Selectors Podcast Series

Each year, we ask a few artists from the Dekmantel Selectors line-up to deliver a mix in anticipation of the new edition. Who could be a better fit than DJ Python to re-initiate this tradition?

Even before Dulce Compañia, which introduced the Python alias to the world, Brian Piñeyro has been providing a wide array of unique sounds to those who care to listen. To be fair, he makes it hard not to care, and also to describe his ambling, dembow-inspired rhythms as something other than ‘deep reggaeton’. But if Piñeyro has taught us one thing, it is that music is just moods flowing into one another. Sometimes, the mood is a percussive therapy session, and sometimes it warps drone-driven electronica, tingly synths, and steely dancehall.

It is unsurprising that this mix is all about the mood too. A 60-minute journey across genuinely emotive songs and honeyed hymns. In his words, it’s just about “enjoying the time with people around you, whatever shape the people or the time may take”. When listening to this mix, keep in mind DJ Python’s approach to making soup: you can only really do it well if you allow yourself to move beyond the recipe. The only thing left to do is let go and get locked in.

Selectors Podcast 028 - DJ Python

This instalment of our annual Selectors Podcasts series comes from Mika Oki, who is probably best described as a sensory artist. Heavily influenced by a background in sculpture and electro-acoustic music, her work frequently revolves around weaving together sound and vision – simultaneously creating and exploring intangible spaces, be it in installations, performance pieces, music, or mixes. And when it comes to the latter, Mika Oki has proven, time and time again, that an amalgamation of grime, reggaeton and dancehall might just be an essential component of a well-crafted, esoteric soundscape.

What you’ll hear in this industrial and organic mix partly derives from Mika Oki’s friends, producers and residents at LYL radio, as it happens that she recently opened the third, Brussels-based branch of the Belgian webradio together with a collection of dedicated musicians. Combined with sounds reminiscent of “broken machinery” and a “glitched, collapsing world”, we are left with a celestial selection that converges across the realm of sonic experimentation and - somewhat otherworldly - club rhythms. One thing is for certain: this mix will leave you wondering what you were doing before you started tuning in, once it’s over.

Tracklist

Selectors Podcast 029 - Mika Oki

Each year, we ask a few artists from our Dekmantel Selectors line-up to deliver a mix in anticipation of the new edition. First up in this year’s series is Garage Noord resident and LYL radio show host @merelrhizoom. As a proper connoisseur of modular synth tracks and avant-garde compositions, merel rhizoom tends to navigate the musical stratosphere between what one could refer to as “weird psybient”, hypnotic jungle, trance downtempo or industrial breaks with implausible ease in her selections.

The mix at hand makes a good case for doing what feels right: merel rhizoom told us that she “initially was very tempted to make a more dance-oriented mix”, but then decided to go into a different direction: “focussing on (modular) synthesis of veterans such as Max Loderbauer, Robert Aiki Low, Andreas Tilliander and Driftmachine, while on the other hand including more avant-garde compositions by Jon Hassell, Oren Ambarchi, Upperground Orchestra and others”. What already sounds good on paper, has turned out to be a mesmerizing and thoroughly mind-altering listening session – enjoy it with your eyes closed and mind open.

Selectors Podcast

Selectors Podcast 030 - merel rhizoom

For this instalment of our Dekmantel Selectors podcast, we welcome Amsterdam-based Nèna (@castro-nena). Her song selections range from reggaeton and bass-heavy beats to dancehall and dreamy pop. When Nèna enters the booth, an emotional genuineness and an open atmosphere will connect the audience.

Defined by its day to night feeling, this mix continues to enter your ears with beams of sunlight and fast-paced emotions revolving around 'break-up season'. "This mix is created to break away from anger and sadness, dancing forward towards a new season," Nèna explains. "A higher pace than my usual mix, characterizes this podcast. It is created to trigger emotions." Moving your body and processing all kinds of feelings is facilitated by this sincere Dekmantel Selectors 2022 artist.

Selectors Podcast 031 - Nèna

After starting the mini Dekmantel Selectors podcast series last year, we couldn’t resist continuing it with artists from this year’s line-up. In the next couple of months, we will release 5 podcasts by some of our favourite artists. This year’s podcast theme is all about ‘another side of me’, wherein the artists show another side of theirselves.

First up is Dutch local A Good Christian, who’s been in the business of music for over 25 years now. Over the years, this music head has had a go at almost every position within the industry imaginable, except – perhaps – manning the mailroom. In doing so, he has mostly chosen a position outside the limelight. Nowadays, A Good Christian has a bit more time on his hands and spends his spare time frolicking amongst the fruits of a quarter-century spent digging for records, occasionally playing those slabs of black gold to people other than his closest disciples as well as cutting up and rearranging some of these for his own pleasure.

This first Dekmantel Selectors podcast of this year is recorded right after his performance at Dekmantel Selectors in 2016. “I’ve probably had more DJ aliases than DJ gigs in the last years with Dekmantel Selectors being a rare exception. For this gig, I packed as many sunshine and sand (ok: ‘balearic’) records a Rimowa could hold. I ended up playing a back-to-back with Tako, which was fun, but I only got to play a few records. That’s why I made this mix of all records I brought upon my return home. Free cocktails to those who listen through all 3 hours and 32 minutes of it.”

Selectors Podcast 011 - A Good Christian

After starting the mini Dekmantel Selectors podcast series last year, we couldn’t resist continuing it with artists from this year’s line-up. In the next couple of months, we will release 5 podcasts by some of our favourite artists. This year’s podcast theme is all about ‘another side of me’, wherein the artists show another side of theirselves.

Following up A Good Christian’s stunning podcast from two weeks ago is DJ Okapi (Dave Durbach). The South-African DJ and selector is known for running his Afrosynth-blog and playing fantastic collection of African flavored music all over the world. His performance at Dekmantel Selectors in August marks his debut on Dekmantel-grounds, so we are honoured to have an amazing warm-up with his contribution to our series.

With his Selectors Podcast for us, Dave shows another side of himself by playing none African tracks only. "These days I can get away with playing only South African music, but I used to be focused more on American music. Here’s a selection of tracks that complement the Afrosynth sound but are all from outside Africa, from remote and exotic corners of the world like the USA and UK, by artists like Aurra, Ashford & Simpson, Marcus Miller, Bernard Wright, Alphonse Mouzon, Rock Steady Crew and The Rose Brothers. Hope you enjoy it.”

Selectors Podcast 012 - DJ Okapi

After starting the mini Dekmantel Selectors podcast series last year, we couldn’t resist continuing it with artists from this year's line-up. In the next couple of months, we will release 5 podcasts by some of our favourite artists. This year’s podcast theme is all about 'another side of me', wherein the artists show another side of theirselves.

Next up is Rotterdam legend David Vunk. His motto? 'Life is live'. His records? Somewhere in between electronics, disco, techno and italo, as long as it has the 'vunk'. His labels? Moustache Records and Moustache Techno, featuring Gesloten Cirkel, Mr. Pauli, Fred Ventura and many other underground stalwarts. 

His mix for us shows another side of him, wherein he plays the records that he mostly doesn't play for big crowds. "I'm a straight-up tough Rotterdam based DJ, but I can be a sweatheart as well. In clubs, I mostly play eclectic stuff but this mix - which is recorded live at home - shows another side of me. It’s the stuff I play at home and is even more eclectic than you’re probably used to hear from me. Live free style mixing, recorded in one take.”

Selectors Podcast 013 - David Vunk

After starting the mini Dekmantel Selectors podcast series last year, we couldn’t resist continuing it with artists from this year's line-up. In the next couple of months, we will release 5 podcasts by some of our favourite artists. This year’s podcast theme is all about 'another side of me', wherein the artists show another side of theirselves.

That being said, we're happy to have Italian top-notch artist Marco Passarani contributing to this series. Passarani rightfully is one of the most revered figures in Italian dance music. Producing, DJing, promoting, running labels, and doing just about everything else one can in the electronic music sphere since the early '90s (not to mention, serving as one-half of the always classy Tiger & Woods duo), Passarani approaches his DJ-sets with the kind of grace and confidence that only someone that's been doing it for this long and this well can.

For us, he tried to reflect another side of himself in his own and unique way. A mix that contains of outstanding tracks such as DAF's 'El Que' and Kate Bush's 'Cloudbusting'. "I've always struggled when I tried to put together a selection of the music I listen to at home, or anywhere outside of the way I'd do it in a club. This time, I tried to represent that invisible line I see and hear in between my euro electro/wave pop background and some other more sophisticated songs I grew up with (and still is a part of my private listening sessions). All linked to a couple of excursions in the chiptunes area, Italian music and more classic contemporary electronica. This is another side of me somehow, or one of the other sides."

Selectors Podcast 014 - Marco Passarani

After starting the mini Dekmantel Selectors podcast series last year, we couldn’t resist continuing it with artists from this year's line-up. In the next couple of months, we will release 5 podcasts by some of our favourite artists. This year’s podcast theme is all about 'another side of me', wherein the artists show another side of theirselves.

Next on is Izabel Caligiore, who runs the impeccable Lullabies For Insomniacs record label and blog. LFI emerged as a radio show on Melbourne’s 106. 7 PBS FM but has found a new home on Red Light Radio after she relocated to Amsterdam. Both the imprint and the online portal show her deep love for unearthed electronics, modern classical gems and ambient music. 

For the 15th mix on these series, Izabel took some time to prepare a mix where she shows another side of herself. "This mix is about intensity and challenges. I recorded it in the confinements of my living room and I enjoyed every minute, although I'm not sure my neighbours did. Playing with and around the beat."

Selectors Podcast 015 - Izabel

After starting the mini Dekmantel Selectors podcast series last year, we couldn’t resist continuing it with artists from this year's line-up. In the next couple of months, we will release 5 podcasts by some of our favourite artists. This year’s podcast theme is all about 'another side of me', wherein the artists show another side of theirselves.

Last but not least in this year’s Selectors podcast series is longtime Berghain resident Marcel Dettmann, who has brought his penchant for dark, stripped-down and raw techno to many Dekmantel events over the years. With a steady, masterful touch behind the decks, Dettmannn never fails to whip us and the dancefloor into a frenzy, which is exactly why we keep tapping his talents again and again. Though, this year
Dettmann takes another road at dives deep in his pre-techno period with the brand new Selectors compilation(including tracks from Cabaret Voltaire, Martin Dupont, Twice A Man and Fad Gadget)an opening set at Dekmantel Festival and a performance at Dekmantel Selectors in Croatia.

Just as with his Selectors compilation, Dettmann shows another side of himself with this mix. “My Selectors compilation is a labor of love: a collection of songs that have not only long been out of print or never released on wax, but which also served as my artistic foundation – as well as for Techno at large. The Selectors podcast on the other hand has a similar vibe but an entirely different intent. I think of it as an addition to the compilation, with music not included on the actual release. But more than that, it flows like an updated mixtape or a collection of music that I'd record for people I’m close to. The podcast is continuous listening, a fitting soundtrack for a night drive or for work. Importantly, it's music that influenced me when I was a teenager – and beyond. In other words, it's a personal affair.”

Selectors Podcast 016 - Marcel Dettmann

After starting the mini Dekmantel Selectors podcast series two years ago, it feels like a tradition to bring this back to life again in anticipation of the third edition in August. In the next couple of months, we will release 6 podcasts by some of the exciting artists from the line-up. This year’s podcasts challenges the artists to work around a theme or idea they picked theirselves. First up: French/Belgian selector Raphaël Top-Secret.

Raphaël Top-Secret is known for his notorious digging skills, which he prefers to put in practice at the best Parisian record stores or unknown flee markets. In his earlier days, he used to dj frequently with Antinote label boss Zaltan, touching on everything in between balearic, boogie, reggae, world music, disco and house. As a producer, Raphaël’s work is remarkable too — his ‘Love So High’ EP dropped in 2016 on the same label and three dance floor gems we still can’t get enough of. It should come as no surprise that we’re more than happy to have Raphaël joining us not only for Dekmantel Selectors, but also for Lente Kabinet later in May.

For us, he put together a special mix that covers and touches on many genres. Raphaël on is own podcast for us: "This mix going from 90s hip-hop and R&B to downtempo, house and tropical dance. Overall, it's stuff that I recently found out about and that I really wanted to incorporate in a mix. Beside that, it includes long time favorites as well. I only had two days to do the mix, so the approach was more spontaneous - it was quite fun to do as I was less prepared and just went with the flow. Hope you'll like the vibe and see you in Tisno!".

Selectors Podcast 017 - Raphaël Top-Secret

After starting the mini Dekmantel Selectors podcast series two years ago, it feels like a tradition to bring it back to life. In the next couple of months, we will release 6 podcasts by some of the exciting artists from the line-up. This year’s podcasts challenges the artists to work around a theme or idea they picked theirselves. Next up: Dekmantel label member Tom Trago.

Trago can be seen as one of the main key players of Amsterdam's nightlife. Having grown up in a musical family, he picked up on his love for music really fast and has been making music from the age of 15 ever since. A collaboration with Aardvarck and Awanto3, a debut single on Rush Hour and many DJ-sets worldwide followed, which made Trago the acclaimed musician he is today. Earlier this month we had the honour to release Trago’s newest LP 'Bergen', which was made in the same-titled village in The Netherlands and sees him putting out music through a new live set-up.

In anticipation of Dekmantel Selectors, Trago cooked up a special mix for us containing lots of disco and summer-vibes. "This mix is dedicated to those late summer nights and early mornings. Mostly tracks that i play when i feel that there is freedom and acceptance among the crowd. A lot of home listenings jams And easy groovers. Sit back And relax!".

Selectors Podcast 018 - Tom Trago

After starting the mini Dekmantel Selectors podcast series two years ago, it feels like a tradition to bring it back to life. In the next couple of months, we will release 6 podcasts by some of the exciting artists from the line-up. This year’s podcasts challenges the artists to work around a theme or idea they picked theirselves. Next up: the talented duo from home grounds, Strange Boutique.

Strange Boutique a.k.a. Femke Dekker and Nicole Martens have two important things in common: their love for art and music. Whilst Dekker works as an art curator at De School, Martens is a visual artists and every now and then teaches design at the well-known institute Willem de Kooning over the past years. The kindred spirits they proved to be excellent curators: not only when it comes to art, but also behind the decks, playing everything in between ambient, experimental music and more crazy exciting stuff. That being said, inviting them over for their debut at Dekmantel Selectors sounded like the ultimate match.

In anticipation of that, the duo served up a mix full of tracks from outstanding artists like Beatrice Dillon, I:Cube, Green Vision, Cos/Mes and De Leon. Danclefloor gems meet experimental vibes. Strange Boutique: "Usually when we’re asked to create a mixtape, there's this one song that becomes the core of the mix and the way it's build up.  In this case it was 'Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest’ by The Fireman. Most of you will know that The Fireman is the moniker of English producer Youth aka Martin Glover of Killing Joke and the Orb fame and Paul McCartney. Both of us are huge McCartney fans and both his solo work, as well as The Wings and of course The Beatles has found a way into our various projects." Get to know the duo at its best.

Selectors Podcast 

Selectors Podcast 019 - Strange Boutique

After starting the mini Dekmantel Selectors podcast series two years ago, it feels like a tradition to bring it back to life. In the next couple of months, we will release 6 podcasts by some of the exciting artists from the line-up. This year’s podcasts challenges the artists to work around a theme or idea they picked theirselves. After Strange Boutique, it's Lena Willikens turn, who just released her brand new Selectors Compilation on Dekmantel Records as well.

It's safe to say that Willikens is one of the most delightfully unpredictable selectors we know. An affiliate of the exuberant Cómeme camp as well as Dusseldorf's renowned Salon des Amateurs establishment, Willikens' sets are built around her unceasingly eclectic tastes and ongoing infatuation with unusual sounds, making her primed again to move the Selectors dancefloor with the best bits of audio she's been able to dig up from the more twisted caverns of electronic music.

In anticipation of that, she put together a stunning mix which include heavy hitters from artists like Meat Beat Manifesto to Metamorphosis, towLie, Single Cell Orchestra and many, many more fantastic artists. Lena on her contribution: "I recorded this mix while moving from place to place in Amsterdam, trying to settle down. Huge thanks to De School which gave me access to their basement when I was trying to find a place to record."

Selectors Podcast 020 - Lena Willikens

The Dekmantel Selectors podcast series became tradition. Each year, we ask 6 artists from the line-up to deliver a mix in anticipation of the new edition. This time we kick-off with Palo Santo and Coco Maria. 

Respected diggers in their own right, when Palo Santo and Coco Maria combine forces, what results is an essential lesson in the spectrum of sounds that originate from countries closer to the equator. Specializing in Brazilian, South-, Central-American, and Caribbean wax, the pair are supremely skilled in weaving together bright and inviting slices of bossa nova, samba, cumbia, and all sorts of rarities from sunnier, far-off places.

Palo Santo & Coco Maria on their mix: "We’ve found these songs on recent trips to Mexico and Brazil, and we like to share this musical journey with you all at Dekmantel Selectors in Tisno."

Selectors Podcast 021 - Palo Santo & Coco Maria

The Dekmantel Selectors podcast series became tradition. Each year, we ask 6 artists from the line-up to deliver a mix in anticipation of the new edition. After Palo Santo & Coco Maria's stunning mix, it's time for Sacha Mambo to take care of the next podcast.

Sacha Mambo stays busy heading up the Macadam Mambo label (perhaps best known for their nice run of edits) and occasionally producing under the alias MZKBX. The Lyon resident has also put in plenty of time as DJ as well, having served as the resident of his hometown club Le Sucre for a handful of years where he developed his taste for piecing together disparate sounds sources, often utilizing bits of cosmic Afro, dub, new beat, early rave, post-punk, and all sorts of weird electronics in the course of his infectiously oddball sets.

That being said, we're happy to have Lyon's Sacha Mambo continuing our globe-traversing Selectors podcast series, bringing an alt history of French music to your door. Minimalist wave, proto-electronic gurgles and a typically laissez-faire attitude abound. Bon voyage! 🇫🇷

Selectors Podcast 022 - Sacha Mambo

Dea Barandana is an artist we are thrilled to see make the step from his local scene towards the international circuit. Originally from Jakarta, where he started out mixing records for a local breakdance crew, he was eventually throwing warehouse parties before ending up one island further, on Bali, where he’s a familiar face at Potato Head Beach Club and Studio Eksotika.

This mix he did for us lays out his talent for weaving together unfound rarities from then and now, connecting dots between different musical tropes of the Asian diaspora. The result is a meandering journey across forgotten recordstores and dusty crates, reminiscent of island life and the smell of kretek, to modern club music and back. 

Starting off like a warm breeze, the mix quickly gears up to grooving disco and bright Asian synthpop. Further down the 100-minute trip, the journey spirals from its effervescent moods down into darker, more spiritual affairs, with compelling percussion and sturdier basslines — just before locking down with laidback, dreamlike endnote to seal it off.

Dekmantel Selectors Podcast

Selectors Podcast 023 - Dea Barandana

Lisbon’s Inés Coutinho aka Violet is one of the main faces of Lisbon’s blossoming underground music scene, co-running a queer event series called mina and local internet radio station Rádio Quântica. After starting out as a DJ in shops, pubs and hotels — a time she values greatly —, she briefly lived in London for a while, and around the time she returned to Lisbon her career took off.

Not in the slightest due to her impeccable label Naive, which has been turning heads for its boundless approach and string of strong releases by often upcoming and mostly female artists like Octo Octa, Almaty, Ilana Bryne and Eris Drew, and on which she also released her own ‘Togetherness’ EP. Her mixing approach is a captivating concoction of breakbeat, bass, techno and basically everything else — not eschewing an occasional Cardi B or RnB from the 00’s weaved into her sets.

This Selectors Podcast reflects her engagement with her local scene and its upcoming artists: “This mix is like being surrounded by friends and inspirations from my local scene. Most of its tracks are quite recent and made by young artists whose relentlessly imaginative output has been capturing my imagination”, like BLEID, Stasya and Odete, as well as more established artists from her scene like Photonz and Príncipe’s Marfox. The result is a 70-minute rollercoaster of drums, rhythms and surprises, full of different sounds and influences. According to Coutinho herself, that’s “what [she] feels makes it special, rather than having a specific geographically-pinnable sound.”

Selectors Podcast 024 - Violet

Deeply embedded in Amsterdam’s local music scene, Radical Hi-Fi has been representing the legacy of dub, reggae, rub-a-dub and dancehall in the Dutch capital and beyond. Coming from different backgrounds, General K is Red Light Radio’s Lorenzo Milelli and Ketama Man is booker, MC and the Mo from Mo Manager, the duo has been pushing their sound through countless radio shows and gigs since the early 2000s. Their mission is to bring reggae, dub and dancehall to the public without discrimination and show reggae’s influence on the worldwide music scene.

Previously, the duo played an excellent set at last year’s Lente Kabinet Festival, and this year we’re bringing them over to the Adriatic Coast for a dub-laden set at Selectors 2019 — in anticipation of which they recorded a fresh Selectors Podcast. According to the duo themselves, this mix sees Radical Hi-Fi “moving into the depths for this crucial selection of deep roots reggae cuts featuring a heavy dose of spiritual Rastafarian Nyabinghi drumming. The African heartbeat drum, the foundation of all rhythm. Forward!”

Dekmantel Selectord Podcast

Selectors Podcast 025 - Radical Hi-Fi

First up in this year’s series of Selectors Podcasts one of the rising frontrunners of experimental club sounds, Silvia Kastel. Born in Southern Italy, now based in London after spending time in New York and Berlin, her experience in electronic music sprung from her studies in sound engineering and the electronic experiments she did. Starting to DJ shortly after, first as a radio DJ and later also in clubs, her go-anywhere mindset has steadily built her reputation for bringing singular club sounds to adventurous dancefloors.

  This Selectors Podcast for us is a reflection of those capabilities in the club. Apart from some radio shows, she says, this is her first mix that’s in its entirety club-oriented. That doesn’t mean there’s no room for experimentation, though. In the contrary: the mix offers layers of different genres, tempos and time signatures, while melting together polyrhythms and overdubbing synths on the fly. 

“I’m interested in creating an equally trippy and fun experience”, she explains, and included a selection by artists like 33EMYBW, MC Yallah & Debmaster, Lechuga Zafiro and Siete Catorce, who “perfectly nail that balance of dark and colourful synths and unpredictable hypnotic grooves”. The result is a mix that does exactly that — an hour of high-energy twists and turns from one of Europe’s most exciting selectors.

Selectors Podcast 026 - Silvia Kastel

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