Born in Nottingham, England, Mark Birtles began DJing in Leeds before coming to Japan in 2008. He is one half of the Tokyo Indie events team, which has hosted DJ gigs with touring bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Metronomy, Mystery Jets and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. He let us have a look in his record bag and made a mix of some upcoming Japanese acts he's been listening to (see bottom of this story).

Opening Number: Blue Hawaii — "In Two" and "In Two II" [Arbutus]. Label mates and friends of singer Grimes, Blue Hawaii have released the best album of 2013 so far with "Untogether." The record is put together with an ear for the most microscopic details, and tremendous production. Strictly two tracks that run together as one, "In Two" and "In Two II" shift nicely from an ethereal beginning into a dance-floor beat — perfect for getting people in the zone.

Golden Oldie: Whodini — "Magic's Wand" [Zomba]. A friend of mine recently unearthed some mini discs that had my old mixes on them, which I thought had been lost forever. Listening to the eclectic stuff I used to throw on there really took me back to a time when I was trying to emulate the cut-and-paste style of Coldcut, Liam Howlett and Lemon Jelly. This was one of the stand-out tracks on there and it reminds me of past summers, my belt-drive turntables and my dad shouting at me to "Turn it down!" Happy days.