- The Amsterdam institution celebrates ten years with a massive compilation journeying through the festival's past, present and future—to varying results.
- Many already know the score: each August, thousands descend upon Amsterdam to experience one of the most highly anticipated, smartly curated events in electronic music. Ten years on, Dekmantel remains the gold standard of dance music festivals thanks to its ability to balance intimacy with ambition, familiarity with thrilling discovery. There's always space to run into something new or unexpected, from buzzy up-and-comers to international legends you thought you'd never get the chance to see.
Accessibility is a big part of what makes Dekmantel work, both in its musical offering and charming practicality. Plenty of attendees cycle to and from the festival site in the Amsterdamse Bos park just south of the city centre. The site is compact but open, making it possible to flit between stages. Here, you can catch a bit of Pangaea at the clubby, UK-leaning Nest; jog over to the sweaty, hangar-like confines of UFO II; wince at the queue to get into the Boiler Room-esque Radar pit; rinse and repeat.
It's a multidimensional experience that the organisers have attempted to distil into a massive new compilation, Dekmantel Ten. In celebration of the festival's tenth edition this summer, each one of the seven discs—yes, seven—represents a stage, showcasing original tracks from this year's participating artists and beyond.
It's certainly an interesting concept: who wouldn't want a home-listening version of their favourite festival? There are drawbacks, though. To start, the common issue of artists sending throwaway tracks instead of their best material. Marcel Dettmann may have played the first-ever edition of Dekmantel, but the stale, big-room techno of "Cycling Bits" feels, well, recycled. Stuffing 44 tracks onto a single release also forces certain compromises: some of the best tunes, such as Verraco's thrilling hyper-dembow shapeshifter "perpetual light shining upon you," run tragically short. And despite its size, three days at the Bos simply doesn't account for all the event has to offer.
Dekmantel’s first two days (out of five) usually include an evening component that scatters live performances across multiple venues in the capital. For this momentous anniversary, they expanded programming further to seven days, hosting the likes of Kali Malone in a historic church, Bicep in a converted factory, and Bar Italia and Moin at Parallel. None of those artists feature on the compilation.
But, for the most part, Dekmantel Ten fulfils its promise. It is indeed a fine overview of the expansive curation the festival is known for. There's elegiac dub reggae from On-U Sound boss Adrian Sherwood, sensual speed garage from neo-UKG specialist Introspekt, frenetic jungle from Lee Gamble and acid workouts from Alchemical Sisters, AKA Octo Octa and Eris Drew. The potpourri nature of the compilation aligns especially well with the more adventurous stages, such as Greenhouse. That said, some work better than others: "Death Rattle," a dramatic, gothic take on footwork from Kode9, feels much more dynamic than Nick León’s dour bass effort "Power Plant."
Over on the techno-centric UFO I and II is where the compilation begins to jolt into action. Cavernous peak-time chuggers from the likes of Sterac ("The Time Is Now") and DJ Nobu ("Milaglen") have the power to teleport listeners to the stages' industrial settings. Gamble's acid-jungle hybrid "7 Million," Animistic Beliefs's "Thở Lửa (XAKALELE’s Fierce Mix)," and the menacing mid-tempo breaks of SKY H1's "Dome" are immediate highlights. But this disc also presents some of the compilation's more questionable moments, such as Aquarian's Overmono-riffing "Deep V," or Karenn's piss-take techno track in which a robotic voice lists off different types of lettuce (title: "Lettuce Is a Type of Lettuce").
There are places where the stage-focused approach also falters. The Nest, a reliable destination for global club sounds from the likes of DJ Lag, SHERELLE and UNIIQU3, doesn't totally line up with the area, instead featuring cloudy trap from Toma Kami and glitchy IDM from upsammy. Elsewhere, though, the track sequencing reveals unexpectedly welcome sensations. On the digital version of the comp, Peach's bright, bubbly house track "Can U Keep a Secret" butts up against Jeff Mills' anxiety-inducing techno wormhole "Pleiades Cluster." Despite being two very different artists with distinctive, diametrically opposed styles, they both feel exactly where they need to be.
This is also true of The Loop entry, in which Palms Trax's wistful "Let's Play Fade Away" and Young Marco's euphoric "How Does It Make You Feel" practically shine that glorious August sun on your skin. But, ultimately, these lived experiences are what prove to be the missing ingredient of the project. As a mammoth, genre-spanning event, Dekmantel tries, and often succeeds, to offer something for everyone. But this compilation, when divorced from the UFO hotbox, blissful forestry of the Selectors stage, or the cinematic rain that can often upend a weekend at the Bos, falls a touch flat.
Lista de títulos01. Young Marco - How Does It Make You Feel
02. Palms Trax - Let's Play Fade Away
03. Alchemical Sisters - Yellow Acid (Octa & Eris 303 Mix)
04. Masalo - Star Cloud 777
05. Call Super - Naive Step One
06. Amaliah - Labyrinth
07. Steffi - 1 And 3
08. DVS1 - Vor Morgen (Extended Mix)
09. Interstellar Funk - Particles
10. Roza Terenzi - Numerical Deviant
11. Luca Lozano - One Last Thing
12. Peach - Can U Keep A Secret
13. Jeff Mills - Pleiades Cluster (Vinyl Only)
14. Sterac - The Time Is Now
15. JakoJako - Äon
16. DJ Nobu - Milaglen
17. Talismann - Ufo Flute
18. Dasha Rush - D3
19. Kode9 - Death Rattle
20. Verraco - perpetual light shining upon you
21. Nick León - Power Plant
22. Bufiman - Ever Synth
23. Adrian Sherwood - The Dissolving Rhythm
24. RAMZi - Por El Universo
25. Identified Patient - My Way (Hilton Mix)
26. Simo Cell & Linapary - High
27. upsammy - Galax P.
28. Toma Kami - A5K
29. RHR - Estimulus Sonido
30. BADSISTA - Love Spiral
31. Introspekt - Come 2 Me (Dub 4x4 Mix)
32. Karenn - Lettuce Is A Type Of Lettuce
33. Zohar - Ore
34. Lee Gamble - 7 Million
35. Animistic Beliefs - Thở Lửa (XAKALELE’s Fierce Mix)
36. Aquarian - Deep V
37. SKY H1 - Dome
38. NVST - Underground Dynamics (Hot Swimming Edition)
39. Marcel Dettmann - Cycling Bits
40. Wata Igarashi - Bad Engine
41. Spekki Webu - Open Brainwave
42. Aurora Halal & DJ G - Villafunk
43. Polygonia - Signo
44. DJ Python - Mare