2022 Best Albums

Our favorite albums from 2022 compiled in chronological order.

Continue reading “2022 Best Albums”
2022 Best Albums

Marcel Dettmann – Fear Of Programming LP [DKMNTL095]

Nearly 10 years on since his last solo LP, Berlin techno icon Marcel Dettmann arrives on Dekmantel with an expansive album captured in a flash of inspiration. In many ways Fear Of Programming is a reflection on the artistic process – the critical hurdles one has to overcome, the constant strive for originality, the ability to capture inspiration in its pure moment of inception. Bar the closing title track (and we all know Marcel loves a surprise closing), these 13 tracks came together during a period in which our hirsute host was able to immerse himself in studio practice and set the intention to record an album’s worth of material every single day. From the resulting mass of work there were many options to choose from, and Fear Of Programming stood out as one of the most complete statements on Dettmann’s approach in the here and now.

listen

Marcel Dettmann – Fear Of Programming LP [DKMNTL095]

Interstellar Funk – Into the Echo [DKMNTL085]

For his debut album on Dekmantel, Interstellar Funk has crafted a raw, yet simultaneously hauntingly beautiful and endlessly intricate record. Layers of blended harmonies and melodies form the basis for jettisons into leftfield experimentation, heavily processed drums and oscillating frequencies. The result is as infectious as it is pensive; a transcendental journey into a synth-laden landscape. “Into the Echo” is daringly eclectic, combining sung-spoken iterations with hypnotic samples and machinic industrial.

listen

Interstellar Funk – Into the Echo [DKMNTL085]

Bruxas – Muscle Memory [DKMNTL086]

BRUXAS - Muscle Memory

Dutch psych-musicians Jacco Gardner and Nic Mauskovic create a new take on no-wave, post-disco with their debut LP as Bruxas, Muscle Memory. It’s their third work for the Dekmantel label, following up earlier EPs Mas Profundo (2017) and Sirocco (2018). Immersing themselves in a world of bohemian synth, the duo ex periment with vintage machines and cosmic effects, swimming in rhythmic grooves and psychedelic tones. It’s a style that reflects their respective musical backgrounds, and long partnership, one in which that has strengthened their collaborative, musical muscle memory.

listen

Bruxas – Muscle Memory [DKMNTL086]

Interstellar Funk / Guenter Råler – SCORES III [DKMNTL069]

INTERSTELLAR FUNK/GUENTER RALER - Scores III

Dekmantel once again teams up with RE:VIVE, the cultural initiative setup by the The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, to pair modern electronic talent with Dutch archival footage. The third EP in the Scores series sees Interstellar Funk and Italian producer Guenter Råler create innovative, modular soundscapes to the graceful visual arts unearthed from the EYE Filmmuseum archives.

listen

Interstellar Funk / Guenter Råler – SCORES III [DKMNTL069]

VA – Profondo Nero [DKMNTL084]

CINEMA ROYALE/VARIOUS - Profondo Nero

Profondo Nero narrates a storyline that goes beyond the borders of Italy’s musical legacy. Cutting across the face of Italo disco’s leftfield musicians between the early and late ‘80s, Profondo Nero champions a multi-faceted sound that nods to the blueprint of Italo disco but tries to dig deeper. The music is unmistakably Italo disco but moves away from the familiar classic sound. Amsterdam based collector Cinema Royale stitches together eleven tracks from 1983 – 1989, celebrating a sound he fittingly describes as ‘leftfield Italo’. The compilation connects the dots between soulful disco (Louise Freeman – Mirage), synth-pop (Mark – Dreamland), electro-rap (Loukas Thanos – Jazzburger), breaks (Santoro – Lover Message), 80s dub disco (Jet Set – Love Break), Balearic (Isamar & Compañia ‎- No Estas), boogie (Tom Hooker – Talk With Your Body) and proto-house (International Music System – An English ’93).

listen

VA – Profondo Nero [DKMNTL084]

Peaking Lights – E S C A P E [DKMNTL081]

PEAKING LIGHTS - Escape

With their first LP in over three years, Californian psych-dub duo Peaking Lights offer an outlet from the mundane with a kaleidoscopic collection of lo-fi, escapist-electronic pop. Over their illustrious twelve-year-plus career, the husband and wife duo of Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis have set themselves apart with their characteristic dreamy, and melancholic sound that blends together elements of dub, and delicate-but-quirky electronics. E S C A P E, Peaking Light’s sixth album, and first for Dekmantel, finds them at their finest, replete with atmospheric landscapes crafted out of homemade-percussive loops, that sit alongside wondrous electronic pop and krautrock-like hooks, all tied together by Indra Dunis’ composed and hypnotic vocal charm.

listen

Peaking Lights – E S C A P E [DKMNTL081]

Bufiman – Albumsi [DKMNTL074]

The long-awaited debut album from Jan Schulte’s more dancefloor-focused Bufiman project. He’s absolutely nailed it, offering up a vibrant 12-track selection that giddily joins the dots between freestyle, electro, dub disco, vintage deep house, skewed Balearic synth-pop, breakbeat, hip-house, kosmiche and the heavily percussive drum workouts that have long been Schulte’s stock-in-trade. The fact that each track offers multiple musical reference points whilst delivering something undeniably fresh – despite the undeniably retro-futurist feel present throughout – is undoubtedly the album’s strongest suit. To put it simply, “Albumsi” is a gloriously kaleidoscopic, thrill-a-minute concoction that counts as Schulte’s single greatest body of work to date.

listen

Bufiman – Albumsi [DKMNTL074]

Stump Valley – Natural Race [DKMNTL072]

Stump Valley now pop up on Dekmantel. The committed Berlin based studio outfit head into new areas after their previous work on Uzuri, Off Minor, Dopeness Galore and No ‘Label ( that already had them jumping around styles and influences). The label say ”Stylistic, enigmatic, and effortless. Stump Valley’s Dekmantel debut EP is a smooth melange of glossy soul, jazz, and serene house. Produced by the mysterious, and ultimately under-the-radar duo, the extended EP breezes through tropes of balearic analogue, warm Chicago sounds, yet remaining ultimately Italian. The duo, originally from Turin, prove their skills as true alchemists, as their forge hypnotic house and tropical flare through their array of drum machines, synths, and informed artistry derived from their deep stockpile of assorted records. Debuting they may be, but the Italian duo are no strangers to Dekmantel, having played at Dekmantel Festival, Selectors, and Lente Kabinet. Having released groove tracks across a whole spectrum of labels, Stump Valley’s reputation even precedes them. Throughout the EP, their sound echoes that of Prins Thomas, Larry Heard, and other select funk-driven Italian live producers that are making waves in the current scene. It’s a sound that’s permanently upbeat, radiant, and filled with joy. Berlin based vocalist and Max Graef collaborator Wayne Snow collaborates on vocal opener ‘Natural Race’, creating a slow groove, and funk-driven tempo. The music then veers into equatorial territory, as the duos’ uses of classic 707 and LinnDrum sounds evoke a sense of sunset grooves; the sound of Theo Parrish slowly winding through an Adriatic cocktail party. Further on and ‘Proletarians In Space’ reflects the producers’ more Detroit-like influences, with oscillating machine music. ‘Zoo Planet X’ takes the sound further, with dubby pads, and old-school kicks and hats, that transport the Turin-based artists across the Atlantic with their out-of-time sonic aesthetic.”

listen

Stump Valley – Natural Race [DKMNTL072]