Rekids Just Hit Release No. 300. Robert Hood and Radio Slave Made It a First-Ever Collab.

A Minimalist's Maximalist Move

Robert Hood spent three decades proving that less is more: a kick, a hat, maybe one stab, and nothing else in the way. His new single needs almost ten minutes and a full string section to make its point.

That's "Radio Hood," out October 16 on Rekids, a collaboration between Robert Hood and label boss Radio Slave (Matt Edwards) that also happens to be the imprint's 300th release, timed to its 20th anniversary. It's the first time the two have actually made a record together, after a decade of remixing each other from opposite ends of the same label.

Twenty Years, 300 Releases

Radio Slave and James Masters founded Rekids in 2006. Over two decades the label has put out records by Mr G, Eddie Fowlkes, DJ Deep and Peggy Gou, alongside Nina Kraviz's self-titled debut album. Gou has since become one of the biggest names to come out of Asia; she remixed Madonna earlier this year. Rekids caught her early.

Hood first turned up on the label in 2015, remixing Radio Slave's "Don't Stop No Sleep." A Floorplan remix of "Feel The Same" followed in 2017, then two EPs and the acclaimed "Mirror Man" LP between 2020 and 2021. "Radio Hood" is his first new Rekids material since. He co-founded Underground Resistance with Mad Mike Banks and Jeff Mills before going solo, and his 1994 album "Minimal Nation" is still cited as the record that defined minimal techno.

What "Radio Hood" Actually Sounds Like

The A-side runs on what the label calls "unmistakable and persistent stabs" that never let up. Its flip, "Radio Hood (Version)," stretches to nine minutes and fifty-two seconds of sweeping strings and a "subtly growling" Reece bassline, a long way from either producer's usual minimalism. "When two creative minds align, miraculous things can happen," Hood said in the release announcement. "It's been an absolute privilege to collaborate with Radio Slave and contribute something meaningful to the culture."

Radio Slave Already Knows This Region

Southeast Asia isn't a stranger to either name. Radio Slave headlined Bangkok's Sing Sing Theater solo on February 1, 2023, with Rui Tang opening, and the year before that he reopened Singapore promoter Blackout Agency's Ritual series at IKI on the Singapore River, his first Asia date in more than two years at the time. Neither gig guarantees a regional stop for "Radio Hood," but it means Rekids' 300th release lands with a boss who already knows what a Bangkok and a Singapore dancefloor sound like, not just a European festival stage.

Pre-orders are live now on Bandcamp: £3 for the digital, £11.50 for the 12", ahead of the October 16 release.

Cover photo: courtesy of Rekids.