
I'm Slowly Morphing - Lassigue Bendthaus
Resplendent Response - Pierce Warnecke

Hour 2 - Graham Van Pelt:

My Love Turns To Liquid - Dream 2 Science
Mercurian Funk - Larry Heard
Just A Test - Ken Gill
Romantic Comedy - Gadi Mizrahi & Soul Clap
System Defender - Villa Abo
Soul Of A Man - Gene Tellem
How RU Plush feat. Regularfantasy - D. Tiffany 
Analog Love - The Godson
All My love Is "Free" - Jump Source
Finedrawn Overcast - Electric Sound 
Azure Lagoon - Seb W & Phil B
Double Dribble - Chaos In The CBD
Endless Flight - The It
 

 This week we welcome Manchester native Ruf Dug to Solid Steel, owner of the appointment-only record store Hi Tackle and label-boss of Ruf Kutz. His releases have also appeared on labels like Unknown To The Unknown, Music For Dreams, Klasse Wrecks and Tusk Wax. With music from Omar-S, Martini Bros, DJ Duke and John Tejada in his mix, he told us;
"I recorded this mix at my studio on a Tuesday morning - it’s 100% vinyl for no other reason than I couldn’t get into the room with the CDJs in it (must improve biometric hacking techniques). I figured well fuck it then I’ll just play out of my bag like it’s a gig.
My record bag is a continual work in progress; I very rarely empty it out and start over so it’s constantly evolving - some things haven’t left literally for years. I just did a reasonably large refresh after the festivals so it’s a little newer to me than normal.
The mix was gonna be longer but the Glowing Palms tune ended sooner than I expected and it seemed like a good point to stop; sometimes u gotta let fate make the big decisions.
Biggups mashups & minimal, the world is ready to forgive u. All my love to my incredibly understanding wife Louise, my beautiful son Larry and my beautiful home Manchester."

In Hour 2 it's Brame & Hamo from Sligo, Ireland and currently based in Berlin, who have expertly produced some of the most effortless house music of the last few years via their first imprint Splendor & Squalour. In 2017 they launched their eponymous second label with the Trants EP to critical acclaim. Their latest EP “Celebrity Impersonator” came out last month and they had this to say about their mix;
"It has been ages since we have put out a mix, and it’s a pleasure to join the Solid Steel series as it is one of our favorites and has shaped who we are as artists. This is a good account of the tunes and style we play when we are out at a gig. It features a few rare gems, and some unreleased but forthcoming productions of ours. We hope you enjoy!”

Playlist:
San Pellegrino - Kaschiel
One Step Ahead (MAW Mix) - Debbie Gibson
I Was Tired Of Being Alone - Klodya
Less Pain - Omar-S

Nativtonguetwisterhood - MB
Critical Ebb - Intelligent Communication
Butter Up (Inst) - Elektrik Dred
Hot - Martini Bros
Tribal Journey - DJ Duke 
Mind Bend - John Tejada
Core - Nagual
Your Love - Jackmaster Hater 
Murder Weapon - Sugar Minott
Mighty In Battle - TNT Roots

For Real - M-Dubs

My Caesar - Mark Seven
Love - Reggie Dokes
Good Girls - Designer Music
Equitoreal Dubtribe - Sound System
Saturday - Unknown
Getting There - Glowing Palms
 

In Hour 1 we welcome back Taraval celebrating the release of his new EP 'Aardvark', which is out on Four Tet's Text Records today. The title track has been whipping festivals and dance floors into a frenzy all summer long when played by the likes of Four Tet, Daphni, Floating Points amongst others, getting many Track ID requests and features in this mix. The San Francisco based producer also has a background as a band member in Caribou. He told us;
"Always exciting to get to mix for Solid Steel. This one features a lot of music I’ve discovered and loved in 2018, plus a couple of tracks from my Aardvark EP on Text Records out on Oct 19. I recorded this live at Crowbar Corner studios, a new and very inspiring place in San Francisco I share with a bunch of artists. It starts off in an aquatic groove then shifts into some psych-y techno then dissolves into some American drones and tones old and new."

Playlist for Hour 1 - Taraval

Shimshon Miel - Amsterdam Experience
Herbert - The Swamp
Evigt Morker - Total Makt 
Wata Igarashi - Question and Answer 
Alex Falk - BETA
Koehler - Thief
Taraval - Aardvark
Arttu - Wiggly Eyez
DJ Shufflemaster - Voltage Controlled Sequence
Soulphiction - Blues Theory (Churchapella)
Ambivalent - Doxa
Nihad Tule and Nima Khak - Plateaux 2002
Daniel Bortz - Dry Mouth
Michael Claus - Ice Pick
Gemini - Klonopinless
Taraval - Pumpkin
Jesper Dahlback and Nihad - Tule Expansion of Timelessness
Orbe - Upper Stage
Aiken - Dominance (James Ruskin Remix)
Henry Flynt - You Are My Everlobvin' 
Organic Dial - Subelan

In Hour 2 we hand over to Cromby, an Irish DJ and producer residing in Berlin, having previously cut his trade between Belfast & London. He's held a residency for the past 6 years at Belfast’s legendary Shine and shows in the past year at the likes of Panorama Bar, Robert Johnson, The Warehouse Project & Boiler room.  His latest EP Futurola is the first release on Denis Sulta’s new Sulta Selects sub label Silver Service, which has been gaining a lot of International support and his next release 'Retribution' is coming out on Feel My Bicep in November. He had this to say; 
"Big big honour to be able to contribute to this series! I found out about this quite last minute with not much time to prepare, so I decided to pull out some of my favourites i've been playing over the last year, I hope you enjoy it!"

 In Hour 1 it's Etch celebrating the release of his debut LP Ups & Downs' on Sneaker Social Club. He began producing in his bedroom at the age of 12 after the infectious curiosity of early 00’s drum & bass, hip hop and experimental electronic music. As time developed and he carved a taste in music through garage, grime, dubstep and hip hop, he began to amalgamate his past into his productions releasing on Keysound, Lapsus, Sony Space + Time, Sunday Best & Soundman Chronicles to name a few. He told us;
"As with most studio recorded mixes I try to capture whatever frame of mind I’m in production-wise at that moment. I’ve tried to combine what I play in clubs with some further reaching headphone music. I like the idea of being blasted into space through your headphones, I love sinking into the background listening to music when im walking around or travelling, let the music dictate where I go. The mix contains classics, new founds favs, unreleased cuts and some blends I’ve been having fun with. I feel a lot of mixes suffer from being a whole hour of waiting for something to happen these days as people monotonously and elegantly transverse 120bpm to 130bpm, the mixes that used to jump out at me when I was younger were the ones where things would just jump out and kick you in the face, not necessarily been done with much technical prowess, and leave you with a smile. So yeah expect a lot of kicks in the face etc…"

In Hour 2 we welcome Maarja Nuut and Hendrik Kaljujärv aka Ruum who release their collaborative album 'Muunduja’, today on  130701 an imprint of FatCat Records.The stunning album was recorded in July 2017 at Peeter Salmela's studio in Kalamaja, Tallinn. The duo was joined there by producer Howie B, who inspired the artists to use more than their standard repertoire of instruments. Maarja Nuut sings, plays violin and different keyboards. Ruum plays different analogue and digital synthesizers; various field recordings and “found sounds” were employed where appropriate. They had this to say;
"As the weather changes, perception seems to follow. Surroundings become a little muffled and focus moves inwards, it’s like a sneaking preparation for coming ‘kaamos’ - translated literally, it means (winter) darkness. The way from my home to studio runs along the coast line of Tallinn, it’s about a 40-minute stroll that I often pass with - I call it - walking music. So it’s a selection of hypnotising rhythms that I like to move along with, embellished with picks from archives, outer environments, some cosy sounding synth loops and one ballad."