Mixes on repeat this week
stranger
stranger has quietly become one of Rotterdam's most respected techno DJs, a best-kept secret cosigned early by Dave Clarke, Sven Väth and Marcel Dettmann. Behind the name is Mitchel Polderman, a digger who pulls raw groove from the most obscure vinyl and always seems to find the right record for the moment. His techno is firm and driven, rooted in the back-to-basics loop sound of the late nineties, and he runs the Self Reflektion and Paling Trax labels.
His New Year's Day set for Ratherlost carries a long history behind it, a relationship that reaches back to his five years resident at Reaktor. He rates them as Amsterdam's finest for serious techno, and the honor of returning runs through it: an unhurried arc of the old, the new, and the pleasantly strange.
@ Ratherlost, Lofi Amsterdam (NYD 2025)ANNĒ x Ben Sims
Two generations meeting inside the same groove. Ben Sims has spent close to thirty years as one of hardgroove's true masters, funk-rooted and relentless, three to five decks moving at once. ANNĒ answers from a newer vantage, the Thessaloniki DJ now on his Hardgroove label, carrying the same Detroit lineage with a more melodic, vocal-flecked touch. Together the contrast is the point: her shimmer against his raw intensity, one tradition from both ends.
Their latest back-to-back comes at Awakenings Upclose, the stripped-back format that puts the mixing under a magnifying glass. The two trade tracks and textures, her melodic selections against his raw intensity, driving and percussive throughout, and for Sims, a decades-long Awakenings fixture, it plays like home turf. The day earned its warmth the hard way: a front row braved the rain and, as they tell it, danced the clouds away.
Awakenings Upclose 2026FENIM0RE
A German producer devoted to analog hardware, FENIM0RE builds techno from rhythmic invention and texture: bouncy basslines that lock you in, seamless transitions, grooves that reach the body and the feeling at once. He records for Freddy K's Key Vinyl and Agora, and recent EPs like Blockbuster and Mercycist show his knack for pairing analog warmth with a contemporary club edge.
This is his closing set at GRÜV x BCCO in Paris, where RAW's warehouse party and Berlin's BCCO collective meet in perfect balance. FENIM0RE draws the night to a menacing, brooding close, raw enough for the floor and hypnotic enough for the heads.
GRÜV x BCCO, Paris (Apr 2026)Samantha Togni
From Italy by way of East London, Samantha Togni built her name on a fusion of industrial techno and hard dance. Yet the floor was never the whole story: she gravitates to records that build atmosphere and stir feeling, music made for body and mind alike. The same instinct shapes Boudica, the platform and label she founded to make space for women, trans and non-binary artists.
Her GRÜVCAST arrives fresh off her debut album, The Meaningless Beautiful on Boudica, and follows the same storytelling instinct. She made it chasing a particular feeling: the raw, half-unreal pull of a warehouse in the last dark hours, propulsive and deep in the groove but shot through with a strange, deliberately awkward edge. It's built to disappear into, as much a private thing in your own head as a dancefloor one.
GRÜVCAST17MARRØN
MARRØN is Jessey Voorn, an Amsterdam producer who took his name from the strong-willed Maroons and carries the same resolve into the music. His techno is percussive and tribal, hypnotic and rolling, unhurried on the surface yet relentless beneath. He co-founded and still resident-DJs Eerste Communie, one of Amsterdam's most respected collectives.
His Reclaim Your City podcast is a two-hour trip into his deeper, more hypnotic register. The selection is surgical and a little eerie, moving between dubby textures and precise dancefloor cuts. As the groove tightens it draws you into a faintly haunted trance, stripped to the essentials and made to get lost in.
Reclaim Your City 624The carousel
Sources
stranger (Mitchel Polderman; Rotterdam; he/him) — https://ra.co/dj/stranger-nl/biography + https://3voor12.vpro.nl/artikelen/stranger-de-favoriete-techno-dj-van-je-favoriete-techno-dj.html + https://www.instagram.com/whoisstrangernl/ + https://lofi.amsterdam/about/, verbatim: - "Tipped as being one of Rotterdam's best kept secrets in Techno, dj/producer 'stranger' moves in mysterious ways." - "His first musical appearance in 2014 was quickly picked up by established names as Dave Clarke, Sven Vath and Marcel Dettmann… his own Self Reflektion label… the highly anticipated Paling Trax label." - Real name / origin (3voor12): "Mitchel Polderman (34)" / "groeide op in Hoogvliet, Rotterdam"; sound "Ergens tussen house en techno in, een jaren negentig vibe, sexy, groovy." - Sound / craft (p1 basis, deeper research): his own words (MNMT 2014, https://mnmt.no/magazine/2014/05/09/monument-39-stranger/) = "firm and driven techno," a love of "the in-your-face back to basic loop techno from 1996 till 2000"; RA bio (https://ra.co/dj/stranger-nl) = "digs through the most obscure vinyl to find hidden gems, and knows exactly the right track for the right moment," with Dax J's cosign "Stranger knows what great music is, both old and new, resulting in a selection full of raw groove" and Awakenings programmer Paul Boex calling him "technically one of the best DJs in the Netherlands… an authentic sound that you rarely hear"; production (RA "Higher Sense" review, https://ra.co/reviews/18461) "brings together the new and old in a distinctly forthright and warehouse-y manner." → basis for "most respected / best-kept secret / a digger who pulls raw groove from obscure vinyl / the right record for the moment / firm and driven, back-to-basics late-nineties loop techno." The "DJ's DJ" framing = 3voor12 headline "the favourite techno DJ of your favourite techno DJ." - Plays "Awakenings, Tresor and many others." Lofi = "An old bus garage transformed into a club… Amsterdam's free-spirited (night) culture." - p2 set (Shiwei-provided, stranger's own SoundCloud set description): "I have uploaded the recording of my set at Ratherlost last New Years Day to my Soundcloud. My connection with them goes back to the days of Reaktor where i was happy to be a resident for 5 years. In my opinion Ratherlost today is the top promotor when it comes to serious techno in Amsterdam and it was a huge honor to be back with them again. Expect some old, some new and some strange music…" → basis for "five years resident at Reaktor / Amsterdam's finest for serious techno / the honor of returning / the old, the new, and the pleasantly strange." (Tracklist names — Chlär, OFF/Grid, Cravo, Cari Lekebusch, Pacou, Steve Rachmad, etc. — are off-slide.) - NOT claimed: precise age/birth year; his harder TAFKAMP alias (kept in the stranger lane); the earlier "party at Lofi" framing (p2 now centers Ratherlost the promoter per stranger's own words).
ANNĒ (Anna Trimi; Thessaloniki; she/her) — https://ra.co/dj/anne + https://ra.co/dj/anne/biography + https://www.beatportal.com/articles/122297-beatport-next-anne-is-advancing-greeces-techno-scene, verbatim: - "Real Name: Anna Trimi" · "Born and raised in Thessaloniki, Annē began her music career in 2012" · "strong references from Detroit, 90's & 00's sounds." - Labels "Hardgroove, Symbolism, Mutual Rytm… Soma Records"; Beatportal names "Hardgroove (Ben Sims' label)" (the grounded b2b link) + "massive low ends and some cool female vocals, running through the groove."
Ben Sims (UK/London; he/him) — https://ra.co/dj/bensims/biography + https://fourfourmag.com/in-conversation-with-ben-sims-ill-be-representing-hardgroove-in-its-original-form/ + https://www.awakenings.com/en/artists/ben-sims/150/, verbatim: - "stayed true to the genre's funk, groove and electronic fused origins" · "one of the true masters on the circuit." - "3 to 5 decks running near constantly and hands, faders, effects and EQs a blur." · labels "Symbolism and Hardgroove" · "nearly 30 years using the Hardgroove name." - Awakenings artist page = lists Awakenings among the "legendary clubs & parties" he's played; "hardgroovin' and funk driven techno and house… tight, energetic and skilful brand of 3 deck wizardry." → basis for the slide's "a fixture of Awakenings' festivals and club nights for decades." NOT claimed: the specific "since 1999" (Shiwei-suggested; NOT primary-sourced — Awakenings' page gives no start year, so the slide says "for decades," not a year. Add the year only if a source surfaces).
Awakenings Upclose — https://www.awakenings.com/en/events/2026/05/awakenings-upclose-2026/375764/, verbatim: "a space dedicated to pure dance floor culture: intimate, high-intensity, and built on the connection between artist and crowd." NOTE: the official page does NOT literally call it a "b2b" — slide frames them "performing together / trading," not an Awakenings-billed b2b.
FENIM0RE (German; he/him) — https://open.spotify.com/artist/7eyRzcAZ2TJFRNaYb4sIGZ + https://agorarecords.bandcamp.com/album/ag014 + https://ra.co/dj/fenim0re + https://keyvinyl.bandcamp.com/ + https://www.lebonbon.fr/paris/news-nuit/gruv-u-le-label-raw-lance-un-tout-nouveau-concept-de-soiree-en-warehouse/, verbatim: - Spotify (own bio): "FENIM0RE, a Cologne-based producer and DJ, has a profound passion for analog sound" / "Known for his funky and dubby stabs, catchy grooves, and rhythms." - Labels "Key Vinyl, Agora Records, Transition" (RA); Key Vinyl = "born from the mind and the taste of Freddy K." Kärna release = "minimal techno… deeper hypnotic techno." - GRÜV = "le label RAW lance un tout nouveau concept de soirée en warehouse" (Paris); BCCO = Berlin techno collective. - p1 sound (Shiwei-provided promo, used as background only): "fusing bouncy basslines with infectious, high-energy grooves… seamless transitions and dynamic style… immersive sets that encourage both physical movement and emotional connection." → basis for "bouncy basslines, catchy grooves and high-energy rhythms / mixed seamlessly / immersive sets that move the body and connect with the room." Consistent with the verified Spotify own-bio ("funky and dubby stabs, catchy grooves"); no specific/checkable claim lifted from the promo. - Recent EPs (verified, p1): "Blockbuster" EP — Inherit Records (Berlin), IHT018, released 27 Feb 2025 (https://inheritberlin.bandcamp.com/album/blockbuster-iht018); "Mercycist" EP — Agora Records, AG014, released 11 Jun 2025 (https://agorarecords.bandcamp.com/album/ag014), whose own copy names his "rhythmic innovation, infectious basslines, and textured sonic landscapes." → basis for "recent EPs like Blockbuster and Mercycist / analog warmth with a contemporary club edge." (Elaboration material Shiwei-provided; EP names + spellings independently verified.) - p2 framing: the slide reads it as his closing set at the GRÜV x BCCO night and frames the two as a perfectly balanced pairing — GRÜV = RAW's warehouse party (raw energy), BCCO = Berlin techno collective (deeper/hypnotic). Both descriptors sourced above; "closing set" is Shiwei-provided. - NOT claimed: real name (unpublished); a single fixed base (Cologne per own bio vs Berlin per label → "German"); "hard techno" DB tag (unsupported; kicker blanked per standing rule, would have been Hypnotic Techno).
Samantha Togni (Italy-born, East London; she/her) — https://ra.co/dj/samanthatogni/biography + https://boilerroom.tv/audio/hard-dance-171-samantha-togni/ + https://www.recordturnover.com/2026/07/03/samantha-togni-lp/, verbatim: - "Italy-born, London-based producer and mix engineer" / "Originally from Italy, she is East London based." - "She broke out in the mid-'10s with her supercharged fusion of industrial techno and hard dance." · "background in hard techno." - Boudica: "Togni is the founder of Boudica, a platform aimed to give visibility to women, trans+ and nonbinary people in music… a music conference at FOLD… a record label, and a radio show." · GEGEN resident. · Debut album "The Meaningless Beautiful… released on Boudica at the end of June (2026)." - p1 ethos + p2 mix (Shiwei-provided, her own words): philosophy — "I've always been drawn to records that do more than move a crowd: They create atmosphere, evoke emotion… a vehicle for feeling, thinking and connecting… music that moves both body and mind." Mix — "I closed my eyes and pictured myself in a sweaty warehouse at 5AM… raw and a bit surreal… deeply groovy and driving, but with that edge of weirdness and clunkiness… a journey into the moods, sounds and artists that make [you] lose yourself, whether that's on a dancefloor or just somewhere in your own head." → fully PARAPHRASED, not lifted into p1 ("build atmosphere and stir feeling / body and mind") and p2 ("the raw, half-unreal pull of a warehouse in the last dark hours / propulsive… strange, deliberately awkward edge / built to disappear into… private thing in your own head as a dancefloor one"). Reworded specifically to avoid copying her phrasing. - NOT claimed: exact Italian city; the Contraband "EDM/Trap/model/Marshmello" profile (name-collision, ignored); any BPM.
MARRØN (Jessey Anthony Voorn; Amsterdam; he/him) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JesseyVoorn + https://ra.co/dj/marron/biography + https://www.awakenings.com/en/artists/marr%C3%B8n/57517/ + https://www.glamcult.com/articles/rave-revolution-eerste-communie/ + https://www.amsterdam-dance-event.nl/en/artists-speakers/marr%C3%B8n/1540605/ + set oEmbed, verbatim: - Identity (Wikipedia): "Jessey Anthony Voorn," "born 17 March 1990 in Amsterdam," "a Dutch professional DJ and basketball player" who "played at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo" (3x3). → basis for "Jessey Voorn, an Amsterdam producer." The Olympic-basketball detail was DROPPED from the slide (Shiwei 2026-07-06) — sourced but off-slide now. - Name origin (ADE bio): "The artist's moniker pays homage to the strong-willed MARRØN's, a once-enslaved African tribe who defied oppression and found freedom in the primeval forests of Surinam." → the slide now carries only a LIGHT nod ("took his name from the strong-willed Maroons and carries the same resolve into the music"); the "enslaved Africans / escaped to freedom / Suriname" detail was DIALED BACK per Shiwei (sourced, mostly off-slide). - Eerste Communie (RA bio opens "EERSTE COMMUNIE CO-FOUNDER & RESIDENT"; Awakenings: "co-founder and resident of Amsterdam's EERSTE COMMUNIE"; Glamcult): Amsterdam techno party/collective, six residents incl. MARRØN, back-to-basics purist techno. → basis for "co-founded and still resident-DJs Eerste Communie, one of Amsterdam's most respected collectives." - Set writeup (Reclaim Your City oEmbed description, verbatim): "Eerste Communie co-founder and resident MARRØN clocks in with a vibrant two-hour trip into his constantly minimal, yet untiringly expansive imaginarium… deep, texturally lavish dubs… clinically arranged dance floor-destroyers… trance-like abandon as the groove etches deeper… paced-up and uncompromisingly stripped down to its atomic nucleus." → paraphrased, NOT lifted into p2 ("two-hour trip into his deeper, more hypnotic register / surgical and a little eerie / dubby textures vs precise dancefloor cuts / faintly haunted trance / stripped to the essentials"). ("minimal but never small" was cut per Shiwei.) RYC = "Rotterdam-via-Berlin based outlet" podcast series (NOT flatly "a Berlin collective") — so the slide doesn't geo-claim RYC. - "tribal" (p1): a Shiwei-steered characterization tying the Maroon heritage to the music — ADJACENT to the verified DB tags (groovy/hypnotic/raw techno) and the writeup's "the groove etches deeper," but NOT a lifted quote. Also sourced but off-slide: labels/gigs "Curated by MARRØN" (Float Records, 2023), Berghain debut (Mar 2022), FOLD London, Garage Noord, Hï Ibiza. NOT claimed: Dekmantel/Lofi bookings (no source).
