#dkmntl

Recording of our weekly Dekmantel Radio show at @redlightradio. First hour: Afra Second hour: D. Tiffany

Jonny Rock knows how to entertain any sort of dance floor. The Worldwide FM radio host runs Turkish focussed labels Hamam House and Disco Hamam and has very much driven the renewed focus in Eastern music as a result. His record collection is a treasure trove of knowledge when it comes to unusual scenes and sounds and will put anyone’s to shame. He has held residences at places as diverse as Classic at The End, Key at Phonica and Herbal, and his own productions take in whatever he wants, be it house on The Nothing Special or techno on ESP Institute. There is no holding back over the course of his podcast, which gets straight to business with some wild breakbeat action. All forms of house from jacked up to deep, celebratory to acid then get seamlessly linked together into something that feels very much informed by the past but in no way a slave to the classics. It’s the sound of a man who very much knows what he’s doing in top form.

Recording of our weekly Dekmantel Radio show at @redlightradio. First hour: Roelien Second hour: RAFF

Palms Trax - To Paradise Dekmantel (DKMNTL065) a1. To Paradise b1. Love In Space b2. Heron https://shop.dekmantel.com/release/5776 Over the past few years, Palms Trax has cemented his place on the Dekmantel roster and become one of the family. His upbeat attitude and knack for selection have made Jay Donaldson one of the scene’s most in-demand and warmly regarded selectors. Combining rare, globally-sourced finds with exuberant house anthems, his annual sets at Dekmantel Festival have showed a nearly unmatched capacity for filling floors and creating grooves. Now, the UK producer puts his talents to work on To Paradise, tapping classic Italo, wave and Balearic house for an EP that has summertime written all over it. Title track "To Paradise" kicks things off with an infectious, melodic chorus that spirals into a pulsing rhythm. It’s full of those 'hand-in-the-air' type moments, and topped with blissful vibes. "Love In Space" follows with a throbbing bassline melded with rich atmospheres. It’s more Adriatic than Balearic, careening with an anthemic affection and destined for festival season. "Heron" veers away from the Italo vibes and standard structures that hold regular dance tracks together. A departure into more experimental electronics, the dynamics are controlled through rhythms and the synthesised melodies create forlorn narratives across machine-driven sequences. It's a dynamic finish to this considered and perfectly timed trio of offerings.

Although a relative newcomer to the DJ game, JASSS has really managed to shake up the dance floor in the last couple of years ( not least with her residency at Berghain's Säule). Releases on Anunnaki Cartel, Mannequin and iDEAL Recordings have showcased her rugged and gritty approach to EBM, industrial, acid and techno. Between those releases she has covered experimental sound art, soundscapes and more club focusses beats, all while playing to her own rules and fighting her own internal battles. On her Dekmantel podcast the Spaniard goes direct to the club with visceral drums and stark synths. It’s a mix that hurries you along for the ride, jostling you with breakbeats and rave stabs then rewriting your brain with prickly techno before allowing you a moment to breath in some more elastic and rubbery house music. It’s always full flavour, high impact stuff that is brilliantly compelling and strobe lit throughout, whether stepping at half time or falling over itself in a race to the end.

Recording of our weekly Dekmantel Radio show at @redlightradio. First hour: DJ Down The Rabbit Hole Second hour: Loradeniz (@loradeniz)

Kasra V’s unique fusion of eastern and western sounds has made him one of the most intriguing artists of the day. The Iranian has established himself with an NTS show (that is more than 100 episodes deep) and DJ sound that mixes old school UK rave with Belgian techno, acid house, trance and eastern grooves that make for spellbinding experiences. In 2018 he collaborated with Dopplerekkekt and is working on a reissue compilation series that focuses on Iranian sounds as well as original dance material. Later this year he will play for us at Dekmantel Selectors so you can get an insight into what to expect on this week’s podcast: It’s a whirlwind hour of trance-inducing electronics. Zoned out synths are layered up over smooth rolling drums, with sci-fi references and progressive grooves lifting you ever higher. Acid flashes, retro motifs and slick mixing all make it a perfectly absorbing trip.

Recording of Casper Tielrooij and Cinema Royale's set at Dekmantel Selectors 2018.

Recording of our weekly Dekmantel Radio show at @redlightradio. First hour: 030303 Second hour: Paul Piro

Afrodeutsche’s music is a collision of many different worlds. She herself is British born, but with Ghanaian, Russian and German heritage, while her influences and inspirations span classical piano, film and documentary music. Based in Manchester, she is a composer and producer with a regular show on NTS that explores her love of techno and electro and which goes from dark and tough to jacked up and broken. Her mix for us is a 90 minute excursion through her musical mind: it’s a busy one that veers from ghostly ambiance to serrated machine music. While a subtle hardcore nostalgia colours the airwaves one moment, decidedly forward facing bass music will twist you inside out the next, and the whole thing is run through with a sense of menace and mystery that is perfect for shady, strobe-lit clubs.

Recording of our weekly Dekmantel Radio show at @redlightradio. First hour: Miley Serious Second hour: Marathon Man

Efdemin has all but perfected his deep, expertly reduced take on house and techno. The German artist has mastered his form over the course of numerous 12”s on various labels, including three albums on Dial Records. They are intricate, mind bending affairs that take you in on yourself and constantly explore new ground. His hybrid mix CD on his own Naïf imprint and Curle last year was another career high point, and recently he has turned himself towards experimental and microtonal composition with yet more fascinating results. February 2019 will see Ostgut Ton release New Atlantis, his latest album and one inspired by Francis Bacon’s unfinished 17th century novel of the same name. Promising to fuse his left-of-centre take on dance music with a new found passion for experimental sound art, it’s the latest chapter in a fascinating artistic story. His podcast for us is a decidedly club-focussed mix, featuring the sort of warped synths and underlapping grooves you would expect of the man. There are multi-layered tracks of percussion, sound design and stringy rhythms to start, then things slip into long, draw out passages of tunnel vision techno before the drums begin to hit harder to carry you home. At times playful, at others deadly serious, it sums up the career of Efdemin perfectly.

An-i bringing his timeless and experimental live set to Dekmantel Festival 2018's UFO stage.

Lamellen - Monty Roberts - Dekmantel (DKMNTL061) - 12" https://shop.dekmantel.com/release/6216 a1. Horse Massage a2. Spider b1. Oyster b2. Railrunner b3. Pippo Denemarken Slow things down into a full balearic groove with this latest EP by Dutch production duo Lamellen, the collaborative efforts of Rimer London, and Lyckle. Barely breaking a sweat over 100bpm, these smooth sunset synth rhythms, full of muted 80s Italo funk, and breezy drum machines, syncopated with the warm, exotic blend of retro keys and ambience, set the EPs five tracks coastal, vibrant dynamic. Rimer London a.k.a. Rimer Veeman, having collaborated with Bas Bron (a.k.a. Fatima Yamaha) as Comtron in addition to being one of the faces behind the enigmatic disco project Le Le, is no stranger to conjuring up exotically gleeful, synth productions. Having been working together for some time with Amsterdam-based song writer and talent Lyckle, it was inevitable that their veritable wavey blend of retro grooves, and sultry sunshine music was to be find its way out into the fold. 'Horse Massage', the ever so slightly subdued, tape-filtered, ocean-swept EP opener, with its melancholic lead piano line, is almost the soundtrack to something very poignant and beautiful. Perhaps it’s a reference to Monty Roberts, the original horse Californian whisperer, from which the record takes its name. ’Spider' meanwhile ups the energy, with a Korg bassline that’s reminiscent of old, TV show intros, replete with an Eastern groove, and full-on near disco-like keyboard stabs. Flip the record and 'Oyster' grooves in a playful, understated style like a Domenique Dumont joint released in another galaxy on Music from Memory. 'Railrunner' with its light guitars, rolling synth-bass line, is balearic charm in its fullest, evoking a feeling of being in the sea, or like contemporary discarded Arthur Russel joint, albeit one reworked by Phil Mison, for those smooth summer evenings. 'Pippo Denemarken' takes the record into mild-Gigi Masin territory, with its washed over, psychedelic feel and Casio-keys melodies.

Beta Librae is the brightest star in the Libra constellation, but also one of the brightest stars in techno. Bailey Hoffman hails from New York City and arrived in 2015 pretty much with a fully formed and decidedly singular sound. Releasing albums and EPs on labels like Incienso and Allergy Season, she draws on ambient, downtempo, new age and house music to stir up weird atmospheres and slow motion grooves. Lots goes on between her lazy kicks, and it all serves to sink you into a cavernous and expansive world of beautiful melody and loose percussion. Over the course of ninety minutes, Hoffman’s wide sphere of influences are all exposed. There’s kaleidoscopic techno that traps you in a hall of mirrors as melodies refracted all around, ramshackle drums that are on the verge of collapse and murky house music that’s gritty and grimy. The transitions between these worlds are subtle, and for every passage of dark and dirty texture there are moments of light emitting beauty that keeps the whole thing moving. This is club music from a whole new perspective.

Recording of our weekly Dekmantel Radio show at @redlightradio. First hour: Bruce Second hour: Emilio Bestevez

Various Artists - Djax-Re-Up Volume 1 Dekmantel (DKMNTL063-1) - 2xLP https://shop.dekmantel.com/release/6232/djax-re-up-volume-1 a1. Ismistik - Flow Charts a2. Glenn Underground - 101 Dolmations b1. Felix Da Housecat - Freakadelica b2. Planet Gong - Humid Empire c1. Terrace - 916 Buena Avenue (Influenza Mix) c2. Hexagone - Float Baby d1. Random XS - Give Your Body d2. K'Alexi Shelby - Sex-N-R 001 (Vocal Mixx) Dekmantel are proud to announce the re-issue of some of the most era-defining trans-Atlantic, techno cuts from the early nineties, thanks to cult label Djax-Up-Beats. The Dutch label was responsible for releasing some of underground’s most foundational dance music, mixing together Chicago and European artists alike, and acting as the launch pad for some of today’s biggest producers. This timeless music is being reissued on vinyl for the very first time, making this a great opportunity to add to your crate a collection of highly-coveted, raw, analog, acid burners that stand up to the highest calibre rave music of today. The history of international techno is inseparable from Djax-Up-Beats. Founded in Eindhoven at the turn of the 90s, Djax-Up-Beats quickly earned an international reputation for being a key source of Chicago house, acid techno, and floor-filling, heavy-hitting, straight up underground 12”s. After forging a strong relationship with artists in Chicago and Detroit, label founder Miss Djax quickly found her (actual) mail box full of demo tapes from up-and-coming producers from across the Atlantic. Straight away Djax-Up-Beats became a home for both Dutch and American artists alike creating heavy, experimental machine techno. As part of this very special reissue series, which will be followed by another double-12” package in April, the first package features tracks by Ismistik, the alter ego of Smalltown Supersound’s Bjørn Torske; one of Glenn Underground’s initial releases, before he went on to become a Cajual staple; and one of Felix Da Housecat’s first ever records ("Pure dancefloor porn”, as described by one Discogs user). It also features Dutchman Stefan Robbers exploring deep vibes; the trippy, hard rhythms of Random XS; and the bass-heavy mastery of a Chicago OG, K-Alexi Shelby. Throughout the eight tracks you can hear the sounds of sequencers, drum machines, and driving basslines. It defined the beginning of an era that never went away. All in all, an eclectic mix of passion, depth, and original thought. Even today, pioneering artists such as DJ Richard and Nina Kraviz are dropping tracks from Djax-Up-Beats in their sets. “Djax-Up-Beats is techno royalty,” DJ Richard recently noted in an article for Electronic Beats. This sound of the early 90s, which spawned the sonic aesthetics of today, is still as relevant and vibrant as ever. You can hear the label’s sound in the productions of Bjarki, Varg, and Legowelt, and influencing hypnotic and quixotic outposts such as Crème Organization, L.I.E.S, Salon des Amateurs and more. Whether you’re a collector, or DJ looking to add to the your left field techno collection, the reissue of these Djax-Up-Beats classics is not one to pass up.

Recording of our weekly Dekmantel Radio show at @redlightradio. First hour: Paula Tape Second hour: Yòp

As soft and dreamy as their moniker may be, Clouds actually make some of the most brutal and destructive techno out there. The Scottish duo of Calum MacLeod and Liam Robertson have been doing so with ever more abrasive surfaces and twisted drums since 2010, releasing on the likes of Turbo, Opal Tapes and Soma. Two of their three albums, though, have come on Speedy J’s Electric Deluxe. The latest, Heavy The Eclipse, is a conceptual affair that comes with a brilliantly realised website telling the story of a city that was left to rot after social and economic collapse. This “post-industrial hell-future” is taken over by Germans and renamed Neurealm, and is soundtracked across 14 perfectly dark and dystopian pieces featuring snippets of vocals, tinges of euphoria, passages of desolate dub and frazzled industrial noise. In their mix for us, the pair continue with that bleakly immersive sonic imagery by using unreleased material only! Nightmarish screams are obscured by scuzzy sonic blizzards, rave synths spray about above overdriven drums and hardcore and dub culture references often poke through the mire. It’s an all out aural assault that takes you to the heart of a grotty, strobe-lit warehouse in the very dead of night.

After numerous compilation appearances, the first half of 2018 saw object blue put out her first two solo EPs—‘Do you plan to end a siege?' on Tobago Tracks and 'REX' on Let’s Go Swimming.’ Their impact, next to her spellbinding live shows, was so significant that by the end of the year she was one of the most talked about new artists around. The reason is that the Chinese sound designer contorts her drum machines and smudges her synths with utter disregard for any rules and lands somewhere fresh and new; some grey area between broken techno, warped bass and experimental club. A sonic meticulousness always manages to shine through object blue’s work, despite what can often be carnage beneath the surface. And that’s the case with the one hour session we end the year with here: it’s a symphony of layers that variously sooth and seduce or rough you up with rhythm. Despite the shades of sound art and musical collage that are never far away, a dance floor narrative underlines the whole thing and will keep you moving well into 2019, a year which promises plenty for object blue.