On Our Radar: July 2020
Welcome back to On Our Radar, Beatportal’s monthly roundup of the DJs and producers we can’t get enough of.
RAY MONO
A critical underground figure in the UK city of Leeds, Ray Mono’s crisp house and minimal tech output has been steadily spreading throughout Europe for some time now. With an uncanny ability to suck you into his rolling, mellow, and riveting selections behind the decks, Mono is a master of warm, subtle dancefloor vibes. His production efforts on top labels like NOFITSTATE, Moan Recordings, hedZup Records, Moxy Muzik, Tamango, and META are easy-riding gems that swing, dip and build with unassuming grace. His two most recent EPs, What It Is on Do Not Sleep and last week’s On The Grind via RAWSTREET, exemplify the power and class of Ray Mono’s increasingly impressive arsenal.
FRACTIONS
Fractions is a collaborative project from Russian producers Nikki Korobeynik and Artem Frolov. The pair first met while attending University in Prague — a city both of their families moved to escape the hardships of their sparse, polluted, and industrial hometowns in the early 2000s. Bonding over their shared background and love of energetic soundtracks for movies and videogames like The Matrix, Need For Speed, Blade, and Mortal Kombat, they buckled down and began learning music production.
Their high-octane techno style, which incorporates elements of ’90s rave and acid, emits an “unapologetic rawness” that first caught the attention of Fleisch Records in 2018. Following their debut Control EP on the imprint, the duo’s follow-up Constellations EP on Rotterdam Electronix is an electro and breakbeat excursion of epic proportion that shows off their nefarious versatility. Their most recent NITE NRG EP — released via Monnom Black back in June — is exceptional, and will have you gritting your teeth and longing for those dark, sweaty warehouse nights.
SYREETA
Beatport first became familiar with SYREETA during our Pride 2020 livestream with HE.SHE.THEY back in June. Kicking off the digital event with an absolute monster of a set, the UK selector succeeded in setting the bar extremely high for the rest of the evening. Hailing from Birmingham, SYREETA spent her teenage years training to represent her country in the Olympics as a sprinter before a tragic injury cut her athletic career short. Finding her salvation in music, she moved to London and has been thoroughly rinsing the decks throughout the city’s underground scene for the past six years.
She’s performed at large festivals like Reading Festival, Parklife, Terminal V, and TRNSMT, but for SYREETA, the size of the stage has never mattered. For her, performing in a place where she can interact directly with her dancefloor compatriots always takes the cake. Bursting with chunky basslines, gratifying grooves, and old-school spirit, the high-energy momentum of her sets have resulted in an adoring fanbase that’s growing by the day. As a queer black woman, she hopes to inspire a new generation of performers while also bringing back “the vibe of years gone by.”
REDUX SAINTS
Chicago-born DJ-producer Jason Trevor Miller (AKA Redux Saints) has always strived to keep the original energy and spirit of his hometown’s proud house music tradition alive through his music. Working his way up through the clubland ranks over the past five years, Miller has released on top labels such as CR2 and Toolroom, and received support from heavyweights like Fatboy Slim, Pete Tong, Mark Knight, Riva Starr, and Carl Cox.
Currently based in Los Angeles, Miller heads up his own Deep Tech Los Angeles Records imprint. He’s become one of the most reliable sources for rowdy tech house and passionate melodic techno in the city’s underground scene. He secured a #1 spot in Beatport’s Best New Tech House Hype Chart with his track “Stay Home!“ as part of his label’s Deep Tech Lockdown Sessions Vol.1 compilation. His most recent single “GONNA BE ALRIGHT” on LOW CEILING is a reminder to what awaits many at the end of the club tunnel once dancefloors open back up.
JULIA BONDAR
Born in Ukraine and currently based in Barcelona, Julia Bondar is an electronic music producer, singer, and songwriter with a penchant for live analog performance. A ferocious, black-clad attitude persists through Bonder’s music, charged by slow-burning modular arrangements, industrial rhythms, and frigid storytelling that’s both melancholic and danceable.
Her Endorphin.es Production outfit doubles as a music label and synth module company where both her and her partner Andreas Zhukovsky help design, promote, and demonstrate the possibilities of the freshly engineered eurorack modules for the market. Following her debut album Blck Noir in 2018, US imprint Detroit Underground signed on to release her brooding and nostalgic In My Neighborhood LP the following year; the tape releases sold out in only two weeks. Her latest effort, a three-track EP titled I Want Forbidden, explores “the attributes, rituals, and fantasies that lift our libido and make us feel attractive.” Minimal, sublime, and thoroughly sensuous, the release spells great things for this modular wizard.
POSTED ON JULY 20 2020
POSTED BY Cameron Holbrook