Dekmantel Mix Series Archive 1-500

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Dekmantel Podcast 326 - Whodat Mar 29, 2021

Show notes

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 325 - Lukid Mar 22, 2021

Show notes

@lukid is about as low key as they come. Somehow, he's managed to remain in the shadows despite making music - either solo or as half of Rezzett - for cult labels like Actress' Werkdiscs and The Trilogy Tapes, as well as his own Glum. His style is hard to define and can take in anything from caustic sonic collages to experimental and abstract sound design via lo-fi house and blistering beats. Since 2018 he has also made old school jungle as Refreshers, but whatever he does, it always explores the outermost fringes. The same is always true of his never less than adventurous transmissions on NTS each month. In just 55 minutes for us this week, he serves up a breathless trip through hugely kinetic sounds that could be 30 years old or not out till next month. Amongst the colliding energies of hardcore, jungle and rave he will often drop a pitched up vocal so soulful and emotive it hurts, before racing onto the next flurry of drums. Frankly, it's a high speed mix of hyper real sounds that acts like a double shot of adrenaline straight into your bloodstream. You have been warned.

Dekmantel Podcast 324 - Russell E.L. Butler Mar 15, 2021

Show notes

Techno has always been about futurism, but in Russell E.L. Butler's (@russellelbutler) hands it becomes a vehicle for a more inclusive, communal and positive now. The Oakland based producer pairs their stripped back and powerful rhythms with uplifting sound design to make for music that is both defiant yet welcoming to all. They have done so on Left Hand Path, Mister Saturday Night Records and Spectral Sound since 2015, with 2018's 'The Home I'd Build For Me And All My Friends' album being a particularly standout work that showcased Butler's mastery of their machines. In the studio, Butler is most at home manipulating modular machines and making propulsive techno, but as a DJ they expire wider sonic terrain. That's demonstrated on this week's mix, which begins with dystopian atmospheres and heavy rhythms that eventually break out into jerking EBM, bleak cold wave and mechanical house sounds. It's a brilliantly taught and tense selection with a careful smattering of human vocals that keeps it rooted in an approachable realism.

Dekmantel Podcast 323 - Sicaria Sound Mar 08, 2021

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London duo @sicariasound has reinvigorated dubstep by pulling from every side of the 140bpm spectrum. The pair of Ndeko and Imbratura are longtime friends who have an unspoken understanding when it comes to DJing together, as was frequently demonstrated at their residency for Mala's Deep Medi. They also run their own Cutcross label which can serve up sounds that reference anything from breakbeat to grime, rave to bass. Despite this success - and the news this week that they are to put out Binate, their first official EP - they have also announced that they will disband the project at the end of 2021. Thankfully, we will always have the mix to come back to, because it is a perfect embodiment of their sound. Well informed but never too serious, it takes in ice-cold wobblers as well as industrial strength steppers and skeletal, minimal dubstep sounds that hark back to the golden era. The whole thing is stitched together in a way that shows up the contrasts of light and dark, spaciousness and intensity and ensures you remain fully locked in.

Dekmantel Podcast 322 - Trepanado Mar 01, 2021

Show notes

It is no stretch to say that Sao Paulo's Trepanado is at the heart of the Brazilian music scene. His Selvagem party is one of the most influential in terms of the sounds it pushes, and his label Selva Discos is also hugely respited for the sounds it curates. Trepanado himself has also put out a vital compilation for Hello Sailor Recordings that spotlighted Brazil's Street Soul sound of the late eighties and early nineties. As a DJ he joins the dots between those classic niches and the contemporary electronic landscape thanks to his tireless devotion to digging for wax. This multi-genre maestro distills also his considerable know how into a lively carnival mix that oozes Brazilian charm in the bird calls, whistles and Spanish vocals, but also seems to reference UK rave culture, traditional Latin rhythms and throwback house music. It's a full flavour, fully bumping mix that makes that feeling of being in the middle of an outdoor dance floor on a hot summer's day feel tantalisingly close.

Dekmantel Podcast 321 - Giant Swan Feb 22, 2021

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Bristol's @giantswan came to dance music after formative years as guitarists in the band The Naturals. This lends them a genuinely outsider perspective which means their music breaks rules the pair of Robin Stewart and Harry Wright didn't even know existed. Coming on labels like Keck, Timedance and Whities, it is caustic and twisted, textured and dense with layers of abrasive sonic fuzz. Add in harsh vocals and unrelenting beats and you have a duo that sits in their own unique world somewhere between noise, techno, experimental and rock. There is no concession to your lockdown life in the mix they serve up for us this week. It is a banging and thrilling collision of hi NRG techno, juke, hardcore and bass that bristles with confrontational energy and raw texture while making improbable leaps from Dizzee Rascal to DJ EARL, Kangding Ray to SOPHIE, SOPHIE to Theo Parrish.

Dekmantel Podcast 320 - Karima F Feb 15, 2021

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Norwegian-Algerian artist Karima F (@karimakarima) doesn't fit in with the usual Scandi-disco stereotype. After many years of work on her local scene in Oslo, she broke out into the wider European scene playing soul, hi NRG disco, broken house, hammering breakbeats and plenty more. She holds down resident duties at Jaeger Club and also famously runs Schloss records from a defunct Porsche repair shop together with Ida Ekblad. "I want to be traumatised to work," she has said before, which explains her often dark, heads down approach to making you dance. There is a lot packed in to her far-travelling mix, which is every bit for listening to as much as it is for dancing. From the kinked techno rhythms of the first half to the spoken word oddities at the mid point via loose limbed drum work scattered in between, Karima twists and turns her way through a leftfield world of sound that is very much her own.

Dekmantel Podcast 319 - James Bangura Feb 08, 2021

Show notes

Former military man and marching band member @jamesbangura is an artist who has roamed the world and picked up musical influences at every stop on the way. Be it drum & bass in Alabama, blog house in California or the rich house sound of New York, this Washington DC native is now distilling all those references into his own searing sounds. They have come on labels like Mister Saturday Night and can range from sauced out to brutally energetic. And the latter of those two is what defines his unrelenting mix for us. It is a hard hitting collision of raw, decaying textures, pummeling drums and stark, post industrial atmospheres that are thrillingly harsh. The rhythms roam from the fringes of techno to the heart of jungle and on to an icy but powerful minimalism that very much consumes your body. So strap in, cause this is one helluva ride.

Dekmantel Podcast 318 - DJ Autumn Feb 01, 2021

Show notes

DJ Autumn (@autumn-bpr) plays various pivotal roles in the UK dance music scene. Firstly, he is label manager at Banoffee Pies Records. It's a buy on sight imprint and network of various sub-labels such as Otaku, Beats, Limited Series and the ambient Sonder Series that plots an always tasteful path between broken beat, garage and minimal clubs sounds from cutting edge artists. Those sounds also characterise his own DJ sets and radio shows everywhere from Worldwide FM to NTS to the BBC. From high tempo intensity to tripped out atmospherics, he's an ever present vibesman who also founded his own Headroom Festival in 2019. His mix for us this week is a stripped back and dubbed out winter warmer. Always oozing a sense of cool and control, it builds through the most cavernous of bass spaces and icy sci-fi sonics towards a skeletal jungle workout that gets you on your toes. The sounds are always rich and soulful so pull you deep into a comforting musical world. And we can all make time for that right now.

Dekmantel Podcast 317 - BSS Jan 25, 2021

Show notes

BSS (fka @beesmunt-soundsystem) is Amsterdam born and bred artist, DJ and producer Luigi Vittorio Jansen. Over the last decade plus, formerly as a duo but now a solo concern, BSS established a sound with residencies at key Amsterdam clubs and radio stations plus the Opium Club in Vilnius, and with releases on the likes of Hivern Discs and Honey Soundsystem. The music is always about musical adventure so spans a wide remit from lush downtempo weirdness to tropical electronics via proto house grooves.   The warmth and sensuality of the BSS sounds runs right the way through this week's mix. It slowly builds through ever more expansive synths and long legged drums to wake you from your post weekend slumber. It remains charmingly deep and hypnotic, with sinewy pads, frazzled synths and soft acid motifs all bleeding in and out of the mix to add detail to the trip. It's as mindful as it is subtly physical and leaves you feeling ready for action.

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