We're all familiar with the healing power of music, but the Motor City's Whodat has made it her life's mission to spread that through her DJing and productions. Always coming at music with a sense of sincerity that carries over into her infectious sounds, she has released on the likes of Uzuri, Meakusma, and Queen Mum's Mail. Always uplifting and filled with life-affirming melodies, her take on house is all about feeling good and sharing love.

On this week's podcast, Whodat's smooth mixing style allows the glory of her selections to shine though. Despite dealing with difficult personal circumstances of her own, on top of the pandemic we've all endured, her music never fails to bring joy. There is warm and diffusive soul from start to finish, with scuffed up beatdown, off-grid Detroit grooves and seductive deep house all adding up to the sort of heartfelt and authentic grooves that the MidWest, and Whodat herself, are so well loved for.

Dekmantel Podcast

Tracklist

Dekmantel Podcast 326 - Whodat

CCL (@ccl-url) has many tricks and plenty of surprises up their sleeve. London-born, US-bred but now Berlin-based, they are playful in what they play but serious about how they play it, whether that's head spinning 160bpm cut, "cowgirl-breaks or wiggle steppers." The key for this multidisciplinary artist and former New Forms festival curator is to find the similarities and differences between shades of sound and rhythm and exploit them to spellbinding effect. As a producer, they are no different and have always managed to find fresh in-between sounds on labels like Fever AM and Discwoman. 

The singular DJ steps up this week with almost two hours of pure sonic adventure. It's a perfect showcase of how they can soundtrack imaginary worlds from humid future jungles to robot dances in the sky. You'll hear rhythms you could never imagine and contort your body in impossible ways, all while admiring the dexterity of the DJ who has threaded together such a trippy trip.

Dekmantel Podcast 427 - CCL

Zenker Brothers — Live From The Cause (ILIAN TAPE x TRANSMISSIONS — DEC '23)

Without people like Cashu (@carol-schutzer), São Paulo’s queer community wouldn't be thriving in the way that it is. The Mamba Negra label collective, party and label co-founder has been working tirelessly to provide safe spaces, creative outlets and raise funds for the LGBTQIA+ community for many years. She closely intertwines politics and dancing at events that reclaim urban spaces and now enjoys an international DJ diary that sees her mixing up breaks, techno, dancehall and electro across Amsterdam, Berlin, and places like our own Dekmantel Selectors.

She takes us on a similarly whirlwind tour with this week's mix, including some unreleased gems. It's a full-throttle party selection that fires through several house, club and techno rhythms - some bounce on big bass, some are twisted with raw percussion and some get stripped back to loopy drums and trippy sound designs. These global beats from the likes of DJ Wawa, Nick León, and Lewis Lowe add up to a colourful carnival atmosphere that sounds even better when the sun is shining.

Dekmantel Podcast 465 - Cashu

Recorded at UNDISCLOSED X by @zenkerbrothers
HAL25, Alkmaar

ZENKER BROTHERS AT UNDISCLOSED X - 10.08.24

Stray Thoughts

Whatever Jennifer Loveless (@jenniferloveless) turns her attention to, she always looks to find real human emotion. The Berlin-based, Australian-born multidisciplinary artist works across a wide musical realm as a DJ, producer and top-line writer who also scores for the screen. In the club, she is all about big energy, warmth and colour as she flits between future sounds and euphoric nostalgia all while dropping plenty of big tunes on labels like Sex Tags UFO, Planet Euphorique and Future Classic.

Over the last decade-plus, she has proven herself adaptable in the DJ booth and just as able to lock in a heady crowd at Panorama Bar as she is making her mark on festival stages like Horst. Across 90 minutes in this week's mix, Loveless draws on all of that experience to lay down a silky smooth trip that touches on deep techno and lush electronic minimalism before delving into more menacing atmospheres, jacked-up house and feel-good sunrise sounds.

Dekmantel Podcast 480 - Jennifer Loveless

@eli-verveine is a musical chameleon who can do it all from banging peak time sets to pensive warm-ups via weird and wonderful hour hours sessions. She has proven that over the years in many of the scene's most cultured clubs whether playing solo, B2B as Among Trees with Andrey Pushkarev or live with Gwenan as Gin & Tonic. On top of all this, she has a well-formed discography that delves further into her versatile sounds.

This week's mix reflects her musical malleability as she draws on plenty of diverse tempos and textures to craft a lively trip. There are moments of blissful deepness next to more nuanced rhythms, futuristic bass explorations and cosmic electro sojourns that keep things moving at pace, but always with great control and expert selections.

Dekmantel Mix 484 - Eli Verveine

@fadimohem is right at the heart of contemporary techno. He brings his own twist on the classic sound - deep, rhythmic and atmospheric. He's a Berghain resident whose first contact with the genre came at the hallowed club, and since then, he has blazed his own trail on the most influential labels in the scene, including his own Mohem imprint. This year, he plays twice at Dekmantel Festival, once as part of WSNWG Live and once on the Radar stage.

Ahead of that, he has put together an exclusive one-hour live set comprised only of unreleased music. It's a masterclass in control that embodies just what you get from Fadi in the club: deep techno planted firmly on the floor but always going somewhere. As dubbed out low ends, glitchy textures and more tripped out melodies come and go, the tension ramps up while both body and mind stay locked.

Dekmantel Mix 491 - Fadi Mohem

Seba dishes out some of his classics alongside a string of killer dubplates.

Seba plays RM2 on 10/05: fabricldn.co/jhguih

Seba FABRICLIVE x Sine Series Promo Mix

Recording of Skee Mask & Zenker Brothers' set at Dekmantel Festival 2019.

Stray Thoughts

L:M:R

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