Dekmantel Podcast 350 - Akua

Techno has been reclaimed and refined in the last few years, and that is in part thanks to artists like Ghanaian-American Discwoman associate Akua. Her blazing sounds have recontextualised the genre and connected it with new audiences all over the world. She plays with an intensity inspired by early pioneers like Jeff Mills, but with an even greater speed that she says, "feels cathartic." Whether playing freaky old acid cuts or raw and stripped-back modern machine funk, Akua always leaves dancers breathless. This week's mix is a testament to that: it is a super high octane wall of techno noise that bangs through the tunes at warp speed. There are frenetic layers of percussion and hammering kick drums, bouncing bass lines and arresting rave synths all threaded together into something hugely powerful and muscular. It is only a DJ with Akua's sense of control that can serve up a chaotic collision of sound in such a compelling way.