For RA.1000, we take it back to the source with two never-before-heard tapes from Frankie Knuckles's private collection
There is no house music without Frankie Knuckles, literally or figuratively. The queer icon's luxurious DJ sets at Chicago's Warehouse gave a rising movement its name. From there, countless offshoots splintered and travelled the globe. But what did the genesis and growth of the sound really feel like?
The Godfather of House left behind not only timeless records, but personalised cassettes with hand-drawn liner notes handed out to friends and family. Two of those, dated to 1989 and 1996, have been digitised especially for RA.1000. (Thank you to the Frankie Knuckles Foundation.)
To put that in context: the first tape predates not only many of today's active clubbers, but the entire existence of jungle, drum & bass, UK garage, French touch, Jersey club, Afrobeats, IDM, baile funk, hardcore, footwork, dubstep, dub techno, tech house, breaks, minimal, maximal, gqom, gabber, grime and hyperpop.
In short… that's a very, very long time ago. The world of dance music was much smaller. DJ culture was functionally unrecognisable from the one we see in 2025.
And yet, to some degree, what you'll hear on RA.1000 hasn't changed at all. It's a capture of not only what made Frankie Knuckles one of the beloved pioneers of first-generation dance music, but what draws people to club culture in the first place.
The mood on these Frankie Knuckles sets outlasts even its creator: a spirit of optimism that floods the world's best dance floors and keeps dance music pulsing on into the future, nearly 40 years later, in spite of it all. We end our 1000th mix celebrations here because it all starts there.
Find the tracklist at ra.co/podcast/1018. Listen to all RA.1000 mixes, as well as the complete history of the RA Podcast, at https://1000.ra.co
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Folge vom 14.08.2025RA.1000 Frankie Knuckles
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Folge vom 14.08.2025RA.1000 JyotyA four hour document of dance floors in the 2020s, from one of modern club music's most passionate advocates. One major shift since we went 5 for RA.500 ten years ago has been the rapid adoption of anything-goes DJing. What goes us there? Upgraded technology, audience appetite for thrills, instant access to music from every corner of the globe: take your pick. To corral the infinite possibilities of our age, glide seamlessly across lanes and be a trusted conduit in a sea of over-saturation takes chops. And few do it with more gusto and charisma in the 2020s than Jyoty. Recorded at a raucous Nowadays party just a few weeks ago for maximum freshness, Jyoty's RA.1000 finds room for 122 tracks dotted over the clubbing map (although, when you tally up all the blends, you can probably round up to 150). From aya to Logan Olm, Hardhouse Banton to DJ Babatr, Busy Signal to Baalti, a delicious double splice of Kelela and a staggeringly unlikely remix of Noir & Haze's "Around" (yep), it's an audacious statement from a DJ who has made borderless selection their calling card. With a heavy lean on bubbling and the far frontiers of Brazilian club wares, long passages of the set are maze of microgenres and regional movements worth getting lost in. Jyoty's RA.1000 is a reminder not just of her dynamism in the booth, but a reminder to keep ears open and expose their audience to as much of the future as possible, as quickly as possible. And what could be truer to the foundations of DJing than that? @jyotysingh Find the tracklist and interview at https://ra.co/podcast/1014. Listen to all RA.1000 mixes, as well as the complete history of the RA Podcast, at https://1000.ra.co
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Folge vom 13.08.2025RA.1000 Helena HauffOne of the enduring powerhouses of our era returns for RA.1000 with a riotous mix. When Helena Hauff made her first RA Podcast appearance back in 2013, she was on the eve of releasing her debut production on Actress' Werkdiscs imprint. In the 12 years that have elapsed, she's become not just a household name within electronic music, but the kind of rare talent that lives in seclusion from industry tumultt. (Hauff, enviously, has never even owned a smartphone.) Her calling card continues to be her penchant for rough and ready EBM, electro and new wave. Her unique ability is creating a singular listening experience from disparate or out-of-favour tracks, with a raw immediacy that functions as a redress to over-choreographed modern DJing. Her outsider approach is on show once again for RA.1000. Threaded together by strobe-lit DIY electronica, old-school acid house and corrosive machine funk that chews up the ear, the nearly two-hour set raises the bar once again. In the sci-fi themed first half, Hauff drops two Cybotron tracks, nodding to Juan Atkins' blueprint for electro. You'll also hear "Riot" by Underground Resistance, the definitive mission statement for a world ablaze. This is musical anarchism, executed to the highest degree. Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/1017. Listen to all RA.1000 mixes, as well as the complete history of the RA Podcast, at https://1000.ra.co
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Folge vom 13.08.2025RA.1000 BicepThe arena-conquering duo glide from gritty rave to skyscraping arpeggios on RA.1000, a mix many years in the making. A new name undeniably entered the pantheon of major electronic live acts over the past decade: next to Faithless, The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers, now sit @feelmybicep. The Belfast duo's music doesn't half reach for the stars: a melodic blend of ambient, breakbeat, trance and tech house, able to turn the biggest arenas into intimate affairs. If anything, mainstream success, BRIT Award nominations and mammoth dance crossovers like "Glue" have only hardened Andy Ferguson and Matt McBriar's resolve to keep innovating. Their prized blog, running for nearly as long as the RA Podcast, regularly platforms upcoming artists. And you won't find many festival headliners releasing climate change-themed records with Indigenous artists, as they did recently on Takkuuk. RA.1000 exists in that spirit. After many polite declines, and before a year off to usher in the next era, Bicep come through at the last: from dub techno and screwface breaks to São Paulo garage, before a tide of signature synths floods the zone. Stadium-sized intimacy at its finest. @feelmybicep Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/1015. Listen to all RA.1000 mixes, as well as the complete history of the RA Podcast, at https://1000.ra.co