Review: Its festival operation may have enjoyed its most successful year so far, but Dekmantel remains true to its underground roots on this look back at 2019. There's the off beat disco of Freedom Engine, Mathew Jonson's new project, as well as left of centre curveballs from Lamellen and Epsilove. That said, the Dutch collective also understand what's needed to rock a dance floor. Fittingly, 2019 includes the electronic disco of Jex Opolis "Earth Boy" and Betonkust & Palmbomen II's acrid acid workout "Underground Dance Floor", which both appeared on the label earlier this year- as well as the timeless icy techno classic of Terrace's "Bewitched".
Review: Djax-Re-Up is an invaluable slice of European techno history. Issued on Dekmantel as an accompaniment to the recent documentary about Djax-Up-Beats, it brings together music from the Dutch label's 90s catalogue. Featuring obscure artists like Ismistik - whose early 90s house track "Flow Chart" still sounds fresh - alongside respected producers like Glenn Underground, with the frenetic techno of "101 Dolmations" and "Real Space' and Felix Da Housecat's throbbing "Freakadelica", it serves as a reminder of the huge range of music that the label released. It also shines a light on the hugely fertile Dutch scene of the time, with Planet Gong's fragile ambience and Terrace's jacking techno-house "916 Buena Avenue (Influenza Mix)" also featuring.
Review: On its initial release in 2010, Rick Wilhite's Vibes New & Rare Music collection picked up plenty of plaudits, not least for its delicious mix of stargazing deep house from Chicago and Detroit. Here, Wilhite presents an album sampler featuring three suitably gorgeous cuts from the near-essential LP. There's a dash of simmering deep house-jazz from Glenn Underground ("Ninja"), a beatdown-meets-classic jack track from Vincent Halliburton ("Something I Feel") and a chunk of pleasing analogue deepness from Marcellus Pittman ("In Due Time"). If you missed the album first time round, now's the time to dive in.
