James Holden & The Animal Spirits, Actress, Yasuaki Shimuzi, Dazion, Khidja

James Holden & The Animal Spirits
Not many people can bring together progressive and jazz in an exotic fusion, yet Border Community's James Holden does it seemingly with little, to no effort. Having played the opening concert for Dekmantel 2016 at the Muziekgebouw, Holden returns with the Animal Spirits, performing the esoteric, and ethereal sounds from his 2017 LP. With a range of interpretive percussion, modular wizardry, and far-out brass sounds, Holden brings a new style to contempory jazz.

Actress - live A/V
Werk Discs boss Actress is back at Dekmantel Festival, as a replacement for John Maus. Actress will be doing a special A/V live show. This show was the brainchild of Weirdcore and Actress, conceptualised as a Live Artifical Intelligence band with Actress serving as a conductor.  

John Maus (cancelled)
Due to personal circumstances John Maus has cancelled his live performance. Read more about it here. 

Yasuaki Shimizu
Palto Flats’ recent reissue of Yasuaki Shimizu’s classic 1982 jazz record 'Kakashi' was one of the most desired records of 2017. Classically trained Japanese saxophonist Shimizu falls in line with a long list of iconic Japanese musicians coming to global attention thanks to seasoned diggers and reissuers bringing the music to global fanfare. Shimizu will bring his avant-garde, jazz-fusion as part of a set of a limited set of shows in Europe - making this a rare chance to see such a prolific artist.

Dazion
Rising Dutch talent Dazion whose 2017 Second Circle release 'Don’t Get Me Wrong' — featuring a love for 80s synths, tropical rhythms, and a collaboration with Ghanian musician Ebou Gaye Mada — has helped propel the young producer into the limelight. An esoteric, and worldly style, easily slot this young man into the books of festival line-ups for years to come.

Khidia
Khidja are one of the most exciting, and fresh-sounding acts to hail from Romania. The duo, signed to Hivern Discs, offer a stylised take on Middle Eastern, dub-house, with general tweaks of random-oddities, creating beauty, and nuanced charm in their fun and creative music. Supported by the likes of Optimo, Mehmet Aslan and Huntleys & Palmers, this is Romanian-random-rave music, and gets a big seal of approval.

More info: www.dekmantelfestival.com