Richard Sen has long been one of those well-regarded figures who thrives on operating in the margins of underground dance music culture. A storied DJ, producer and dusty-fingered crate digger, Richard is great at what he does but, for whatever reason, tends to be a bit overlooked.

Yet given his longevity (he started DJing and collecting records in the late 1980s) and output (not just his wavy and often spaced-out solos productions, but also the collaborative Bronx Dogs and Padded Cell projects), it’s always been a bit of a puzzle as to why he isn’t more celebrated within the UK underground. Richard has never sought publicity – though in the Bronx Dogs days of the late 90s and early 2000s, when we first met, his record company and PR agency definitely did – but even so, he should still get more love than he does.

Richard is also something a master curator of compilations, too. He first proved his credentials back in 2012 with the Strut-released This Ain’t Chicago, the first collection since the turn of the 90s to focus specifically on British house and techno from the “acid” era of the late 80s and early 90s. It’s a superb set which was reviewed enthusiastically but, for whatever reason, was a little bit overlooked by DJs and listeners. It’s still available to stream and to buy via the Strut Bandcamp store, so I’d recommend purchasing it ASAP.

Last month, Richard finally released a follow up, Dream The Dream, on Ransom Note Records offshoot Music From Planet Earth. It takes a slightly broader sweep of UK dance music in the early 1990s, but still limits itself to music made on these shores. Its mix of bass-heavy, post-bleep (and bleep inspired) UK house and techno, dreamy breakbeat cuts, proto-trance and high-grade early UK hardcore contains some celebrated selections, but plenty more that will be unfamiliar to all but the most dedicated of diggers (or DJs who picked up copies of the often hard-to-find records first time round).

The release of Dream The Dream, which you can grab via the Ransom Note Records Bandcamp store, offered a perfect opportunity to call up Richard for a chat. An edited version of that conversation, accompanied by music selected by Richard, was broadcast on Noods Radio on Wednesday June 28th 2023. It can now be listened to via the embedded Mixcloud player below. You’ll find the track listing below the embedded player. An interview feature, also based on our conversation, can be read right now on Juno Daily.

Join The Future on Noods Radio: S2E4 – Richard Sen in Conversation
1. Richard Sen – Songs of Pressure
2. Baby Ford – Crushing
3. Lab Technicians – You Gave Me Life
4. Orbital – Deeper (Extended Mix)
5. Window Smashers – Free To Be
6. Dream Frequency – Dream The Dream
7. Strontium 90 – Rave on the Congo
8. Richard Sen – My Definition of Funk