Wild City

A member of the Feel My Bicep crew alongside the likes of Matt McBriar and Andy Ferguson (who'd go on to form the duo Bicep), Rory Hamilton aka Hammer isn't just someone who has a sense for discovering interesting electronica works. After decades of hosting parties in Glasgow and later London, as well as spinning records the world over, the Belfast-born talent knows how to stitch together those records to create moments of passionate revelry. India has bore witness to that skill multiple times at this point as Hamilton returned to the country earlier this year after half a decade, adding dates in Goa and Kolkata alongside Delhi and Mumbai before jetting off to Sri Lanka for further performances with Tropical Wax for an 8-show tour of India and Sri Lanka. He recorded a mix for Wild City in Sri Lanka at the end of his tour to look back at his time in the region, which also included signing on Kolkata's 8-bit culprit – the second artist from India to work with the label after New Delhi Anhad Khanna aka Sublime

For years, we kept clubbing the word "psychedelic" with Lahore's Talal Qureshi. Even as the Pakistan's electropop pioneer has transformed from a Coke Studio mainstay with esoteric productions on the side to someone who brings his worlds together and creates the collaborative woofer-friendly bangers, that characteristic zaniness remains. As evident by his 2023 debut album 'TURBO' and its recent re-release with a deluxe edition, it has married itself to the sound of South Asian hip-hop with sometimes a satirising presence of Pakistan's hyperlocal elements.  It is embodied in the announcement he makes at the start of his Wild City mix before launching into cuts from the 15-track release, unreleased demos, edits of his other work and even someone Skrillex to demonstrate how his work can boom alongside the globally prominent. Contrary to most mixes of nearly all-originals, Talal's quick-moving mix is a product bigger than the sum of its selections. Constant flow through hard cuts between collaborations that feat

Akshay Mathker aka Innerworld's Wild City mix doesn't just move subtly, it moves you with the most subtle forces. Starting with dark ambience, the mix is defined by its hypnotic atmospheric nature even when the languid textures clear to the thump of the techno's proprietary grooves.  Like an experienced DJ, the Goa-based artist layers his selections, elevating them from their standalone value. The ebb and flow between lulling ambient numbers and compelling rhythms begin to combine as distorted gritty kicks creep up from behind the aqueous pads and slow breaks of ULV's 'My Sofa Turns Into A Desert'. The influence of Goa's trance heritage is doesn't shy away as deep airy washes remain a near-constant part of the selections – before the mix slowly turns towards more zany and esoteric cuts for the final push for energy.  More info: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20560-wild-city-232-innerworld

Whenever Chennai-born Brooklyn-based DJ-producer Krithi reaches for rhythms and sounds from her native land and the like, they fit into the mould of dance music as if they've always been a natural part of it rather than (as it often is) a forced gimmick of limited yield. Her achievement seems to go further on her upcoming EP 'Coping Mechanism' as she finds the style a vessel of personal narratives, calling the release a "sonic exploration of how she communes with the shadows of depression". Both the released singles from the EP 'Suppress' and 'Medicate' demonstrate that within Krithi's Wild City mix which features a heavy dose of original unreleased work and glimpses of the record that drops on January 15. Introduced through 140BPM techno, the mix quickly shifts to and operates in and around bass and breaks. A peppy start moves into sombre moods as a slightly slowed down 'Heist Track' by MALFNKTION staggers into Krithi's own work before a jubilant return with the standout moment of Yourboykiran's Bollywood

With the Magnetic Fields Festival taking over Alsisar this weekend for its 9th edition, New Delhi producer, DJ and Qilla Records co-founder Madhav Shorey aka Kohra and Thailand's globe-trotting polymath Sunju Hargun are revisiting their B2B set from last year.  Performed at the Resident Advisor afterparty, a highlight for the dancefloor-dedicated with its music going from the late hours of the night to the earliest moments of the morning, the accumulated energy of the night and its transformation into the morning audible in the set. Acid's mind-bending textures give way to increasingly guttural techno, pulling heavily from its minimal repertoire. As the night sky begins to lighten, the emotions are guided by the wash of the pads for a more refreshing conclusion. For more: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20488-wild-city-230-kohra-b2b-sunju-hargun

Our Wild City Mix section is not just a reservoir of some sonic journeys from formidable selectors coming out of India and beyond but often also a place to familiarise oneself with some rising forces. Our latest edition comes in the latter category as it brings to the fore one of the country's meteorically rising acts: Kandy Kuri.  With not much more than a year to her name, Kandy Kuri has found herself supporting the likes of Yung Singh and Lady Shaka alongside featuring on lineups of Bass Camp and Magnetic Fields Festival off the back of authenticity-focused selections across styles that she weaves together with a gentle gradualness – as brandished on her Wild City mix. The mix puts focus on textures evoked by the percussion within shades of breaks, garage and house while touching upon techno. Even as vocals come to the limelight with 'Fundamentals' by Worldcolour, they only serve to augment the atmosphere as a textural element, playing to the purpose of creating a whirring hypnotic mood. For more informa

Versatile but always uptempo, Farhan Rehman treads the joyous sound of house music on his Wild City mix.  The DJ-producer from Mumbai is able to tread a wide scope of genres with his reputation as one of the city's most experienced selectors. But on his hour-long mix, he keeps to the constant thump of four-to-the-floor kick drums as rousing vocals and instrumental runs take flight on top of it. Selecting tracks that are undercuts to the casual listener and classics to the house aficionados, Farhan's mix educates the listener of the infectiously celebratory essence of house music, fulfilling that classic, often-forgotten, and pivotal role of the DJ to be the informer of public taste.  For tracklisting and more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20391-wild-city-228-farhan-rehman

One wouldn't usually place Indian artist's resurgent 80s hit 'Aaj Shanibaar' right next to works by British hip-hop group The Streets – but that is exactly what happens on Mumbai DJ-producer Himay's Wild City mix. The connecting thread is a no-frill embrace of house music in all its shade.  To present that, Himay kicks things off with his usual fare of acid house with an unreleased original work that testifies to a level of simplicity and focus that mostly only a seasoned artist can achieve. The mix builds upon the classic analogue sounds gradually till we are dealing with some modern masters like Eris Drew and Omar Souleyman before ending upon two of 2022's biggest dance music hits like Eliza Rose and Interplanetary Criminal's 'B.O.T.A.'  and Mella Dee's 'Love It Or Not' (ft. Infinite Coles). For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20339-wild-city-227-himay

With Amapiano, Gqom, house, techno, hip-hop, sprinkles of R&B and ending on some drum 'n' bass, DJ MoCity and Nash demonstrate what many DJs claim to feature but few achieve: bending genres to the point the definitions of styles cease to matter.  Remixes of Ice Spice and Jorja Smith are sandwiched between works by popular dance music names like Breaka, Nick Leon, Flowdan and Skrillex and several underdogs alike. Works by Indian forces SUCHI and Oceantied also make an appearance while the languidity of Batu's 'Marius' and the deviation from the western moulds with Mostafa Omar's 'Eleila Doob on Steroids' serve as examples of elements that add an ebb and flow to the fast-moving mix. boxout.fm co-founder DJ MoCity and close dancefloor compatriot Nash find threads between varying works that only such seasoned selectors can – stitching them together and elevating them with their art to provide a masterclass on mixing.  For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20278-wild-city-226-

Vedant Chandra aka Alboe recently released his new album 'Love Languages', which he marks for us with our latest Wild City mix.  Made of 7 original numbers, the mix highlights the underlying theme behind the New Delhi electronica producer's music, which he has introduced over the years and expounded upon with this new album. Pristine sonics borrowed from genres like future bass, melodic house and italo-disco are used uniquely with an Indian sense of melody before giving those duties to vocals spanning across languages. The result creates a dense melange of influences concurrent with his moniker which is an abbreviation of: "A Little Bit Of Everything". "My personal taste in music is more melodic and story-like and I try to imbibe the same in the music I compose," says Vedant about the inspiration behind his music. "I have taken a lot of inspiration from artists like Jungle, Daft Punk and even A. R. Rahman in the manner with which they approach compositions. To me, their songs seem like one cohesive unit whe

A mainstay of the dance music in India, Pramod Sippy aka Sindhi Curry is one of the most seasoned commanders of the dancefloor in the country. For our latest mix, the DJ marks signing up with the agency Maushi by running through the several stylistic excursions he has tried over the years to engage with a musical atmosphere he hasn't explicitly offered to the public ear before. With the special mix entitled 'Garage & House Origins', Sindhi Curry steps away from his usual genre-unrestricted fare of circling the moodier grounds of disco and techno. He dives into his vaults for a sense of old-school house and garage without necessarily choosing classic cuts – but rather, picking up selections that serve as either example of that era or a love letter to its no-nonsense fun. Taking off from the black music flavours of Korda's 'Move Your Body(To The Sound)' that reminds of the early vocal-based house music, you don't notice when Sindhi Curry transforms the atmosphere completely by the time Krautrock-reminiscent '

Our latest Wild City mix comes from Durban's quintessential Gqom icon DJ Lag who uses it to commemorate his first tour across India in February as part of Ultra SoulFlyp. Born in Clermont, Lwazi Asanda Gwala aka DJ Lag is regarded as one of the earliest artists to popularise the thumping visceral sound of Gqom, a genre born out of South African variations of house music, across the peninsula and then to the world. With early works uniquely released over WhatsApp to get youth across the nation to dance to them, Lag counts collaborations with the likes of Beyonce among his career highlights besides being a genre pioneer and a flagbearer of the sounds coming out of South Africa.  His Wild City carries the same qualities that define him as a producer: hard-hitting with an impeccable sense of building tension before a gratifying release all through an intricate control of the low-end. With tracks ranging from his own collaborations and his contemporaries, the mix highlights an emergent version of gqom which subt

Lush Lata's Wild City mix moves from thumping kicks-backed Sarod meanderings of 'Maharaj Trio and Nickodemus' to the booming hip-hop beat of 'Go Again' by A-STAR to cuts by Overomono, SBTRKT, Romare, Breaka and Fred Again alongside works by homegrown talents like Oceantied, Potter and Stain, while also slipping in Udit Narayan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Swarnalatha and Karsh Kale. With 40 tracks in less than an hour, the New Delhi selector's mixing moves quickly just like her trajectory as an artist. Starting as a member of the femme collective Coven Code and a staple figure of boxout.fm, Lush Lata has built her work over an embrace for Bollywood and the grooves most Indian kids grow up around while connecting it to her deep love for hip-hop and bass. The individual voice recently led her to be featured at Berlin's CTM Festival this year with a talk, DJ-ing workshop and a performance at the Panorama Bar of the dance music's most iconic club The Berghain. "I am way more open to new sounds and musical experiences

With selections from James Blake, Jamie xx, Four Tet, Thom Yorke, some lesser-known cuts by the likes of Loma and sir Was, and his original works, Curtain Blue leverages how his Wild City mix will likely be enjoyed. The mix weaves its journey around emotions instead of energy for a narrative seeped in sombreness and sensuality.  A particular defining moment comes with New Delhi producer's own track 'Sunkissed' leading one into the introspection of 'Her Revolution' by Burial, Four Tet and Thom Yorke echoing distantly alongside sitar loops before the follow-up jolts you awake. Sandwiching between such famously effective numbers, Curtain Blue aka Abhishek Bhatia places his own work like the collaborative track 'Birds and Bees' with Komorebi, which recently received an extended music video in collaboration with Indian fashion powerhouse Satya Paul, and also of his contemporaries like Frame/Frame to pivot towards a triumphant uptempo finish.  For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mix

Whether collaborating with traditional Indian musicians or flipping Bollywood cuts, Shantanu Gursal aka kSaya's musical home is the frantic rhythm of the breakbeat – as he works as an Asian Underground revivalist over the past 2 years. It is no surprise then that the Mumbai act's Wild City mix comes replete with a near-constant underpinning of the iconic beat and its variations. The selections remain far from the heavy onslaught of breakbeats' pacier sub-genres, instead embracing the pristine atmosphere of styles like slow garage and the more modern anthemic dance music takes by the likes of Bicep. The ethereal atmosphere remains the true defining feature of the mix as it opens up rhythmically with selections like Terry Da Libra's 'U' and 'Early Hours' by Fløa & Furcloud before plunging back into the grooves that kicked things off – this time emerging out of the focus on reverberating pads to lead with the emotionally direct vocals on a mix of 'My Stripes' by Marsh. For more information: https://www.thewild

At the outset, Mohit Tyagi aka Mocid is firmly rooted in the conventions of hard-hitting techno. That even includes the genre's association with retrofuturism and obsession with the extraterrestrial, as he attaches the moniker's artistic vision to that of a "space traveller exploring the Universe, searching for intelligent beings and establishing the first contact with them through rhythmic sound vibrations." A closer listen to his latest release 'Bioterror' unpacks layers more unique to the New Delhi DJ and producer – whether it is the juxtaposition of spacious soundscapes and pulsating low-end on 'Voodoo', the near-descent into noise on 'Poltergeist' and, most notably, the standout title track which lifts off from the genre with the tribal drums and engulfing pads that combine to form a journey that's led by its textures as it is by its dancefloor rhythms. Marking the release with a Wild City mix, Mocid details the influences that inform such qualities with his selection going from multiple tracks by Mekr

What connects experimental composer John Cage, Michael Jackson, the pop-punk group Paramore, blues legend Buddy Guy and an electronic producer like Floating Points? They all figure into the plethora of influences and listening palette of Parekh & Singh, which they highlight with our latest Wild City mix.  The Kolkata duo of Nischay Parekh and Jivraj Singh, who stand as modern royalties in India's indie music at this point, recently released their third album 'The Night is Clear' – bringing to the forefront the same whimsical sense of lyrical melodies that ushered their meteoric rise but with an enhanced palette of sonic colours. Parekh & Singh firmly uphold the defining relatable heart-touching songwriting in the centre and dial-up the experimentation in the backdrop without encroaching the centerstage. Strings akin to The Eagles' cut on the mix pervade most of the 9-track album while the arpeggiation on 'Seven Days' and the bursts of pitched percussion on 'The Nightingale' hint at the electronica influence

In a recent interview with Mixmag Asia about her debut EP 'Young Hate' and its just-released lead single 'Stonefruit', Sijya laid down the following as her artistic agenda: "It’s a bit rebellious I’d say. I think it fights the notion that there are certain ‘correct’ paths to reaching a certain level of knowledge or making." Carrying out that rebellion against the run-of-the-mill on the back of an intuition-led meticulousness, the New Delhi composer, producer and visual artist has begun to unveil her abstract take on art-pop and downtempo with the single release, which she marks for us with her Wild City mix.  The penchant for doing things differently pervades the curation and mixing as she uses the selections to celebrate Accidental Records, the home of her debut EP. Forgoing the commonplace approach of building things up gradually, the mix kicks off with a near-abrupt heavy rhythmic onslaught to firmly demand attention before finally clearing into captivating simplicity to provide a moment of sublime rhyth

Ever since Bangalore's Eashwar Subramanian started supplementing his white-collar professional life by putting out music nearly 5 years ago, he has done so relentlessly. A regular fixture in the country's ambient music landscape, Eashwar's work sets itself apart from the rest in the genre by creating placating dissipative soundscapes primarily through minimal melodies than abstract textures – naturally borrowing from the cinematic and new age. Initially putting out the work at a staggering pace primarily over SoundCloud, the composer-producer has lately started to consolidate his work with distinct EPs and albums, each featuring a minute but noticeable growth or experiment into the new. For his Wild City mix, Eashwar gives a snapshot of that journey as he curates an all-originals set that connects music all the way from his 2018's 'Ambient Hamlet' with the just-released 'String Theory' – his latest 5-track EP which sees his melodic motifs dissipate between percussive beds of plucked strings (on 'Fireflies')

For almost a year now, M.A.P // A.M.P has explored the intersection of activism and music in South Asia with a variety of platforms, from performance and pirate radio to documentary films and podcasts. One of the biggest efforts from the Goethe-Institut-led multi-pronged project has been its crowdsourced library which presents a repository of socio-political from around the world, spanning several hours' worth of music.  M.A.P // A.M.P gives a glimpse of the library's far-reaching span with our latest Wild City mix. The mix goes from shades of folk music to hip-hop and rock, juxtaposing a myriad of languages and themes. Much like M.A.P // A.M.P's other efforts, especially the documentary series 'Awaaz', it highlights the parallels between voices demanding their right and justice, and the common device of art for people speaking truth to power – irrespective of how different those truths and those powers may be.  For tracklist and more information: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/19916-wild-city-215-m-a-p