Last year, we had an incredible time at the first edition of Dekmantel Festival in het Amsterdamse Bos and we are looking forward to the second instalment of the festival that takes place in two weeks. In typical Dekmantel fashion, Casper Tielrooij and Thomas Martojo once again struck gold with the festival’s line-up this year around. Where Dekmantel Festival sticks to the small festival with big names concept of last year, we can find a mixture of new names pop up in the selection of one hundred artists as well as many Dekmantel familiar names – whether it be the festival last year or one of the Dekmantel parties in The Netherlands throughout the year. Names that specifically excite us from the latter group are Jeff Mills, Karenn, Trade and Levon Vincent who delivered some of our favourite sets of Dekmantel 2013 as they will undoubtedly astonish again but there are countless of names we will be either seeing play for the first time ever or for the first time in Dekmantel setting. We’ve endeavoured to outline some of the events that should peak your interest and give you somewhat snapshot of what to expect. The full lineup of Dekmantel Festival 2014 can be found here. Buy your tickets for Dekmantel here if you haven’t already. Don’t delay: only a very small amount retain.
Rick Wilhite, Marcellus Pittman, Moodyman and Theo Parrish all playing together as 3 Chairs on the RBMA ‘Woods’ stage on the second day, where Pearson Sound, Pangaea and Ben UFO will be playing together on the main stage. Timetables still haven’t been announced but whether they’re rocking the daytime sets or the later evening slots, these seven pair of hands will no doubt be bringing a certain level of unmissable high quality djing to the Saturday festivities. Those who attended Dekmantel 2013 will notice many familiar faces from local Dutch talent such as San Proper, Makam and Tom Trago but the festival isn’t without its many talented debuts. Prolific Spanish DJ and producer Oscar Mulero makes his first appearance at the festival on the Saturday, as will German heavyweight Rødhåd. Despite the latter being a relative newcomer to the techno circuit, his regular fixtures and much talked about closing marathons at Berghain should translate wonderfully to the festival stage setting. Between the two of them you can expect all your Saturday techno needs satisfied. Our tip of the day however and an act whom we think will be one of the main draws of the Saturday has to go to Shackleton. If the online reactions from his recent performance at St Johns are anything to go by it’s that his live show is not one to be missed.
The last day of the festival brings about a certain urgency of seeing everyone performing under the (Live) banner. Hot off the back of their 10th studio album ‘Reachy Prints’, London duo and Warp affiliates Plaid will be bringing their live show to Amsterdam. With the album described by Warp as “a journey into a subterranean world” the RBMA ‘Woods’ stage should set an otherworldly atmosphere and backdrop to their improvised sonic explorations. The Mount Kimbie boys will also be joining them live on the ‘Woods’ stage if that’s any inclination to pass on through. If you’re after something a little harder then Robert Hood will be performing (Live) over on the Main Stage. The M-Plant label owner has forged himself quite a career since first passing on demos to Mike Banks in Detroit and his live show should be an encompassed trip of his unprecedented sound. The XLR8R stage should prove to be busy during the final night as people flock to the Ostgut Ton showcase to see the likes of Dettman and Klock perform. The two Germans are known to bring it but the addition of Steffi, Ryan Elliot, Marcel Fengler, Answer Code Request, Luke Slater and Tobias (Live) should round off the festival on a real high.
Dekmantel Festival takes place in the forest of Amsterdamse Bos from August 1–3, 2014. For more information and tickets head to the festival’s website. Watch the artist announcement and check out some of the confirmed acts below: