Forgive us a bit of early excitement but next summer’s Junction 2 is already coming into view and the lineup of house and techno’s first-choice players gets even deeper.
In 2019, Junction 2 was able to stretch its legs for the first time, expanding from one day to two, allowing for more of our favourite selectors and a wider range of sounds. In keeping with the diverse electronic DJs who thrilled Boston Manor Park on Friday last year, we can’t wait to hear more of the greatest sounds from the outer reaches.
Returning to playing publicly after taking time off to make his anticipated new album, mysterious synthesiser supremo, Fatima Yamaha, will be making a huge comeback live performance on Friday. The story of Fatima’s rise is now legend among those who know their way around the deepest end of house, so expect chugging, melodic electronics and ecstatic Italo. Less emotional but no less entrancing, Nina Kraviz will be back at Junction 2 with her clinically precise mix of techno and electro. Nina has become a bona fide star in recent years for her ability to press dancefloors into a bubble of heads-down, arms-up rapture. From filthy acid to frosty vocals, Nina deals out aces with intuitive skill. Joy Orbison, a man with rave pedigree and a decade of the most devastating club music, also joins us once again on Friday for more bass-heavy deconstructions.
Of course, there will be some debutants too. Welcome Octo Octa, whose rave-house hybrids are the perfect soundtrack to the feeling of a summer Friday on the edge of forever. Melbourne’s Roza Terenzi will be bringing plenty of breakbeats and glowing atmospherics, while BBC Radio 1’s Resident Saoirse will doubtless be going deep into her digger’s archive of slept-on classics from across the board. Bavarian duo, the Zenker Brothers, have their own line in menacing, dark-alley techno that steps with the ferocious energy of drum and bass. From the Zenker’s Ilian Tape label, the precocious Skee Mask will also be a Friday feature, so expect itchy, experimental techno overlaid with beautiful clangour and oceanic sub-bass. Finally, more new faces in the form of techno stalwart and Neighbourhood boss Tasha, along with Whities and NTS tastemaker, Tasker.
Saturday’s focus on underground techno gets another figurehead in the form of returning hero, Maceo Plex. After last year’s Main Stage set of broodingly seductive big-room tunes, the Ellum label chief will be back with another blend of bleeps and heavy beats plucked from the future. Dixon’s technical skill, musical knowledge and mastery of the moment are amongst the reasons why he’s a Junction 2 favourite. With sets that drift from breezy deep house to pulsating acid, there are few DJs who match his effortless range. As a selector, Marcel Dettmann is so much more than the big Berghain sound. A lover of everything from industrial noise to synth-punk, Dettmann can shift through all those gears with ease while maintaining the tempo and thrilling bouts of loopy techno he’s best known for.
Kompakt and Drumcode favourite, ANNA, specialises in the kind of deep techno that fills cavernous spaces with warmth, while Berlin’s Margaret Dygas has built a matchless reputation with more minimal sounds. A veteran of Panorama Bar and many more, Margaret will bring her deep and dubby techno to Boston Manor Park for the first time in 2020.
Another Berliner who revels in the broken industrial spaces of that city is Kobosil, who promises to deliver a set of tachycardic stompers. Channelling that same rush of energy through whooping hardcore and savage breaks will be rising stars Anastasia Kristensen and Dr Rubinstein, two J2 debutants who share a taste for seesawing energy waves. On the smoother end of the techno spectrum, both Francesco Del Garda and Roi Perez have gathered acclaim for their ability to dig for the best forgotten gems and percussive variations on house, techno and garage.
Expect much more to come as we edge closer to the 5th instalment of Junction 2.
