Dekmantel Mix Series Archive 1-500

@le-motel is a film composer, graphic designer and producer who draws on his worldly travels to make richly immersive music. It comes detailed with field recordings from remote locations, visual cues from his design work and a mix of the organic and the synthetic and has mixed up everything from jazz to juke, techno to hip hop. As well as running Maloca Records he has picked up props from Gilles Peterson for an album for New Zealand’s Cosmic Composition, has collaborated with Fuzati on Ombrage Éditions went solo into a breaks, bass and grime fusion on YUKU in summer. Now the Kiosk Radio resident arrives in our podcast series with 60 minutes of earth-quaking global rhythms. The tempos are slow to start with but the impact is heavy from off. Lithe minimal drums fizz with dystopian energy and evolve from deep and dubby to broken and intense as Le Motel ramps up the pressure and keeps your body moving in ways only he can.

@loekfrey is a name that now sits up there with some of the most exciting talents to have emerged from the Dutch scene in recent times. It's his unique blend of IDM, techno, breakbeat and drum & bass that has turned so many heads, not least with his Decipher album on home label Omen Wapta which was a widescreen soundscape of varying intensities and tempos. His ability to veer from the intricate and experimental to the hallucinatory and vibrant is second to none as he proves with his mix for us this week. It is a special one that is fully live and made up entirely of his own productions so makes for a perfect window into his world. Inside you will find 60 atmospheric minutes that soon immerse you in cinematic cosmic ambiance and hurried minimal rhythms embellished with ghoulish voices and dark undertones that unite both body and mind. It's a sleek and linear journey defined by the constant presence of a supple and pulsing bassline that transports you to distant future worlds in style.

As the updated old saying might go, life is like a Lydo set - you never know what you're gunna get. This New York City-based interdisciplinary artist has plenty of tricks up their sleeve and a real love of mixing up genres in ways you wouldn't think possible. They have done so across Europe and North America and have a hardcore following at home where they run the legendary X-TRA.SERVICES. It makes regular seasonal appearances at BASEMENT, where LYDO (@lydole) is also a resident, and is a safe place to party for queer, trans, and non-binary people of colour. LYDO's selections for us this week blow open the usual boundaries of techno. It's a mix of contrasts, where barrages of noise and malfunctioning machines are lit up by the most gorgeous melodies. Thumping and heavy rhythms are offset by wispy and light-emitting synth leads as energy levels are masterfully controlled. They build to moments of real intensity before being boiled down to pent-up promise and heads-down grooves. Somehow these sounds are both retro yet future, animalistic yet human, and they are proof that LYDO is a standout contemporary talent.

Benedikt Frey (@freybenedikt) has been on a journey of musical adventure and exploration over the last 15 years. He has made everything from deepest house to bottomless dub, UK jungle to irresistible edits of Notorious BIG. Those early forays came on labels like Nous'klaer Audio and Hivern Discs but in the years since the German has looked more to industrial and post-punk for inspiration. His Fastlane album on ESP Institute this summer blended those vibes with his own take on techno and resulted in his most accomplished and singular work yet. Now, the Lopasura label head steps up with an extra special two-hour mix that peers into the farthest corners of his sound. It is the sort of all-consuming trip that plays out like a mind movie as it works through serval different chapters - some heady and deep, some direct and unsettling, always with great control. Whether laying down electro, wave, techno or serious bass weight, Benedikt Frey is always taking you somewhere new.

African Head Charge is a legendary psychedelic dub outfit who have recently returned to their home label On-U Sound with A Trip To Bolgatanga, their first new album in 12 years. As always it finds the peerless Adrian Sherwood at the controls and joins the dots between what the collective has done before and what they are doing now, all with a distinctly Ghanian twist. The signature drums and chants remain at the core of the album of course, as well as plenty of other thrilling new sonic concoctions on keys, guitar, percussion, strings, vocals, kologo and more. It's the latest chapter in a fascinating story that has already seen them release some 16 albums since its inception in 1981. This week's mix is a deep dive into the uniquely melon-twisting sounds of African Head Charge. Sherwood's mastery at the controls means sound is twisted and contorted, dubbed out and reverb-rich from start to finish. Traditional dub sounds melt away into ghoulish vocal passages, unhinged instrumentals come and go and the collective's signature sense of dark soul and mystic ritual holds the whole thing together in a spellbinding fashion.

@surusinghe is one of many exciting Naarm/Melbourne artists to have broken through in the last couple of years. She has been working behind the scenes in the industry for a decade but only started to release her own music in 2022. Now based in London where she has co-founded the Phenomena label, she has an international mix of influences that make her club-ready sounds utterly thrilling. They all draw on the fact that she is a clubber first and foremost, and one proud of her Sri Lankan heritage. She goes big over the course of an hour for us this week and threads together plenty of body-popping rhythms from dembow to techno to wobbly London dubstep. She drops in several of her own tunes, one of which is unreleased, as are two others from Doctor Jeep and Tom Kami. It's a fresh and futuristic workout of high-octane sound from an adventurous DJ who always brings the party in fresh new ways.

After a busy few weeks having plenty of festival fun, our podcast is back and rolling with self-certified 'rave mom' Partok next up. He's played standout sets at Glastonbury and Panorama Bar this summer and still regularly returns home to Israel to play all-night-long sets. It is there, as a resident at the Tel Aviv club The Block that he first made an impression many years ago. Since then his endless explorations of all forms of techno have earned him an international following. Partok brings his own distinctive party sound to our series this week with an electrifying mix of peak-time fun. He packs plenty in, too, dextrously switching up the mood as he weaves through evocative and emotional sounds that aren't afraid of a tender melody or soulful vocal, but are always powered by crisp drums. From banging grooves and brain-frying synth textures to psychedelic loops and hands-in-the-air piano chords, it's a high-definition, big-hearted selection that leaves you feeling good.

Back from another festival dream, we’re kicking off September with a razor-sharp mix by @mariemontexier. Fully based on the artist’s exceptional vinyl collection, this Dekmantel Podcast is a must-hear introduction to a future star.

Australian Kia very quickly rose up through the grimy after-hours rave scene of Melbourne to make her mark on the international stage. Now Berlin-based, her unique grasp of rhythm is rooted in a love of bass, IDM and deeper techno though she is adept at exploring a wide range of moods within those worlds. She has done so at places like ADE and our own festival and extends her good taste to the curation of her Animalia imprint and its ambient sub-label Cirrus as well as her own original tracks on Nous'klaer Audio. In this week's mix, Kia showcases a colourful and kaleidoscopic take on techno which she says was awakened by an early trip to Japan's famously head Labyrinth festival. It's a hi-fidelity feast of supple rhythms, icy synths and deep space ambiance that unfolds in late-night fashion. The melodies are as delicate as silk, the drums rubbery yet punchy. It's high-paced future music that manages to be as delicate and beautiful as it is dynamic.

Tbilisi's impact on the techno underground cannot be overstated thanks to the work of artists like Salome. Though now based in Berlin, her sound is very much a product of the Georgian scene - heavy, breakbeat-rich techno with big trance-infused melodies and dramatic atmospheres alongside plenty of electro. It has come on the likes of Lobster Theremin and Standard Deviation while she also recently remixed Jensen Interceptor. On this week's mix, Salome Gvetadze folds in all her influences from hard house to industrial to cook up an eye-watering soundtrack that is pure dystopia. It's a mix of brutally distorted low ends and earth-shattering warehouse sounds brought to life by bright synths, shards of glassy melody and twisted metal textures. Though physical and unrelenting, it's all richly layered so there is always a freaky voice to follow or a melodic thread to pull at as you're ever more consumed by the sheer force of it all.

Martyn is the finest example of an artist who exists outside traditional genre boundaries. Ever since the mid-90s, the Dutchman has operated in his own adjacent worlds while drawing on UK bass hybrids, techno and electro to cook up singular rhythms and unique moods. The 3024 label head has always used his platform to bring through new talent, and now also mentors young artists with his own Patreon program. This sits next to his ever spell-binding performances in the club and eye-opening monthly Darkest Light show on NTS, which is a deep dive into his love of jazz. This week's mix is a 70-plus minute snapshot of Martyn's sound, which is as timeless as ever. From the crispness of Detroit electro to the off-beat thump of bass via his deep techno lit up with glistening electronics, it is a perfect blend of body and head and one full of brazen moves. There's a switch to jazz-laced broken beat and low, then the slow wobble of dubstep before a rebuild towards old school jungle that proves this is the sound of a true master at work.

Argentina-born but Barcelona-based, Tunik's real home is at the forefront of the underground. As a DJ, he has a knack for unearthing overlooked records and turning them into hot ID requests. His fledgling production career has already yielded high-class results since 2020, with EPs on My Own Jupiter alongside its founder Nicolas Lutz, and more on Furthur Electronix. Each one is a blend of industrial cosmic sounds, with paranoid atmospheres and low-slung yet mechanical grooves that are both spooky yet seductive and next up is his A New Dawn EP on our own label. It further deepens Tunik's journey into dark wave synths and machine-made rhythms packed with emotion. He goes long on this week's podcast with a two-hour deep dive into his signature blend of house, techno and electro. There is plenty of room for everything from spaced-out rhythms to more corrugated machine funk. It's a forward-thinking selection that always feels like it comes back from the future whether deep and pensive or more jacked up and physical. A superb, floor-facing selection for non-stop dancing.

Quest is one of those new school selectors who have taken the art of crate digging to an all-new level. Italian-born, Berlin-based but having spent time in London working at the legendary Vinyl Pimp, he has long been mining the depths of everything from UKG to outré techno, Italian hip hop to long-lost house. Importantly, he uses those sounds to tell his own stories, often with an air of mystery and intrigue that plays out like an adventure into the unknown. Many mixes follow a traditional arc of increasing energy levels but in this week's podcast, Quest plays with those expectations to build up and then pull back, threading together minimal rhythms then raw and crunchy wave sounds. Twisted electronics lead into celestial acid and the smooth and seductive sits next to the dark and edgy. It's a low-key, low-lit selection that draws from mutant strains of house, techno and electro that are both futurist and dystopian. Quest might be his moniker, but it is also a perfect description of his mission.

@djdanifox is at the heart of Lisbon's underground and a driving force in batida, the sound of the city's Afro-diasporic underground. It's a heavy sound with rhythms influenced by kuduro, tarraxo and Lisbon ghetto, the melodies of techno and percussive layers from Africa. Most recently Danifox has offered up Ansiedade, a second album on Príncipe Discos that explores space, hypnotic loops and rich instrumentation while never straying far from the dance floor. His own talk-singing adds a newly introspective layer to the sound that makes it all the more potent. This week's mix is both a superb batida primer for the newly initiated, but also a compelling overview of where the sound is at right now for long-time fans. In the space of 60 minutes, Danifox explores all avenues from the languid and loose to the pounding and physical. It's a mix that is always on the move as mystic flutes lead into tin-plated percussion, whirring synths melt into balmy late-night chords and broken rhythms become more seductive. As the days are heating up and summer hits full swing, there are few better soundtracks to an afternoon in the sun than this.

LA-based Canadian artist Jessy Lanza has brought dance and pop music together and elevated both art forms in the process. At the heart of her work are her own sensual vocals. They bring human warmth and emotion to vibrant and uptempo grooves and result in music that is both energetic and accessible yet personal and honest. Next to critically acclaimed studio albums for Hyperdub, she has made a fine entry into the DJ-kicks mix series and toured solo from Asia to Australia. Europe to North America. Her latest album is her broadcast and boldest yet - Love Hallucination features work from producers such as Pearson Sound, Jacques Greene, Tensnake, Paul White, and Jeremy Greenspan and conforms Lanza to be out in a class of her own. Lanza brings her feel-good vibes to the podcast series this week, not least with a couple of her own exclusive new cuts as well as one mysterious known gem early on. They add up to a perfect representation of her sound - the first half is a feel-good mix of retro-future boogie, glossy 80s r&b, party-starting funk bombs and many more irresistible moments of pure heat from Brenda and The Big Dudes, Debbe and The Code and Gino Soccio. Things then turn more towards the dance floor with deep house from Frankie Knuckles, bass-heavy rhythms from Addison Groove and a piano banger from Mall Grab. It's just the sort of happy, sunny mix you will be coming back to all summer long.

French-Canadian @mariedavidson_official never sits still for long. She is a Montreal native who has also lived in Berlin, and is one of the scene's most revered live acts but also transitioned into DJing with spectacular results. She makes it all from minimal wave to techno to electroclash whether working solo, as part of the Essaie pas duo, or alongside L'Œil Nu on Ninja Tune. Her own vocals often feature heavily in her work and as well as direct club material she has excelled in the long-player format with several standouts over the last decade. All of that creative genre abandonment is embodied in this week's mix, which is as punchy as they come. Lashings of squealing synths and hyper-speed electro-tech kick things off with real intent and the intensity never drops: there are dark punk bangers and synth-heavy kraut cuts next to pummelling deep techno punishers, more lithe disco and wave sounds and lashings of trance euphoria. What a ride.

@dj-koolt has been pivotal to the rise of his native Uruguayan scene ever since he started spinning in the 90s. Rooted in Montevideo, he made it one of the most exciting places to hear minimalist dance music. Its spiritual home is Phonotheque, the club he co-founded a decade ago and where he lays down his forward-thinking sounds to a devoted and hardcore fan base. The scene Godfather goes big for us this week with a two-hour deep dive into his sound. It perfectly showcases his silky transitions and ability to tell stories on the dance floor. Acid, breaks and techno are the foundational sounds but they are embellished in signature style with plenty of spaced-out designs, a sense of gritty industrial futurism and plenty of avant-garde electronics.

For @fafi-abdel-nour, music is a means of building community. The Syrian-born, Amsterdam-based artist looks to make a better future through human connections. He does so with his own LHBTQIA+ club night concept BUTTS at OOST in Groningen where he plays a free-spirited mix of records with real soul. They come from across the genre spectrum and mix up the old and the new, always with love as the messages and ecstatic sensations in high supply. Fafi has a way of effortlessly winning you over with his smooth grooves, and that is evident right from the start here: balmy house sweeps you up and douses you in positive cosmic vibrations and that sense of warmth never dissipates through faster, jazzier house, thumping euphoria and nonstop neon grooves. Every slick transition turns up the temperature a notch and takes you ever closer to real dance floor nirvana.

"Genre: Not Applicable" says one of Bogatá-born DJ and producer @bitterbabe's online bios, and she's not wrong. She mixes up and blends global club styles from Colombian guaracha to Venezuelan raptor house with high energy and rich percussion on labels like TraTraTrax and is a member of the ECO and Latitudes collectives. She is focussed on amplifying electronic artists and labels across Latin America while herself being on a near-constant tour of Europe's finest clubs. After a long time entrenched deep in the Miami scene, she recently made the move to Berlin. On this week's mix, Bitter Babe takes you on a wild ride through her unique rhythmic world. Everything she plays is defined by big drums, but how they fall and where they take you is always a thrill. You'll recognise hints of jungle, there are nods to techno and flashes of rave intensity but mostly these are contorted in between sounds that captivate mind and body with equal intensity.

Born and raised in New York but now transplanted to Berlin, @gabriellekwarteng has quickly become a Panorama Bar regular known for her eclectic radio shows. The move to Europe widened the scope of her DJ sets which tend to be high energy and punchy with plenty of techno, while on the airwaves she is likely to serve up a mix of boogie, Afro-disco, and neo-soul. That broad approach no doubt stems from growing up in the musical melting pot that is the Bronx, but also from childhood summers - and later a year studying abroad - in London. Add in a desire to champion the classic Black American genres and you have the foundations of the Kwarteng sound. All this is reflected in this week's mix which traverses global genres with effortless enthusiasm. Hefty bass cuts and weighty rhythms build into acid-tinged workouts, sounds of the diaspora spread across the course of 70 minutes and energy levels drop even when the mood changes. It's a great snapshot of a DJ at ease with worldly sounds and the ability to thread them all together into a communal dance floor experience.

London-based Tash LC funnels the sounds of Africa and the Diaspora into everything she does. From radio show host to DJ, label head to party promoter, she shines a fresh light on myriad scenes, subcultures and selections. In the club that might be a mix of Kuduro or Gqom, while on the airwaves you're as likely to hear tasteful Afro-jazz. Her own club nightsB oko! Boko! and Club Yeke - the latter of which also became a label - have championed the sounds of the global underground and earned Tash LC a deserving reputation as a top-level tastemaker. She crams some 40-odd tracks into this week's most lively of mixes. It's an adventurous trip that spans Kylie Minogue edits and leftfield club cuts, and weaves together jungle atmospheres from Donkey Kong with soul-drench rhythms. This is music for the dance floor, the back garden and the car. It is always sunny, has an effortlessly uplifting energy and fills the airwaves with positivity.

CCL (@ccl-url) has many tricks and plenty of surprises up their sleeve. London-born, US-bred but now Berlin-based, they are playful in what they play but serious about how they play it, whether that's head spinning 160bpm cut, "cowgirl-breaks or wiggle steppers." The key for this multidisciplinary artist and former New Forms festival curator is to find the similarities and differences between shades of sound and rhythm and exploit them to spellbinding effect. As a producer, they are no different and have always managed to find fresh in-between sounds on labels like Fever AM and Discwoman. The singular DJ steps up this week with almost two hours of pure sonic adventure. It's a perfect showcase of how they can soundtrack imaginary worlds from humid future jungles to robot dances in the sky. You'll hear rhythms you could never imagine and contort your body in impossible ways, all while admiring the dexterity of the DJ who has threaded together such a trippy trip.

Woody92 (@woodyninetytwo) is a true experimentalist who operates at the fringes of the electronic scene. The Dutchman draws on his interest in graphic design to come at sound from a different perspective. His psychoactive mix of leftfield, techno and minimalism is rare and deep. He has built an international but close-knit circle of creative friends and collaborators who all work on fresh future music for his Omen Wapta label which he calls "a transitory playground for the imagination." In this week's sublime and subliminal mix, you'll hear plenty of upcoming Omen Wapta releases and collaborations Woody92 has worked on with different artists. He says he has researched other parts of his musical self in this mix and tried to translate uptempo rhythms "that reflect a continuous movement into temporal realms - ancient fundamentals smudged and sculpted into a deconstructed landscape full of ancestral constructions.” It's a truly mind-expanding listen that opens up all new pathways.

Dutchman Kennedy (@kennedyams) is a mainstay of Amsterdam's underground. He's worked in record shops, hosted radio shows, thrown his own parties and played the city's best venues as well as further afield at places like About Blank, Tresor and Griessmuehle in Berlin. In the studio, he aims to translate his dreams into music using an array of machines. His grooves dance in the middle ground between soul, techno, house and jazz, with nods to the atmospheres of Detroit and the rhythms of Africa. He serves them up on his own Dream Machine Recordings and most recently collaborated with Amsterdam jazz veteran Han Litz on his latest 12". It brought a fresh dimension to his always cultured music and with this week's mix, he proves that as a DJ he is no less considered in what he does. It is a selection of serene hi-tech soul powered by dynamic drums and overlaid with lush chord work. There is plenty of rough-edged analog jack, wonky acid and deep and dusty techno in the first half before a party breaks out with loved-up disco. A slow descent into more dark and trippy sound worlds closes down a mix that has the haziness of a half-remembered dream you wish you could return to.

@toumbaa sits on the crest of a wave of experimental artists in his hometown of Amman in Jordan. He mixes up a passion for UK rave and various sounds on the hardcore continuum with the traditional rhythmic forms of his homeland. After previous outings on All Centre and Hypnic Jerks, a superb debut EP on Hessle Audio last month has made him one of the most talked about producers in the game right now. His staggered broken beats, hefty sub bass and knack for a catchy rhythm are exceptional in design and execution. As a DJ he is no less meticulous: this week he works through some 35 tracks in 90 minutes, many of which are his own singular creations. They sit amongst work from the likes of Scratcha DVA, Migos, DJ Paypal and The Maghreban in a mix that is brilliantly loose and lithe to start with before tightening the screw and locking you into an all-body workout. In effortlessly joining the dots between the music he grew up with and the UK music he has grown to love, Toumba offers up all-new sound worlds.

Lucas J. Hatzisavas has several different aliases but as Reptant (@reptant_the_lizard) since 2017, he has really excelled. The Melbourne-based reptilian has spread his electro sounds far and wide on always classy labels from Kalahari Oyster Cult to Trust to Craigie Knowes. His acid-laced machine sounds are often jammed out live before being edited into tracks. They are imaginative, bristle with energy and feed into an alien lizard narrative he's built around the project, not least with his debut album Return To Planet X'trapolis. This week we're invited to peer through a window into that otherworldly universe with 60+ minutes of kinetic rhythms and cinematic sound designs. All shades of electro come up from sleazy and ghetto to sci-fi and smooth. Plenty of acid lines weave their way throughout as Reptant slithers from dark corners of the cosmos to strobe-lit dance floors amongst the stars.

He might hail from France but @simocell has always worn his love for UK music on his sleeve. It is no wonder then that his intricate broken beats, bass heavy grooves and halftime techno has come on vital labels like Livity Sound and The Trilogy Tapes. He is a frequent collaborator too, with everyone from Peter van Hoesen to Hodge, but his own signature sound design always stands out. The TEMƎT Music head's Selectors set from 2021 remains one of the most impressive multi-genre showcases we have heard and this week the Paris-based DJ repeats that trick once more. Over the course of 100 minutes, Simo Cell goes deep into everything he has always been about: heavy rhythms designed to move the body, heady synth designs that are intricate yet powerful, and a masterful control of energy and flow which means he can lock in a dance floor whether firing out high-speed juke or teasing with slow and supple dub. It's a whirlwind ride that will awaken every fibre of your being.

@suze_ijo hails from the vibrant city of Rotterdam but her sound is inspired by her own heritage and takes in scenes from all over the world. She is a passionate collector of broken beats, techno, and breaks from West Africa, South America and the West Indies who has made her mark both in the club and her radio shows. She has hosted her own proudly diverse parties and always works to make the dance floor a place of harmony and togetherness. This week, she weaves together a lush array of soulful sounds across the house spectrum. The grooves are smooth and analogue and flow freely as water as emotive vocals, warm late-night synths and cuddly pads all make for an intimate and heartfelt selection for cosy dance floors. It's a perfect way to awaken your week and enrich your senses.

Gamma Intel (@gammaintelligence) is a sonic explorer who can rewire your brain with his left-of-centre approach to sound and rhythm. The Dutchman is a master of contrast between the dark corners of the dance floor and moments of emotional light. He draws on broken beats, acid, techno and electro but skews them through his own lens on labels like brokntoys, Pinkman and Mechatronica. He recently co-founded the Nerve Collect label with friend Identified Patient, and will release his E.M EP there at the end of March. Gamma's love of creative sampling and meticulous sound design carries over into the music he plays in his sets. This week's mix is perfect proof as it twists and turns on contorted basslines and muscular drum patterns. It's an intense and futuristic listen that goes through moments of all-out hand-in-the-air dance floor joy and heads down marching to slick jungle workouts and dystopian worlds of bass. Few DJs can manipulate sound in such thrilling ways.

Swiss pro­duc­er and DJ NVST (@ghettonast) likes to shock her crowd. She thrives on clashing sounds, scenes, genres and textures into uncomfortable new worlds, all of which is a result of coming up from the illegal party scene in her homeland. She works hard to develop and preserve that native scene in many different ways: she is part of the Female:Pressure fam­i­ly, co-runs the French label Big Sci­ence and hold­s down res­i­den­cies on LYL­Ra­dio and Rinse FM. This week's mix was recorded in Le Bourg, a club in Lausanne that NVST tells us has recently been taken over and is working hard to bring something fresh to the scene. The mix is filled with unreleased tracks from NVST's favourite artists and forthcoming tunes from labels like Big Science, Kindergatern and moshtrq next to some of her all-time favourites. It opens with a collage that includes Tamika D. Mallory's 'State of Emergency' speech of which she says "I remember the first time I heard it so accurately; I knew I should include it symbolically as well because it resonates so much with me."

For our first mix of the year, we keep it homegrown with Rotterdam duo @black-cadmium. Mike Richards and Joginda Macnack's artist alias is influenced by two things - their Surinamese descent, and a poisonous chemical which they say is a metaphor for "the discrepancy between one's capabilities and the world's view." Their own capabilities lay in mixing up everything from hi-tek to Detroit tech, London grime to Dutch electro. They have landed on labels like Vault Wax and really open up their collections for this week's podcast. In usual Black Cadmium fashion, anything goes here as they race through rave, bass, acid and club with relentless energy. The mixing is tight and quick as tracks fly by at a high pace but always in a great balance between the mind, body and soul. A jacked-up soulful house cut will lead to a double-time bass workout then deep and punchy Motor City sounds make way for head-wrecking bass futurism. Hold on tight, then, because this is one thrilling ride.

Truth is, we’ve been dying to share this one. PSY X records' @buttechno aka Pavel Milyakov takes on the brand new Dekmantel Podcast. Buttechno's ability to manipulate sound and massage rhythm into new forms is laid bare in this week's mix. It starts off as deep and atmospheric - swampy dub, sub-aquatic bass, funky static electricity - and then slowly morphs into more fulsome body music. It's never less than a warm, elastic take on techno that is stripped back but packed with an inviting and playful charm.

Safety Trance (@cardopusher) is a new alias from Luis Garban aka Cardospusher, the Venezuelan noise-mangler who has spent 20 years twisting together EBM, acid, hardcore, wave, acid and techno. In the past, this moniker has seen him work alongside Rosalia and Planningtorock on tracks from Arca ́s KiCk series for XL Recording, and earlier in the year he dropped his Noches de Terror EP on Boysnoize Records. It found him exploring new possibilities within the world of reggaeton, always with his own textural twist. And that mission continues in this week's podcast which collides stiff, angular rhythms with caustic industrial, acid, rave and trap. It's a strobe-lit selection of head-thrashing electronic music packed with girt and grime. As Garban notches up the tempo things get ever more wild and noisy so that, eventually, you're left completely consumed by the dystopian fuzz. What a thrill.

London-based pair Jack Rollo and Elaine Tierney aka Time is Away are continually exploring the relationship between time, place and power. They do so in a wide variety of ways from exhibitions for the Arts Council England to site-specific sound works, research projects to their nearly 10-year-strong NTS show. Each one weaves spoken word pieces with atmospheric music into soundscapes that physically and mentally move you. The pair's exceptional record collection and ability to manipulate your mood are laid bare once more in this week's mix. It's an escapist daydream where gently lilting rhythms melt away into psychedelic dub with intimate vocal whispers. Indian meditations captivate the heart and mind while lo-fi guitar fuzz lulls you into a hypnagogic state. It's a delicate but powerful world of sound that reveals more and has an ever-deeper impact each time you listen.

@maxabysmal moved a long way when he left his Sydney home and settled in Amsterdam, and his music travels just as far. He is as able to lay it down in the Greenhouse as the Selectors stage, but trying to predict what you might hear is useless: he plays across the board from tripped-out percussive sounds to spacey jungle to via a cross-seciton of forward-thinking Latinx electronic sounds. The dexterity of his DJing is frankly dizzying and this week's mix proves it. Within just 15 minutes he has maneuvered from a heartbreaking lo-fi soul opener to a strobe-lit gabber banger. After that, he slows it down and speeds it up several times. Irregular club rhythms get smoothed out into Spanish trap and there's still room for jungle, bass and reggaeton. It's a wild and worldly ride.

@livwutang has really arrived on the world stage in the last year. The Seattle-raised, NYC-based artist came up through DIY raves and pirate radio and is now a regular at cult clubs and festivals across North America, as well as being booked in for next year's Dekmantel Selectors. Her sound freely moves between dub, Central and West Africa rhythms and a history of Black American music. All this comes out in her widescreen sets, her curation of the Eto Ano label and her hosting of their show on The Lot Radio. The confidence of her selections and ability to shift through moods from the serene to the deep, the energetic to the melodic is evident in this week's mix. It slowly works through the gears from dubbed-out depths to buoyant club rhythms via tribal techno. There is an ever-present mysticism and spirituality that adds an extra layer of intrigue to the body-popping rhythms and it's that which will keep you coming back for more.

Laani (@alanna-henry) is all about introducing you to music you love but don't yet know it. It’s the Londoner’s exceptional taste in all things jazz and Afro, soul and hip hop which makes that so. She demonstrates it with her regular The FullJoy Experience shows on Worldwide.fm and her work with Strut Records, but this week she heads into a different world of sound. House, acid and breaks are the order of the day here with cuts from the likes of Lady Blacktronika, Paula Tape, Soichi Terada and K-Lone all making for a lively selection. There is a classical leaning to start with as lush synth soul permeates the good-time grooves. Celebratory piano chords, peak time house and deeper moments all reflect the sound of a DJ able to play loose, free and with an irresistible sense of fun.

@french_ii likes it heavy. His breaks, percussion, drums and bass all hit hard and it's always been that way since he debuted this project in 2019. Teenage experiences at hardcore parties initially set this style in motion and the years since have seen him hone in a distinctly UK-leaning sound. As a DJ, member of the former Tilburg collective BANGANAGANGBANGERS and promoter of his own events, he is all about high-impact club sounds. Right now, the Dutchman releases them on the Intercept label and brings everything from UKG to bass, dubstep to electro. This week the man born Frank Klick twists and turns through slithering club rhythms that operate above 130 bpm. There is an icy sense of futurism to the atmospheres of tracks by mainstays of this scene like Al Wootoon, Sam Goku, Stenny and Shackleton. A couple of his own collaborations with Ozzy and King of Snake set the early tempo and from there you will have a very tough job of setting still as he works through an array of intriguing face-melters, body poppers and ass-shakers.

@anethamusic's first decade in dance music has been impressive indeed. Much of it is now on her own terms, too - she runs the Mama Told Ya label and agency where she drops her own glorious mix of techno, EBM and trance as well as platforming emerging artists. She is a resident DJ at Amsterdam's epic Awakenings as well as Le Sucre in her native France and Fuse in Brussels. Her "less is more" but always colourful and emotional take on techno is inspired by the fact she is a qualified architect and it is embodied in the title of her recent "Rules Are Meant to Be Broken EP" in collaboration with Ryan James Ford. Anetha's DJ dexterity is on full show in this week's 90-minute mix as she works through many different shades of high-tempo club music. There are passages of youthful and raved-up sounds, stripped-back warehouse rhythms and firing machine music. There are hints of everything from trance to gabber to EBM helping to add character to each track and it's that which makes this such a compelling listen from a new school star.

It has always been a struggle to sum up the sounds of Zuli. The Egyptian sound artist, producer and multi-instrumentalist is restlessly creative and unconventional in what he does. He can do everything from rap, IDM, footwork to hardcore jungle and experimental rhythms, and mainly on Lee Gamble’s UIQ label. He's also done a lot for his native Cairo scene as co-founder of both the Kairo is Koming (KIK) and AHOMA collectives, and former co-head of the city's alternate music venue VENT which later turned into a club night and festival. He's now firmly established in the wider European scene, not least in part thanks to his excellent radio show on NTS. There is no messing around on this week's mix. It's a dystopian soundtrack that unites Arab music, Chicago club, European techno and UK bass. Every track fizzes with energy, prickly percussion or distorted drums. It's intricate yet heavy, dense yet atmospheric and the warped designs and contorted rhythms make an art form of physicality.

Don't let @solid_blake's diminutive stature fool you: she plays with a ferocity and precision that flips Europe's most tasteful dance floors inside out. Born in Glasgow but operating out of Copenhagen, she was a founding member of the Apeiron Crew DJ collective, has produced as Historical Repeater with Ctrls and often plays with Mama Snake as she did at our own festival a few years ago. Her Rinse FM radio show is always packed with new sounds that have you desperate to find out more, as is this week's mix. It's built on bold, body-shaking rhythms that are elastic and acrobatic. They're loose and roomy to start before the kinetic energy builds through jungle cuts, thumping deep techno and unhinged club music. Though squarely aimed at the dance floor, these selections are detailed with freaky monologues or wild vocalisations that bring them to life outside the club. They're both deep but lively and run through with a subtle sense of party-starting fun.

@rhyw's take on electronic music is full throttle and high definition. The Welsh-Greek DJ and producer co-runs the Fever Am label with Mor Elian, where he releases alien club sounds with sci-fi details, industrial textures, cyborg vocals and syncopated beats. His densely detailed output has also come on the likes of Avian and Seilscheibenpfeiler where it goes from minimal to broken beat to electro, but always with plenty of sonic surprises. His "desire to sound different" has really come to the fore since his live Cassegrain project alongside Hüseyin Evirgen went on pause, and he proved that most recently with a new EP on Blawan and Pariah’s Voam label. All of this play out over a kinetic 65-minute mix served up for us this week. It's a lithe and lively workout with sleek sound designs and a future feel from start to finish. Each track brims with exquisite detail while the contrast of heavy drums and light-emitting synths brings a real sense of space. The whole thing adds up to artful body music with natural emotional intelligence.

Nueen has been mad busy in the last two years. The Barcelona-based Mallorcan has put out three albums of beautifully quiet and unhurried ambient. Each one has unfolded with its own intimate sense of narrative and showcased deft craftsmanship with both synth and guitar. The tunes drawn on the atmosphere of Nueen's home island so fits in with what you might call Balearic, but very much on its own terms. They are warm and gentle but underpinned with a melancholy that makes them all the more engaging. There is plenty of that on show across the opening of this week's podcast. Roomy arrangements are detailed with only the wispiest of pads but slowly a rhythm begins to emerge. It's dubby and dreamy and transports you out to sea on a sonic life raft that eventually sinks to the ocean floor. From there you roll along on supple drums, wispy pads drift by and shards of light pierce the surface. It is a perfect soundtrack to slowly awaken your soul on a lazy morning.

Amsterdam's @zohar01 operates from the shadows. Though she has a reputation for mysteriousness, there is no escaping the earth-rattling rhythms she lays down in the DJ booth. Leftfield electronics, distorted vocals and industrial sounds with 90s roots all feature in her sets as well as productions on the likes of Clone and her own DIY Zohar label. This month she dropped the second entry in her highly personal ZHR series in the form of her Object album, a mix of sound experiments, glitchy textures and abstract rhythms. This week's mix is full of similar sonic sorcery and musical black magic. Squealing electronics and fizzing textures evoke feelings of dystopia as crunching drums come and go but the tension is never let up. There are moments of eye-watering density but, just as often, empty spaces leave you hanging before the next thrilling rhythm arrives and takes you somewhere new. Brain and body music rarely collide in such a unique fashion.

Whenever you listen to a Dazion (@thedazion) DJ set or new club track, you can hear how much fun he has with his music. The Hague man likes it rough and ready whether making bleep techno, acid breaks or new beat with whatever bit of forgotten hardware he can find. He's done so on labels including Second Circle, Safe Trip and Animals Dancing and always manages to capture the essence of what made the rave days so glorious while updating it with his own leftfield character. Next up for him is Grooveboxxx, a new album on Dekmantel that pays homage to The Hague’s 80s and 90s club scene all made with just one bit of "entry-level gear," the Roland MC-303 Groovebox. Dazion opens this week's mix with a custom introduction inspired by the old Turn up the Bass TV spots and takes in some jams on that same MC-303 and a serval rips from early 90s rave CDs. It starts rather dreamy and serene before cracking up through the gears to get more weird. High energy rhythms, flailing percussive patterns and bulbous basslines all make for a helluva ride.

@djspit030 is a hybrid master. His eclectic sounds draw from a wide spectrum that takes in drill, ghetto house and drum & bass. In that regard, he is at the forefront of a new rave sound that is high energy and often extreme. His label Rascals Records represents that as does his own music on shows for Rinse FM, the sets he plays at places like Berghain’s Säule and on the Explorers podcast he runs as a means of investigating contemporary club sounds. In the mix for us this week he invites us deep into a world of elastic rhythm and funky drum patterns. The tunes he reaches for are often stripped back and sleek but always high impact, with plenty of sci-fi motifs and cavernous, otherworldly atmospheres. He calls his sound "twisted future bounce" and we couldn't put it better.

As @sleepd, childhood friends Maryos Syawish and Corey Kikos have greatly helped shape Melbourne's underground scene over the last decade. Between them, they have Iraqi and Maltese heritage and put out music on the likes of Incienso, Play On and Cocktail d'Amore Music as well as their own blog/party/label Butter Sessions. Like their expressive live show, it explores "the rave unconscious" so think everything from dreamy pads to driving rhythms, gritty electro to cosmic techno. This week's podcast is a superb showcase of their style: a mix that is constantly on the move, building momentum as rhythms go from elastic and bouncy to more driving and sleek. Percussion is perfectly sprinkled in to give extra texture, while nebulous synths add the colour as the pressure builds and builds. This is physical, psychedelic, emotional, trance-inducing electronic music that follows the familiar arc of a well-executed mix but in all new and unfamiliar ways.

We're delighted to arrive at our 400th podcast with CARISTA (@iamcarista) at the helm. Since winning a DJ competition a decade ago, the Utrecht native has not stopped. She is now a firm part of the European underground who has platformed plenty of talent on her own United Identities label, regularly plays our own festivals and hosts on NTS while also emerging as a fine producer in her own right. She has a knack for digging far and wide and playing anything from soul to house, garage to electric sounds, and she proves that here. Her mix offers fresh and forthcoming music from United Identities artists Conrad Soundsystem and Sansouni, classics from Louie Vega and Kerri Chandler and cutting-edge grooves from Livity Sound. It's a sensuous deep house selection to start with before smoothly moving through the gears with jazzy inflections, body popping bass rhythms and jacked-up percussive cuts. Across one essential hour, it encapsulates precisely what CARISTA is all about. Here's to the next 400!

Jasmín (@jasminhoek) is one of the latest talents to emerge from the ever-fertile Amsterdam scene. Like many of her generation, she is impossible to pin down with genre restrictions. She is bold and adventurous in her selections and has played everywhere from South Africa to New York where she unites club, techno, bass and plenty more with her elastic DJ style and knack for exciting rhythms. During the lockdown, Jasmín kept busy by getting to grips with Ableton so expect to hear some debut productions soon, but before that comes this week's mix. It's a muscular workout that threads together warped bass lines and slithering synths. A tribal element to the pounding drums speaks to our primeval urge to dance while psychedelic sounds wave their way in later as things get deeper and more involved. Despite the very different worlds from which these tracks are drawn, there is seamless mixing throughout which makes the trip all the more hypnotic.

Brooklynite @benbondy elevates ambient to a whole new level. He's done so over the course of more than 12 albums in just two years. Each one is like a dairy - a capturing of intimate feelings that translate into sensitive sounds that are subtle yet moving. He occasionally veers into downtempo and IDM, and has worked on collaborative projects like Blessed Kitty and xphresh. This week's mix is a deep dive into his edgeless world, where half-heard vocals drift in and out, cosmic dust glistens in a shard of light and smeared pads disappear off to infinity. The hazy sounds manage to be both romantic and psychedelic, insular yet hopeful. It is ambient but stuffed with such detail and texture that it plays out with the vivid imagery of a movie in your mind rather than just a soothing sonic wallpaper. Headphones are essential for this one.