Helena Hauff & L.F.T.

Helena Hauff has been with us since the very beginning of Dekmantel Festival. Her idiosyncratic blend of electro, techno, acid and EBM is not only ice-cold and hard-edged – it also revs with an undiluted passion for the origins (and future) of machine music. In recent months, the German artist revived her Black Sites moniker with F#X, releasing their first collaborative record in a decade on Tresor. This summer, Hauff teams up with fellow Hamburg-hailing artist L.F.T.. Short for Love First Tears, this Golden Pudel resident blends new wave, techno and break-heavy electro, shaped by the distorted drum machines of The Hague and the romantic synth melodies of 1980s San Francisco. Behind the decks, L.F.T. crafts what he describes as “immersive soundscapes of futuristic dread and hopeful intensity.” As a producer, he’s released on top-notch labels such as Osàre Editions, Tresor and Mannequin.