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Best Techno Podcasts 2014

We now introduce our recommendations for the Best Techno Podcasts of 2014. We’ve spent countless hours scouring through the immense multitude of podcasts out there so you don’t have to. As with past years there’s a heavy focus on podcast series though we’ve also added a few promotional mixes that deserve attention. Only mixes that are released in the calendar year are included (unless we slept on one and just had to add it), though some sets may have been recorded at live events previous to 2014. We try to ensure within this list contains lasting and varied mixes, ones that not only impress us on the first listen, but every listen throughout the year, in the office, in the car, out with friends, and hopefully dancing.

We again are continuing the theme from best podcasts 2013 and not ordering the podcasts by release date. This list was constructed as a macro mix with each set adding a certain flavor, tone, or mood.

This list contains 14 podcasts with over 17 hours, 20 minutes, and 57 seconds of music. These mixes range greatly within techno and electronic music though still fall under the umbrella of the darker sounds we enjoy.

This macro mix is meant as an electronic music guide through an entire night of partying, getting you warmed up in the evening, taking you on through the peak hours, and bringing you back down sometime leading into the next afternoon.

We hope you enjoy your night. 

Don’t see your favorite electronic music podcast of 2014 on the list? Leave us a comment we’d love to hear from you.


Best Ambient Techno Podcast 2014 Electric-Deluxe-Podcast-117-Raffaele-Attanasio

Electric Deluxe Podcast 117 Raffaele Attanasio

This is early in your evening. An introspective time. Time to sit back and think by yourself, meditate on the night to come. Raffaele Attanasio gives you a perfect backdrop to go deep with this Electric Deluxe Podcast. Not an entirely ambient set — touching on moments of experimental, dub techno and even a few with Pink Floyd. Raffaele, being classically trained in piano, recently shared a rendition of Jeff Mills classic “The Bells” you should check out.


Best-Podcast-Andy-Stott-Live-Boiler-Room

Andy Stott Live – Boiler Room

We continue your expansion through the early eve with a live set from Andy Stott in the Boiler Room. At this point, you may still be by yourself, getting ready for the night. Maybe a few friends have shown up. Maybe you’re picking out what to wear, having a few drinks, discussing plans. This set from Modern Love’s poster boy is exactly what you should expect. Recorded prior to the release of his new album Faith in Strangers this set in more in tune with Luxury Problems and earlier work — dark, downtempo, dub, absolutely beautiful, and just groovy enough to start getting you warmed up for the night.


Function_Inland-Electronic-Explorations

Function/Inland Electronic Explorations

Now your night is truly starting to shape up. The pre-party is starting at your house and people are showing up. It’s time to impress your friends and dig into your love for the sounds of 90’s classic techno. Function and Inland team up on this mix for Electronic Explorations. The pair utilize tracks from their newly revived label endeavor, Infrastructure New York, which focuses on “melding classic ideals with a modern viewpoint.”  There is an ever-present 909 hum of punchy toms, clacking snares, and riding highs throughout the mix.


Best-techno-podcast-2014-RA-Live-Function-London

RA Live – Function, London

The pre-party rolls on. It’s just a bit too early to head to the club. The theme continues with a live set from Function himself at a Resident Advisor event in London. This set is a beautiful exposition into Function’s newer work like his 2013 album Incubation. Those trancy, hypnotic tones carried over from Sandwell District, synth leads, reverberated vocal samples and the classic beats Function produces so well. This mix also reminds you of his phenomenal set at Movement this year, so there’s a bit a nostalgia there as well.


best music podcast 2014 Leo-Anibaldi-Process-Part-372

Leo Anibaldi – Process Part 372

You’ve piled everyone up, kicked them out and headed out the door. You’re out on the town about to catch your first performance of the night. It’s pitch black already and the night’s just getting started. It’s a chilly wait in line outside but the laughter from your fellow party-goers and the pulsing bass from inside keep you warm. You step through the doors and your heart rate excitably increases. The warm blast of heat brushes your face as you’re patted down in the entryway. Making your way to the bar you sense the lush sounds of Leo Anibaldi carried through the cavernous structure. You wait for your drink with your back to the bar, assessing the atmosphere. Stage lights flicker through bobbing, shadowy figures with sporadic strobe flashes.

Anibaldi, from Rome, Italy and head of Cannibald Records, starts his set deep and light. Midway he starts pouring on the dark and heavy grooves, then pulls it back once more and ends on a funky note.


best detroit techno podcast Torque-Podcast-015---Project-313

Torque Podcast 015 – Project 313

You decide to regroup on the set of posh sofas separated from the main room by light, see-through linens. It’s quieter here. You kick back with your mates getting primed up with a few cocktails. You sense a transition in the night. A new crowd enters from the front and a cool draft catches your skin, making your hair stand on end. The next act has taken the stage, Project 313, head figures from the Blank Code record label. On this set for Japan’s Torque label, the Detroit based duo lay down a set I’ve come accustomed to enjoying, as they’ve also made it on our best podcast list in 2012 and 2013. This set continues to build yet remains mostly deep, dark and pounding. It also gives you a good retrospective on techno as it features many top tracks from throughout the year.


Peter-Van-Hoesen-DJ-set-Boiler-Room-Berlin

Peter Van Hoesen DJ set Boiler Room Berlin

Next on the decks is probably one of my favorite Djs. Peter Van Hoesen, head of Time to Express, has a tremendous knack for crafting amazing sets from a wide range of techno, most of it being tracks I wouldn’t buy from an initial listen. But they become irresistible after hearing him masterfully line them up into a cohesive mix.

You’re directly in the midst of it now. The crowd has fully embraced the night and you are entrenched in the heart of the dancefloor, the sweet spot, giving you the entire range of decibels from the monitors. Midway through the set Van Hoesen drops Green Velvet’s “Flash” and people are simply overthrown with joy. No one screams. No one says a word aside from the simple murmur of, “yes.” A few fists are pumped in the air but mostly people just dance harder.

He continues, taking his set to a few leftfield avenues but the speakers thump and the crowd moves along.


best-Exium-DJ-Set-Tresor-2014

Exium DJ Set @ Tresor Part 1

Moving from one Tresor resident to a live Dj set at Tresor. The extremely talented Spainish production duo Exium continue into the peak hours with a relentless yet funky mix. At this point in the night you’re completely lost to time and direction. You could care less about being anywhere else and it doesn’t matter what time it is or what you have to do tomorrow. Nothing matters but right now. Nothing.

What’s best about these sets recorded live are the raw and exciting mixes that place you right in front of the decks on the night they were recorded. There’s a Part 2 with this set as well, but I thought part 1 felt right for this night. For a great representation of the duo’s production check out their 2013 album A Sensible Guide to Emotion.


Zeitgeber-Warehouse-Sessions

Next up is the combination of a legendary techno dj/producer/live performer Speedy J and techno visionary Lucy as Zeitgeber. As they have many times throughout this year with mixes, live performance, and production, these two pioneers team up on this Warehouse Sessions mix for Rob Booth’s Electronic Explorations podcast series. This is also the most well crafted mix I’ve heard from the duo yet. Their sets are always layers of sounds and genres but this one flows so flawless it demands attention.

A perfect set to continue your night of bliss. The dancefloor is still live, hot, and unforgiving. Zeitgeber open this set hard and bangin to let the vibe live on from Exium. Halfway they take you on a journey, hoping to re-start your morning on a weird and wonderful trip. Exploring many avenues from there they’re sure to end on a high note.


BBC-Radio-1-Essential-Mix-Marcel-Dettmann

BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix – Marcel Dettmann

Marcell Dettmann really is one of the greatest Djs in the world. On his inaugural set for the Pete Tong’s BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix he showcases exactly why. Depending on what time you hear Marcel play you may get a vary different set, as you should. This Berghain resident’s musical palette is what has kept his sets fresh and his bookings top billed. He described this mix as hearing an opening set at Berghain and being transported to a Sunday set. This is a perfect combination to round-out your night clubbing. This set tugs at the soul of the current state of techno. A beautiful blend and range that gives you a chance to step back, relax, and think about the eternity of time that has passed since your night started. Yet still so full and thoughtful, he keeps you at the club, wondering where the morning will take you next.


Slash-Dot-Dash-Podcast-029-Mike-Parker-2014

Slash Dot Dash Podcast 029: Mike Parker

You’ve decided it’s time to leave. It’s been enough. It is just time. You’ve left most of your friends there but convinced just a few of the close ones to travel on. You’ve got word about an afterparty at a place across town you’re intrigued to check out. A short cab ride that might as well be a transporter to a different dimension delivers you to your destination. The afterparty is in the warehouse district. Your unsure of the address but decide to stop at a door where a few like-minded people gather.

After stepping out the cab you walk past the crowd, asking no questions to the validity of your suspicion. This is the place. You walk through a doorway with no door. Moving through a hallway, walls lined with dated posters, lit only with the dim light of simple red bulbs. You meet a bouncer that only utters a nod, ushering you through. You’ve found a small but somehow spacious room, lined with booths around the walls, continuing with the deep, red lit atmosphere. A few people are still dancing. Most people stand or sit alone. The sound system is immaculate yet instead of pushing you to move the music pulls you to the floor. Mike Parker towers over the concrete floor in a dj booth protruding from the white walls twenty feet above your head. For the next hour he lays down a strange and magical set for the Slash Dot Slash podcast that sends you into a deep trance.


Tycho-Sunrise-DJ-Set-at-Burning-Man-2014

Tycho Sunrise DJ Set at Burning Man 2014

You don’t remember leaving the afterhours but you wake up in your best friend’s ride to the blissfully smooth sounds of Tycho. Smoke rolls out the window and grows thick as it catches the warmth of the early sun rays. A new day has started. It’s time for something new. Your pals have decided, without you of course, it was time for a drive north to hit the tail end of an outdoor festival. You arrive without cause. No need for tickets as you walk through like you’ve been there all along. You catch Tycho’s remaining set which includes Boards of Canada, Atoms for Peace, Bibio, and the unmistakable sounds from his latest album Awake. Girls spin and dance in the sunlight and everything is beautiful. Everything is just as it should be.


[dB-Mix-Series]-Silent-Season

[dB Mix Series] Silent Season

You’ve finally headed home. It’s chill out time and there’s no one better to hang with than Silent Season, a (mostly) dub techno and ambient label influenced by the deep forest and natural surroundings in British Columbia, Canada. This is an exclusive mix for Decibel Festival by label head Jamie McCue. And with that I will just leave you to listen and fade away into the depths of your subconscious. It’s been quite a night.


You can find the entire macro mix playlist of the Best Techno Podcasts 2014 on Soundcloud.


Best Techno Music Podcasts 2014

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