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Selections: Setaoc Mass

In this regular feature, Selections, we invite DJs, producers and label heads to dig into their digital crates and share the contents of their Bandcamp collections. This week, Manchester-born, Berlin-based DJ and producer, Setaoc Mass, steps up with ten cuts of pure, warehouse-ready rave spanning the '90s til now

Record stores and clubs around the world are shut, and opportunities to find new music out in the wild have been ripped from under our feet as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. While hearing new music played out by your favourite DJs will have to be put on hold due to these unprecedented circumstances, it’s never been easier, or more important, to support the artists and labels putting out EPs, albums and compilations in the midst of all the madness.

With tour cancellations and festival postponements leaving many members of the international electronic music community out of pocket, Bandcamp has become an even more vital platform for supporting the music you love, with 80% of all sales from the online music store going directly to artists and labels. Last month, the platform announced it would be waiving its revenue share for all sales for one day, and on 20th March, took no cut from purchases made. In total, $4.3 million was spent on music over the course of 24 hours, all going straight to the creators. Through lockdown, Bandcamp continued to waive their fees on the first Friday of every month up to July, as well as on 19th June (Juneteenth), when the platform donated 100% of its profits to the NAACP Legal Defence Fund.

In our new regular series. Selections, we’re inviting DJs, producers and label heads to dig into their digital crates and share the contents of their Bandcamp collections. In lieu of opportunities to discover new records on the dancefloor, Selections – along with radio shows and mixes – will give you the chance to nab sounds from the crates of tastemakers, and support the artists behind them while you’re at it. Win-win, right?

This week, Manchester-born, Berlin-based DJ and producer, Setaoc Mass, digs into his digital crate for DJ Mag's Selections feature. The SK_eleven label boss has released on the likes of Soma Records and Len Faki's Figure, with his propulsive, galvanizing style of hard techno sitting among impressive rosters. A regular at global clubbing institutes — Berghain, Fabrik, and Tresor — the Mancunian artist delivers sets of intelligently curated, mind-warping electronics, with a preference for hard drums scattered with bleeps and rhythmic synths. An artist who champions talent, Setaoc Mass has given a platform to up-and-coming producers such as Yant, Border One and Phara, paving the way for a new generation of techno. For this week's selections, Setaoc Mass has handpicked ten cuts of hard, warehouse-ready rave sounds, spanning the '90s til now. Check them out below.

Molecular
'Molecular XX2' [Molecular Recordings]

"There are some debates about who the artist is behind Molecular, but I guess Marco Lenzi, there are 3 releases under this “Molecular” name, all stellar work, with a moody proper techno bounce, you can’t help but move to this one."

S.E.R.E.S
'Endless' [Envra]

"I don’t know much about the following artist, but I know this has worked for me many times on the dance-floor, it’s quite a slow production, but with a few BPM faster the track really starts to drive."

Microthol
'Hostile Invasion' [Trust]

"Some 4/4 electro, with an amazing attention to detail in the sound design on this one, super spacey."

Marcelus
Mutation [Deeply Rooted]

"Marcelus, this guy is underrated, really love his music and his label Singular, this one is from an early Deeply Rooted release, I rediscovered it recently, and again with a few BPM this gritty monster starts to groove."

Danny Isola
The Art of Slang In [ISOLA]

"Danny has been making some interesting music and is really starting to show extremely great progression in these latest releases on his own label ISOLA."

Polybeat
Koea 954 P2 [Supernova Records]

"I love how many of these old releases make their way on to band camp, not sure how I discovered this, but it really does the job on the dancefloor."

Sleeparchive
'5'

"Sleeparchive has been keeping fans happy with his Bandcamp output lately, ‘5’ is one of my favourites from his self-released ‘archived’ series. Intro track, lets go."

DJ Boss
'Fak Trak'

"It's just Boss being boss."

Shinra
'Cosiin' [Analogical Force]

"Within the first 2 bars of this you know it’s going to be special. I really appreciate James’s output, it’s really heartfelt and honest music. For some reason these track gives me a nostalgic feeling when I was first getting into electronic music 15 years ago with that deep and emotional but playful electro sound."

Reducer
'Politik A1'

"Finally, the last one. Probably Inigo Kennedy’s most popular alias, I have the vinyls sat in my racks, so I was super happy to discover he announced all the releases in digital format just recently."

Want more? Check out previous Selections from Pinch and Or:la