Wild City Wild City

Since stepping behind the console after years as a familiar face in the fashion, beauty photography and live music events space, Anushka Menon has been steadily rising as a selector. The success of her pumping selections-filled Boiler Room set is the latest achievement in that ascent. 

Off the back of it, the Goa-based multi-faceted artist recorded a set at the freshly opened venue JUNA which she shares exclusively as her Wild City mix. 

For the Wild City mix, Anushka opts for the syncopated energy of breakbeats as she drops into the rhythms after an ambient welcome. She kicks things off with expansive introspective selections to immerse you before jet-setting onto more fun-focused grounds halfway through as Logic1000's 'Rush' rolls in.

Making use of her multi-faceted artistic expression, Anushka has also curated visuals to go with the mix.

To experience it and see more information and tracklist, head here: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20702-wild-city-235-anushka

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 Sound.

"From the first ever gig I played in Auro in New Delhi, I learnt that the dance floor in India is special in that the sense of excitement is genuinely palpable. Taking risks pays off," says Hamilton. "I’ve also learnt that like every country, each city is different and you need to be ready to fit into it."

Consequently, while often operating close to house, disco and some techno, how Hammer uses a particular style can vary. Recorded at The Luna Terrace of Galle's Closenburg Hotel, the HQ of Tropical Wax, the Wild City mix goes from an unreleased remix of Syreeta Wright's chants on 'Shanti', to the disco-inspired Baldo Remix of Demi Riquísimo & Manami's 'Sugar Snap'. Testifying Hammer's abilities to create notable moments in his sets, the mix offers several instances – from the melody-led energy of Two Mamarrachos to the respite of the laidback chords of Madvilla's 'Galactic Banana'. The best, however, is the house-meets-pop euphoria that comes almost as a cinematic euphoric climax to the mix with an unreleased track featuring the voice of Lili Chan.

For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20609-wild-city-234-hammer

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 feature the likes of Seedhe Maut, Faris Shafi, Hasan Raheem and Natasha Noorani speaks to the effective structures of Talal's productions. It's a mix worth a listen even if just for the reimagined energy of Talal's take on 'Faltu Pyaar' and 'Muaziz Sarif'. 

For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20584-wild-city-233-talal-qureshi

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 flip 'Yamma Yamma'.

For more information and tracklisting: https://www.thewildcity.com/mixes/20494-wild-city-231-krithi

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