Since the release of last year's excellent Routes full-length, LV has been fairly quiet. Nonetheless, the group's intrepid infusion of South African house rhythms into a UK funky-inspired template has often proved interesting—not to mention enjoyable—so we jumped at the chance to have the UK trio put together an exclusive mix for the XLR8R podcast series.

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Mano Le Tough (a.k.a. Niall Mannion) is a name that popped up on XLR8R's radar in a major way last year, particularly following the release of his Stories EP and the "In My Arms" 12". Both records found the Irish-born producer exploring the incorporation of a new element—his own voice—into his musical palette, a shift which found his already melodic style moving into increasingly compelling and, yes, pop-oriented territory. This process was explored at length when Mano Le Tough was featured in our Bubblin' Up series, and since then, the Berlin-based producer has continued work on his forthcoming debut full-length, which is set to drop later this year via Permanent Vacation. In the meantime, we convinced Mannion to put together an exclusive mix for the XLR8R podcast series.

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Even after dropping a host of well-received tunes in 2011—most notably, a trio of 12"s for Ramp offshoot Fourth Wave—UK producer Gerry Read remains a mysterious figure. We know that he's young—just 20 years old, in fact.

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Throughout its history as one of Detroit's most storied techno collectives, Underground Resistance has counted a lot of top-notch producers and DJs amongst its ranks. One of those acts is Los Angeles native Santiago Salazar, who years ago packed up and headed to Detroit for some first-hand schooling from Mike Banks and the rest of the UR crew. While Salazar has since returned to his hometown and is now focused on his own labels, Historia y Violencia and Ican (running the latter with Esteban Adame), traces of Detroit's distinctively deep and soulful sound undoubtedly remain in his music.

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The new year is a time when people are naturally inclined to look toward the future, so it's fitting that our first podcast of 2012 comes from an artist we're expecting to hear a lot from in the months ahead. In all honesty, Throwing Snow is a name that already popped up on XLR8R quite a bit in 2011, particularly following the release of his stellar "Shadower" b/w "Sanctum" single.

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With 2011 quickly drawing to a close, the onslaught of "Best Of" lists is already well underway (don't worry, XLR8R's contributions will begin popping up next week), and although it's unlikely that Om Unit (a.k.a. Jim Coles) is going to be pulling down a ton of accolades, that has less to do with the quality of his output, and more to do with the fact that the London producer has kept a relatively low profile while having himself a very solid year.

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In all honesty, we're not exactly sure how UK outfit Africa Hitech found the time to put together an exclusive mix for the XLR8R podcast series.

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French Fries (a.k.a. Valentino Cazani) is an interesting producer. Based in Paris, he's established himself as a sort of chameleon, as the young artist is seemingly capable of tackling new sounds and styles with relative ease. His breakthrough tune, 2010's "Senta," offered a raved-up take on UK funky that found its way into the sets of many DJs who had never really dabbled in the genre.

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Over the past few months, a lot of space on XLR8R has been devoted to the exploits of Los Angeles DJ/producer Samo Sound Boy, a Trouble & Bass-affiliated artist who recently struck out on his own with Body High, a new label he's launched with Jerome Potter of LOL Boys. The pair have also begun producing together under the name DJ Dodger Stadium, a project which delivered the inaugural Body High release in early October. Only six weeks later, the young imprint is humming along nicely, having dropped a second EP from the mysterious DJ Funeral, with several more releases already lined up for the months ahead. As such, we figured now would be a good time to invite Samo Sound Boy to put together an exclusive mix for the XLR8R podcast series.

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While many young producers have taken up the bass and juke mantle in the past year or two, few have done so while matching the quality of the output being produced by 21-year-old Cedaa (a.k.a. Simon Ho).

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Damu (a.k.a. Sam Schorb) sure hasn't wasted any time while working his way into the UK bass conversation. In less than a year, the Manchester-based producer—and one-time subject of our Bubblin' series—has released an impressive series of EPs, including offerings on the Local Action, Silverback, and Keysound labels.

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Asura (a.k.a. Ryan York) may be affiliated with the increasingly nebulous "beat scene," but the young artist is not the typical LA producer. While he now crafts intricately detailed electronic compositions, his formative years were spent enmeshed in the world of jazz. He clearly brings a formally trained ear to his production and creates music that's as equally informed by ambient and classical sounds as it is the more hip-hop-oriented sounds favored by many of his contemporaries.

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Make no mistake, Matías Aguayo's Cómeme imprint is a weird fucking label. While much of Cómeme's output could be roughly described as house, that overlooks the elements of techno, disco, funk, and various Latin genres that populate its tracks, not to mention its artists' penchant for bizarre vocals and the music's simultaneously raw and psychedelic vibe. Perhaps no producer encapsulates the label's spirit as well as Rebolledo, whose new album, Super Vato, offers the sound of sleazy, drugged-out Latin disco. That being said, it's the sort of disco everyone is desperate to get into and sure as hell doesn't leave until the party is over.

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Although the goings-on of the various members of the venerable Night Slugs crew are frequently documented on XLR8R, it's been awhile since one of its artists put together an exclusive mix for our podcast series. Jam City (a.k.a. Jack Latham) is one of the youngest members of the Night Slugs stable, yet the London-based producer has already made quite a ripple in the bass-music pool with his Waterworx and Magic Drops EPs, not to mention his refix of Endgames' "Ecstasy." He's currently putting the finishing touches on his much-anticipated debut album, which is slated for release in early 2012, but took a break from that to assemble this podcast.

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At this point, does an artist like Robert Hood require an introduction? (After all, we did put him on the cover of XLR8R last year.) All kidding aside, the man is a Detroit techno legend, although these days he calls Alabama home. A founding member of Underground Resistance and one of the first pioneers of the minimal sound, Hood is still going strong more than 20 years into his career, running his own M-Plant label and continuing to drop releases, both under his own name and as Floorplan.

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Beginning tomorrow, Seattle officially becomes the center of the electronic-music universe—at least through Sunday night—thanks to the city's annual Decibel Festival, which is once again bringing a dizzying array of talent to the Pacific Northwest. XLR8R will certainly be in attendance—look for updates from the festival in the days ahead—but in the meantime, we've teamed up with the festival organizers and tapped Seattle producer Pezzner to put together an exclusive Decibel mix for the XLR8R podcast series.

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UK producer Altered Natives (a.k.a. Danny Yorke) certainly isn't a shy man. From his candid interviews to his rough-and-tumble house productions, Yorke operates without paying much attention to particular music scenes or worrying about ruffling feathers.

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UK producer Sully (a.k.a. Jack Stevens) is a bit of a mysterious figure. When his tracks first began surfacing three or four years ago, Sully was praised for his infusion of melancholy 2-step-garage sensibilities into thicker, bass-heavy rhythms. While this now seems commonplace in today's post-everything UK bass spectrum, Sully was undeniably ahead of his time, yet was never properly celebrated for his boundary-pushing ways.

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Plainly said, this exclusive mix from Marcellus Pittman is probably the deepest, most soulful DJ session in the history of the XLR8R podcast series. The Detroit veteran, who will be headlining Body on the second night of this weekend's New Forms Festival in Vancouver, certainly dug deep when assembling this all-vinyl mix.

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Brazil's Gui Boratto is many things. He is not, however, a DJ. That said, his 2007 debut, Chromophobia, was one of those rare techno albums that transcended the genre, largely thanks to Boratto's use of vibrant, colorful synths and unique ability to embed sticky pop hooks within a larger, dancefloor-oriented template. That effort continued on his 2009 follow-up, Take My Breath Away, and now he's getting ready to drop his third full-length on September 12, the appropriately titled III, once again via Kompakt.

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