When it comes to early-'90s house music, there are few artists who rival the influence of MK (a.k.a. Marc Kinchen, pictured above). Seminal singles such as "Burning," "Always," and "Love Changes" helped shape the sound of the era, and his remix work was even more important, as Kinchen reworked tracks from an incredibly diverse array of artists, including the Nightcrawlers, Moby, Jodeci, The B-52's, Tom Tom Club, Masters at Work, Bobby Brown, Bizarre Inc., Jodie Watley, Brandy, Pet Shop Boys, Blondie, and countless others.

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London bass trio Dark Sky first caught our ear last year with a smattering of singles and top-notch remixes—the crew's rework of Kelis' "Brave" is still getting plenty of spins in the XLR8R office—and the momentum has kept building throughout 2011.

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2011 has seen a significant uptick in Underground Resistance worship, something we here at XLR8R have no qualms about taking part in. The year has also seen a new wave of reverence for one-time UR member Rolando, the man responsible for 1999's classic "Jaguar," which just so happens to be one of the biggest techno records ever.

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XLR8R has been gleefully following the exploits of globally minded bass outfit Nguzunguzu for quite some time, but it appears as though 2011 might be the year when the LA-based duo comes into its own. Today marks the release of the Timesup EP, which is not only the pair's latest collection of energetic, R&B-flavored tunes, but also the first salvo from the newly christened Fade to Mind label, an imprint headed up by Kingdom that Nguzunguzu also has a hand in running.

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After running a podcast from fellow Norwegian space-disco maverick Diskjokke just two weeks ago, it might seem like it's a little soon to post an exclusive mix from Lindstrøm. However, while Diskjokke put together a solid, dancefloor-oriented DJ session, Lindstrøm has gone in a completely different direction.

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Although it seems like his name has only risen to prominence in the past few years, New York City's Fred P. (a.k.a. Black Jazz Consortium) is no newcomer. After quietly logging time and paying his dues in the New York DJ circuit, the man began turning out deep, thoughtful, jazz- and soul-infused house that eventually caught the ear of artists like Move D and DJ Jus-Ed.

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For several years, Diskjokke (a.k.a. Joachim Dyrdahl) was the sort of producer whose music could fairly easily be put into a neat little box. Granted, it was a really nice box; Diskjokke's lush, spaced-out productions expertly wove together Balearic strains of disco and house and were rightly lauded alongside those of Oslo contemporaries Lindstrom and Prins Thomas. However, things have changed with the release of his third album, Sagara, an ambient effort which takes its primary inspiration from Indonesian gamelan.

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When the Wighnomy Brothers announced that they were disbanding their oft-celebrated project in late 2009, the disappointment was palpable. Yet Robag Wruhme (a.k.a. Gabor Schablitzki) quickly dropped a number of singles and, just a few weeks back, followed them up with a new solo full-length, Thora Vukk, an album we thoroughly enjoyed.

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When the XLR8R podcast began nearly five years ago, the initial premise was simple—get DJs, producers, and labels to put together exclusive mixes, and we would make them available for download. Over the first 199 chapters of the podcast, XLR8R has featured artists and genres from across the musical spectrum and across the globe, mixes put together by veteran hands and promising newcomers alike. Thankfully, XLR8R readers have responded, coming back in droves each week to devour the latest edition.

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The second half of our two-part 200th podcast comes courtesy of another musical heavyweight, dubstep kingpin Mala (a.k.a. Mark Lawrence). Whether operating solo or as one half of legendary outfit Digital Mystikz, the man helped put dubstep on the musical map in the mid-'00s, not only as a producer and DJ, but also as the co-founder of the genre-defining DMZ label and club night with Coki and Loefah.

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Next week, Montreal will play host to the 12th annual MUTEK festival, which always serves as one of the year's premiere showcases for techno and forward-thinking electronic sounds. In hopes of getting everyone as much in the MUTEK spirit as we are, we decided to enlist one of the festival's heavyweights for the XLR8R podcast series. And who answered the call? Detroit techno veteran Rod Modell, best known for his work as Deepchord and as one half of Echospace with Steve Hitchell.

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