Dekmantel HHV Records 42 Items

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.

Dekmantel continues to shape out the return of its UFO series with this new wave of 12"s... keep watching

Dopplereffekt, L.B. Dub Corp, Jasss, Sherelle and Interstellar Funk on remix duty...

Dekmantel return to Marcel Dettmann's celebrated 2022 LP Fear Of Programming for a remix package featuring five of the biggest names in contemporary club music. Dettmann's unmistakably sleek, focused production style is the perfect springboard for all kinds of imaginative interpretations that touch on techno, footwork, electro and ambient.

Donning his L.B. Dub Corp alias, Luke Slater kicks off the A side by paring 'Suffice To Predict' down to its fundamentals and rebuilds a taut, punchy version out of the component parts. Sherelle explores a sweet spot between techno and footwork in her natural 160 BPM zone on her angular, reverb-heavy version of 'x12'.

On the B side, Dopplereffekt supplement the cascading arpeggios of album closer 'Fear Of Programming' with their inimitable strain of dystopian electro. Interstellar Funk turns album centrepiece 'Water' into an atmospheric techno voyage shaped out by melancholic pads and fluttering leads. Jasss takes 'Fear Of Programming' further out through billowing clouds of ambience and dislocated vocal impressions, arriving at a bold and pensive closing statement to this heavyweight clutch of remixes.

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.

A cybernetic rush of non-conformist techno from Italian maverick Piezo.

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.

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. After a what could be seen as a brief pause in the UFO series - it's with a fresh wave of releases.

Nearly 10 years on since his last solo LP, Berlin techno icon Marcel Dettmann arrives on Dekmantel with an expansive album captured in a flash of inspiration.

In many ways Fear Of Programming is a reflection on the artistic process – the critical hurdles one has to overcome, the constant strive for originality, the ability to capture inspiration in its pure moment of inception. Bar the closing title track (and we all know Marcel loves a surprise closing), these 13 tracks came together during a period in which our hirsute host was able to immerse himself in studio practice and set the intention to record an album’s worth of material every single day. From the resulting mass of work there were many options to choose from, and Fear Of Programming stood out as one of the most complete statements on Dettmann’s approach in the here and now.

Unconcerned with an overarching concept, it was the work in the studio which drove the musical direction. No labouring over knotty arrangements, no painstaking mix downs – just honest expression, a moment caught, a groove locked, a stroke of synth sent pirouetting over a cavernous bed of texture. The results are varied, and while you might well hear plenty of bruising machinations in line with the techno Dettmann has made his name on, there are plenty of other shades expressed across the album.

Ambient sojourns, beatless epics and angular electronica have equal footing with strident, floor-friendly workouts. Standout piece ‘Water’ offers an icy ballet of swinging minimal and drip-drop melodics fronted by Ryan Elliott on lesser-spotted vocal duties, urging, ‘give me a sign, just a little something to let me know that you’re mine’. It’s playful, but still underpinned with the sincerity that comes with Dettmann’s work.

Running on instinct, Dettmann presents an honest version of himself in the here and now, speaking through the sonics and not over-thinking the results. His decades of experience helming a thousand techno parties speak for themselves, while his evolution as a musical entity through collaboration and his own BAD Manners label demonstrate his appetite for change. Indeed, the working method which resulted in the album also spurred him on to create a live set beyond his well-established DJ practice. Without resorting to a conceited overhaul, Fear Of Programming opens up the idea of what Dettmann represents in the modern techno landscape.

Parrish Smith is never one to let you breathe easy. As a globally renowned DJ, he’s become synonymous with high-velocity sets that cut and collide through his distinct array of obscure sounds. Meanwhile, however, the artist has been carefully constructing his own musical idiom. Manoeuvring his most delicate and most defiant feelings, Light Cruel & Vain (Dekmantel Records, 2022) is the first fruit of that painstaking process. A compilation of ‘imperfect music’, the record is shrouded in the artist’s characteristic veil of mystery. As always, his sound cuts and chokes – sometimes cruelly, sometimes soothingly – yet this record offers a new, longer, lighter gulp of air. Here, Parrish Smith bares his most private process so far: one of personal transformation and becoming a better version of oneself.

Light Cruel & Vain was developed over the course of nearly three years, following nearly a decade of individual experimentation. Where on the one hand, Lc&v reflects an inward pilgrimage (aka Parrish Smith facing the world and Parrish Smith facing Parrish Smith), the project simultaneously reflects the birth and growth of a band. Each track on the record is originally based on a solo idea, moulded and fine-tuned in conversation with contributing musicians Sofiane Brahmi and Javier Vivancos, then finalized by the producer. The collaborative process brought together niches that wouldn’t typically share territory or sound, allowing music to emerge that transcends each of their boundaries. In the making of Lc&v no conventional studio sessions occurred; due to covid-19, the full collaboration process was a remote affair of sharing snippets, (re)working recordings and, most of all, exchanging thoughts and feelings.

Those who know Parrish Smith a little, know his long-standing mantra: ‘No elitism, no prejudices, no genre. Hypnotic, tense, comprehensible – a state of mind.’ It’s this dictum that best describes the Lc&v sound(s). Tapping into all irreverent niches close to his heart – noise, punk, industrial, electronic, and even pop – Parrish Smith refuses to foreground one influence over another, instead layering and warping his personal interpretations of each. To categorize his seeking sound would be to limit the artist who, more than anything, thrives in limbo. ‘You could call it a concept album because the sounds are so far apart. But perhaps that’s not a concept, perhaps that’s just me…’

Parallel to his extensive musical experimentation, the past years have allowed Parrish Smith to zoom in on his writing. The resulting fragments form the foundation of Lc&v’s collage-like, soul-searching lyrics. Never, however, does the artist take his words to the front of stage; instead treating his voice as a malleable instrument, just one of many shifting layers in a bigger picture. The distorted lyrics, as such, are an statement: ‘It’s alright to be insecure about some of your qualities. In fact, the key is to embrace just that, to take matters into your own hands.

Limited Edition in fancy sleeves… More Info soon!

Dekmantel UFO Series continues its resurgent form with a new album of bruising, industrial wave and techno from Broken English Club. UK techno mainstay Oliver Ho debuted his dark and brooding alias more than 10 years ago with a release on Jealous God under the guidance of the late, great Juan Mendez (Silent Servant) — Songs Of Love And Decay is explicitly dedicated to Mendez, whose influence runs deep in this seductively sinister corner of underground, independent electronic music.

Within the overarching aesthetic of the Broken English Club sound, Ho finds the freedom to deliver a full spectrum album as diverse as it is consistent. You can sense the shadow of his roots in 90s tribal techno punching through on 'Crawling' and 'Death Cult', while 'England Heretic' leans on thick swathes of analogue synthesis indebted to Giallo soundtracks and the ever-compelling lure of 80s synthwave. In its grinding layers of distortion and dubbed out vocals 'Vessel Of Skin' speaks more to the post-punk influences which have set Broken English Club apart since the outset. This isn't a purely retro-fetishist expedition, though — 'Pacific Island Kill' and 'Lost Gods' exude stark modernism in their sharply-angled sequences and dramatic sound design, moving beyond the functional demands of 4/4 dance music to reach to more cinematic zones.

These are but some of the approaches Ho burrows into as he shapes out the depth and breadth of his muse on Songs Of Love And Decay. It's marked by the undeniable impact of his production, perfected over a decades-deep career at the bleeding edge of machine music. At times the album celebrates the addictive thrust of the dancefloor, while elsewhere it relishes the tension of suspended animation. Throughout, the gritty veneer binds together this accomplished, uncompromising body of work as both a fierce artistic statement and a loving tribute to Mendez — an artist who equally embodied the darker side of the dance.

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.

Four years since her last dancefloor 12", upsammy returns 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.

Percussion mastermind Ploy 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.

Welcome to Dazion’s Grooveboxxx – a maxi-sized love letter to The Hague’s 80s and 90s club scene crafted with minimal tools and loaded with vibe. It’s no coincidence it arrives on Dekmantel, a label with its own roots in the same Dutch city’s electronic music culture.

Dazion is The Hague’s Cris Kuhlen, previously spotted releasing on Second Circle, Safe Trip and Animals Dancing. He cut his teeth clubbing and working at long-since closed clubs like Eau, described in Kuhlen’s own words as, “clubs with blocks to dance on, lazers, decorations, crazy extravert [sic] parties.”

In capturing the spirit of Eau and the other formative parties of his youth, Kuhlen limited himself to just one machine to make his longest work to date – the Roland Mc-303 Groovebox. While these entry level units from the mid-90s had stripped down functionality in the wider spectrum of studio gear, they contained all the iconic Roland sounds in a Rompler style, giving the user access to everything necessary to make raw, immediate club tracks without requiring an entire studio’s worth of hardware.

The brash gear of choice set the tone for a record of rough, ready and playful jams which end up more sophisticated than you’d expect from such limited means. ‘La DS’ jacks with a freaky, bleep techno intensity, while ‘Kimberly & Nance Backstage Rehearsal’ rides an angular groove tooled to inspire the weirdest dance moves of the night. Every track is named in reference to a particular nightspot, a hazy memory or moment from Kuhlen’s formative raving years.

This is the sound of Dazion having the time of his life. You might well hear a nod to the odd rock totem being given a re-version in irreverent new beat style or some gnarly US acid breaks vibes riding underneath helium rap licks. But for all the cheekiness, the tracks stand up both as nods to halcyon days and relevant workouts for the sweatiest parties in the here and now. As MC Paul T says in dramatic style heralding the intro of Grooveboxxx, “This movement will live on forever.”

Canadian born, Berlin based producer Aquarian debuts on Dekmantel Records’ UFO imprint with Mutations I & II, a series of two EPs following his debut album The Snake That Eats Itself and his collaborative records as Aqxdm. The series marks his return to club focused solo material for the first time since 2017.

Originally written as inflection points for his typically boisterous and genre collapsing dj sets, Mutations deftly splices the foundational DNA of his earliest productions — electro, hardcore and broken beat techno – with new and vital influences.

Mutations I: Death, Taxes and Hanger finds Aquarian gleefully contorting mid-2000s dnb tearouts, wrong footed IDM and progressive trance euphoria into thrilling new shapes. Fast techno, hi-tek jazz, amphetamine-addled filter house and breakcore join the fray in Mutations II: Delicious Intent as he pushes intensity levels past breaking point. Whichever the touchstone, the results are clear: distinctly modern, highly-propulsive body music with an unapologetically emotive core.

2x12" vinyl with printed innersleeves.

"Interstellar Funk has crafted a raw, yet simultaneously hauntingly beautiful and endlessly intricate record. Layers of blended harmonies and melodies form the basis for jettisons into leftfield experimentation, heavily processed drums and oscillating frequencies. The result is as infectious as it is pensive; a transcendental journey into a synth-laden landscape.

A stalwart name on our Dekmantel line-ups and with prior releases on the likes of Rush Hour, Berceuse Heroique and L.I.E.S., Interstellar Funk is synonymous with the more brooding side of Dutch electronica. Akin to his DJ sets, which also glide effortlessly between genre, tempo and sound, Into the Echo is daringly eclectic, combining sung-spoken iterations with hypnotic samples and machinic industrial. The release will be supported by a hardware based live-show tour later in 2022.

Ethereal voices haunt the album, a spectral presence emanating both on the titular track and its eponymous twin, 'Octave Echoes.' The latter is built up around breathy reverberations partnered with steely chords and dissected drumbeats. While 'Crickets at Night,' featuring fellow Amsterdam-based producer Loradeniz, switches pace from ghostly ambient to a pulsating, metronome's tick, clockwork rhythms and eerily looped vocals.

Channelling introspective atmospheres, Into the Echo nevertheless holds steadfast to a club- ready beat and momentous bass. 'Northern Winds,' composed with Jasss, edges along the hardcore continuum, exploding with spiraling percussion and flashes of the pair's shared affinity for electro's gyrating-circuitry and dub's ominous dread. And, ionised by piercing synth and bolts of acid, 'Psycho Panner's occultist refrain climbs to an otherworldly crux.

A homage to the potency of analogue machinery and experimental electronica, Into the Echo fluctuates with organic life, often melding synthetic and acoustic instruments together. Guitar riffs flutter on 'Dreamers' before pattering out into warbling, glacial fragments and 'Last Piece of the Puzzle' features a glockenspiel-esque rhythmic element rising to a harmonic crescendo.

Sleeve Photograpy by Bea1991. "

Spiralling through the space-time continuum, Alberta Balsam's debut EP amalgamates clipped breakbeat with lithe IDM and sawtooth electro. Inspired by the visionary author Ursula K. Le Guin, the vinyl is presented by Dekmantel Records together with a transcendental sci-fi narrative. Printed on a poster-inlay designed by British artist Alex Morgan, the story tells of a quest for survival on a planet ravaged by ecological collapse.

In a bid to rescue all lifeforms from impending destruction, a lone holobot frantically consults her neurobiological interface. Humans can no longer subsist on Earth: waterways are contaminated, and the unbreathable atmosphere has taken on a toxic purple, almost holographic hue. Faced with environmental apocalypse, she turns skyward, to take root among the stars. With nods to the utopian futurism, attunement to nature and alien visions of pioneering electronic artists such as Drexciya and Delia Derbyshire, Alberta transmutes a synergy that's entirely her own. Higher Dreams journeys elsewhere on a passage that's equal parts intergalactic and introspective, questioning how, on the brink of the abyss, we can find hope.

Blasting off the A-side with 'Atuan Tombs' – a reference to Le Guin's masterful Tales From Earthsea series – a cyborg voice narrates plundering through the skeletal remains of an urban landscape. Hollowed out kick-drums thunder in 'Cascade;' glitched-out beats that shatter into incandescent, intricate melodies. On the B-side, the titular track crescendos, it’s biblical vocals conveying the gravitas of an approaching dystopia. Yet Higher Dreams is far from doom-inducing – the EP closes off with ‘Suspended in the Manifold,' the vibrant Roland Tr-808 rhythm fuelled by the colossal power of a solar flare.

Renowned for her live hardware-based sets, Alberta flexes her immeasurable skill as a tech-savvy producer adept at constructing danceable, yet simultaneously lush and expansive interludes. Having trained as an epidemiologist, the theme of care reverberates through her music. Crucially, she regards dance as medicine – a primordial remedy to sustain our interconnected existence.

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 will be presented by Dekmantel with a 40 page booklet of additional photographs and paintings, as well as digital only remixes from Matthew Herbert, The Soft Pink Truth, BvDub, and East of Oceans. 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.

Profondo Nero compiled by Cinema Royale Profondo Nero narrates a storyline that goes beyond the borders of Italy’s musical legacy. Cutting across the face of Italo disco’s leftfield musicians between the early and late ‘80s, Profondo Nero champions a multi-faceted sound that nods to the blueprint of Italo disco but tries to dig deeper. The music is unmistakably Italo disco but moves away from the familiar classic sound. Amsterdam based collector Cinema Royale stitches together eleven tracks from 1983 – 1989, celebrating a sound he fittingly describes as ‘leftfield Italo’. The compilation connects the dots between soulful disco (Louise Freeman – Mirage), synth-pop (Mark – Dreamland), electro-rap (Loukas Thanos – Jazzburger), breaks (Santoro – Lover Message), 80s dub disco (Jet Set – Love Break), Balearic (Isamar & Compañia - No Estas), boogie (Tom Hooker – Talk With Your Body) and proto-house (International Music System - An English ’93). Profondo Nero’s title salutes the legendary oeuvre of Italian horror director Dario Argento. His Profondo Rosso (1975) is a classic example of exquisite cinematic storytelling, boasting courageous colors, expressionist camera angles and an unforgettable Goblin score forming the ingredients for an intriguing piece of art. Profondo Rosso’s music, created the spark for a new Dekmantel Records endeavor led by Amsterdam based experimental film score connoisseur, record collector and DJ Cinema Royale. For those in the know of underground Amsterdam music culture, Arne Visser aka Cinema Royale is among the city’s longest standing record collectors. Born to an Italian mother and Dutch father, Arne was brought up on a diet of Italo disco in the 80s. Cinema Royale explains: ‘For Profondo Nero I took a plunge into the lesser known fringes of Italo disco. From there I tried to connect, among others, San Francisco boogie, Balearic, Japanese late era Italo-electro and synth-pop funk. I hope you can hear what I had in mind: an infectious showcase of my take on traditional Italo disco that will hopefully get a lot of listeners itching for a spin. It’s fair to say that lately this particular sound has seen a reappraisal and renewed interest. As a party-starting collection for entry-level connoisseurs or suave but lazy types, I hope Profondo Nero can be an education. I’m not claiming I’m the first DJ or collector to do so, but I did try do present something special by digging deep.’ It wasn’t my goal to unearth the most obscure tracks, instead I wanted to compose a compilation that takes you on a journey. ‘In my opinion the best DJs create something extraordinary out of illogical selections by combining music against all odds and showing different kind of moods along the way. There’s a certain amount of arrogance involved: you take the music out of its original context. But by doing so in a very conscious way, you might be able to enhance the power of the individual records. Hopefully each song on Profondo Nero provides an intimate and memorable experience.’

Cover and vinyl are close to NM.

For Dekmantel Festival 2019, The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision’s RE:VIVE initiative and Dekmantel teamed up for the third time to invite four artists to bring fresh music to a curation of Dutch archival films. As debuted live in Amsterdam’s Eye Filmmuseum, 2019 featured new scores from Safe Trip eclectic left-of-centre DJ / producer, Max Abysmal, 80s pastiche, keyboard wizard duo, Lamellen, Italian contemporary composer and saxophonist, Laura Agnusdei and heavy-hitter, Identified Patient. 2019’s films were as diverse as the invited artists. Three of the films come Academy Award winning Dutch producer, Nico Crama whose collection is held by The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision while Comeback (Poppenfilm) was made by amateur Dutch filmmaker, Otto Laan.
Comes with liner notes inlay and pressed on 180 grams vinyl.

Synergising their respective studio prowesses and harnessing their accomplished hardware artistry has helped establish Neon Chambers as a modern symbiosis of atmospheric, contemporary club sounds, and multi-rhythmic machine-driven sonics, the two producers have set out on the beginning of a new era of electrifying, astute sound design, and breathtaking modern electronic music.
The duo’s debut EP, One is a whirlwind of crushing modern sonics, that is equal parts jagged rave, progressive dub-fuelled two-step and night time-ethereal IDM. Throughout all five-tracks, the producers wield a wicked awareness of state-of-the-art sound design, that makes each kick cerebral, every bass-sound an epic vibration, and every synth a futuristic cacophony of finely-tuned noise. The sounds are an amalgamation of everything that has made each artistic unique in their own right, while correspondingly helping create something new. ‘Apollo’ is a prodigious working of melodic synthesis, with delicate, and rolling breaks, while ‘Cascade’ moves into a more grandiose, heavenly territory, befit with trance-like, precision synthesis. ‘What it takes’ brings on board a more UK, post-dubstep sound, albeit one with more craft, and sonic mastership. ‘Your Touch’ toys once more with atmospheric rolling breaks and solemn vocal samples, while ‘Helles’, the closing track, is an excursion into more compelling, auditory realms.
Neon Chambers is the new project of UK producer Sigha, and French artist Kangding Ray. Sigha, aka. techno producer James Shaw comes from a steadfast background in abstract and grounded techno, with previous works on Token Blueprint, Avian and his own Our Circular Sound imprint. Kangding Ray, aka. David Letellier, has made a career for himself with genre-breaking and experimental sonic adventures that have taken him across such era-defying labels such as Raster-Noton, and Stroboscopic Artefacts. In 2019, he also started his own imprint ara for more bespoke, avant-garde releases. The duo came together to create Neon Chambers to further extend their analogous ambitions, and create bigger, and more daring live and audiovisual performances.

French wielder of exotic machine music Epsilove debuts a full EP of sensuous, melodic electro on Dekmantel. Formerly one-half of Syracuse, Isabelle Maitre depicts a vision of daring, yet euphoric vocal-led, dreamy electro that oscillates with sturdier, warehouse sounds full of heaving 808s, and experimental qualities.
‘Time is the longest distance’ preaches the qualities that brought Antinote’s Epsilove to the distinguished status she has today. It is the sound of chic dancers, shuffling-together leisurely under neon lights, pressing against each other along to nostalgic acid basslines, interstellar synths, and dreamy, cinematic vocals. Rich with harmony, emotion, and cold-wave sensuality. ’Sea Snakes’ pulses faster under a Drexciyan dream-state, painting kaleidoscopic motifs, as the 808 rattles out multi-paced tempos, driving levels of uncompromising Detroit velocities, through to Lynchian-mirror-world listlessness. It’s an acid-acid test of colourful, pulsing electro.
On the remixes are fellow Parisian’s Ali Bobo (Bruits De La Passion) and Shelter (Bigwax Records), who rework ‘Time is the longest distance’ into something more sinister, reflecting the dystopic IDM aesthetics of early Rephlex Records with playful, darkened electronics. The more elusive pairing of French producer HAJJ (Dawn Records) and Lastrack (BFDM) meanwhile, team up to turn ‘Sea Snakes’ into something that harkens towards the world of Warp-like experimental and progressive contemporary post-trap, and breakbeats.
"À dix mètres sous moi, l'eau invisible. Entre l'eau et la brume, pas de frontière, la brume aussi lourde que l'eau, l'eau aussi irréelle que la brume. Passage dans un autre monde, transition par une osmose où toute forme ancienne est désagrégée et dissoute.” Raymond Abellio, Heureux les Pacifiques (1946)

The second edition of Dekmantel’s foray into the era-defining, trans-Atlantic, cult techno label that is Djax-Up-Beats, comes another re-issue of classic 90s cuts.
The label say "The Dutch label was responsible for releasing some of underground’s most foundational dance music, mixing together Chicago and European artists alike, and acting as the launchpad for some of today’s biggest producers. Featuring offerings from luminaries such as Felix Da Housecat, and Glenn Underground, alongside veterans such as Steve Poindexter, and DJ Skull, this second EP highlights the classic label’s old-school’s sound, while showcasing its diverse range, from dubbier, ambient moments, to wall-thumping, body crushing house force. Timeless music, repressed, and re-released for a new generation of DJs who covet the classic machine music.
The second re-issue EPs, offer a more introspective look at the label’s earlier releases. Leading Volume 2 is Terrace’s 'Bewitched', to which DJ Richard has described as being the defining track of the label’s beginnings with its "dreamy, Detroit-style techno mixed with the harder rave elements of Northern Europe”. Glenn Underground’s bass-roller 'Real Space' weaves together soulful passion and Chicago prime beats, while Felix Da Housecat’s Temptation — originally from 1993 — gets a well earned re-release, reminding us of the soulful, deep and lustful energy the producer once had. China White, whose name doesn’t get banded around as much as it should nowadays, see their ethereal hit 'Theme from the Underground' get another opportunity to bliss out the more upbeat rave community.
The energy turns darker with Frank de Groodt’s The Operator, breaking the outer-most barriers of electro-techno, with 'The Mind Strike'. Chicago and Dance Mania’s Steve Poindexter turns out rolling, dance-energy bomb 'Body Jam', while Mike Dearborn’s deliverance of unreal, dry techno in 'Deviant Behaviour' runs aplomb with classic drum-machine pulses, claps, and uncomfortable, yet punishing melodies. DJ Skull’s 'Don’t stop the beat' rides the EP with gushings of hand claps, and gentle, early 90s warm techno color, that transport you back to a time of more informed, and conscious electronic musings, a feeling that embodies Djax’s heyday.
Founded in Eindhoven at the turn of the 90s, Djax-Up-Beats quickly earned an international reputation for being a key source of Chicago house, acid techno, and floor-filling, heavy-hitting, straight up underground 12”s. It’s a sound that spawned the sonic aesthetics of today, and can be heard in the left field techno productions of the likes of Bjarki, Salon des Amateurs and other erstwhile analog junkies."

Territroy, the Greek duo of Panagiotis Melidis (Larry Gus / DFA Records) and Stathis Kalatzis (formerly Mr. Statik), release their first album Skulls & Plants on Dekmantel’s UFO label. A collection of experimental and spacious deep techno, psychedelic ambiance and compelling drums that draw you into a unique world of rhythmic sound and expect in DJ sets from Lena Willikens, Helena Hauff, and Vatican Shadow.
As starting point for their music the duo points at the AGET Heracles Cement Factory Plant in Volos, Magnesia. The factory is a metaphor that processes the land itself, ignites it in a cancerous way then dumps it into the sea and the atmosphere. It’s a combination of all possible scenarios of optimism and negativity, the essence of trying to do the best for everyone, but accidentally killing everyone in the process. That contrasting duality is mirrored in Territroy. What ties them is a constant rhythmic element that is persistent and comes from growing up in Greece and absorbing the rhythmic specificities of Southern Europe and unique Mediterranean attitudes.

Taken from the forthcoming Dekmantel LP Center Parcs by esoteric Dutch production duo Betonkust & Palmbomen II, comes the 'Leo/ Mirjam’. The track is a rendition of upbeat-melancholic, future- retroism, and a slice of saturated house music. The flip features a special, unyielding, acid-tempo rework by Legowelt. Likely to vanish soon.. TIP!

UK DJ and producer Rohan Walder, a.k.a. Randomer furthers his exploration into deep, spatial techno on Dekmantel’s UFO imprint. Fusing together two-step rhythms, cavernous beats, distortion, layered kicks, and an attentive detail to sound design, Randomer delivers an uncompromising array of abstract and destructive techno tracks.
Randomer’s approach to techno has always mantained a bassier, obtuse approach to sound, with polyrhythm beats that have helped set his sonic identity apart from his peers. Having released the Running Dry EP on DKMNTL UFO in 2016, Randomer is firmly establishing himself as one of the label’s favourite artists, with a resounding appearance at the Dekmantel festival in São Paulo, and a prime slot awaiting for him in the UFO tent at this year’s festival in Amsterdam.
The latest EP by the UK producer kicks off with 'Van Pelt', which skips on the off-beat at just over 130bmp, and textured with kicks that sound like two robust, metal dumpsters being hit together. Littered in the background are gongs, random percussive sounds, and something very alien, making it the perfect track for the UFO tent. 'Shadow Harp' is quintessential techno, with yet more thudding, dark-kicks layered against a syncopated plucked and jarring bass. 'Dissolve' drip and oozes with a sunken undercurrent of dystopic-melancholy, driving in ruptured reverb with a tribal percussive foundation. Final track 'Slicing’ dares to take things a little further, as the rounded-hollow kicks punctuate against more metallic, and analogue sounds - like a war of machines, set to a rhythm of abstract, free-flowing gust of techno cuts. Throughout the four-tracks, Randomer showcases his innate ability to excite and surprise with dynamism, and cutting sounds, with a technique that has been well-honed throughout the years. As he stated in an interview with Resident Advisor in 2016; “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Having launched in 2016, DKMNTL UFO has released critical cuts from Peter Van Hoesen, Anthony Parasole, and Voiski.

Belfast-producer Space Dimension Controller, a.k.a. Jack Hamill, may be landing his debut release on Dekmantel, but he’s definitely no stranger to their shores. With the three-track EP ‘Gaining Time’ clocking in at over 35-minutes, phasing between cosmic kaleidoscopic house, and serene, epic ambient, — a sonic atmosphere reminiscent of the background resonance the galaxy permeates on a daily basis — Hamill’s Dekmantel debut is closer to that of an album, than your average set of club 12”s.
Hamill began his production career with the space-disco EP ‘Journey to the core of the unknown sphere’, a record that truly set him apart from his peers, showcasing his technical nuance, and love of melodics. Since then he’s further established himself through conceptual-album projects on Ninja Tune, experimental dancefloor EPs on R&S Records, and experimentations on techno through Royal Oak. With his penchant for techno, and inclination towards painting musical narratives around science fiction and electro-futurism, Hamill is the next step in evolution towards Detroit-like, future music, albeit from Northern Ireland. His latest EP kicks off with ‘Everything is Better Now’ and a countdown that blasts off into a trans-dimensional 14-minute journey of warped kicks, pads that phase in-and-out of our conventional timezone, a bassline that doesn’t pop-up until the four-minute mark — like a gravity fluctuation abruptly peering through a temporary wormhole—, melody, character, and a free flowing story arc worthy of the Space Dimension Controller himself. ‘Everything is Better Now’ is an epic, techno-futurist journey of progressive, fluid, epicness. ’NRG Intersect’ is a beautiful 15-minute ambient transmission from outer space, played out with synth chords, across strummed melodies and a tape deck hitch here and there, like an uncoded language from a far off land - as if Brian Eno himself has forgotten to include the track on his lunar, legacy record ‘Apollo’. ‘Still Returning’ takes the ambient coding and minimises it yet further, like Solaris itself beckoning from its cloudy, deep, mystic blue oceans.

Super solid and hand-selected line-up on number 9: Tracks by Bufiman (Wolf Müller), Betonkust & Palmbomen II, Space Dimension Controller and Lena Willikens! Tip!!!!
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Dekmantel’s goings on in the world of events, festivals, and great music, the team behind the label have been releasing a record a month featuring some of their favourite artists, as part of a ten-year anniversary series collection. Featuring acts close to the label’s collective, debuts, and legacy talents the crew have always wanted to sign, the series has seen the likes of Gigi Masin, Call Super, Fatima Yamaha, and more. This penultimate EP, sees Dekmantel debut releases by Lena Willikens, Space Dimension Controller, and Dutch lo-fi star Betonkust and Palmbomen, in addition to a special cut by Bufiman.
The EP kicks off with a new track by Salon Des Amateurs resident Bufiman — real name Jan Schulte — who also goes by Wolf Müller. 'Hymn to the Moonface' ensures that percussion comes first and foremost, in this upbeat, prog-breaks, jaunty, summer cut following up on his Dekmantel debut "Peace Moves". Dutch duo Betonkust and Palmbomen release their first track on Dekmantel with 'Onrust Bij Tihange' - an ode to the Tihange Nuclear Power Station in Belgium. Specialists in crafting lo-fi, nostalgic sounds, Betonkust and Palmbomen do what they do best, with a pulsing, analog, nostalgic electro track that sounds as if its been fed through a VHS player, a top of recording of Miami Vice. What happened at Tihange through is another question.
Belfast-producer Space Dimension Controller, a.k.a. Jack Hamill adds some galactic, space-flare, mid-tempo, D-funk to the flip side. With a debut EP dropping on Dekmantel soon, SDC contributes one of his most beautiful compositions to date, highlighting his flair for melody, blending it astutely together with rich techno hat and snare combos. Concluding the record, is Dekmantel favourite, Lena Willikens. After so many appearances across so many of Dekmantel festivals, it’s a pleasure to have the astute selector release a rare production on the label. Willikens' dark wavey cut is something one would expect to hear in one of her sets, sounding like a modern take of a long-forgotten, and unknown krautrock band.

Dekmantel regular Matrixxman returns with the third, and final instalment in the Sector series, Part III: Polyphony. In this triptych, the producer from San Fransisco sets out to highlight the key components behind the sounds and style of techno, exploring the range within the confines of a particular limitation. Following Parts I and II, which looked at Rhythm, and Acid, Charles McCloud Duff charters the realm of Polyphony with four, meticulously produced techno tracks, expanding his repertoire of cult, dancefloor music.
Polyphony refers to the simultaneous combining of many notes in a musical sequence. In electronic music, this specifically refers to the role of the synthesiser - such as the Minimoog, ARP Odyssey, which can produce different pitches simultaneously. Polyphony has been an integral characteristic of the genre’s sound for over a quarter of a century, and can be heard in many key records, living a the sonic forefront of these four tracks.
”Sector Series: III Polyphony” provides an exercise in melody and polyphony. Throughout the EP, swaggering rhythms are inter-washed with a sea of multi-melodious, reverberated notation. ‘Initiation’ resonates with the grandiosity, and harsh claustrophobia of early Underground Resistance. ‘Access Granted’, drives hard with pulsing effects, with a dystopic, rhythmic cacophony of euphony. ‘Desert Planet’ plays around with a differing tempo, imagining a more fantastical vision of music, echoing back to earlier Plastikman productions, using a vast sonic spectrum to conjure up a colour palette of alien imagery. ‘Horizon’ rounds things off; a track that builds on minimalism with a progressive composition, allowing the polyphonics to drive the track, harnessing the adept production qualities that Matrixxman has come to be recognised for.

Gal (Juju) and Jordan (Jordash) return home to the Dekmantel stable for their fourth LP. It’s their most complete record to date. A series of purpose-written compositions, that highlight their maturity as musicians, and adept dexterity in the studio.

Without the pairing of Juju & Jordash, there would be no Dekmantel. The duo are an integral part of the label’s history, dating back to 2009 when they where they were the first act to release on the imprint. The two vagabonds can often be found performing live at various outdoor festivals and renowned clubs around the globe, jamming away behind a tabletop of buttons, knobs, synths, and drum machines - like a retro, control-station from Star Trek - albeit one that hums along with the jazz-centric, discordant house, and techno whirrings played by the musicians.

Nowadays Juju & Jordash have evolved far beyond their ’oddball house’ moniker. Their freestyle approach to performance, and immaculate refined sounds have became somewhat more defined, in a style that’s unique, yet elaborate, with a sense of otherworldliness, not only befit for the dancefloor, but otherwise transcendental moments. Following on from their previous LP, 2014’s Clean-Cut, a record of primal, forward thinking, variations from the studio, Sis-boom-bah is an album steeped in studio traditionalism, with a direction towards composition. “We wanted the focus of this album to be the music and not necessarily the process, so we made sure to perfect the performances before shifting the focus on to the production,” states Jordash about the record. Recorded over the space of a few, intense weeks, and built upon years of improvised live shows in front of thousands of listeners, Sis-boom-bah was written around grooves written by Juju on the guitar, and Jordash on the Rhodes. It was the first album the duo have written using such an approach, and solely produced and mixed by Jordash in Amsterdam over the course of a year, making it their most authentic record to date.

Sis-boom-bah’s diverse, spiritual nature is built around Juju & Jordash's use of polyrhythms. The percussive sequenced grooves, and rhythmic backbone was generated using the Yamaha DX7, along with the Roland TR606 drum machine. This approach to rhythm can be heard from the outset within the very first track ‘Herkie’, an ephemeral, yet tribal approach to minimalist funk. The spirituality flows throughout the record, where it sounds like the duo have brought along the nature with them from the foresty raves. In actually fact, the background noise comes courtesy of “noise generators from two separate synthesizers, each with its own filter slowly opening and closing so it kinda sounds like waves or wind.” There are also nods towards their acid influences, with some surefire slices of house music too. Sis-boom-bah is still very much a Juju & Jordash record, yet it's one with a greater depth, musically and stylistically. As electronic music albums go, you'll be hard pushed to find one more complete. "People should listen to this on a loud and clear sound-system," explains Jordash, "high on life, in their own special safe place."

Tidy Line-up including Randomer, Gilb’R, Voiski and Tolouse Low Trax...TIP!

In terms of experimental, techno, very few come close to the impact that this UK producer has had on the scene. With a sound that is rarely classifiable, Randomer’s Dekmantel contribution is a staggered, minimally-twisted, dark, kind-of-two step, awesome thing. Versatile Records’ Gilb’R has found himself an integral part of the Dutch scene since moving to Amsterdam, and brings forth his organic, percussive grooves that have helped define his music, and label to date. Salon Des Amateurs’ Tolouse Low Trax provides a seasoned session of amniotic, grizzled, hypnotic post-everything music, that is eerily discomforting and wonderfully pleasurable at the same time. And on the EP’s fourth track, Parisian techno wizard, Voiski adds layered organic, futuristic loops that work to stale the progress of time, and space.

To date the 10-year anniversary series has seen new releases by the likes of The Egyptian Lover, Levon Vincent, Gigi Masin, Fatima Yamaha, Burnt Friedman, and many more. Each record is held together by stylistic glue, touching upon the varying facets that come to define Dekmantel as a label, and event series. Along the way, many pioneering artists have been brought under the Dekmantel umbrella, making their debuts on the label – and this, the seventh EP is of no exception, with Gilb’R, and Tolouse Low Trax all releasing their first full tracks with the Dutch imprint, while Randomer and Voiski, having previously released on Dekmantel’s UFO techno side imprint, are also brought into the main fold.

On EP5, legendary German musician Burnt Friedman makes his Dekmantel Records debut with ‘Monsun’. The Berlin based artist, who built a reputation for himself through his explorations into obscure, finely-tuned, experimental dub through his label Nonplace, alongside his collaborative relationship with the late Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit, is one of the crucial, sonic manipulators of our time. ‘Monsun’ finds Friedman crafting flowing, percussive, dub techno that is both esoteric, and progressive. Befitting of a Dekmantel release. Alongside Friedman sits legendary Detroit act Ectomorph, aka. BMG & Erika, also making their Dekmantel inauguration, with a record that surmises’ the group’s anologue, style of Motor City beats.

There would be no Dekmantel celebration without longtime family members, JuJu & Jordash. With three LPs and countless EPs released on the imprint to date, alongside a sleuth of festival, and party appearances, the improvisational duo have become masters of off-kilter, and poly-rhytmic electronic funk, of which ‘Neon Swing’ -a fast-paced and extremely invigorative cut- is of prime example. And then there’s Dekmantel favourite Fatima Yamaha – an artist who has a keen ear for gentle, analogue hooks that have gone to become ample festival fodder. The Dutchman maintains an ear for the serene with the track ‘Platforms’, a sullen, yet beautiful ambient track, the drives deep into the emotive world of soft, tender, heartfelt music.

MCDE shares some of his most prized gems on this compilation that kicks of the limited Dekmantel 'Selectors' series. Check!

Scary looking new 12" on Amsterdam's Dekmantel imprint. 3 deep and insightful new JJ&J tracks with a top notch remix from Ra.H (Morphine). Limited edition of 500 copies!

Sticker stain on front cover. Minimal play wear.

Profondo Nero compiled by Cinema Royale Profondo Nero narrates a storyline that goes beyond the borders of Italy’s musical legacy. Cutting across the face of Italo disco’s leftfield musicians between the early and late ‘80s, Profondo Nero champions a multi-faceted sound that nods to the blueprint of Italo disco but tries to dig deeper. The music is unmistakably Italo disco but moves away from the familiar classic sound. Amsterdam based collector Cinema Royale stitches together eleven tracks from 1983 – 1989, celebrating a sound he fittingly describes as ‘leftfield Italo’. The compilation connects the dots between soulful disco (Louise Freeman – Mirage), synth-pop (Mark – Dreamland), electro-rap (Loukas Thanos – Jazzburger), breaks (Santoro – Lover Message), 80s dub disco (Jet Set – Love Break), Balearic (Isamar & Compañia - No Estas), boogie (Tom Hooker – Talk With Your Body) and proto-house (International Music System - An English ’93). Profondo Nero’s title salutes the legendary oeuvre of Italian horror director Dario Argento. His Profondo Rosso (1975) is a classic example of exquisite cinematic storytelling, boasting courageous colors, expressionist camera angles and an unforgettable Goblin score forming the ingredients for an intriguing piece of art. Profondo Rosso’s music, created the spark for a new Dekmantel Records endeavor led by Amsterdam based experimental film score connoisseur, record collector and DJ Cinema Royale. For those in the know of underground Amsterdam music culture, Arne Visser aka Cinema Royale is among the city’s longest standing record collectors. Born to an Italian mother and Dutch father, Arne was brought up on a diet of Italo disco in the 80s. Cinema Royale explains: ‘For Profondo Nero I took a plunge into the lesser known fringes of Italo disco. From there I tried to connect, among others, San Francisco boogie, Balearic, Japanese late era Italo-electro and synth-pop funk. I hope you can hear what I had in mind: an infectious showcase of my take on traditional Italo disco that will hopefully get a lot of listeners itching for a spin. It’s fair to say that lately this particular sound has seen a reappraisal and renewed interest. As a party-starting collection for entry-level connoisseurs or suave but lazy types, I hope Profondo Nero can be an education. I’m not claiming I’m the first DJ or collector to do so, but I did try do present something special by digging deep.’ It wasn’t my goal to unearth the most obscure tracks, instead I wanted to compose a compilation that takes you on a journey. ‘In my opinion the best DJs create something extraordinary out of illogical selections by combining music against all odds and showing different kind of moods along the way. There’s a certain amount of arrogance involved: you take the music out of its original context. But by doing so in a very conscious way, you might be able to enhance the power of the individual records. Hopefully each song on Profondo Nero provides an intimate and memorable experience.’

Vinyl is Close to VG+. Small sticker tear.

Celebrating the interconnected strands of head-tripping electronica she holds dear, Nadia Struiwigh arrives on Dekmantel with her fourth album of widescreen machine soul. Birds Of Paradise joins the dots between electro, techno, ambient and jungle as a reflection of the symbiotic relationship between the contrasting elements which drive all life on earth - the inescapable and chaotic forces of cause and effect. Echoing the free-spirited approach of electronic music in the mid-90s, it’s an album which rejects absolutes in favour of emotionally honest expression, true to Struiwigh’s deeply felt passion for the sounds and styles which defined her own journey into music. Since first emerging in the wider scene, Struiwigh has ably demonstrated her instinct for different sonic approaches across her accomplished career, whether exploring expansive ambience on album projects or holding down the physical intensity of a residency at Berlin techno temple Tresor. Her 2017 debut album Lenticular on Central Processing Unit most closely resembles the approach on Birds Of Paradise, where introspective beat constructions and nuanced sound design folded into a natural, flowing whole unbound by perceived rules around genre. The narrative flow uses contrasting energies to glide though distinctive spaces, unfolding with the considered pace of a truly immersive listening experience.

From the rich, undulating beatless pastures of ‘jsf48’ to the intricate mechanics of ‘02nd’, the dubby downtempo of ‘cmmn cmmn’ to the crunchy beatdown of ‘Dreamsynth’, the spaces Struiwigh defines on Birds Of Paradise are brilliantly vivid and bound together by an affinity for emotionally-charged ambience. At times the effect is nostalgic, calling to mind the exotic ecosystems of Future Sound Of London or Higher Intelligence Agency, but even these passages are charged with a restless futurism informed by the imagined vistas of science fiction as a comment on the realities of the here and now.

Widely recognised for her expertise in a multitude of production processes (not least her extensive knowledge of outboard gear), Birds Of Paradise pools Struiwigh’s devotion to her craft into an exquisite instant-classic to be savoured and absorbed in the same fashion as so many iconic electronica albums which have come before.