- 2013 was a great year for Amsterdam's Dekmantel. They augmented their ever-impressive operation with a festival that was as close to perfect as city events get. That party was packed with hometown talent, and marked another high point in a recent resurgence of rough-hewn house and techno from The Netherlands.
Mark du Mosch's Dekmantel debut is a neat example of this. The Rotterdamer makes music as gravelly as anything you'd get from someone like Willie Burns, but Bay 25 serves the grit with a grin. "Bay 25" sounds like kiddy keyboard melodies played through a rain-damaged speaker, its bells and jerking kick putting a serious face on something that, cleaned up, would be almost cloying. "Living Up" is less hook-led, opting instead for textures that swell in layers of churning chimes. Each addition increases the heart rate, and he builds quickly over four breathless minutes before stripping everything back to just the kick. Then, breath caught, he repeats. It's simple, but undeniably effective.
Amsterdam native Gesloten Cirkel takes a typically twisted approach to "Living Up," with horror-score synths looping over percussion that judders like a scratched CD. The original's cloudiness clears, revealing a crispness in the drums and subs that's less exhausting on the ear but equally pulse-quickening. The Dutch renaissance rolls on unabated.
TracklistA1 Bay 25
A2 Living Up
B Living Up (Gesloten Cirkel Remix)