Dekmantel Podcast

@noizar's sound goes far beyond conventional house or techno. The Ukrainian DJ, who is now based in Amsterdam, has long since proven this with countless closing sets as resident at Kyiv’s legendary Closer club. It was there where he stood out for unearthing minimal techno treasures in places no one else looks. As such, you can always be sure that wherever Noizar mixes crop up online, they will be flooded with cheeky "ID?" requests, and quite often you will find they come on his vinyl-only Wicked Bass label.

For his Dekmantel Mix he offers a perfect snapshot of what he does in the booth: carefully dug out delights that don't really fit in usual categories. But they do tap into a specific deepness and groove that is rooted in Kyiv's minimal scene and the dance floor of Closer club. It results in a tight, taught hour of body music that perfectly balances function and form.

Ploy - It's Later Than You Think - Dekmantel - DKMNTL107

vinyl: https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/ploy-its-later-than-you-think

digital: https://ployuk.bandcamp.com/album/its-later-than-you-think

a1. When In Room

a2. Stringz

b1. Admirer

b2. Terrazza

c1. It's Later Than You Think

c2. Monsters

d1. Sauna

d2. Deleted

Percussion mastermind Ploy (@deejayploy) arrives on Dekmantel with a double-pack of unbridled dancefloor heat that sees him reconnecting with his house roots.

Before he made a striking breakthrough as Ploy with wayward broken techno for Hessle Audio and Timedance, Samuel Smith's first releases as Samuel were leftfield house excursions. On this release for Dekmantel he wanted to reflect on a decade of releasing music and the many high-impact dancefloors he's shared with the label, from Selectors to De School, over the years.

The common denominator across these eight tracks is no-nonsense house, offering up grooves that will serve a DJ exactly what they want in the mix. At the same time, Ploy doesn't dilute the distinctive edge of his sound, from the abundance of perfectly balanced percussion to the nagging hooks of an off-key synth line dropped at just the right moment. Wry samples inject the mischievous humour he's always creeping into his craft. This is where dancefloor magic is nurtured, hitting the sweet spot between rock solid reliability and the wild card energy that brings a heads-down set to life.

From 'Admirer's big room peaks to 'It's Later Than You Think's cosmic incantations, this is the sound of Ploy showing exactly what it takes to make laser-focused club bombs without losing one iota of his inimitable style.

Recording of RP Boo & SHERELLE's set at Dekmantel Ten

upsammy - Open Catalyst - Dekmantel - DKMNTL106

buy vinyl: https://dekmantel.com/shop/records/upsammy-open-catalyst

buy digital: https://upsammy.bandcamp.com/album/open-catalyst

a1. Relict

a2. Telluric

b1. Open Catalyst

b2. Background Impact

Four years since her last dancefloor 12", @upsammy returns to Dekmantel with a four-track exploration of gleaming, sprightly drum and bass with a restorative centre. Thessa Torsing's moves in upper tempo zones have been defined by her light touch, finding power and presence in finely chiseled sounds and sculpting space between intricate, interwoven rhythms.

The dynamic movement of her pristinely moulded percussion is absolutely geared up for the club, but it's also matched with an uplifting, meditative sound palette which tempers the busy energy of the drums. Pushing and pulling on her arrangements with ever-increasing expressiveness and revelling in the subtlest of modulations to her kinetic beat systems, upsammy proves once again that moving in time to fast music can be an incredibly restorative experience.

@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.

Milan-based Piezo (@piezopz) sits at the heart of the current club sounds. He has long had an obsession with sound system music and that defines what he does today: mutant and beguiling club tracks with meticulous sound design and thrilling energy, heavy low ends and a real dose of UK influence from d&b to garage, grime and techno. He kicked off the year by dropping his genre-busting Ecstatic Nostalgia EP on our Dekmantel-UFO sub-label and now returns with a podcast that is just as fresh.

It's a futuristic mix of bleeping machines and lurching rhythms with bright synth designs and deep space ambience. Over the course of 90 minutes, the pace picks up and you're whisked along a variety of rhythms from broken to dubby, head spinning to minimal. It feels utterly spontaneous but is also a fully coherent mix from this restless innovator.

Piezo - Ecstatic Nostalgia - Dekmantel - DKMNTL-UFO13

buy: https://piezopz.bandcamp.com/album/ecstatic-nostalgia

a1. Ultra

a2. Deepa

b1. Sok Lung

b2. Turbines

After a brief pause, Dekmantel are returning to their UFO series to present a cybernetic rush of non-conformist techno from Italian maverick Piezo @piezopz. Anyone familiar with Dekmantel's flagship festival will know the UFO stages showcase spikier strains of modernist body music, and the label series serves to push these sounds forwards in the hands of consistently visionary producers.

Milan-based Piezo is usually found at the helm of his Ansia label, exploring a versatile spectrum of experimental club music grounded in soundsystem presence and non-linear structures. On Ecstatic Nostalgia he edges his sound into a more driving, techno-spirited framework which lends itself to the energy of the UFO series beautifully. From tightly wound, artfully fractured 150 rumble and elegant sci-fi breakbeat on to needlepoint electronica and subtly trance-brushed atmospherics, Piezo's broad palette fuels an ear-snagging EP which balances visceral impact with a deft touch.

Wata Igarashi - Kaleidoscopic - Dekmantel - DKMNTL-UFO14

buy: https://wataigarashi.bandcamp.com/album/kaleidoscopic

a1. Kaleidoscopic

a2. The Sailage

b1. Steaming

b2. Interweave

Dekmantel continues to shape out the return of its UFO series with an EP of mind-massaging techno-trance futurism from Wata Igarashi. Capturing the energy of the UFO stages which indulge Dekmantel Festival's darker, experimental tastes, Igarashi turns out four shapely serotonin injections in his inimitable style.

There's an immediacy to the Kaleidoscopic 12" which rushes into earshot the moment the EP fires up with the insistent acid throb of the title track. The eternal undulation of a 303 provides the bedrock for Igarashi's fluttering brushstrokes, while a tough yet supple beat charges underneath. Cascading arps are a core element of the richly melodic sound on this release, reaching measured peaks of ecstasy on 'The Sailage' without ever taking a cheap shortcut. Understated, emotionally-charged eloquence spills out of every sequence. There's a softer, blurry-eyed sentiment to the synth work on 'Steaming', while 'Interweave' tempers classic acid techno tropes with gaseous atmospherics.

There are plenty of crisp edges in his tracks for the dancers to latch onto, but Igarashi specialises in a fluid motion that encourages less thinking and more feeling—a lysergic techno flow to truly melt into.

@sunjuhargun is based in Thailand and has been bringing all new energy to the Asian scene for more than 20 years. He has Indian heritage and Japanese roots which inform his mystic sound and the music he releases via the the label he co-founded, Siamese Twins Records. As he proved when he played our festival back in summer, he transcends musical and cultural borders to bring everything from, warm and percussive tribal grooves to more psychedelic sounds, acid textures and mind altering techno.

Sunju explains his approach to this week's mix. "I wanted to capture a special memory using records picked up during my trips between Amsterdam and Japan over the past few years. The result is a selection that blends the past, present, and future. As with every mix, I approach things naturally, with spontaneity. Live recordings have a unique energy that you can only feel in person, but sometimes that feeling can get lost when making a mix at home. This here is 60 mins of a raw, spontaneous reflection of friends in my living room, just hitting record and going for it. No filter, no perfection—just creativity with a limited selection.”

Laksa's (@laksauk) contribution to techno is as vital as it is hard to define. The London-based Bristolian never sits still in one stylistic niche and is as likely to ramp up the techno as he is slow then down. His meticulously designed grooves have come on tasteful labels like Hessle Audio, Timedance and Ilian Tape, always with a focus on dance floor dynamics. Further creative outlets come in the form of the re:lax label, club night and NTS show he runs with with re:ni. Most recently he has cooked up the WONDA EP which includes a vocal collaboration with Nyege Nyege-affiliated Phelimuncasi

The podcast he serves up for us is, in his own words, "a mix of hype and hypnotism" and it includes some tasty unreleased music from the man himself as well as the likes of Ma Sha, Siu Mata, Erik Luebs and Crespi Drum Syndicate. The 90 minutes are as wide-ranging as you might expect with bass-heavy grooves, trance-inducing synths, broken techno workouts and tribal rhythmic explorations all making sure both head and body are catered for in style.