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Hi friends,
Ron Like Hell is my favorite DJ. He's also a truly kind soul, a consistent source of inspiration, and a friend.
I met Ron at the Lot Radio several years ago, during his tenure as buyer at Academy Records. It was almost summer and already hot. I remember seeing a tall figure with a large brimmed hat cutting a dark shape in the sun, like a friendly Jordowosky character arriving with a big bag of records from the horizon of Norman Ave. His set that day was mind expanding for me, psychedelic, jamming and guitar forward, yet revealed almost nothing of the damage he could do to a club system. This is the miracle of Ron's DJing: his uncanny ability to deliver a jaw dropping plethora of sounds, between mixes and within them; to be comfortable in an enormous range of styles, and yet always true to himself. It always sounds like Ron.
Among the club memories that kept me going through 2020 was one of hearing Ron play at Wrecked, the music-first queer dance party he runs with collaborator Ryan Smith, during their Basement residency. It was a slamming journey that kept me dancing into the morning hours (the party goes to at least 6am). Memories of the club's flood lights rushing the darkness periodically throughout the night, revealing the bodies around me, locked with me in sound, became a touchstone of hope in a quiet and difficult year.
Ron approaches a DJ mix as an assemblage, aligning sound with emotion, focusing on texture to create psychedelic soundscapes, imaginative spaces for comfort and surprise spectators with an unexpected crafty transition, many of which you will hear many in his Bliss Point mix - a "light sweat / mushroom tea in the woods" vibe, in Ron's own words. Beyond this mix, you can hear Ron play monthly on his Lot Radio residency, at the off-the-wall Pride party he will be playing this month, or find him and Ryan on the coveted cover of the latest Love Injection fanzine, celebrating their ten celebrated years as Wrecked.
There's so much I could say about Ron and his work. It's more than I can fit in a newsletter, but when we meet on one of his dance floors, I'll be glad to tell you the rest. For myself and so many other DJs in NY he has been a beacon of passion, professionalism, and a true loving-kindness, the best kept secret you could never keep to yourself.
Enjoy,
Max
@ronlikehell
Tracklist:
Mecánica Clásica - Columnas De Agua
NRLSD -He Got Game
Nueen - Hum
Hoshina Anniversary - Michinoku
Spacemen 3 - Hypno-Beat
Angela Werner - I Gotta Little Love (Leo Young's Cosmic Edit)
Naum Gabo - Feln
Clarinets - Afternoon
Don Carlos - Alone (Social Disco Club edit)
YS - Kinetic Love
the Phenomenal Handclap Band - All of the Above (Frisvold & Lindbaek mix)
Spin (aka Groove Armada) - Cowbell Rock
Iglew - Caffeine Dream
Martin Solveig - A Few Words (Of Norway Bootleg)
the Orb - Vuja De (Living City remix)
Fra Lippo Lippi (Til Lippo Lippa edit)
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