The Knife’s Olof Dreijer introduces Colombian - Swedish percussionist and DJ Diva Cruz with a new collaborative EP on Dekmantel Records. The 'Brujas' EP follows the debut of their exciting hybrid live show at Sonár Istanbul and ahead of upcoming performances at Sónar Barcelona, Dekmantel, and Øya Festival. Together, opposing patriarchy, racism, colonialism, capitalism, and immigrant challenges, they joined forces in Olof's studio, resulting in the creation of the ‘Brujas’ EP, where Diva debuts her voice. The 'Brujas' single and the entire EP, meaning "Witches" seeks to inspire us to find that powerful ancient energy within ourselves.

"I dream to empower everyone who feels outside the box with my lyrics. It is so sad to see children singing and dancing to music made by male artists whose lyrics degrade women, and on top of that, they win prestigious awards while doing so. I dream for a better world and especially Latin America, which needs to change the macho perspective and work together for a better world for everyone," says Diva Cruz.

As a percussionist Diva brings a combination of fierce live percussion together with a rhythmic blend of tunes from all over the world during her energetic DJ-sets. She has also been the lead percussionist for both Fever Ray and Robyn on their world tours.

Olof quote: I’m very excited about sharing this music with the world especially since it’s been a few years in the making. I’m very grateful to work with Diva. She has shown me a new world of music and I feel like I keep evolving and learning new things all the time, especially with our new live show when playing percussion together.

TRACK LISTING

Acuyuye
Black Queen
Brujas

Dekmantel Festival in box. 7x12” vinyl box with download code. Limited Edition.

"Dekmantel Ten is a mirror of Dekmantel Festival. The 7x12" boxset includes seven records that mirror the seven stages to be found at the 2024 event, their 10th edition since 2013. The tracklisting isn't rigid - some of the musicians gathered here have in fact played at most of the available stages - but like a Möbius strip looping round, or a cat-and-mouse game, it's not hard to discern a symbiotic relationship. Split seven ways, DKMNTL100 is a testament to the art of curation and the importance of quality control.

At artist level, Dekmantel Ten finds room for several artists - including Karenn, Jeff Mills and Marcel Dettmann - who played at the very first Dekmantel Festival in 2013, and are by now impossible to detach. The Loop's disc contains names whose stories have dovetailed alongside the festival, concluding in memorable headline moments: Young Marco, Palms Trax and Alchemical Sisters, aka Eris Drew and Octo Octa.

Widen the lens and you'll find history from across the landscape: the laboratories of professorial techno (Dasha Rush, Steve Rachmad, DJ Nobu) and gilded halls of house (Steffi, Luca Lozano, Bufiman); varied soundsystem icons (Kode9, Adrian Sherwood, DVS1) meeting limelights of contemporary Amsterdam (upsammy, Identified Patient, Zohar); as well as the modern conduits channelling decades of outernational vibrations (Nick León, BADSISTA, Animistic Beliefs, Veracco and a great many more).

All 44 artists presenting exclusive material are indispensable into the Dekmantel story to date, and no doubt make up future developments over the horizon. That goes for the areas, too: Because while the seven stages found at Dekmantel Festival are individually resonant enough that they could become splinter festivals in their own right, it's that union which lends the core festival its strength.

TRACK LISTING

Young Marco - How Does It Make You Feel
Palms Trax - Let S Play Fade Away
Alchemical Sisters - Yellow Acid Octa Eris 303 Mix
Masalo - Star Cloud 777
Call Super - Naive Step One
Amaliah - Labyrinth
Steffi - 1 And 3
Dvs1 - Vor Morgen Extended
Interstellar Funk - Particles
Roza Terenzi - Numerical Deviant
Luca Lozano - One Last Thing
Peach - Can U Keep A Secret
Jeff Mills - Pleiades Cluster
Sterac - The Time Is Now
Jakojako - Aon
Dj Nobu - Milaglen
Talismann - Ufo Flute
Dasha Rush - D3
Kode9 - Death Rattle
Verraco - Perpetual Light Shining Upon You
Nick Leon - Power Plant
Bufiman - Ever Synth
Adrian Sherwood - The Dissolving Rhythm
Ramzi - Por El Univers
Identified Patient - My Way Hilton Mix
Simo Cell Linapary - High
Upsammy - Galax P
Toma Kami - A5k
Rhr - Estimulus Sonido
Badsista - Love Spiral
Introspekt - Come 2 Me Dub 4x4 Mix
Karenn - Lettuce Is A Type Of Lettuce
Zohar - Ore
Lee Gamble - 7 Million
Animistic Beliefs - T Lua Xakaleles Fierce Mix
Aquarian - Deep 
Sky H1 - Dome
Nvst - Underground Dynamics Hot Swimming Edition
Marcel Dettmann - Cycling Bits
Wata Igarashi - Bad Engine
Spekki Webu - Open Brainwave
Aurora Halal Dj G - Villafunk
Polygonia - Signo
Dj Python - Mare

After a five year hiatus Luke Slater reanimates his L.B. Dub Corp alias for a dynamic, vocal-led ode to the club featuring Robert Owens, Paul St. Hilaire, Miss Kittin and more.

Slater is responsible for some of the most enduring electronic music of the past 30 years, including his grandiose ambient techno project The 7th Plain and the trailblazing machine funk of Planetary Assault Systems. He debuted the L.B. Dub Corp alias in 2006 as an outlet for a broader, looser kind of club music. His third LP the name, ‘Saturn To Home’ also marks his first appearance on Dekmantel.

The result of more than a year’s exacting work, here we find Slater reflecting on his formative influences and funnelling them into eight incisive tracks that range from the feverish passion of ‘Your Love’s infectious chord stabs to the star-scraping breakbeat techno of ‘Only The Good Times’ via the smoky soundsystem tendrils of ‘Golden Star’ and the elastic drums and mutant synth funk of ‘Krank’. As well as celebrating the intersectionality of club culture and the vibrant vocals of his invited guests, it’s also the first time Slater has committed his life-long love of playing drums onto a record — just listen to the sizzling rhythmic tension of ‘Cloak And Dagger’ and you’ll instantly understand where he’s coming from.

From every syncopated groove to the spine-tingling rush of the melodic hooks, Slater tells the story of his life in music, which means his life overall, without ever being stuck in the past.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Luke Slater adopts his LB Dub Corp alias for a double LP of slow tectonic techno, moody future dub and cybernetic-jazz. A suitably innovative LP from this UK stalwart and rightly hyped following the Burial remix of "Only The Good Times".

TRACK LISTING

Saturn To Home Ft. Kittin
You Got Me Ft. Robert Owens
Your Love
Golden Star Ft. Baal Mortimer
Only The Good Times
Krank
No Trouble In Paradise Ft. Paul St. Hilaire
Cloack And Dagger

L.B. Dub Corp - "Only the Good Times" - original version & ultra hyped Burial remix.

Cut direct from studio tape master to limited white label vinyl. Taken from the forthcoming album by Luke Slater - “Saturn To Home”, which will be out on Dekmantel later this month.

'For me "Only The Good Times" is a deeply emotional track. It’s one of those tracks that ended up entwined in love and somehow life affirming. My immediate thought was to get Burial to remix it, not only because he is one of the most entrancing producers ever, but also because of our heart felt connection and to get him away from his Playstation for ten seconds. Thank you Arnol, Will and everyone else connecting to the music ♥️' - Luke Slater

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: After being spoken about in hush tones via the more devoted Burial heads for the last few weeks, we've finally secured copies of the vinyl for your enjoyment! Get those orders in folks as copies are seriously limited.

TRACK LISTING

Only The Good Times(Original Version)
Only The Good Times (Burial Remix)

It is often said that the best art comes out of adversity, and so it is that producer Frits Wentink, photographer Erik Madigan Heck and actress Tilda Swinton have collaborated on Safe Passage, a fascinating audio-visual project born out of loss. Consisting of classical, choral, and electronic music in three movements, the gatefold album presented with a 40 page booklet of additional photographs and paintings.
Dutch producer and renowned innovator Frits Wentink helms the Will & Ink and Bobby Donny labels, builds synthesizers and beautiful controllers, and puts out always experimental, left of centre house music that pushes at the boundaries. This project initially started out as him attempting to musically illustrate the photography of American visual artist Erik Madigan Heck. The internationally renowned Heck is known for a lavish and experimental use of colour that has won him the prestigious International Center of Photography’s Infinity Award as well as make him a regular contributor to high profile media such as The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, and Harper’s Bazaar.

Midway through the project, Eriks mother was hospitalised due to breast cancer complications before also contracting Covid-19. By her bedsides and as a means to ease her passage, he repetitively played the first portion of the score, and then, once she passed, he decided to commemorate the music's function as a soundtrack for her transition to afterlife by naming it Safe Passage. The involvement of Academy Award–winning Scottish actress Tilda Swinton has lent the music an extra dimension of spirituality: throughout the album, she interjects whispered fragments of Heck’s poetry, blurring the lines between one phase of music and the next.

The music has three movements across two sides: Side A, Safe, has a sense of hope and reflection as it undulates from minimalist string and brass arrangements to ambient and dissonant classical piano. Side B, Passage, then depicts the start of the transition into the afterlife as the voices of a choral madrigal ensemble gradually diverge, then break down entirely before a grand tonal expansion leads into a frenzied crescendo of choral vocals, hardened dub techno and anxious rhythms that convey the violence of the soul’s exit from this world. Finally, a cathartic Epilogue resets and bids farewell with the gentle sounds of a piano.

Because of the global on-going loss of life as a result of Covid-19, Safe Passage has become a soundtrack in which many people will find solace as they remember the sad transitions made from this life to the next during this unprecedented time in history.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Movement 1
B1. Movement 2
B2. Movement 3

Bufi-Jan locks into serious percussion mode here, translating the technicolour breaks and progressive wormholes of a sextet of 'Albumsi' tracks into bonkers and bubbling drum dubs.

In his own words: “Hi, my name is Bufiman and I do drum music for world peace and dance music for frogs. I recently released a longplayer called ‘Albumsi' on Dekmantel. While doing the mix-downs for ‘Albumsi' I realized how much effort I had put in it and how it might even seem overproduced in comparison to other records of mine. This was the result of ‘Albumsi’ being in the first year after quitting all other jobs to focus completely on music. It was the first time I had a studio, some gear and time all at once, at the same moment. So during the mixing process I realized how carefully and loaded the drum tracks were, I even had unused leftover drum material… I also just found a Dutch record heavily inspired by the classic Jive Rhythm Trax with the name 'Mix Your Own Breaks - Construction in Music' with an accompanying text that inspired my idea to do some of my own rhythm trax versions: "The compositions on this LP only consist of rhythms and sound effects. They can be used as: a transition between two records, to be mixed as a break in between and for the production of jingles. Have a lot of fun with these breaks!" Or in Dutch, as originally printed on the record: VEEL MIX-PLEZIER MET DEZE BREAKS - Een multifunctionele LP voor Discjockeys, Thuismixers en geluids-amateurs.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Stripping back some of the choicest cuts from his Albumsi, Jan lets us luxuriate in his outrageous drum programming, break surgery and comic book boings on this EP of phat rhythm tracks. Perfect for playing in the mix, or enjoying at high volume in the comfort of your own home.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Galaxy (Rhythm Trax)
A2. News From The Treetops (Rhythm Trax)
A3. Blow Your Head (Rhythm Trax)
B1. Apo-Calypso (Rhythm Trax)
B2. Hoolock Rock (Rhythm Trax)
B3. Under Control Now (Rhythm Trax)

Now for a trip into an impossible land, generated on a hacked copy of Populous, wrought out of melting circuitry and bootlegged YMO LPs, projected on early green screen and filled with failed CGI from the Waterworld era. Panagiotis Melidis and Stathis Kalatzis are Territroy, the newest member of the Dekmantel family, and the creative insanity behind the newest UFO release, "Skulls & Plants". Now, I don't recall taking a massive dose of 4-AcO this morning with my cornflakes, but that may well have happened, as this is one trippy listen. At various points EBM, tropical house, machine voodoo and shamanic breaks are twisted, warped and frazzled, all achieving the demented sound signature of this lunatic Grecian duo. Rhythms collapse, stutter skip and slur, crispy distortion coats otherwise healthy melodies and oddly exotic idents flutter across the landscape, though you could never be certain they were there. Highly psychoactive electronics and primal rhythms for fans of Helena Hauff, Detlef, Lena Willikens and the Silk Road.

TRACK LISTING

Delirium Vivens
Wax Smiles
Non Sayers
Sleeping Fury
Instar
Upside Down Sinner
I Meant You, Not You
Their Menads
Bold Like A New Sun (Ft. Olympia)
Prosopagnosia

It's a Piccadilly debut for Dutch production Lamellen here, who join the ever swelling ranks of the Dekmantel family with a five tracker of atmospheric, emotive and groovy Balearic house. Keeping true to the original island ideal, the duo barely break a sweat over 100bpm, keeping it easy and breezy as they provide the perfect soundtrack for sundowners the globe over. 
A tranquil and trippy opener, "Horse Massage" calls to mind the cosmic explorations of Farbror Resande Mac, all space port idents, sparkling sequences and slow moving bass tones. "Spider" ups the tempo to a comparitive sprint (though still in reality glacial), injecting a little 80s Italo funk into the bassline, toughening the percussion up a bit and adding some glassy mallet tones for a nu disco-tinged heater. "Oyster" takes the intensity back down, savouring the same nebulous vibrations as the opener, but with a fresh Oceanic twist - think A Vision Of Panorama and you won't be too far away. 
So far so 4/4, and the duo throw us a curious curveball with the skipping rhythm, tropical bubble and chiming chords of proggy pearl "Railrunner". We're back in the deep to close as the duo deliver "Pippo Denemarken" a downbeat shuffler decorated with insistent organ tones and bright and glassy synths. Luscious stuff from the Dekmantal debutants.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: The eagle eared selectors at Dekmantel introduce us to more fresh talent, namely Dutch duo Lamellen, who drop the tempo and up the groove for a quintet of synth heavy Balearic jams. Cocktail killers folks.

TRACK LISTING

1. Horse Massage
2. Spider
3. Oyster
4. Railrunner
5. Pippo Denemarken