I would love to know the current DJs posters here recommend to see live. Seeing a DJ live is a different experience than hearing their productions or even mixes and I think a thread dedicated to discussing which DJs are your current favorites would be very revealing in addition to giving us suggestions on which DJs to try and catch next time they are around.

Personally, my three favorite current DJs are Ben Klock, Marcel Dettmann, and Rodhad. All techno djs which shows where my current tastes lie.

Living on the west coast in the states, seeing these guys is a once to twice a year proposition and so far they have all delivered on their west coast digs.

Ben Klock is probably the most hit or miss out of the three, but also the one that delivered the highest for me. His 4 hour set a couple of years back was one of the best techno nights of my life. Also, to me, technically speaking, his DJ skills are ridiculously good. I once spent an hour during one of his sets along with a psytrance DJ friend just watching him work. It was unreal. My friend was just blown away from technical standpoint.

Marcel Dettmann's tastes are similar to Klock but attempts to not go full blown jackhammer techno for hours which can happen to Klock from the times I have seen him. He also seems to play a little bit more complex or groovy techno than Klock which makes him probably the better choice for people not full blown PLUREing that night.

RODHAD is definitely the DJ whose song selections seem to inspire me the most. I love his label and love his mix of pounding bunker techno along with more melodic or even arpeggiated techno tracks. He also seems to play the least housey stuff and definitely sticks to techno but really does find some depth and complexity during his sets.

Having lived and went out during the Sasha and Digweed Prog era and seeing those guys along with countless others during that late 90s golden era, I can say that in my humble opinion we are also living in a golden era of german techno. By now its most likely played out in Berlin but the rest of us are only getting these DJs recently and i highly recommend people see them now before they became as stale as Sasha and Digweed have become.

Would love to know other peoples choices. I stuck to guys who I have seen live on more than one occasion to properly judge. Three guys i still havent been able to see live whose DJ mixes I love are Answer Code Request, Kobosil, and Alex.Do. Hopefully those guys start touring the states sometime soon.

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X-MIX 1 The MFS Trip

This guy needs to come back

Nina Kraviz
John Digweed
Adam Beyer (with the caveat of seeing him play at a quality afterhours venue for AT LEAST 3 hours -- totally captivating)
Fur Coat
Stacey Pullen
Ben Klock
Sonja Moonear

Haven't seen them live, but I like their mixes. If you're into techno and these guys visit the States, you may want to check them out:

Ascion
Anetha
Synthek
Charlotte de Witte

I'm only listing DJs that actually tour a decent amount around the world.

Steffi - love love love. She played my favorite sets of the past two years. So much passion, so many killer trax. I don't know what she plays like when she tours but she's been my favorite berghain resident for a while.

DVS1 - the most technically inspiring DJ I know of. Watching him is always getting a performance. No one else is weaving tracks together like him. Sometimes he's a little too tool-y and it gets a bit dull but due to how he plays it's always worth checking out.

Anthony Parasole - very hit or miss for me but when he hits, he really hits. Incredibly groovy selections and plays tracks that most techno DJ will never even go near to.

DJ Pete - a favorite among those who know (I think Surgeon called him his favorite DJ) but after 20 years still doing his thing on a very ground-level, away from big hype or trends. One of these guys that's always going to surprise you with the hot new wax in his bag. There's not a lot of DJs that can sound this inspired every week after a lifetime in techno.

Nina Kraviz - Yeah, I mean it. She plays more interesting and fresh stuff than all the other big names of her size. She's been carving out her own techno sound in the last 2-3 years and you can really tell she still spends hours and hours digging crates and chasing new unreleased music where as a lot of the big arena guys have mostly settled. Yeah, she might be a self-obsessed bitch, but I do think she's one of the most interesting techno/house DJs out there right now.

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June 2018 mix

my wish list: james zabiela, laurent garnier, king unique.

Atlanta been sorta whack for a while now. The promotion outfits are still booking their MNML Tech House garbage friends from like 4+ years ago.

Kai Alce is a local who can always be relied on, however, and I noticed he's been touring a bit recently. He's definitely a DJ worth catching if you can.

//Cassy is coming through in a week or two, is that a show I should try and make it to?

quote:

Originally posted by Woony Yeah, she might be a self-obsessed bitch

I seriously don't get this sentiment when I see it in reference to Kraviz. There are so many "self-obsessed" DJs out there on the circuit, why does she seem to get so much shit? Is it because of that video she did in the bathtub a few years back?

quote:

Originally posted by enydo I seriously don't get this sentiment when I see it in reference to Kraviz. There are so many "self-obsessed" DJs out there on the circuit, why does she seem to get so much shit? Is it because of that video she did in the bathtub a few years back?

Idk, just the way she moves behind the booth screams self obsessed to me. Of course she isn't the only one but it's kind of glaringly obvious with her. The bitch part is just hearsay, never properly met her. Although I know people that are good friends with her and they are quite... weird.

Some more names I forgot //

Etapp Kyle is also really good right now. He plays Age Of Love and Djrum 'Mountains', how can you not love him? In a way his bread & butter sound is kind of generic deep, restrained & heavy techno but he doesn't play the obvious bangers and does it in a very classy way, much like his productions.

Local/more obscure names: I/Y, Dr. Rubinstein, Roberto, Polo, Mareena, Ron Albrecht, Milton Bradley, Blind Observatory, Stenny, Inigo Kennedy

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June 2018 mix

quote:

Originally posted by Woony Idk, just the way she moves behind the booth screams self obsessed to me. Of course she isn't the only one but it's kind of glaringly obvious with her. The bitch part is just hearsay, never properly met her. Although I know people that are good friends with her and they are quite... weird.

Ah, gotcha.

Seems like most DJ crews/squads and the people who orbit them are all weird assholes who've never really had to hold down a "real" job, and have spent way too much time doing drugs.

quote:

Originally posted by Woony Idk, just the way she moves behind the booth screams self obsessed to me. Of course she isn't the only one but it's kind of glaringly obvious with her. The bitch part is just hearsay, never properly met her. Although I know people that are good friends with her and they are quite... weird. Some more names I forgot // Etapp Kyle is also really good right now. He plays Age Of Love and Djrum 'Mountains', how can you not love him? In a way his bread & butter sound is kind of generic deep, restrained & heavy techno but he doesn't play the obvious bangers and does it in a very classy way, much like his productions. Local/more obscure names: I/Y, Dr. Rubinstein, Roberto, Polo, Mareena, Ron Albrecht, Milton Bradley, Blind Observatory, Stenny, Inigo Kennedy

I for one happen to dig her personality behind the booth. I caught her live for the first time at INto the Valley last year and she had an early set. She had the smallish crowd there so into the music and vibe. I know the electronic music community these days puts such an emphasis on gender neutrality but as a guy, I can't say I mind an attractive female DJ with a spicey personality doing her thing. If anyone wants to hate her on for it (Maceo Plex, the entire RA community, etc), I'd say that says more about those people than it does about her. IMO, she doesn't come off "slutty" or "self-obsessed." She comes off as genuine and passionate, totally feeling the music and vibe that she's in no small part responsible for. Stoic female DJs like Steffi are cool too -- everyone has his or her own personal style when mixing. As long as it's genuine -- what's the issue?

But anyways -- yes regarding her talents as a techno DJ. She is really adventurous with her mixing style and isn't afraid to really push the limits. Always keeping the texture of the music thematically interesting. She has a thing for identifying exquisite vocals in tracks and she builds quite the atmosphere with these kinds of tracks.
And her label Trip is out-of-this-world good. The production quality is top-notch. Listen to those lossless tracks with a real good pair of headphones or tower speakers.

Been meaning to check out Kraviz for a while actually. Now people have piqued my interests.

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X-MIX 1 The MFS Trip

This guy needs to come back

Last edited by paulversuspaul on Apr-06-2016 at 23:01

I don't have an issue with Kraviz' personality, really, but Idk, having seen her multiple times, it's a bit weird to see someone so obviously bloom from soaking up all the attention in the room. She's definitely a total diva which isn't necessarily anything wrong per se but it in a techno context it does feel a bit odd. I'm not doubting that her personality and passion is genuine.

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June 2018 mix