Dekmantel Selectors is another jewel in the Dutch crew's crown

The Dekmantel crew knows how to throw a real good party, so when they announced that they'd be heading to Croatia for Dekmantel Selectors this year, we couldn't get on the Ryanair website and snap up a plane seat quick enough. Dekmantel in Amsterdam has been riding high as one of the world's finest house and techno festivals since it started in 2013, so we had bundles of trust that Selectors would deliver an experience to remember and leave us pining for a return in 2017.

You couldn't ask for more the location of The Garden, an intimate, wood-lined bay in the fishing town of Tisno. It's the home of other festivals such as Love International, Soundwave, Electric Elephant and SuncéBeat and anyone that's ever been to it has nothing but praise for what's surely one of the best festival locations in the world. Almost like a school trip activity centre in the way that there's so many hidden chill spots, an on-site restaurant and pool tables to play on, it's the kind of free roaming place that goes hand-in-hand with the festival's laidback vibe.

From midday to 6pm, only the Beach 1 stage, a concrete jetty kitted out with a Funktion One soundsystem, is open as punters - whether they be Dutch, British or Croatians in national football shirts - sup The Garden-brewed beers in the sun, relax in the calm, surrounding Adriatic sea or rid the previous nights hangover with bottles of Prosecco on the tree-covered rocks. Easier-on-the-ears disco, funk and Afrobeat tends to be the soundtrack for the sun-kissed day, but come nightfall, red lights reflect on the water and smoke creeps through the trees as the pace steps up a notch with the likes of The Black Madonna, Pender Street Steppers and plenty of Dutch DJs delivering stomping techno, groove-laced house and cosmic cuts. That's just a warm-up, though, as come 2am, open-air club Barbarella's, about a 20-minute taxi ride from site, takes things through 'til sunrise. If Ibiza's non-roofed venues don't cut it for you, we suggest you head here next summer for a night of raving under the stars.

At just 1500 capacity, you almost feel like you're back at school as you recognise so many faces at the festival. The tatt-covered fella you saw on the outbound flight from Stansted Airport keeps popping up at the bar and his mate catches our eye when she gets a wagging finger from security while standing on the edge of the balcony aboard the boat party. It's this intimacy and cosiness that makes it so on-point, though. Basically, there's no room to be a dick one night because people will recognise you the next and you'll be far from flavour of the month.

Despite an alcohol shortage at Barbarella's on Sunday night (whiskey and sprite isn't that bad, btw), everything is spot-on, from more or less every set we see being dazzling to the vibe of the festival being 10/10. We've already decided we're heading back next year and everyone we partied with said the same.

We've said it before and we'll say it again: the Dutch crew always get it so right. The fact they're doing it in Croatia makes it feel that little bit more special. As always, here's a bunch of tunes that stick in the mind and bring memories flooding back.

Dave Turner is Mixmag's Digital News Editor, follow him on Twitter

Awesome Tapes From Africa - Beach 2, Thursday

Most DJ aliases can be mind-boggling and leave us asking just how they came up with it. The reason behind Brian Shimkovitz's Awesome Tapes From Africa title is pretty simple, though. The ethnomusicologist travels to Africa to trawl market stalls in search of cassettes and the ones he finds and releases on his label tend to be pretty awesome. Ghanaian musician Ata Kak's album 'Obaa Sima' originally came out in 1994, but ATFA rereleased it on vinyl, MP3 and limited edition tape last year. Mixmag office plays led to staff pulling out some pretty bonkers dancing to match the equally outrageous music. The way it enlightened Mixmag HQ meant ATFA's slot on the first night of the festival was a must-see. He played for three hours (we only caught the last one), lashing out a series of hyperactive African cuts as he stood high in the booth overlooking the cabin-like dancefloor and red-lit water. Right towards the end he dropped Ata Kak's 'Daa Nyinaa' and the track's absolutely off-kilter vocals sent the place into a frenzy. Funnily enough, it's the same track we were having a mad one to in our apartment before we hit the festival.

Interstellar Funk - Voodoo, Thursday

The Voodoo stage had the best soundsystem of the festival, hands down. Two stacks of Funktion One speakers flanked the DJ booth and pumped out incredibly crispy audio that had us nodding our heads in approval for the entirety of the festival. It was real special at night: sleazy red lights illuminating the mass of bodies and machine smoke sneaking through the bundle of trees acting as an arena border. Amsterdam pair Tape DJs who, admittedly, we didn't know much about, had already wowed us with powerhouse cuts like 'Without' by Kenny Larkin's Yennek alias, so Interstellar Funk had somewhat of a contest to trump that. His name hints at the type of cosmic cuts he digs out from the galaxy and there was one that really stood out and, for a few minutes, made us feel like we were in some outer techno world: 'Spacer Woman' by Charlie. Proper weirdo 80s electro and, strangely enough, just as you'd imagine interstellar funk to sound.

Pender Street Steppers - Beach 2, Thursday

Canada's house scene has got some serious game right now and at the very forefront are Vancouver pair Pender Street Steppers. We caught them in the Beat Hotel at Glastonbury earlier this summer so we were already well aware of the creamy, suave cuts they pack. As soon as the clock hit midnight we knew we had to trek across the pebble beach from the Voodoo Stage to Beach 2 to catch Liam Butler and Jack Jutson in action. They served up a platter of delicacies ranging from illuminating disco ('Disco Member' by Bjorn Torkse), a brightly-coloured upper from their own Mood Hut label ('Better') and 'I Care' by D. Futers, recently premiered by us. As soon as the first note dropped one of our pals turned to us to exclaim how "this track's unbelievable". After that, it was eyes closed, head bopping to the slammin' beat and mouth mimicking that sweet, sugary garage vocal.

Palms Trax b2b Call Super - Barbarella's, Thursday

You never really know what to do with yourself when you turn up to a club and there's only a handful of people there. It's even worse if the DJ's pumping it out far too hard for an empty dancefloor. Thankfully, Dekmantel label affiliate Palms Trax and Call Super reserved their most powerful ammo for when Barbarella's was more or less full. After Vakula eased us in with sultry, soulful numbers, PT and CS began a top-set house lesson. Kenny Larkin's Tension Mix of Kevin Sanderson's 'Future' spun us out, Chez Damier's 'Take Me Away' had us grooving and Masters A Work's 'The Time Is Now' provided the Afrobeat sass. The ultimate moment had to be Johnny Corporate's 'Sunday Shoutin'', though. The 'tsk tsk' percussion is ever so soothing, the drawn-out vocals are epic and the saxophones in the breakdown are something else. Cue elation on the dancefloor.

Palms Trax b2b Call Super - Barbarella's, Thursday

A delayed trip from Zadar to Tisno meant we missed the Palms Trax boat party on Thursday afternoon, so we thought we'd make up for it by including another tune from his back-to-back with Call Super on Thursday night. It was through Dekmantel Palms Trax made a name for himself. After two releases on Lobster Theremin, he released the 'In Gold' 12" on Dekmantel's label arm in 2015 and gave us a carefully balanced dose of acid and polished house on 'Sumo Acid Crew'. This year birthed 'High Point On Low Ground', a cosmic beauty that came out just after his In Session for us. Another Mixmag In Sessionist, Call Super was his partner on the decks on Thursday night and the two ensured everyone was smiling from start to finish with an absolutely delightful set. 'All That I Need' by Rogerio Martins gave us the spanky, piano-laden house treatment and, to be quite honest, we didn't need much more to maintain the ecstatic mood after that.

The Black Madonna - Beach 2, Friday

The Black Madonna is the people's champion right now. It seems the Chicago resident can do no wrong and our love for her has gone through the roof after she offered to send pizza to two of the MIxmag crew who were tweeting live from the lengthy fabric hearing last week. Before that, though, she was at Selectors for a set on the Beach 2 stage and a back-to-back with Mike Servito on a boat party. There wasn't an outpouring of pummelling tunes in Tisno, but TBM ensured our techno dreams came true with her Friday set. Just as we placed ourselves next to the stack of Funktion Ones overlooking the dancefloor, in came the smacking beats of Floorplan's 'Music'. Strobes flashed, fists clenched and the whole place erupted. She paid further homage to the recent Mixmag cover star by playing 'Never Grow Old' soon after and the next day she was dropping Dolly Parton's 'Jolene' onboard the Argonaughty. What a champ.

Will Bankhead - Barbarella's, Friday

Garage: not exactly something we expected to hear. House? Yes. Techno? Yes. Disco? Yes. Garage? Didn't cross our minds. If it was going to get played at some point, though, it was only going to be at Barbarella's on Friday night with London boys Will Bankhead, boss of The Trilogy Tapes, and Joy Orbison on the line-up. The former was responsible for the 2-step, giving us a much-needed energy boost after cabbing our way from the festival to the club. The Charjan remix of Anthony Johnson's 'Everyday Is A Gunshot', a white label from 1999, got drawn for, treating us to some devilish basslines, choppy reggae vocals and some deadly gun blasts. More props for unleashing Wookie's 'Down On Me', too. Straight garage rudeness.

Joy Orbison - Barbarella's, Friday

Dekmantel loves a bit of Joy O. He's played at every edition of the Amsterdam festival and this year he put together a wicked selection of tunes for the brand's A-star podcast series. He didn't actually have a slot at the festival proper, but he completed a hat-trick of London DJs playing at Barb's on Friday, following Andrew Lyster and Will Bankhead. He showered through gritty house and techno during his 90-minute set, but ensured tunes you'd expect to hear in sweaty LDN basement venues were dished out as well. A standout was 'Fede' by London producer OKZharp, released last year on Hyperdub, that completely blew us away with its macho bounce and spellbinding vocals by South African artist Manthe. He must've been pleased with how it went down because we saw him treating himself to a few drinks on The Black Madonna and Mike Servito's boat party the day after. As was French DJ rRoxymore who provided some magical and melodious techno slammers after Joy O at Barbarella's.

Orpheu The Wizard - Voodoo, Saturday

You know that inspiring feeling of satisfaction when you walk away, completely blown away, after seeing a DJ you don't know too much about? Orpheu The Wizard made sure we felt completely fulfilled come the end of his set. We'd heard whispers the Dutch DJ used his wand in wondrous ways - a fellow Mixmagger caught him at Amsterdam club De School in August - so we had to see whether he could work his magic on us. And that he did. The Voodoo stage was perfect for it, really, because by the time he was done spinning funk-injected disco cuts like Gay Marvine's 'Player', we were well under his spell. Those warming red lights directed onto the dancefloor certainly enhanced the pleasure. We'll be seeing you again, Orpheu.

Young Marco - Barbarella's, Saturday

What is it about the Dutch? We were still praising Orpheu The Wizard's performance when we got to Barbarella's on Saturday night, but Young Marco, another resident of The Netherlands, soon had us captivated and thinking about nobody else on the line-up. This was the set of the weekend, no question. Pace, swagger, classics from the 90s: it was fucking mindblowing. The manic keys from Jaydee's R&S Records hit 'Plastic Dreams' had our hands and heads obtaining a mind of their own and Last Rhythm's self-titled cut from 1990 instantly became our tune of the festival. The word 'euphoric' might get bandied around aimlessly at times, but it was quite a moment of exhilaration when this one landed. The warped flutes had us in a trance and the tumbling of fruity keys about halfway through had us wondering WTF was going on. This tune basically sums up what the older generation mean when they bang on about the early '90s. Young Marco, you hero.

Hunee - Beach 1, Sunday

Energy seems to come to Hunee easily. The most active behind the decks all weekend, the Korean-Dutch DJ was given four hours to soundtrack Sunday evening as the sun set. Initially meant to be playing on the bigger Beach Stage 2, things were switched up and he followed on from Rush Hour boss Antal on Beach 1. Funk, soul, samba and disco rolled through the speakers as punters eased themselves into the last full night of the festival. Whereas we might have been feeling the burn after three days of partying, Hunee showed no signs of tiredness as his diminutive figure bopped tirelessly in the DJ booth, surrounded by booth-dwellers doing their best to keep up with his hyperactive movements. We hung back, at first disappointed with the weak sound, but it was only after someone told us to move up a few steps that we found ourselves in prime audio territory. Torbjorn Longhorn & The Feel Life Orchestra's 'Feel Life Part 1, 2 & 3' goes "and you realise, you're in paradise" so when Hunee dropped this, life felt pretty fucking fantastic. Even more so with a bottle of Prosecco in hand.

Motor City Drum Ensemble - Barbarella's, Sunday

Way before avid wax collector Diggin' Dave brought his set to an end, Danilo Plessow, known to most as Motor City Drum Ensemble, was resting behind him, eager to get on the decks. That keenness resonated with the Barbarella's crowd as fingers pointed towards the booth and "there's MCDE" was repeatedly quoted. No surprise really, as he was arguably the biggest name on the entire festival programme. Selectors really nailed making him the final night party's headliner as Barb's was the busiest it had been all weekend as MCDE settled in for few hours of smooth house and an exuberant mix of funk, soul and disco. The pinnacle had to be when the delectable pads of Pepé Bradock's 'Deep Burnt' slipped into the mix, the track's royal strings then turning the dancefloor into an arena of blissed out, swaying bodies. Nick The Record followed, but he had no chance of playing solo as MCDE confirmed earlier rumours by getting involved for a back-to-back. Daylight dawned, love songs got played and applause rattled through the club when the music stopped. Yep, it was pretty beautiful.