Selections: DJ Stingray 313

With the world-famous area code in his name and always sporting a gothic D for Detroit on his chest, DJ Stingray 313 has been championing the sounds of his home city for over 30 years. An expert in all things electro and techno, the masked DJ and producer relaunched his Micron Audio label last year and the latest release brings together his ‘Aqua Team’ series — first put out in the late ‘00s via WéMè — into an LP format. 

Cerebral and futuristic, the sparse beats throughout leave plenty of room for Stingray’s wiggling, squelching synth lines to work their psychedelic magic. From the punchy ‘Serotonin’ to the sleaze of ‘Silicone Romance’, the hopeful minimalism of ‘Wire Act’ to guttural roller ‘Mindless’, agitated dystopian vision ‘LR001’ and cosmic closer ‘It’s All Connected’, this is a sonically cohesive but emotionally varied body of work that feels like it was always destined to be an album. Perfect for home-listening as a unit, the tracks will work on the dancefloor — a place DJ Stingray 313’s Selections are also built for.

“It’s tough these days to use the term ‘funk’, but this track brings it to you without pause.”

“Hard-hitting, refined, industrial waveforms.”

“Really nice intro that allows me to get out of any track. Perfect vocals and bass.”

“More refined industrial in an electro package. Wonderful, cinematic sound design and late-21st-century vocals.”

“Packed full of funky synths, immaculate drum programming and cyborg vocals.”

“Dystopian, high-speed tech/electro. Nice solid kick and dystopian synth programming.”

“Really intricate sampling and drum work. Heavy bass and very good arrangement!”

“This is usually my starter track. So futuristic with beautiful string work and modulated synth loops.”

“Mr. Hood was really dialled-in on this one. Hypnotic elements from start to finish, along with a no-nonsense bassline.”