The last package of exceptional music from 2018 is here. The mixtapes that we enjoyed the most at our HQ is here. Music for a morning coffee - checked, music for a subway ride - checked, music to listen to at work - checked, music for a car ride - checked, music to blast while preparing for a night out - checked, music for a house party - checked.

Love Over Entropy - Don’t Forget The Moon # 030

A multitalented Dutch artist, who never ceases to amaze us with his versatility, Love Over Entropy, has done it again. Popular podcast 'Don't Forget The Moon' curated by Luca Bacchetti welcomed phenomenal Dutch artist for its latest edition. Ambient music is yet another genre in which Love Over Entropy finds himself easy to express and move boundaries to another level. After a mind-bending ambient performance at the Fiction Lab x SoHaSo event at last year's ADE, a lot of LOE's fans discovered another chapter in the book of this magician. This mix is a mesmerizing, seamless music tale perfect for morning coffee or times when you want to have 1 on 1 with yourself.

Few words about the mix from Love Over Entropy himself: Brian Eno once said that ambient music should be as interesting as it is ignorable. In my opinion, a lot of ambient music nowadays primarily does a pretty good job at the second. So in this podcast, I've tried to compile tracks that have something that makes them interesting to listen to. So no pointless drones or dolphin sounds.

DJ Healer - Lost Lovesongs

A mysterious German producer, which goes by many different monikers but most recently by DJ Healer or Prime Minister Of Doom, surprised his fans for Christmas and posted on his Planet Uterus SoundCloud page a new compilation called Lost Love Songs. It's a compilation consisting of 7 unreleased tracks of his. As the name of compilation implies, these tracks are gorgeous love songs in recognizable downtempo / breakbeat style. As of now, there is no info if these songs will ever be released but following DJ Healer's recent mixes/compilation that he posted on his Planet Uterus page, the circle most likely closes with this post.

Fr Fels- KANNMIX 26

KANN records can do no wrong, from immaculate releases to fantastic mixes on their podcast KANNMIX series, this Leipzig based imprint cemented its place as one of the most consistent labels on the underground music scene. The latest mix in their podcast series comes from Leipzig based Fr Fels who’s been working with KANN for many years. This mind-bending mix is hard to put in one specific genre but it’s very easy to say that it’s a true piece of art. There’s ambient, electronica, jazz, IDM…This one is for true music lovers

Alan Ford - Fiction Lab x SoHaSo ADE livestream special 10.20.2018

Slowly but surely Alan Ford is carving its way on a downtempo/ambient scene in NYC with numerous gigs that this duo (Steve Graham & Gilles Wasserman) played in 2018. Alan Ford also made a fantastic debut at last year’s ADE festival at our event which we co-hosted together with our friends from SoHaSo, where they shared the decks with such names like Mattheis, Cleveland, Love Over Entropy and Nadia Struiwigh to name a few. This the recording from Alan Ford’s ADE debut, and it’s your go-to morning coffee soundtrack. Delicate, moody and atmospheric, this mix has a lot to tell in just 53mins.

John Talabot - Music for days like this 9

This is not your regular podcast that can play in the background, this is music for the days like these...mixed and curated by Hivern discs head honcho, John Talabot. This mix series emphasizes music for a specific mood and it's not dancefloor driven, it's so not for a dance floor. Intricate, percussive and in moments weird, this mix will take you places. Find a comfy place and prepare for a journey.

Nuno Dos Santos - Yearmix 2018

As per tradition, Nuno Dos Santos, SoHaSo guru, and one of the best DJs in the scene (in our humble opinion) continues to make 'end of year mixes'. This is the fourth mix in a series and we hope the series will hit late double digits in years to come. Nuno's 'Year mixes' focus on the tracks that he's been liking throughout the year, and since the mix is just 60min long this is just the glimpse of beautiful tracks that have been on the repertoire of this multi-talented artist from Holland.

Pablo Bolivar - Music Para Estar volume 16

Many DJ's have a habit of making 'end of year' mixes (and there will be few of those on our list this month) but mixes that always stand out are Pablo Bolivar's 'Musica Para Estar' mixes. Pablo makes this vinyl-only mixes by the end of the year focusing on the releases that he liked the most during the year behind us. So far there are 16 phenomenal mixes in this series. Pablo's staple is deep and dub house, and that's what this mix is all about. For fans of true deep house, this series of mixes is like a holy grail. Just perfect.

Asquith - DHA mix 413

Over the last few years, Lobster Theremin has become a synonym for non-compromising electronic music. From ambient to drum & bass and everything in between, LT has released some of the most memorable records in the underground music scene since it started in 2013. Lobster Theremin head honcho, Asquith steps away for a moment from his radio residency at Rinse FM radio to make a mix for our friends at Deep House Amsterdam. The mix is a result of heavy Bandcamp digging according to the write up about the mix, and you know what happens when you get lost in Bandcamp rabbit hole…You find some really obscure cool stuff. That’s what this mix is all about. Get ready for a ride in Lobster Theremin style.

map.ache - Leaving

KANN records co-founder and Giegling affiliate, map.ache, has been one of the producers that we’ve been following for many years, and always been at the very top on our list. His latest album ‘Vom ende bis zum anfang’ released on Giegling a few months ago has got worldwide recognition from critics, fellow producers and fans. In our humble opinion, the album is arguably the biggest contender for Album of the year in 2018. In the light of that release, map.ache made a live mix named ‘Leaving’ released also via Giegling. The mix contains map.ache’s original work from 2009-2018. It’s one of those mixes that you’ll listen to a dozen times…at least we did.

Birds Ov Paradise - Harmony Rec. podcast

The last couple of months have been quite fruitful for one of our favorite producers, Swedish techno wizard, Birds Ov Paradise. After joining Hypnus records family and releasing 3 part EP in 3 months, David aka Birds Ov Paradise doesn't seem to slow down. His new remix is about to see the light of the day as a part of Lippa EP by Alfred Czital, this time for Czech imprint Harmony Rec. To celebrate this release Birds Ov Paradise did this exclusive mix for Harmony Rec. podcast series. As we got used on Birds Ov Paradise style, the mix is dark, deep and dubby full of intricacy and haunting atmosphere.

Quarion x Ripperton @ ‘To The Blaze’, Folklor 06.16.2018

Ripperton had a successful 2018. His critically acclaimed album was released via ESP Institute, several other great releases and remixes have seen the light of the day, his label Tamed Musiq released one of the albums of the year by Iron Curtis. Ripperton has also been running a residency at Lausanne’s nightlife jewel, Folklor club. Slowly but surely his nights ’To The Blaze’ are getting cult status and following due to uncompromising attention on the quality of DJ’s who share decks with a Swiss maestro. This is the recording of two good friends playing b2b at the closing of one of “To The Blaze’ nights. I would say it’s enough to say Quarion b2b Ripperton…House music in its best.

The Drifter - Beats in Space #969

While visiting NYC in December, our favorite Irishman and captain of many of our unforgettable boat cruises during the summer, The Drifter paid a visit to cult Beats in Space radio show. We’ve been featuring regularly Drifter’s radio show here in Fiction Lab in the past year for a very simple reason, Drifter is one of the best music diggers out there and in his mixes, there’s always something fresh and intricate. 969th edition of Beats in Space is no different. Great track selection with few exclusives will keep your attention, we guarantee.

Four Tet - LOT Radio mix 12.28.2018

Kieran Hebden better known as Four Tet needs no special introduction here since the Brit has been one of the most popular artists in electronic music in last decade, especially among so-called indie part of the electronic music scene. With numerous exceptional releases on Domino records and his own Text records and his remixes and edits of pop songs, Four Tet has made himself a global phenomenon. A few days after Christmas, Four Tet made an appearance at infamous NYC’s LOT radio. Prepare yourself for 2hrs of uplifting uptempo Four Tet magic!

KAAP - Phonons Podcast 055

Our list lately can’t pass without some De Lichting touch. This time we have a taste of Kaap’s magic. The mix he made for Phonons collective in France is pure minimal, dub techno, micro-house heaven. Get your scuba diving suit on, we are going deep!

Zig Zach - Epizode Podcast 10

The founder of Blackout promoting team from Singapore, Zig Zach, has been making all the right moves in 2018 with keeping the scene in Singapore alive and fresh with numerous quality international and local bookings. Zig Zach is also a super talented DJ who we had a chance to listen to a couple of times in Europe while he was touring. Ahead of his appearance at 3rd edition of Epizode, an international electronic music festival in Vietnam, where he’ll be sharing decks with Young Marco, Zip, [a:rpia:r] and Red Axes, just to name a few, Zig Zach made this super nice trippy mix for Epizode’s podcast series.

Tracey @ DGTL ADE 10.18.2018

Tracey blew us away at this year's ADE SoHaSo showcase with his powerful electro live set. This recording, however, is from his other ADE performance, at popular DGTL festival. Tour de force by this super talented producer from Amsterdam.

DJ Dustin - Live at Dommune 12.13.2018

Ahead of his gig at Contact night Club in Tokyo, one of the founders of Giegling, DJ Dustin paid his visit to a popular Japanese live streaming studio, Dommune. The mix is a hypnotic blend of minimal, deep house and ambient.

WaWuWe aka Sebastian Mullaert live at Patterns of Perception

The last day of December brought us this phenomenal recording of Sebastian Mullaert performing under Wa Wu We moniker at Patterns of Perception party in Berlin. This is a 2hr excerpt of his extended live set. It's a trippy music journey that only masters like Sebastian can create.

Jimi Jules - Slowciety podcast

Watergate resident, Jimi Jules is back with a super cool mix for French music platform Slowciety. Swiss craftsman is known for his broad music knowledge and impressive DJ skills, and this mix highlights exactly that. Even though it's a 60min mix, this mix has all ingredients of an exceptional one. With immaculate track selection and seamless execution, Jimi Jules will prepare you for the long night ahead.

Ebende - 3

Aniara records affiliate, super talented Swedish producer Ebende, caught our attention with two fantastic releases on Aniara last year. A few weeks ago, Ebende posted a mix on SoundCloud consisting only of his unreleased material. That was all info we needed. The mix has a bit of everything, techno, house, ambient, drum&bass, lot’s of great material. We hope some of this stuff will be released sooner than later. Real quality from Ebende.