Forward-thinking club & ambient music from Berlin-based queer fundraiser party collective and record label TOYS Berlin

Special ambient episode from Berlin-based queer fundraiser party collective and record label TOYS Berlin from TOYS DJs ASA 808 & Qzen.

Qzen — rhymes with Susan — is a thoughtful selector who’s been committed to the dance since she became a part of it in California’s Bay Area rave scene in the ‘90s. Such a long arc allows for a studied and refined approach to her art. As a DJ, she’s grown from her roots in drum & bass to invest in various genres: house, techno, bass, breaks, electro, italo, and others, attuning to and directing the audience appropriate to the moment. She spirals around a core sound that is sensual, fierce, present, confrontational, joyful, and cheeky.

What she’s sharing here is a low-slung, revealing ringlet of music strung up for listening rather than dancing, played on a hot night in the Ambitent of the TOYS end of summer party in September 2024. The mix is mostly an improvisational sampling of her vinyl collection but also features an unreleased track she created ages ago with Bill Youngman a.k.a. Headless Horseman.