Recording of Elena Colombi & Lena Willikens' set at the UFO II stage during Dekmantel Festival 2025.

Elena Colombi & Lena Willikens at UFO II - Dekmantel Festival 2025

The first half of my set recorded this October at NAR in Utrecht for the 3 Year anniversary of @whereisanook . A window into where my DJ'ing has been at over the 18 months. Thanks to the crew for having me, I enjoyed this set a lot. 

Parris - Whereisanook 3Y Anniversary at NAR, Utrecht Oct 2024

ābnamā, based in Berlin via Tehran, has established herself as an integral part of the city's queer nightlife. She is a resident at the beloved queer powerhouse Body Language and has built a loyal following playing in various European and Asian cities. An obsessive digger, she is heavily influenced by the obscure and the romantic, rediscovering lost lineages and weaving together buried and unspoken fantasies from the legacy of the past three decades of dance music and beyond, be it through American midwest oddities or UK and European post-punk tinged trance and acid which she sifts through with a keen ear for the highest camp.

052 -  ĀBNAMĀ

The 17th Virtual Utopia update has been created by Mexico-based sonic scientist Gerhard (@esenciamx) - A DJ  who’s sound has been immersed in a positive floating ambience that has always been a great inspiration to us here at the Dream Software corporation. Also known for being the head engineer of the Escensia blog and mix series- a constant emission of quality sine-wave based content with a trademark euphoric infusion.

A two-hour audible offering illustrating scenes of a utopian future. An existence imbued with hope and optimism where cooling airs and a warming sun remind us of the balance needed to exist in harmony here. Comforting pads and ethereal softness drift amongst the various genres and tempos that really make this mix a beautiful sonic landscape. We hope you enjoy it.

Many thanks Gerhard for contributing to the mix series <3

🐬💙💿

© Dream Software, Corp. (2025)

Virtual Utopia 17: Gerhard

The essence of psychedelia is disrupting expectations and altering perspectives - what better place to do so than in the vortex of the rave? 

It was an incredible honor to be a part of the inaugural edition of System Activate. The entire weekender campout rave was an exercise in intentionality, a generous labor of love with visionary execution. Anchored by a single stage with a pristine sound system, brought to life by a seasoned, die-hard-DIY team, and animated with an incredibly unpretentious, open-minded, and imaginative crowd of ravers, System Active was truly a novel, eye-opening adventure that struck real sparks of psychedelic inspiration. 

I believe this is one of the finest sets that I have played to date. Completely at ease in the booth, I played fervently and completely from the heart. This is a totally honest and unrestrained rendition of my creative screwball sensibilities as a DJ, conjuring a propulsive rhythmic tunnel and peeling away into moments of whiplash slack-jawed surprises. Rooted in wormhole-traversing techno but stretching well into psychedelic sludge, shameless sentimentality, poignant lessons, heaving bass-weight, and references to formative personally-precious material, this is a completely earnest translation of my psyche that also incorporates the work of friends and peers. 

It was a deep joy to be in the company of so many brilliant and clever dancefloor scramblers and dear friends as I landed us in dawn's first light. I am deeply grateful for this experience, and excited to share this transmission from the vortex.

TRACKLIST
[artist - track title]

ENTRANCE - Winterlude
Ryuichi Sakamoto - fullmoon
Rose Monica - Be Your Better Self
Plead Slyngshot Neewt - Studio Pressure
Forest on Stasys - Torre De Alquimia
Brnches - Weird Bells
Callum Plant - Nothing More
Marteka Fair - Lucid Thinking
Ω - 99HMI
Perc & Passarella Death Squad - Temperature’s Rising (2025 mix)
Âsan - Reason
Jonas Kopp - Ocher System #1
Max Cantrell - Temporal Shave (Hpin Remix)
Verschwender - Anxiety, Always Haunting Me
Allana Letm - Tempos Múltiplos (Centrific Dump A Puddle In My Hand Remix)
Vertical Spectrum - Oko bez sowy
ANFS - Gesha
Orbe - Jaxa
Goyle - Notice
Blawan - Slow Mick
Zagc - SwampWorld dance dance 500
Concept of Thrill - Cert
LaWhat - Trippy Widow
Kalocain - OBE
Simic - Valley
Joshua James - Coarse (Justin Cudmore Remix)
Richard Holhburn - Better Not Look Too Close
Torvvo - Relay
Astral Renegades - Pluto FM
Switch & Erol Allan - A Sydney Jook (Bok Bok Remix)
The Books - I Am Who I Am
Answer Friend Request - Behringerbandpass (V2)
Erol Alkan - Spectrum (Special Request Kaleidoscopic Mix)
Simic - Orbetello
U - Ascension Hymn
A Strange Wedding - Les Ké de la Daurade
Strapontin & Zillas On Acid - What Worse?
Sextile - 99 Bongos
Slowglide - Solstice (Stonehenge mix)
Arthur Johnson - On The Request Line
Radart - Welcome
Dido - Here With Me
Bruno Sanchez & The Next - Born Hip
Hysterical Love Project - Psychic Nausea
Sideral Tapes - Sideral Tapes #4B
James Begley - Distance
Now Always Fades - Into The Doldrums
APRS - I Was Still Awake
Mint Julep - Aviary
Miles J Paralysis - Still Waiting
Deep Dark Blue - Reincarnation (Otodojo Remix)
DJ Frog and SnP 500 - Cali
Yeyo - feel it
Chelsea Wolfe - Dusk

Furtive live at System Activate 2025

The phase shift from No Way Back’s nocturne rave acrobatics to Lot Mass’ sunkissed daytime salon is always a sight to behold: an eclectic mixture of smoked out ravers emerging from the depths of Tangent Gallery, freshly showered music heads taking in the Memorial Day sun, & multi-generational dancers defying category or definition, the day feels infinite, & the musical possibilities especially so, bookending the weekend’s mayhem. This year, Johnny Zoloft and Kiernan Laveaux took the post-Scott Z morning baton pass into further realms of house music in the beyond, equipped with nothing but two turntables, Alpha Theta Club Standard DJ Gear, & a surprise special guest: Baltimore saxophonist (and Johnny Zoloft’s brother) Shane Kelly, blowing raucous textures over abyssal blends under the midday sun, as they beckoned dancers towards their final day of Detroit Electronic Music Celebrations. 

Reinvigorating the floor & painting with bold brushstrokes on a kinetic eisel, Laveaux’s xenofeminist inclinations and the duo’s expert dubwise FX manipulation enticed the crowd and provided succulent ear candy throughout the set. Further entrancing dancers into endless movement after No Way Back’s 12 hour marathon in the mind palace, they brought forth a unique vision of so-called Midwest dance music - conjuring soundscapes as informed by the expanses of Detroit’s storied history & multi-lane highways as it is by the DMV’s intersection of funk stylistics, punk attitude, & Sing Sing breakbeats, the expansive mountain ranges & hidden wonders of Appalachia, & northeast Ohio’s irreverent sonic dialectics birthed from the backdrop of industry & decay. All of these combine to form something greater than the sum of it’s parts - an audio cauldron of what makes the midwest so rife with electrified mojo, brought to you by simply another bold presentation of groove, energy, & harmonious cacophony on a special Memorial day afternoon.

Mastered By: @m-parent
Mix Graphic By: @malzof

Recorded Live at Lot Mass 2025 (During Return to the Source 25 @ Tangent Gallery)

Sweet Abyss

MASS CAST 035: Johnny Zoloft B2B Kiernan Laveaux @ Lot Mass

Igbo Amapiano Blend (Club) is straight dancefloor energy — heavyweight Amapiano log drums, shaker groove, and piano stabs fused with Igbo-flavored melodies and Oja (traditional Igbo flute) accents. Lagos attitude with South African bounce.

This one is built for DJ rotation, house party speakers, convoy rides, lounges, and late-night club sets. It’s smooth, percussive, and hooky enough to loop in a dance challenge or a nightlife recap.

Add it to your Afrobeats / Amapiano / Ojapiano playlist, repost, and drop your city + flag in the comments. If it’s your vibe, share the smartlink with a friend and tag your clips so we can see you move to it.

For DJs / curators / dancers
Credit: “Prince Oye 2.0 – Igbo Amapiano Blend (Club) (Official Audio)”

#IgboAmapiano #PrinceOye2_0 #Amapiano2025 #Afrobeats2025 #Ojapiano #LogDrum #LagosVibes #ClubMix #PartyStarter #DancefloorEnergy #LateNightVibes #OfficialAudio

Igbo Amapiano Blend (Club)

Coming Back to Life

Salat Alles w/ Parisienne & Vinz Sosa (20/10/25)

LUXE at Dekmantel Selectors 2025

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