Dekmantel Holland At Juno Download

Review: Dekmantel commence their fifth anniversary series with a weighty three-track offering. Awanto3 serves up a roaming 12 minutes of understated groove for the slow blend, employing a moody key line and punchy disco beat to ride out in a haze of warm-up bliss. Makam is a little more in yer face, taking a classic funk sound base to create a masterclass in feeling good without trying too hard. Lone brings his own inimitable style to bear on "Risttowe", full of electronica synth warbles and jacking beats yet still ploughing the same delirious, dreamy furrow that so much Dekmantel output manages to wind up in.

Review: It's been five years since the launch of Amsterdam's Dekmantel parties, and three since the label sprang into life. To celebrate, they're putting out three Anniversary Series singles featuring tracks from roster artists and likeminded friends. This second instalment in the series features a track apiece from Hundred20 and Hunee. The latter is in fine form, delivering an off-kilter analogue deep house jam that harks back to the glory days of Mr Fingers and Virgo Four. Hundred20's bizarrely titled "The Whale Mink Congregation" also has a touch of the Larry Heard about it, offering a heady mix of deep chords, clattering 808 percussion and languid melodies.

Review: It's rare these days that you have a spare 90 minutes to focus on an album, but Techno Primitivism is one of those albums that makes you want to change your lifestyle accordingly. Everything about this new album from Juju & Jordash breathes class, showcasing a blend of music that's fully representative of the Amsterdam based duo's styles and influences. At 15 tracks deep, the full beauty of Techno Primitivism will undoubtedly reveal itself slowly, the cheeky misnomer of the title hinting at Gal & Jordan's often revealed humour. Opening in grand style with the triple suite of "Stoplight Loosejaw", "Diatoms" and "Backwash", the duo set a hazy, atmospheric tone that remains throughout, with brief machine funk interludes such as "Slow Boat To Haifa" and "Rogue Wave" in between longer improvised explorations. Favourites on this album change with every listen, but you can't deny the potency of tracks such as "Powwow" or the Magic Mountain High referencing "Track David Would Play" or the superbly titled "Dr Strangepork". One of the albums of this year, without doubt!

Review: Dutch producer Makam has largely remained on the fringes of the acceptance his prolific output deserves. Based in The Hague, the producer cut an impressive swathe with his 2009 debut, the Sushitech released New York Hustler, and has been responsible for a steady stream of quality house in the subsequent period - mostly on the Berlin label. (Indeed we are still basking in the delights of Dreams Of Tommorow, a double 12" release on Sushitech that contained some of his finest work to date.) Having contributed to Dekmantel's Fifth Anniversary Series, Makam here graces the Amsterdam label with "What Ya Doin", which essentially picks up where he left off on the aforementioned Sushitech release, betraying his love for the heady times of house music's origins at The Music Box, playing a breathy vocal off against a procession of 909 rim shots. On the flip FunkinEven applies the deranged dynamics of his recent Apron endeavours to the track with typically explosive results.

Review: To date, Dekmantel's Anniversary Series of singles has proved to be something of a hit, delivering high quality deep house, acid and techno from such formidable talents as Hunee, Juju & Jordash, Skudge and Lone. Predictably, this fifth instalment is just as impressive as its predecessors, offering wildly contrasting fare from Redshape and Fudge Fingas. While the latter's fluid, loose, jazz-flecked "Light In My Life" impresses greatly, it's Redshape who wins the day. His "Flexx" is unashamedly powerful - a sweaty, percussive roller full of shuffling military drums, stargazing techno melodies, foreboding strings and booming bassline pressure. It's arguably his best for sometime.

Review: For the fourth part of the Dekmantel anniversary series, Skudge and San Proper go head to head with two varying levels of dark techno business. Skudge are in fine form, delivering one of their subtly melodic tracks that work around one repeated and tweaked refrain. San Proper spices things up nicely on his "Rattle (Station 2 Station)", as a grinding, industrial beat mixes with dense vocals, synths, speech samples and plenty more. The end result is a perfect example of the kind of steamy, sweaty haze of late night damage that Mr Proper has made his own.

Review: The coming months will see no less than three full length albums from Ukrainian producer par excellence Mikhaylo Vityk, which would be ridiculous for anyone else other than such a prolific artist. The first one arrives with Vityk adopting his recently unveiled Vedomir alias in typically intoxicating style with a self-titled album for the Dekmantel imprint. Veering from meditative moments of beatless analogue ambience to propulsive jacking house and glistening beat down, everything is tied together with Vedomir's undeniable grasp of intricate textural detail. Highly recommended.