Kuala Lumpur's Alam delivers 90 minutes of serious deep tech & house records

Bluntly describing his sound, “if it contains percussive elements of house and the dynamic grooves of techno… it’s the main driving force behind my sound.” Alam has just about hit the 20-year milestone in his DJ career, and it’s safe to say that if you frequent clubs and dance floors in Malaysia, you would have certainly been slayed by serious grooves by the highly respected Malaysian DJ.

He is one of the founders of underground collective Ohrwurm, a community of like minded music heads that have been pushing deeper, darker and heavier sounds of house and techno over the years, with a mission to shape that niche scene in Kuala Lumpur. And it’s been working. Alam also holds a residency at one of the city’s most prominent clubs, Kyō .

We spoke to Alam about putting together a little something for Mixmag Asia Radio, and he responded in kind with a deep, intricate and carefully curated set that includes distinctive characteristics and textured elements that remind him of his home city Kuala Lumpur. It’s an almost all-vinyl set, with most of the records that he pulled out of the cobwebs are also reminiscent of his earlier days growing up as a DJ. For those who listen carefully enough, this set is a timelapse of personal favourites Alam has picked from the early days of deep techno and minimal house (before the new days of over-compression tin-shine that most real house DJs have no appetite for).

Listen below to Alam’s set for Mixmag Asia Radio 014.

Tracklist

01) Bjørn Torske & Prins Thomas - Kappe tre [Smalltown Supersound]

02) Kultissime ft. Linda Lee Hopkins - Don't Stop (Kiko Navarro’s Percussion Jam) [Big Box Recs]

03) Traumer - Gonna Get (Dub) [Gettraum Hors Serie 001]

04) Arno & Dana Ruh - The Dail Up [Brouqade]

05) Cabin Fever Trax Vol. 21 - Tools [RKDS]

06) Kody Monroe - Keep The Party [Safe Underground]

07) Tin Tin Out - Anybody's Guess (Mr. G's Out Dub) [VC Recordings]

08) PAWSA - Nonstop (Extended Mix) [Repost Network]

09) Point G - Druker (Original Mix) [Point G.]

10) iO (Mulen) - Turboss [Drumma Records]

11) Dan Ghenacia & Chris Carrier - Blue Stick [Apollonia]

12) Unknown Artist - Jumbo Madness Edits [Le Borgne 03]

13) Doublet - Brother Other [Doublet]

14) Unknown Artist - DRGS03A1 [DRG Series]

15) Keinton - Strip Poker (GummiHz Reduced Mix) [Moscow Records]

16) Nuova Compagnia Di Canto Popolare - 2nd Coro Delle Lavandaie (1998 Digital Remaster) [EMI]

17) EMG & John Swing - Snowboarding [Relative]

18) Jamie 326 - Dr Fuck (The Basement Edits Vol.1) [Partehardy Records]

19) Pola - Gossip Queen [Bass Culture Limited]

20) Unknown Artist - Untitled [Not So Kind]

21) NiCe7 - Groove Key (Drum Tool) [Mother Recordings]

22) Todd Terry - Drum Dum [Freeze Records]

23) Cabin Fever Trax Vol. 19 - Untitled [RKDS]

24) Schatrax - Folkdance [Schatrax]

25) Pola - Makarska [Bass Culture Limited]

26) Unknown Artist - By The Way [QNQN]

27) Mark E - Find A Way [Studio Barnhus]

28) Matthias Meyer - Infinity [liebe*detail]

29) Cabin Fever Trax Vol. 31 - I Want You [RKDS]