All releases on Dekmantel Records.

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Dekmantel Records

Bruxas - Muscle Memory - Dekmantel - DKMNTL086

https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/bruxas-muscle-memory

a1. Muscle Memory
a2. Red Pillows
a3. Bodywarmer
a4. People
a5. Cógelo, Rápido
b1. Mountain Cruise
b2. Minitrip
b3. Crazy Spacey
b4. Salt Water Pool

Dutch psych-musicians Jacco Gardner and Nic Mauskovic create a new take on no-wave, post-disco with their debut LP as Bruxas, Muscle Memory. It’s their third work for the Dekmantel label, following up earlier EPs Mas Profundo (2017) and Sirocco (2018). Immersing themselves in a world of bohemian synth, the duo experiment with vintage machines and cosmic effects, swimming in rhythmic grooves and psychedelic tones. It’s a style that reflects their respective musical backgrounds, and long partnership, one in which that has strengthened their collaborative, musical muscle memory.
After playing together in the revival tour for Zamrock band WITCH, Gardner and Mauskovic struck up a partnership centred around poolside antics, cocktail hours, and a mutual love for late-60s, German kosmische musik. Through their particular style of alchemy, the duo embarked on a quest to craft soundtracks to imaginary, forgotten moments.

‘Cógelo, Rápido’ plays out like a pseudo-disco-noire thriller, while ‘Mountain Cruise’ strums to an upbeat Jodorowsky beat, and then ‘Minitrip’ accompanies the listener through psychedelic planes of existence. Unsurprising then that there is a little bit of Patrick Cowley in this record. A pioneer whose own Muscle Up soundtracks also lent themselves to leftfield synth explorations.

Outside of Bruxas, Gardner and Mauskovic have both found success with their respective careers. Gardner, with his unique take on experimental synth work, and Mauskovic’s rhythmic post-punk, solo-project The Mauskovic Dance Band. Together as Bruxas, they found a synergy full of youthful exuberance that looks to recapture a vintage left-of-centre, wave-scene aesthietc. Recorded on a minimalist setup, Muscle Memory is full of improvisation and psychedelic sound experimentation, proving that with time the subconscious can take over, creating patterns within music that the conscious mind would have otherwise been unable to perform. What one would call, true Muscle Memory.

DKMNTL086 // Bruxas - Muscle Memory

Various Artists - Scores III - Dekmantel - DKMNTL069

a1. Interstellar Funk - Seasonshore Sequences (15:19)
b1. Guenter Råler - Ecotone (15:44)

https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/va-scores-iii
https://dekmantel.bandcamp.com/album/v-a-scores-iii

Dekmantel once again teams up with RE:VIVE, the cultural initiative setup by the The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, to pair modern electronic talent with Dutch archival footage. The third EP in the Scores series sees Interstellar Funk and Italian producer Guenter Råler create innovative, modular soundscapes to the graceful visual arts unearthed from the Sound and Vision archives.

As Interstellar Funk, Olf van Elden uses his production competency to craft a heavenly arpeggiated, synth composition to the amateur aquarium movies by J.L. Clement which are edited for this project by Sjoerd Martens. Filmed in the 1940’s, the video’s turn-of-the-century black-and-white style aquatic footage is reanimated through van Elden’s tacit polyphonic, modular sonic soundtrack. Layering together multiple sequences, van Elden pieces together the music as a whole, to mimic the way in which the film was created.

On the B-Side, Italian abstract artist and Dutch native Guenter Raler concocts a deeply introspective, and perfectly choreographed, ambient soundtrack to a select series of pieced together clips from the Collectie Natuurbeelden, [the Institute’s Collection of Natural Images]. The music plays against the depiction of multiple biological communities in transition; what is referred to as an ecotone. The title itself not only recalls that of a musical tone, but represents the ever-evolving aspect of life and nature as similar colours, along with movements of animals and plants pass on from one image to the next.

Within their own right, the new scores not only give the age-old films new context and sonic character, but exist as creative works as their own, full of resonance and individualism that highlight the retrospective artists’ voices to their fullest.

DKMNTL069 // Interstellar Funk | Guenter Råler - Scores III

Phillip Jondo - Little Princess EP - Dekmantel - DKMNTL089

a1. Phillip Jondo & Maxwell Sterling - Dunkelziffer I
a2. Phillip Jondo & Maxwell Sterling - Dunkelziffer II
b1. Phillip Jondo & Dj Plead - Whowhuwho
b2. Phillip Jondo & Dj Plead - Whowhuwho (Moa Pillar Remix)

https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/phillip-jondo-little-princess-ep
https://phillipjondo.bandcamp.com/album/little-princess-ep

And here we are, after all is said and done, right at the dawn of club music’s reconstruction era. Granted, listening to dance music these days comes with a weird, two-faced sense of longing: a) for careless times before the world shut down, and b) for a (hopefully) near & ecstatic future, that’s, however, in desperate need of new ideas, sounds, and rave ethics.

In this sense, the Little Princess EP on Dekmantel by Cologne-based producer and DJ Jondo feels especially of the time. Each track draws elements from the hardcore club trajectory, but reassembles them in song-like arrangements that work just as fine in any headphone or home listening scenario, without ever falling for the self-serving traps that people mean when they talk of “deconstructed”.

Of course, none of this was intended. The tracks on this EP were created between pre-pandemic London, Berlin and Cologne in April 2019 and January 2020.
The A-side has Jondo team up with Maxwell Sterling, double bass player, producer, and master of dense soundscapes. Both had been fans of each other’s releases for some time, when they eventually caught up and locked down in a London flat, packed with a Digitakt, a bunch of VSTS, an autotune pedal and Maxwell's double bass. For Jondo, the real-life aspect of their collaboration has been key, as those tracks present a process of consolidation between two musical minds who tackle their craft from entirely different angles. The results are two sprawling, dynamic pieces, grimly titled “Dunkelziffer I” and “Dunkelziffer II” (the German term for “dark figure” has been ubiquitous all year, describing the looming undertow of a much higher number of infections).

The opener’s dimly lit, RPG-like atmospheres remain drumless all the way, giving a nod to the expansive compositions of Maxwell’s long-time collaborator James Ferraro. "Dunkelziffer II”, on the other hand, is a full-on club affair, whose complex grooves and muffled drums get disrupted midway through the track by a set of icy synths, only to break open and trade every bit of rave energy for a comforting ambient variation on the lead melody.

The B-side “Whowhuwho" sees Jondo create a powerful piece of instrumental-grime-turned-quasi-jungle alongside DJ Plead, an Australian producer with Lebanese roots, based in Berlin.
The track is a perfect canvas for their shared love of intensely percussive jams, as glimpses of Diwali-style handclaps, dubby delays and classic breaks drive the track forward.
On his remix, Russian techno prodigy Moa Pillar warps the already minimalist lead synth into an even more sparse yet effective dancefloor weapon.

Jondo curated and finished all these team efforts with the same care and curiosity that inform his DJ sets, as well as his A&R process at Spa, the label he runs with Friday Dunard and DJ Brom. (Given the chemistry between these 4 tracks and the people involved, it comes as no surprise that Spa has put out releases by everyone featured on this record.) Just as in his sets, the Little Princess EP proudly exhibits all of Jondo’s musical roots – but instead of sticking with one style, tempo or formula, he innately trusts the music to let it take us into unexpected territories, time and time again. Buckle up and enjoy the trip.

DKMNTL089 // Phillip Jondo - Little Princess EP

Alberta Balsam - Higher Dreams - Dekmantel - DKMNTL080

a1. Atuan Tombs
a2. Cascade
b1. Metanoia
b2. Higher Dreams
b3. Suspended In The Manifold

https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/alberta-balsam-higher-dreams

Spiralling through the space-time continuum, Alberta Balsam's debut EP amalgamates clipped breakbeat with lithe IDM and sawtooth electro. Inspired by the visionary author Ursula K. Le Guin, the vinyl is presented by Dekmantel Records together with a transcendental sci-fi narrative. Printed on a poster-inlay designed by British artist Alex Morgan, the story tells of a quest for survival on a planet ravaged by ecological collapse.

In a bid to rescue all lifeforms from impending destruction, a lone holobot frantically consults her neurobiological interface. Humans can no longer subsist on Earth: waterways are contaminated, and the unbreathable atmosphere has taken on a toxic purple, almost holographic hue. Faced with environmental apocalypse, she turns skyward, to take root among the stars. With nods to the utopian futurism, attunement to nature and alien visions of pioneering electronic artists such as Drexciya and Delia Derbyshire, Alberta transmutes a synergy that's entirely her own. Higher Dreams journeys elsewhere on a passage that's equal parts intergalactic and introspective, questioning how, on the brink of the abyss, we can find hope.

Blasting off the A-side with 'Atuan Tombs' – a reference to Le Guin's masterful Tales From Earthsea series – a cyborg voice narrates plundering through the skeletal remains of an urban landscape. Hollowed out kick-drums thunder in 'Cascade;' glitched-out beats that shatter into incandescent, intricate melodies. On the B-side, the titular track crescendos, it’s biblical vocals conveying the gravitas of an approaching dystopia. Yet Higher Dreams is far from doom-inducing – the EP closes off with ‘Suspended in the Manifold,' the vibrant Roland TR-808 rhythm fuelled by the colossal power of a solar flare.

Renowned for her live hardware-based sets, Alberta flexes her immeasurable skill as a tech-savvy producer adept at constructing danceable, yet simultaneously lush and expansive interludes. Having trained as an epidemiologist, the theme of care reverberates through her music. Crucially, she regards dance as medicine – a primordial remedy to sustain our interconnected existence.

DKMNTL080 // Alberta Balsam - Higher Dreams

BSS - Suikerplein EP - Dekmantel - DKMNTL090

a1. Westerpark
a2. Domela
a3. Spaarndammerplantsoen
b1. Box
b2. Scannen

https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/bss-suikerplein-ep

​​From ecstatic highs and sinister textures to sprawling breaks, tight drum programming and bass-heavy undercurrents, Suikerplein EP is the BSS project touching home base. Though by no means a new face to Dekmantel, it marks the debut of BSS on the Dekmantel Records imprint, following a sonically varied string of releases on labels like Hivern Discs, Kitjen, Church and Honey Soundsystem Records. Mastermind behind BSS is Luigi Vittorio Jansen, initially one half of the long-standing musical project formerly known as Beesmunt Soundsystem. The formation slimmed down from two to one, but Luigi’s drive and creative impulse is brimming with energy — this debut EP from BSS as a one-man venture can only serve as a testament of that. In a sound that has been typically evolving throughout an almost decade-spanning catalog, BSS is more than ever crystallising the distinctive palette that forms the BSS microcosm as we step in today.

This hypnotic, mind-melting realm can feel wonderfully strange and extraterrestrial, yet Suikerplein spirals back close to home: the city of Amsterdam, where Luigi grew up and where the whole Beesmunt journey began. The track titles refer to various pinpoints from Luigi’s youth, from the Spaarndammer neighbourhood and the Westerpark to an oddly intriguing statue of a Dutch social anarchist that’s also found somewhere in Amsterdam’s westside. BSS’s journey may have crossed many physical borders and brought them to DJ booths and record players across the world, Suikerplein reaches back at the cradle of both the project and Luigi himself.

The blissful suspense of ‘Westerpark’ is where things are kicked in motion: spacious, slowly menacing breaks push forward while a deeply resonating bass contrasts the gleaming synths that are draped on top. The suspense is quickly redeemed by the tight, electrifying drum workout of ‘Domela’ — a high-voltage, electrifying crawler with sparks spattering throughout. It leads to a foray into the mesmerising melancholia the ‘Spaarndammerplantsoen’, an emotive joint that hovers between fatalistic and hopeful. On the flip, we return with ‘Box’: a not-to-be-messed-with, metallic-sounding sizzler with roughed-out laser-beam textures and jarring breaks. The curtain call comes from ‘Scannen’, a near spiritual closing with a synthetic chant. It recapitulates the heavily textured, break-filled character of the Suikerplein EP as a whole, and concludes it with a thoroughly cathartic comedown.

DKMNTL090 // BSS - Suikerplein EP

Interstellar Funk - Into The Echo - Dekmantel - DKMNTL085

https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/interstellar-funk-into-the-echo
https://insterstellarfunkdekmantel.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-echo

a1. Ghost of Kyiv
a2. Crystal Whispers
a3. Dreamers (Part I)
b1. Psycho Panner
b2. The Helium Queen
c1. Last Piece of the Puzzle
c2. Northern Winds (Feat. JASSS)
c3. Octave Echoes (Album Mix)
d1. Crickets at Night (Feat. Loradeniz)
d2. Into the Echo

For his debut album on Dekmantel, Interstellar Funk (@interstellarfunk) has crafted a raw, yet simultaneously hauntingly beautiful and endlessly intricate record. Layers of blended harmonies and melodies form the basis for jettisons into leftfield experimentation, heavily processed drums and oscillating frequencies. The result is as infectious as it is pensive; a transcendental journey into a synth-laden landscape.

A stalwart name on our Dekmantel line-ups and with prior releases on the likes of Rush Hour, Berceuse Heroique and L.I.E.S., Interstellar Funk is synonymous with the more brooding side of Dutch electronica. Akin to his DJ sets, which also glide effortlessly between genre, tempo and sound, Into the Echo is daringly eclectic, combining sung-spoken iterations with hypnotic samples and machinic industrial. The release will be supported by a hardware based live-show tour later in 2022.

Ethereal voices haunt the album, a spectral presence emanating both on the titular track and its eponymous twin, 'Octave Echoes.' The latter is built up around breathy reverberations partnered with steely chords and dissected drumbeats. While 'Crickets at Night,' featuring fellow Amsterdam-based producer Loradeniz, switches pace from ghostly ambient to a pulsating, metronome's tick, clockwork rhythms and eerily looped vocals.

Channelling introspective atmospheres, Into the Echo nevertheless holds steadfast to a club- ready beat and momentous bass. 'Northern Winds,' composed with JASSS, edges along the hardcore continuum, exploding with spiralling percussion and flashes of the pair's shared affinity for electro's gyrating-circuitry and dub's ominous dread. And, ionised by piercing synth and bolts of acid, ‘Psycho Panner’s occultist refrain climbs to an otherworldly crux.

A homage to the potency of analogue machinery and experimental electronica, Into the Echo fluctuates with organic life, often melding synthetic and acoustic instruments together. Guitar riffs flutter on 'Dreamers' before pattering out into warbling, glacial fragments and 'Last Piece of the Puzzle’ features a glockenspiel-esque rhythmic element rising to a harmonic crescendo.

The album will be available in digital formats and on 2x 12” vinyl with printed innersleeves and photograpy by Bea1991.

DKMNTL085 // Interstellar Funk - Into the Echo

Aquarian - Mutations I: Death, Taxes & Hanger - Dekmantel - DKMNTL-UFO11

https://aquariandekmantel.bandcamp.com/album/mutations-i-death-taxes-hanger
https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/aquarian-mutations-1

a1. Death, Taxes & Hanger
a2. Rene Likes The Steak
b1. Sam Handwich
b2. Dead Whale

Canadian born, Berlin based producer @Aquarian debuts on Dekmantel Records’ UFO imprint with Mutations I & II, a series of two EPs following his debut album The Snake That Eats Itself and his collaborative records as AQXDM. The series marks his return to club focused solo material for the first time since 2017.

Originally written as inflection points for his typically boisterous and genre collapsing dj sets, Mutations deftly splices the foundational DNA of his earliest productions — electro, hardcore and broken beat techno – with new and vital influences.

Mutations I: Death, Taxes and Hanger finds Aquarian gleefully contorting mid-2000s dnb tearouts, wrong footed IDM and progressive trance euphoria into thrilling new shapes. Fast techno, hi-tek jazz, amphetamine-addled filter house and breakcore join the fray in Mutations II: Delicious Intent as he pushes intensity levels past breaking point. Whichever the touchstone, the results are clear: distinctly modern, highly-propulsive body music with an unapologetically emotive core.

DKMNTL-UFO11 // Aquarian - Mutations I: Death, Taxes & Hanger

Parrish Smith - Light, Cruel & Vain - Dekmantel - DKMNTL091

https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/parrish-smith-light-cruel-vain

a1. Fader
a2. Black Scarlet
a3. Light, Cruel & Vain
b1. Crush The Muse
b2. Slave
b3. IAMNOTTHERE
c1. Perfume Of Oil
c2. Never Break Faith
d1. STRENGTH
d2. I Wanna Be An Idol
d3. The Doomsday Generation

Light, Cruel & Vain

Parrish Smith @parrishsmith is never one to let you breathe easy. As a globally renowned DJ, he’s become synonymous with high-velocity sets that cut and collide through his distinct array of obscure sounds. Meanwhile, however, the artist has been carefully constructing his own musical idiom. Manoeuvring his most delicate and most defiant feelings, Light Cruel & Vain (Dekmantel Records, 2022) is the first fruit of that painstaking process. A compilation of ‘imperfect music’, the record is shrouded in the artist’s characteristic veil of mystery. As always, his sound cuts and chokes – sometimes cruelly, sometimes soothingly – yet this record offers a new, longer, lighter gulp of air. Here, Parrish Smith bares his most private process so far: one of personal transformation and becoming a better version of oneself.

Light Cruel & Vain was developed over the course of nearly three years, following nearly a decade of individual experimentation. Where on the one hand, LC&V reflects an inward pilgrimage (aka Parrish Smith facing the world and Parrish Smith facing Parrish Smith), the project simultaneously reflects the birth and growth of a band. Each track on the record is originally based on a solo idea, moulded and fine-tuned in conversation with contributing musicians Sofiane Brahmi and Javier Vivancos, then finalized by the producer. The collaborative process brought together niches that wouldn’t typically share territory or sound, allowing music to emerge that transcends each of their boundaries. In the making of LC&V no conventional studio sessions occurred; due to covid-19, the full collaboration process was a remote affair of sharing snippets, (re)working recordings and, most of all, exchanging thoughts and feelings.

Those who know Parrish Smith a little, know his long-standing mantra: ‘No elitism, no prejudices, no genre. Hypnotic, tense, comprehensible – a state of mind.’ It’s this dictum that best describes the LC&V sound(s). Tapping into all irreverent niches close to his heart – noise, punk, industrial, electronic, and even pop – Parrish Smith refuses to foreground one influence over another, instead layering and warping his personal interpretations of each. To categorize his seeking sound would be to limit the artist who, more than anything, thrives in limbo. ‘You could call it a concept album because the sounds are so far apart. But perhaps that’s not a concept, perhaps that’s just me…’

Parallel to his extensive musical experimentation, the past years have allowed Parrish Smith to zoom in on his writing. The resulting fragments form the foundation of LC&V’s collage-like, soul-searching lyrics. Never, however, does the artist take his words to the front of stage; instead treating his voice as a malleable instrument, just one of many shifting layers in a bigger picture. The distorted lyrics, as such, are an statement: ‘It’s alright to be insecure about some of your qualities. In fact, the key is to embrace just that, to take matters into your own hands.’

Photography by Abel Minnee and creative direction by parrish smith.

DKMNTL091 // Parrish Smith - Light, Cruel & Vain

Dazion - Grooveboxxx - Dekmantel - DKMNTL093

https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/dazion-grooveboxxx
https://daziondekmantel.bandcamp.com/album/grooveboxxx

1. Welcome To Grooveboxxx (Ft. MC Paul T)
2. Meet Me At The Mecca
3. Jetlag
4. La DS
5. Eau Membership
6. Marathon (Rap Version)
7. Kimberly & Nance Backstage Rehearsal
8. Secretly Silly
9. Sound Of The Dune Town
10. Asta Grand Closing
11. Exposure
12. Sandokan (U-nite In Peace)
13. The Temple

Welcome to Dazion’s Grooveboxxx – a maxi-sized love letter to The Hague’s 80s and 90s club scene crafted with minimal tools and loaded with vibe. It’s no coincidence it arrives on Dekmantel, a label with its own roots in the same Dutch city’s electronic music culture.

Dazion is The Hague’s Cris Kuhlen, previously spotted releasing on Second Circle, Safe Trip and Animals Dancing. He cut his teeth clubbing and working at long-since closed clubs like Eau, described in Kuhlen’s own words as, “clubs with blocks to dance on, lazers, decorations, crazy extravert [sic] parties.”

In capturing the spirit of Eau and the other formative parties of his youth, Kuhlen limited himself to just one machine to make his longest work to date – the Roland MC-303 Groovebox. While these entry level units from the mid-90s had stripped down functionality in the wider spectrum of studio gear, they contained all the iconic Roland sounds in a Rompler style, giving the user access to everything necessary to make raw, immediate club tracks without requiring an entire studio’s worth of hardware.

The brash gear of choice set the tone for a record of rough, ready and playful jams which end up more sophisticated than you’d expect from such limited means. ‘La DS’ jacks with a freaky, bleep techno intensity, while ‘Kimberly & Nance Backstage Rehearsal’ rides an angular groove tooled to inspire the weirdest dance moves of the night. Every track is named in reference to a particular nightspot, a hazy memory or moment from Kuhlen’s formative raving years.

This is the sound of Dazion having the time of his life. You might well hear a nod to the odd rock totem being given a re-version in irreverent new beat style or some gnarly US acid breaks vibes riding underneath helium rap licks. But for all the cheekiness, the tracks stand up both as nods to halcyon days and relevant workouts for the sweatiest parties in the here and now. As MC Paul T says in dramatic style heralding the intro of Grooveboxxx, “This movement will live on forever.”

DKMNTL093 // Dazion - Grooveboxxx

Marcel Dettmann - Fear Of Programming - Dekmantel - DKMNTL095

https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/marcel-dettmann-fear-of-programming
https://marceldettmann.bandcamp.com/album/fear-of-programming

a1. Coral
a2. Suffice To Predict
a3. Renewal Theory
a4. Transport
b1. Water (Feat. Ryan Elliott)
b2. Pxls
b3. Reverse Dreams
c1. x12
c2. (Batteries Not Included)
c3. Picture 2020
d1. Selective Dissolution
d2. Tone
d3. Fear Of Programming

Nearly 10 years on since his last solo LP, Berlin techno icon Marcel Dettmann arrives on Dekmantel with an expansive album captured in a flash of inspiration.

In many ways Fear Of Programming is a reflection on the artistic process – the critical hurdles one has to overcome, the constant strive for originality, the ability to capture inspiration in its pure moment of inception. Bar the closing title track (and we all know Marcel loves a surprise closing), these 13 tracks came together during a period in which our hirsute host was able to immerse himself in studio practice and set the intention to record an album’s worth of material every single day. From the resulting mass of work there were many options to choose from, and Fear Of Programming stood out as one of the most complete statements on Dettmann’s approach in the here and now.

Unconcerned with an overarching concept, it was the work in the studio which drove the musical direction. No labouring over knotty arrangements, no painstaking mix downs – just honest expression, a moment caught, a groove locked, a stroke of synth sent pirouetting over a cavernous bed of texture. The results are varied, and while you might well hear plenty of bruising machinations in line with the techno Dettmann has made his name on, there are plenty of other shades expressed across the album.

Ambient sojourns, beatless epics and angular electronica have equal footing with strident, floor-friendly workouts. Standout piece ‘Water’ offers an icy ballet of swinging minimal and drip-drop melodics fronted by Ryan Elliott on lesser-spotted vocal duties, urging, ‘give me a sign, just a little something to let me know that you’re mine’. It’s playful, but still underpinned with the sincerity that comes with Dettmann’s work.

Running on instinct, Dettmann presents an honest version of himself in the here and now, speaking through the sonics and not over-thinking the results. His decades of experience helming a thousand techno parties speak for themselves, while his evolution as a musical entity through collaboration and his own BAD MANNERS label demonstrate his appetite for change. Indeed, the working method which resulted in the album also spurred him on to create a live set beyond his well-established DJ practice. Without resorting to a conceited overhaul, Fear Of Programming opens up the idea of what Dettmann represents in the modern techno landscape.

DKMNTL095 // Marcel Dettmann - Fear Of Programming

Tunik - A New Dawn - Dekmantel - DKMNTL096

dekmantel shop: https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/tunik-a-new-dawn
bandcamp: https://tunikmusic.bandcamp.com/album/a-new-dawn

A1. New Dawn Fades
A2. The Aeon
B1. Electro 01
B2. Third Eye Connection
05. MS20 (Digital Only)

Tunik (@tunik303) lands on Dekmantel with his distinctive strain of jacking drum machine electro-techno. The Barcelona-based, Argentina-born artist first emerged in 2020 with a standout EP and collaborative spot for Nicolas Lutz’s My Own Jupiter label before notching up a release with Furthur Electronix, and now his emotionally-charged sound spreads its wings once more.

A New Dawn lands somewhere between original 80s synth-pop, the noirish allure of early 00s electro and sleek modern techno, using a full spectrum of synths to draw out harmonically rich tunes that pack in the feels while holding enough mystery to keep a dancefloor enthralled. From the melancholic chimes of 'New Dawn Fades' to the electro lament of 'The Aeon', 'Electro 01's punchy, bass-warping rave energy to 'Third Eye Connection's acidic introspection, it’s an EP which cements Tunik’s highly developed expression through his array of studio tools, all strapped to finely honed club structures for maximum dancefloor impact.

DKMNTL096 // Tunik - A New Dawn

Nadia Struiwigh - Birds Of Paradise - Dekmantel - DKMNTL092

buy:
https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/nadia-struiwigh-birds-of-paradise
or https://nadiastruiwigh.bandcamp.com/album/birds-of-paradise

a1. Shadow On The Left
a2. Rainbrain
a3. JSF48
b1. hLOw
b2. 02nd
b3. Grown Trancy
c1. Endofthe Tunnel
c2. cmmn cmmn
c3. Dreamsynth204
d1. Parcel 33
d2. Yep, Beavers?
d3. Birds Of Paradise

Celebrating the interconnected strands of head-tripping electronica she holds dear, @NadiaStruiwigh arrives on Dekmantel with her fourth album of widescreen machine soul. Birds Of Paradise joins the dots between electro, techno, ambient and jungle as a reflection of the symbiotic relationship between the contrasting elements which drive all life on earth - the inescapable and chaotic forces of cause and effect. Echoing the free-spirited approach of electronic music in the mid-90s, it’s an album which rejects absolutes in favour of emotionally honest expression, true to Struiwigh’s deeply felt passion for the sounds and styles which defined her own journey into music.

Since first emerging in the wider scene, Struiwigh has ably demonstrated her instinct for different sonic approaches across her accomplished career, whether exploring expansive ambience on album projects or holding down the physical intensity of a residency at Berlin techno temple Tresor. Her 2017 debut album Lenticular on Central Processing Unit most closely resembles the approach on Birds Of Paradise, where introspective beat constructions and nuanced sound design folded into a natural, flowing whole unbound by perceived rules around genre. The narrative flow uses contrasting energies to glide though distinctive spaces, unfolding with the considered pace of a truly immersive listening experience.

From the rich, undulating beatless pastures of ‘JSF48’ to the intricate mechanics of ‘02nd’, the dubby downtempo of ‘cmmn cmmn’ to the crunchy beatdown of ‘Dreamsynth’, the spaces Struiwigh defines on Birds Of Paradise are brilliantly vivid and bound together by an affinity for emotionally-charged ambience. At times the effect is nostalgic, calling to mind the exotic ecosystems of Future Sound Of London or Higher Intelligence Agency, but even these passages are charged with a restless futurism informed by the imagined vistas of science fiction as a comment on the realities of the here and now.

Widely recognised for her expertise in a multitude of production processes (not least her extensive knowledge of outboard gear), Birds Of Paradise pools Struiwigh’s devotion to her craft into an exquisite instant-classic to be savoured and absorbed in the same fashion as so many iconic electronica albums which have come before.

DKMNTL092 // Nadia Struiwigh - Birds Of Paradise

Tunik - Nosferatu - Dekmantel - DKMNTL098

vinyl: https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/tunik-nosferatu
digital: https://tunikmusic.bandcamp.com/album/nosferatu

a1. Nosferatu
a2. Slave
b1. W72
b2. Sorrow

Barcelona’s Tunik follows up on last year’s A New Dawn with a distinct turn to the dark side as he pays tribute to the iconic, vampiric creature of the night, Nosferatu.

The horror theme on the title track is a natural fit with the Argentinian artist’s schlocky strain of EBM-styled electro-techno, but the music is no joke. Boxy drum machine jack and a suite of darkly seductive synth lines strike the perfect note between vintage flair and modernist impact, and the macabre mood lingers over the rest of this trip through gothic club music.

Whether it’s the Twilight Zone creep around the edges of ‘Slave’, acid blood raining down on ‘W72’ or the undead getting busy with the grungy bass and dry snare hits on ‘Sorrow’, Tunik has got exactly what you need to send a shiver down the dance floor’s spine and raise the temperature in the room, all in the same heartbeat.

DKMNTL098 // Tunik - Nosferatu

Sepehr - Genesis Domain - Dekmantel - DKMNTL103

buy via dekmantel: https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/sepehr-genesis-domain
buy via bandcamp: https://sepehr.bandcamp.com/album/genesis-domain

a1. Genesis Domain
a2. Delicate Senses
a3. Twisted Solstice
b1. Planet Lonely
b2. Queen Of Demons

Making his Dekmantel debut with a flourish of symphonic, transcendental techno, Sepehr takes us into a fictional metaphysical zone he calls the Genesis Domain.

Over the past 10 years NYC-based Sepehr Alimagham’s versatile club music practice has taken in techno, D&B, electro, EBM and acid on a suite of scene-leading labels. This new EP builds on the pseudo-spirituality he explored on recent LP Fall From Grace with an exploration of an imagined space “where your reality can be reinvented at any given moment.”

On the A side, the title track sets the pace with a throbbing, sparkling-yet-spooky trip that allows a touch of trance into the mix, while ‘Delicate Senses’ explores snappier broken beat rhythms and edgy atmospherics with a distinctly moody outlook.

The mystical electro shades of ‘Twisted Solstice’ and ‘Planet Lonely’s melancholic 4/4 pastures strike a note between contemplative introspection and anthemic main stage energy. ‘Queen Of Demons’ is the consummate EP closer, leaning on brooding low end and snaking, intricate beats with a healthy dose of shimmering beauty up top.

Consistent with his versatile approach since day one, Sepehr proves any blend of tempos and rhythms can be folded into his vivid, evocative sound world — the results will always draw you in close until his vision becomes yours.

DKMNTL103 // Sepehr - Genesis Domain

Sam Goku - Radiants - Dekmantel - DKMNTL104

vinyl: https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/sam-goku-radiants
digital: https://samgoku.bandcamp.com/album/radiants

a1. Tides (Under The Moonlight)
a2. Tanggu FM
b1. Radiants
b2. Temple Arp

Building on the buzz around his dynamic techno releases of the past few years, Sam Goku @samgoku makes a welcome debut on Dekmantel with four striking set pieces which subvert the rules of the average floor fodder.

Through his steady stream of output on the likes of Atomnation Berlin-based Robin Wang has established himself as a must-check artist with an instinct for the unconventional. That comes through in jaw-dropping fashion on Radiants’ opening cut ‘Tides (Under The Moonlight)’, a swirling, mystical thumper which rises with graceful restraint to a thunderous peak. By way of contrast ‘Tanggu FM’ brings things up close and claustrophobic, using slippery sound design and stuttering vocals to create a different kind of maverick energy on top of the rugged low end. Even when he does reach for anthemic hooks on the EP’s title track, there’s a fundamental otherness to the sparkling chords and a toughness to the beat which edges out the competition.

This is just a snapshot of the versatility at work across Radiants, a record which will cement Goku’s position as a standout producer taking a less obvious path to truly distinctive, devastatingly original showstoppers.

DKMNTL104 // Sam Goku - Radiants

Various Artists - DKMNTL x PATTA 12 - Dekmantel (DKMNTLxPATTA 12)

a1. upsammy - Translucent Edges
a2. RAFF - Disparate Fragments
a3. Darling - Japanter
b1. Zohar - Minor Discomfort
b2. Animistic Beliefs - Save Aru Islands
b3. Ranie Ribeiro - Junee

Digital: dekmantel.bandcamp.com/album/dkmntl-x-patta-12
Vinyl + Merch: https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/dekmantel-x-patta-2020

On November 26th, we are happy to unveil the sixth in our annual series of collaborations with friends and Amsterdam streetwear icons Patta. This year's drop features six items of clothing and a compilation with new music from upcoming Netherlands producers Animistic Beliefs, RAFF, Zohar, upsammy and Ranie Ribeiro & Darling. Vinyl copies are available only with each merchandise item from the collection, and digital copies can be pre-ordered only from Bandcamp.

The focus here is on exciting emerging talents from our home country, and first up is Dekmantel regular and unconventional soundsmith upsammy with the hiccuping rhythms and refracted melodies of 'Translucent Edges.' Clone employee and exciting next gen talent RAFF follows with the drilling bass and funky drums of 'Disparate Fragments', enigmatic Safe Trip associate Darling layers up hyperspeed kicks and soothing melodies on 'Japanter' and Amsterdam's foremost low frequency and heavy bass specialist Zohar brings real menace on 'Minor Discomfort.' Spellbinding Rotterdam live duo Animistic Beliefs weave dark and mangled synths into their industrial-techno offering 'Save Are Islands', while Ranie Ribeiro (fka D. Ribeiro) brings his harp playing skills, soul-driven keys and live percussion to the bright, bristling and broken beats of closer 'Junee.'

@upsammy @animisticbeliefs @zohar01 @raff_ak @ribeirosfate @ddaarrlliinngg

DKMNTL x PATTA 2020: upsammy / Animistic Beliefs / RAFF / Zohar / Ranie Ribeiro / Darling

Frits Wentink & Erik Madigan Heck - Safe Passage - Dekmantel - DKMNTL088

https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/safe-passage

a1. Movement 1
b1. Movement 2
b2. Movement 3

Including digital remixes by 

Matthew Herbert, The Soft Pink Truth, BvDub, East of Oceans and Frits Wentink himself.

Amsterdam, January 2021

It is often said that the best art comes out of adversity, and so it is that producer Frits Wentink, photographer Erik Madigan Heck and actress Tilda Swinton have collaborated on Safe Passage, a fascinating audio-visual project born out of loss. Consisting of classical,choral, and electronic music in three movements, the gatefold album will be presented by Dekmantel with a 40 page booklet of additional photographs and paintings, as well as digital only remixes from Matthew Herbert, The Soft Pink Truth, BvDub, and East of Oceans.

Dutch producer and renowned innovator Frits Wentink helms the Will & Ink and Bobby Donny labels, builds synthesizers and beautiful controllers, and puts out always experimental, left of centre house music that pushes at the boundaries. This project initially started out as him attempting to musically illustrate the photography of American visual artist Erik Madigan Heck. The internationally renowned Heck is known for a lavish and experimental use of colour that has won him the prestigious International Center of Photography’s Infinity Award as well as make him a regular contributor to high profile media such as The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, and Harper’s Bazaar.

Midway through the project, Eriks mother was hospitalised due to breast cancer complications before also contracting Covid-19. By her bedsides and as a means to ease her passage, he repetitively played the first portion of the score, and then, once she passed, he decided to commemorate the music's function as a soundtrack for her transition to afterlife by naming it Safe Passage. The involvement of Academy Award–winning Scottish actress Tilda Swinton has lent the music an extra dimension of spirituality: throughout the album, she interjects whispered fragments of Heck’s poetry, blurring the lines between one phase of music and the next.

The music has three movements across two sides: Side A, Safe, has a sense of hope and reflection as it undulates from minimalist string and brass arrangements to ambient and dissonant classical piano. Side B, Passage, then depicts the start of the transition into the afterlife as the voices of a choral madrigal ensemble gradually diverge, then break down entirely before a grand tonal expansion leads into a frenzied crescendo of choral vocals, hardened dub techno and anxious rhythms that convey the violence of the soul’s exit from this world. Finally, a cathartic Epilogue resets and bids farewell with the gentle sounds of a piano.

Because of the global on-going loss of life as a result of Covid-19, Safe Passage has become a soundtrack in which many people will find solace as they remember the sad transitions made from this life to the next during this unprecedented time in history.

DKMNTL088 // Frits Wentink & Erik Madigan Heck - Safe Passage

Various Artists - Profondo Nero - Dekmantel - DKMNTL084

https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/va-profondo-nero

a1. Louise Freeman - Mirage
a2. Mark - Dreamland
b1. Loukas Thanos - Jazzburger
b2. Galvanica - Nightlights In Japan
b3. Santoro - Lover Message
c1. Jet Set - Love Break
c2. Silvia Dheve - Night Ranger
c3. Isamar & Compañia - No Estas
d1. Robert Sandrini - Occhi Su Di Me
d2. Tom Hooker - Talk With Your Body (Instrumental)
d3. I.M.S. - An English '93

Profondo Nero compiled by Cinema Royale

Profondo Nero narrates a storyline that goes beyond the borders of Italy’s musical legacy. Cutting across the face of Italo disco’s leftfield musicians between the early and late ‘80s, Profondo Nero champions a multi-faceted sound that nods to the blueprint of Italo disco but tries to dig deeper. The music is unmistakably Italo disco but moves away from the familiar classic sound. Amsterdam based collector Cinema Royale stitches together eleven tracks from 1983 – 1989, celebrating a sound he fittingly describes as ‘leftfield Italo’.

The compilation connects the dots between soulful disco (Louise Freeman – Mirage), synth-pop (Mark – Dreamland), electro-rap (Loukas Thanos – Jazzburger), breaks (Santoro – Lover Message), 80s dub disco (Jet Set – Love Break), Balearic (Isamar & Compañia ‎- No Estas), boogie (Tom Hooker – Talk With Your Body) and proto-house (International Music System - An English ’93).

Profondo Nero’s title salutes the legendary oeuvre of Italian horror director Dario Argento. His Profondo Rosso (1975) is a classic example of exquisite cinematic storytelling, boasting courageous colors, expressionist camera angles and an unforgettable Goblin score forming the ingredients for an intriguing piece of art. Profondo Rosso’s music, created the spark for a new Dekmantel Records endeavor led by Amsterdam based experimental film score connoisseur, record collector and DJ Cinema Royale.

For those in the know of underground Amsterdam music culture, Arne Visser aka Cinema Royale is among the city’s longest standing record collectors. Born to an Italian mother and Dutch father, Arne was brought up on a diet of Italo disco in the 80s. Cinema Royale explains: ‘For Profondo Rosso I took a plunge into the lesser known fringes of Italo disco. From there I tried to connect, among others, San Francisco boogie, Balearic, Japanese late era Italo-electro and synth-pop funk. I hope you can hear what I had in mind: an infectious showcase of my take on traditional Italo disco that will hopefully get a lot of listeners itching for a spin. It’s fair to say that lately this particular sound has seen a reappraisal and renewed interest.

As a party-starting collection for entry-level connoisseurs or suave but lazy types, I hope Profondo Nero can be an education. I’m not claiming I’m the first DJ or collector to do so, but I did try do present something special by digging deep.’ It wasn’t my goal to unearth the most obscure tracks, instead I wanted to compose a compilation that takes you on a journey.
‘In my opinion the best DJs create something extraordinary out of illogical selections by combining music against all odds and showing different kind of moods along the way. There’s a certain amount of arrogance involved: you take the music out of its original context. But by doing so in a very conscious way, you might be able to enhance the power of the individual records. Hopefully each song on Profondo Nero provides an intimate and memorable experience.’

DKMNTL084 // VA - Profondo Nero

upsammy - Bend - Dekmantel - DKMNTL087

a1. Flutter
a2. Spat
b1. Worm
b2. Metallic

vinyl & merch: https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/upsammy-bend
digital: https://upsammy.bandcamp.com/album/bend

Following 2020’s debut album ‘Zoom’, upsammy returns to Dekmantel with a dualistic four-tracker called 'Bend', incorporating familiar sonic palettes and novel paths carved out in times of isolation.

Where Zoom channelled upsammy’s conceptual depth, Bend leans into artistic intuition, juxtaposing the floral and martial, propelling along her signature sound of textured electronica. Lilac chimes rise and fall along the melodic Flutter and Metallic, while the sinister creeps from Spat and Worm’s spacious cracks. All in all, Bend discloses upsammy’s versatility yet again, ever-shifting as the ambiguous modernity she continues to wander - an artist able to shift through the complexity of modernity with rare grace.

DKMNTL087 // upsammy - Bend

Digital remixes coming with the vinyl.

Safe Passage (Matthew Herbert’s “Withers” Dub)
Safe Passage (The Soft Pink Truth's “The Weight of Pleasure” mix)
Safe Passage (BvDub’s 'Breathless Haunts - Crush of Air’ mix)
Safe Passage (East of Oceans’ “Delusion of Safety” mix)
Safe Passage (Frits Wentink 'Garden' Mix)

More info & Vinyl: https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/safe-passage
Digital: https://fritswentinkerikmadiganheck.bandcamp.com/album/safe-passage

DKMNTL088 // Frits Wentink & Erik Madigan Heck - Safe Passage Remixes

Amsterdam based DJs, events company and record label. - support@dekmantel.com for all your webshop and label enquiries.