I Like to Smoke in Silence After Raves
I spent about four months choosing and rearranging these 30 tracks until the mix felt right.
I rave, I produce, I DJ.
Electronic music producer, DJ and raver. Guides to dance music and club culture.
My DJ mixes.
Club music, experimental electronic, breaks, grime and techno connected into long-form sets without genre borders.
I lost so many weekends raving and I wanna lose some more
I rebuilt this mix about ten times, swapping tracks and second-guessing transitions. In the end, it became around 40 tracks I love, moving through breaks, garage, dubstep, grime, techno and more. For your walk home, cleaning your room or the afters, of course.
Original tracks and other experiments.
Breakbeat, bass, garage, jungle and experimental electronic tracks, built from scratch in a DAW. I do not use generative AI in music.
Original electronic music by thecatrave
Breakbeat, garage, jungle, techno and melancholic electronic music.
Breakbeat and electronic music archive
Sketches and original productions from my SoundCloud.
Records and playlists I keep close.
Breaks, UK garage, jungle, ambient and leftfield club music I return to and build from.
Notes from the underground.
Long-form articles about the sounds, scenes, technology and communities behind underground club culture.
Music history~10 min readWhat Is Gabber? Gabber Music, Hardcore Techno and Happy Hardcore
Rotterdam Records, Thunderdome, the gabber look and hakken, happy hardcore and how gabber differs from hardstyle.
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Music history~9 min readWhat Is Italo Disco? Italian Disco Music, Songs and Artists
Drum machines, synthesizers and English sung by Italians: the Italo disco sound, how ZYX named it, the biggest hits and the link to house.
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Rave spots~8 min readBest Clubs in Montreal: Nightclubs for House and Techno
Stereo, Newspeak, Salon Daomé, Bar Datcha and New City Gas: the best clubs in Montreal, from Prohibition cabarets and the Limelight to Piknic and Igloofest.
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Rave spots~8 min readBest Clubs in San Francisco: Nightclubs for House and Techno
Public Works, Audio, Monarch, 1015 Folsom and the EndUp: the best clubs in San Francisco, from the Trocadero and hi-NRG to DNA Lounge and Oasis.
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Festivals~9 min readBest Electronic Festivals in Portugal 2027: Neopop, Boom, Somnii
The best electronic music festivals in Portugal for 2027, with dates: Neopop for techno, Boom for psytrance, Sónar and LISB-ON in Lisbon, RFM Somnii.
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Festivals~9 min readBest EDM Festivals in Mexico 2027: Zamna, Day Zero, Bahidorá
The best EDM festivals in Mexico for 2027, with dates and setting: Zamna and Day Zero in Tulum, Bahidorá in Morelos, and EDC and MUTEK in Mexico City.
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Crate digging~7 min readHouse Music Classics: 10 Classic House Songs to Hear
Ten classic house songs in order, from Inner City and Lil Louis to Stardust and Kings of Tomorrow, nine with a player and one fact each.
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Crate digging~7 min readBest Trance Tracks of All Time: 12 Records to Hear
Twelve trance records from 1993 to 2012 with release years, UK chart peaks and a player for each, from Café del Mar to Concrete Angel.
Read article →About thecatrave.
My taste comes from Eastern European melancholy, German electronic music and the restless energy of UK bass, from jungle and drum and bass to garage and hardcore. I started with Eurodance as a kid, then got obsessed with The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, Underworld, The Future Sound of London and Meat Beat Manifesto, alongside West Coast rap. Jungle and drum and bass led me to Goldie, LTJ Bukem, Photek, Source Direct and 4hero, while Sade, Seal and Sting taught me that melody and atmosphere matter as much as drums.
My tracks and DJ sets move through breakbeat, bass, club music, experimental electronic, breaks and rave, with elements of grime and techno. I do not stay inside one genre, and I am always looking for connections between rhythms, scenes and eras.
I make music for pre-parties, clubs, raves and afters, but also for walking alone or sitting on a balcony with a cigarette and thinking about life.