Dekmantel Podcast 204 - Black Merlin

Like his name suggests, Black Merlin is something of a wizard. His music is drenched in worldly sounds and colourful cultures, not least his forthcoming Kosua album, a second on Island of The Gods. Inspired by his love affair with the island of Papua New Guinea, it features recordings of the local tribes, jungle sounds, wildlife and ancient dance customs so is a living and breathing document that immediately transports you to the southwestern Pacific. It comes after years of dizzyingly diverse releases on the likes of Pinkman, Mannequin and She Lost Kontrol that mix up EBM, techno, ambient and house, plus collaborative projects such as Karamka and Spectral Empire. His 90 minute mix for us is as stylish and unrestricted as you would expect, and given that we’re in Halloween month, it feels like it’s come just at the right time. Starting out with soot black apoca-disco, it traverses its way through study industrial, urban desolation and factory floors in meltdown. It’s mechanical and shadowy, but always filled with a sense of tension and suspense that keeps you enthralled.