Reclaim Your City 668 | Rolando

This week we’re blessed to welcome a true legend of the techno game with Rolando taking over RYC waves for a two-hour jaunt into otherworldly floor narratives and lushly-forested sonic landscapes. Now operating out of Edinburgh, the former Underground Resistance member - forever associated with the timeless classic ‘Knights of the Jaguar’ - has laid the foundation to a ceaselessly compelling body of work, including key releases on Ostgut Ton, Delsin and his own imprint, R3. Championing a sound most entrancingly dynamic, largely informed by groove, jazz and Latin percussions, Rolando graces us with a mix that combines the finest of his signature mystic-imbued vision and sixth sense for crafting some of the most memorable club experiences to be had. Tapping in his love for polyamorous Detroit techno and house combinations, mostly leaning into the more soulful side of his hometown’s heritage rather than the industrial edge, Rolando embarks us on a ride across shape-shifting technoid boogie reliefs and further uncharted routes. Brace yourselves for some of the lushest, most immersive and distinctive techno heroics around. 

Bringing this month of Clone-ruled brilliance to a closure, legendary German act The Exaltics treat us to a face-melting avalanche of abrasive kick-n-snare-heavy assault and future-proof sound engineering. Championing that no-surrender electro pulse and the same acid-soaked dystopian atmospheres that innervate their whole discography, the two-hour set here presented showcases the uncompromising nature of The Exaltics sound: both rugged to the core and infinitely complex in its musical phrasing. The result is a highly corrosive and equally dynamic mosaic of paced-up fragments, polychromatic ambiences and that signature in-your-face punch wrapped in a post-apocalyptic cinematic envelope. Steel yourself for liftoff. 

Third artist to grace us in this Clone-curated month of October, The Hague’s one-and-only analogue wizard Legowelt surfaces with a mix sprawling from esoteric proto-techno to hallucinogenic electro, via trance-infused dreamscapes, eerie pop and mystique-imbued downtempo. As the true master of the synths he is, Legowelt has us traveling far and deep into a layered multiverse of dazzling hardware stutter and iridescent machine funk out a frizzling, VHS-supported headspace. Effusively vivid and durably haunting 8-bit-informed tapestries succeed through this glitchy maze of fractured tempi and vectorial stunts, cascading seamlessly as Legowelt pulls off yet another magnetic expression of retro-laced granularity and enhanced organic synthesis. Mythical. 

Taking the helm for the second number in Clone’s October takeover, here goes the mastermind himself, Serge with an ever epic selection of hard-nosed bangers and boundary-pushing ordnance. Having built an absolute monument to electronic music in the broadest, most widely eclectic sense of the term, Serge remains a driving force without equivalent both within and well beyond the borders of Netherlands. His much anticipated mix for RYC attests to the evergreen quality of his selections and precision of his mixing, diving deep into his own label’s catalogue and like-minded repertoires to once again deliver the most compelling club-destroying transmission you could think of. Expect torrents of acid-drenched psychedelia, rough-hewn analogue bursts, cutting-edge slices and laser-precise groovers on a post-industrial tip. BEEG. 

Brace yourselves for a breakneck ride this month as our longtime friends and distributor Clone hijack RYC frequencies with a massive takeover for the whole month of October. Breaking this four-part installment in, Amsterdam’s Afra cuts in with two-hours of old-school Detroit electro vibrations, hi-velocity breaks and future-facing floor narratives beckoning us onto a whole distinct dimension entirely. All in finessed vortical dynamics and rapid-fire bass deluge, the Dutch DJ pulls out an absolute charge of a chiseled and finely-curated mix, locked-and-loaded on having ravers lose their mind to this effervescing fusion of frantic sci-fi-like atmosphere and proper nuclear propulsion. Buckle your belt. 

 Not yet a big name on today’s techno map, up-and-comer Erik Jabari is a producer and DJ you shall hear a lot more from in the coming years. Championing a sound both rugged to the core and honed to razor-sharp effect, the young Berlin-based artist is on a rising trajectory his recent 6-hour B2B set with living legend DJ Pete came to confirm in the most splendid way. Building upon an unmatched maturity behind the decks associated with a sixth sense for faultless track selections, Erik has been dishing out proper memorable vinyl-only sets with unfaltering flair and focus throughout the past few months, and his inaugural mix for RYC shall cement his position as a DJ and producer to keep a close eye on. Locked in, ready for the sweep.

Taking over the decks this week with two hours of unflinching groove engineering, Tresor resident DJ and Unrush boss Mareena pulls out the big guns. All in layered atmospheric finesse, streamlined rhythmic architecture and nimble transitions, Mareena's mix vouches for her impeccable mixing skillset and pristine curation. Blending hi-impact, big room-focussed wares and clever detours into further experimental-leaning territories, the German artist captures a compelling snapshot of her current musical headspace, combining the finest of hi-tech dubs with vanguard electronics and stripped-down floor destroyers bound to wreak havoc all the way from the basement to the rooftop. Seismic drop, beware. 

Half of boundary-pushing production outfit Voices From The Lake and co-founder of Spazio Disponibile, Neel is an Italian producer with a keen ear for complex, enveloping sonics; his ample, elegant pieces of music sitting right at the junction of beatless abstraction and intricate webs of electronic pulsations. Boasting his works’ most dynamic side, Neel’s debut transmission on RYC ushers us into a smouldering pit of molten steel and glassy membranes. Playing with echoes and latency as he builds his own multi-sensory experience out of eclectic fragments, Neel transports us to a zone where movement and inertia rule in concerted harmony, and your suddenly weightless body feels eventually free from today’s iteratively chaotic burden. Uplifting. 

Responsible for a handful exquisite platters on the likes of Dial Records, LARJ, Figures’ sub-division LF RMX and his own imprint, Intergalactic Research Institute for Sound, Georgia-born, Berlin-based sound explorer Irakli lands his new transmission for RYC: a mix giving full vent to his ever innovative and shape-shifting approach to floor narratives. Always going the unsuspected route with no compass to guide us back onto the normative boulevard, Irakli takes us on a bumpy ride across jagged proto-technoid topographies, fractal-like foldings and mind-expanding new horizons of musical possibilities. The result is - as per the man’s high-flying standards, an ode to techno’s core values of innovation and fearlessness, developing the kind of pioneering mindset we miss so much these days. Electrifying. 

Boss of Madrid’s seminal imprint Semantica, Spanish DJ and producer Svreca steps in the series with a monster two-hour jaunt into his multi-faceted techno headspace. As ever busy pushing the club sound’s envelope with great loads of heavyweight kicks and trenchant snares, Svreca has us all kitted out for a breathtaking dive into gravityless territories and cragged moonscapes. Flush with hair-raising momenti, unsuspected plot twists and climactic rollercoasting, his mix shifts the focus constantly betwixt textural magnification and rhythm-enslaved abandon, having you wading into the instant’s XTC to most mesmeric effect. A rough, Indus-minded masterclass from one of the finest to ever do it. Rampage mode on.