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. Earlier this year, the duo of Mark Pritchard and Steve Spacek released its debut album, 93 Million Miles, and now, the pair is about to wrap up a lengthy North American tour, which actually comes to an end this weekend with a string of West Coast dates. In the middle of all this intercontinental activity, Africa Hitech did manage to assemble this podcast, pulling heavily from two genres in particular: footwork and drum & bass. While those genres are rarely uttered in the same sentence, the similar tempos and shared reliance on frantic percussion actually allow these seemingly disparate styles to mesh together quite nicely, a phenomenon that Africa Hitech explores at length on this mix. As one might expect given the genres involved, the mix is a wildly upbeat and energetic listen, but, more importantly, it shows that even in a post-everything electronic-music landscape, there are still exciting new sound combinations to be discovered.

01 Traxman “Footworkin’ on Air”
02 DJ Tre “Ping Pong Trak”
03 Jlin “Erotic Heat” (Planet Mu)
04 Hudson Mohawke “Cbat” (Warp)
05 Cadenza “The Darkest Hype (Philip D. Kick Remix)” (Dummy)
06 Africa Hitech “Out in the Streets” (Warp)
07 Africa Hitech “Out in the Streets (VIP)” (Warp)
08 Krampfhaft “Perfect Gain Structure” (Saturate)
09 DJ Rashad “Welcome to the Chi”
10 DJ Earl “Dragged” (Booty Call)
11 DJ Rashad & DJ Rome “Dat Shit Huff” (Planet Mu)
12 Dillinja and Berti B “Lion Heart” (Bert 1)
13 LTJ Bukem “Horizons (Phillip D. Kick Remix)”
14 Ballistic Brothers “I’ll Fly Away” (Junior Boy’s Own)
15 Formula 7 “Soundboy” (Quayside)
16 Marvellous Cain “Roll Dat Shit” (R:IQ)
17 Ninjaman, Bounty Killer, Beenie Man, and Ninja Ford “Bad Boy Lick A New Shot (Jungle Bullet)” (Greensleeves)
18 Traxman “Lifeeeee Is For Ever” (Planet Mu)
19 Moondog “Viking 1” (Honest Jon’s)

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