Various - fabric 54: Damian Lazarus

Fabric: 2010

*cover art brought to you by fabric's “Alternate Uses For Old Bed Sheets” period*

How is it that I now have two mixes from Damian Lazarus? His Crosstown Rebels label material isn't one I've actively sought out to own, though if I had to pick one minimal-deep-tech print to indulge in, theirs is a cut of ketamine I've enjoyed more often than others. They provide a good vibe, one where I could easily find myself continuously shuffling upon a rooftop or summer patio had I decided to spend my vacation in such locales rather than the great Canadian outback, subjected to rippin' winds, blistering sun, and thunderstorms. On the other hand, ooh, dinosaur tracks!

Where was I? Oh yeah, fabric 54. We've finally come to the end of this year's Fabric On A Budget, and let me tell you, I'm leery about doing another one next year. If so many came available on the cheap in but one year's time, I can't imagine how many more might crop up by Spring Of 2015. Like, there are still another eight fabrics and FabricLives in the 30s I've yet to see on the used market. Man, folks sure didn't like those years, did they? There were a few great ones from what I've covered (The Glimmers, Tayo, Ewan Pearson, Craze), but yeah, kinda doggy all around.

Which doesn't have much to do with Damian Of Lazarus's offering in fabric 54, a couple years removed from all that. The music's quite different too, no longer stuck in tedious minimalism drier than a dustbin in Death Valley, though still reaching for that 'deeper than thou' vibe tech-house continued searching for. Naturally, all the hot, trendy names of the time come up: Art Department, Seth Troxler, Four Tet, Soul Clap, Nicolas Jaar, another Lee, Cajmere, and Swayzak. Wait, were those last two still trendy in 2010?

Whatever. fabric 54 ultimately feels like an appropriate set to end this two-week-plus project on. It's rather chill, the sort of music that makes good sense at 9am the morning after. I suppose it could work as main room music too, if it's a small, comfy, intimate environment – not Fabric at peak hour, is what I'm saying, though the fabric series doesn't mind taking a stroll down the hallway to the second room either. There's little to find fault with in Damian's mix, as he doesn't take much in the way of musical risks, an indulgence of '70s psychedelic funk and experimentation from Su Kramer and Bill Holt at the end notwithstanding. In all, a nice collection of house tunes, though kind of peters out from a lack of energy by the end.

I told you fabric 54 was an appropriate end to Fabric On A Budget, Part 2.

Was This Worth The Pennies Paid For It?
I feel like I'm partaking in post-hipster activism, getting into the trendy stuff after it got popular, then back-lashed. At thrift shop prices too!

Various - Fabric 47: Jay Haze

Fabric: 2009

*cover art brought to you by Fabric’s “Abstracted Photos On Pastel” period*

And thus we jump a year and a half forward for our next offering of bargain bin Fabric mixes, to the likes of… Jay Haze? Huh, a surprise there, but then he’s long had a ‘love it or leave it’ style. Guess whoever had this copy had no love for it; ironic, considering his roots lay in Philadelphia, the City Of Brotherly Love (mind, I think Philly's slogan's meant to be ironic, if their sports fanbase is anything to go by).

Anyhow, Mr. Haze himself had quite an eclectic career during the ‘00s, despite at times coming across as yet another minimal deep-tech chap from Berlin. It didn’t hurt that a number of his releases and aliases hinted at a love for sleazy ghetto tech, perpetuating a rep as the bad boy of that scene. Don’t let a rough exterior fool you though, as he’s done plenty of charity work in his time as well. In fact, all the money earned for his Fabric contribution went towards relief aid to the Congo. Which… makes me getting this for pennies kind of dickish, now that I think about it.

This mix is also rather eclectic, though still carrying the tropes of underground house music of the time. Oh yes, we're in the thick of the hisssssss era, and it's just as pointless and annoying today as it was then; fortunately, ol' Jay don't dwell on too many tracks with it. There's also more of a Chicago (Philly?) groove to a number of these cuts, the dry sterility of Berlin-based tech-house having been flushed away by classic revivalism that began the year prior. And Haze himself provides a nice example of that “don't call it prog or trance” neo-trance sound that bubbled about for awhile, on Burning under his Fuckpony guise. Round things out with assorted dabblings of jazz, Afro-house, and whatnot, and you have yourself one of the most varied tracklists featured on a Fabric throughout the series' history. Shame Jay ain't much of a DJ.

To be fair, this was his second ever commercial mix (the first a label showcase for his Tuning Spork print), and boy does it show. There’s no real structure to this set, tunes and genres coming and going as Haze sees fit, and thus no rise or drop in energy as the CD plays through. The way these tunes are arranged, it’d almost work better as a mixtape, but as there’s a dancefloor flow between tracks, I don’t get that mixtape vibe from it like I do with some DJ-Kicks offerings. Number 47 exists in a weird zone between the two: interesting for the track selection, but a struggle to get hooked into it for the duration.

Was This Worth The Pennies Paid For It?
Hard to say at this point. It may be one of those ‘needs repeated listens’ sets. Check back in half a decade, when I might do a 2018 Update.

Various - Fabric 38: M.A.N.D.Y.

Fabric: 2008

*cover art brought to you by Fabric’s “Weird Masks With White Backdrop” period*

If you were a fan of tech-house in the mid-‘00s, it was your duty to consume all that Get Physical Music put out. No, there was no debating the issue. The label that M.A.N.D.Y. and Booka Shade built was your God, and that was that. Nice of them to release occasional good music too, but as time wore on, the bouncy, minimal deep-tech aesthetic they popularized grew watered down as pretenders and imitators flooded the market. It was up to Get Physical’s heroes to take charge, planting their flag as the preeminent tastemakers for all things rooftop shufflelicious. Except they didn’t. Booka Shade got tired of the same ol’ shtick and started exploring synth-pop, of all things. Meanwhile, M.A.N.D.Y. did… um… er… well… hmm.

Well, maybe they felt taking a step back from the limelight would allow their label’s new talent to enjoy the spotlight (like Samim!). It didn’t stop the demand for their DJing talents though, and with minimal deep-tech the trendiest shit throughout 2007, it made sense that Fabric tapped one of the original promoters of the sound for a mix. Trouble was, as the following year took form, folks were itching for something fresher, and M.A.N.D.Y. just wasn’t providing it anymore.

I know a single mix CD is hardly enough to judge a whole scene on, but their contribution to Fabric sure does capture what it was like listening to this stuff in 2008. It has a promising start – oh how many mix CDs have a promising start – with a decent groove established, quick mixes between tracks so nothing lulls for long, and enough hooky variety to keep you engaged. Somewhere in the middle though (well, for me, Audion's remix of Dubfire's I Feel Speed), all momentum is lost, M.A.N.D.Y. taking their set into plodding k-hole monotony. There isn't even any of the atmospheric murk that at least occasionally makes this stuff interesting on a head level. Nope, just dry, minimal tech-house, sapping away whatever energy the set had as each track goes by. Not even a last gasp of interesting tunes at the end is enough to rescue this mix.

Why were DJs making sets like these? Were they trying to be the anti-trance brigade? Making sure when your ketamine bumps started kicking in, you wouldn't worry about tripping over your feet with rhythmic intensity? God, does it ever suck if you're not interested in diving down the k-hole. M.A.N.D.Y.'s Fabric mix is like having sex when you're incredibly drunk. The initial thrill and excitement eventually wears away, but you keep muddling along in the hopes of hitting a climax eventually – and when it does, it's but a pathetic dribble of release that hardly makes it worth the effort in the first place.

Was This Worth The Pennies Paid For It?
Not even. Tons of DJ mixes like this are out there for free, and you don’t see many recommendations for those.

Various - Fabric 36: Ricardo Villalobos

Fabric: 2007

*cover art brought to you by Fabric’s ‘We Cans 4AD Too’ period*

As far as very important people in the world of techno go, Ricardo Villalobos wasn’t just very important, he was the most important for a while. Still, how important could he have been if his contribution to the Fabric series has been relegated to the bargain bin? Eh? Eh? Ah, hahaha! Hahahah!

HAHAHAHAHAH!

That’s it then. My whole Fabric Project (on a budget) has been leading to that one moment. There’s nowhere else to go but down. Might as well end it here. What, there’s still five more to do after this? *sigh*

Seriously though, Villalalobobos was a big freakin’ deal in the mid-‘00s, such that when it came time for him to offer his DJ skills for Fabric, he made the bold (audacious?) move to feature his music only (with the odd collaboration and remix thrown in). Some saw it as the height of hubris to turn the respected series into a personal showcase, but it’s not like DJs hadn’t flooded prior editions with their own material before - number 27 had half-a-dozen Audion tracks alone. And if ol’ Ricardo hadn’t done it, someone probably would eventually (Frankie Bones?). May as well get it over with.

And truthfully, Richie Vile Wolf has such a distinctive sound that not only can he make it work, but it’s difficult to imagine a mix CD without heavy contributions from himself. Though regarded as an excellent jock live (when relatively sober), he’d only made a couple In The Mix sets for Cocoon in the years prior. By and large, he has the hallmarks of a DJ feeling constrained by the lack of runtime and crowd intimacy that comes with making mix CDs. Small wonder this was his last such commercial disc, and even calling it a proper DJ set’s a stretch.

The music on number 36 features many of the sounds most came to associate with ol’ Ricardo. There’s your minimalistic tech-house, with more than enough groove to keep you engaged even when there doesn’t seem to be much going on. Sure enough, quirky, worldly tangents crop up, including an extended detour with Andruic & Japan, a twelve minute stretch of dialog and taiko drums to a beat. The requisite “I’m from Latin America” track comes near the end, a fun capper to the set. Everything sounds spacious, with percussion and effects given plenty of breathing room should you have suitable playback gear that allows it (Ricky Villainous Bus is quite the audiophile). Throughout it all, a slow, steady rise in pace (though not BPM) and mood is maintained, always a plus for any kind of set.

Was This Worth The Pennies Paid For It?
It’s a very important Fabric by a most important person in the world of techno. It should be enshrined in the Techno Hall Of Fame (some old warehouse in Detroit) for all to see, not purchased for piddly amounts of Canadian currency.

Various - Fabric 27: Matthew Dear As Audion

Fabric: 2006

*cover art brought to you by Fabric's 'Deconstruction Of Photography Destruction' period*

In the mid-'00s, if you were given a birth name of Matthew, you stood a good chance of being a very important person in the world of techno. Thinking about it, I can recall only three such folk of significant prominence, but it sure seemed like an invasion of Matthews for a while there; kind of similar to all those Jameses taking over prog-glitch.

Of the Triple-Matts, Dear's career seems to have languished in the middle of the pack of prosperity. He's still a recognized name, but interest in his style of music doesn't garner as much buzz as it once did. Listening to his Fabric mix, I'm still baffled how it generated buzz in the first place. Yeah, yeah, minimal was the fucking trendiest shit in the world back in 2006, but good lord does it offer some of the most utterly wank moments electronic music has ever produced (and this is coming from a guy who's digested copious amounts of dark psy).

That’s jumping ahead though. For Mr. Dear’s contribution to the Fabric series, he chose his Audion guise, where he often indulged in the most minimalicious of minimal’s aesthetic. Though it wasn’t the first time Fabric tapped a producer of such ilk, number 27 came out around the time the sound was surging out of backroom obscurity, so I guess some kudos to the label for capturing the trend on the rise (unlike nearly everyone else the following year). As such, there’s some good stuff early in this mix, hinting at the fun potential of minimal tech-haus. Dubby, dark, and just enough groove to keep your attention whether on a dancefloor or with headphones.

Then he ruins things about a third of the way through, going on a tedious tour highlighting all that makes minimal-tech a chore. It doesn’t seem like at first, as Ruede Hagelstein’s Keep Us Away choice of quirk-sound reminds me of charming, cheesy ‘50s sci-fi UFOs. After that though... g’uh. Plinky-plink in Sweet ‘n Candy’s Tacky Wakeup, retarded vocals in Claude vonStroke’s Deep Throat, swishing water in Ali Khan’s Waterbomb, and aimless nonsense in Argy’s A Rhino In A Glass Shop. There’s no atmosphere or rhythmic foundation in these tracks; just sound-effect showcases, and not very interesting ones either.

Even Mr. Dear seems aware of the go-nowhere tangent he’s taken, as he abruptly shifts gears on Robert Babicz’s Battlestar, taking things into sludge tech-house territory. And I quite like this part, what with a return to groove, mood, and even an actual melody in Âme’s Rej (not yet overplayed when this was released). With an easy lead-out featuring other prominent names like Troxler, Villalobos, and Luciano, Fabric 27 ends well enough.

Was This Worth The Pennies Paid For It?
I suppose. Two-thirds of the mix sound fine by my ears, and Dear’s mixing is clinically clean, as most minimal mixes typically are. Doubt I’ll reach for this again anytime soon though.

Samim - Flow (Original TC Review)

Get Physical Music: 2007

(2013 Update:
What happened to this guy? Samim seemed poised to take the deep-minimal-tech-doff scene by storm after the success of Heater, but when this album dropped, it barely got any notice, and he hasn't released anything since. It's almost as though he made a deal with the devil, in that he could have his super-mega hit that'd be featured on countless Ibiza Classic Anthems discs, but the cost would be he could never make music ever again. Or maybe he's just sitting fat on royalties.)


IN BRIEF: Not what the mainstream will expect.

It wasn’t supposed to happen. Really, who could have even planned something like it? Not even the most insidious Swedish pop producer would have been able to concoct a track that reached across so many cultural barriers. Yet it did, and whether you loved it, loathed it, or initially loved it only to loathe it after the fourth time you heard it in a single night, it became a sensation and firmly cemented Mr. Winiger into dance music history. And the name of the track? House Nation.

Alright, alright. It’s Heater, but do I really need to talk about it here? Samim’s surprise hit has been debated and psychoanalyzed to death, and there’s little more to add to the topic at this point. If you haven’t heard it in the club, from YouTube, at a wedding, during sports intermissions, or on a pasta commercial by now, you will soon enough, at which point you’ll form your own opinion of it and render any further discussion moot.

Besides, this and The Lick (more on which later) are kind of odd-men out on this here album. For the most part, Mr. Winiger are serious house producer. He make serious house music for serious hip Berlin-based label Get Physical. He are serious about his seriousness. Heh, seriously. If you come into Flow figuring it’s going to be a collection of fun folkish dance tunes, you’ll come away just as disappointed as those who picked up The Grid’s Evolver looking for more banjos.

Admittedly though, it takes a degree of daftness on his part to make the trend-house brigade accept the accordion as a respectable instrument. It may merely be a sample of an old Columbian tune, but it was still genius on Samim’s part to resurrect it. The man’s got talent and it’s felt throughout Flow, even if he mostly restricts himself to a minimal style.

What he concocts within those narrow genre margins is quite nice for the ears. He constantly keeps his rhythms shifting with simmering funk while warm bass bobbles about. Of course, this being minimal, it’s all unobtrusive and given plenty of space for effects to tinker between the gaps. Tech influences mix up with natural sounds, creating sonic textures that tickle pleasantly at the psyche. Forcedfeedback is especially enticing at this, coming off like a night at some German techno club with an Indian jungle lurking just outside the entrance. Ultimately, Flow is a great headphone album.

However, beyond music for lounging about in the evening, it doesn’t offer much more. Springbreak has some deep sexy vibes going for it, but it can’t compare to the sweatbox hedonism of its New York counterparts it obviously draws influence from. Intro is a fine enough offering of sun-kissed organic chill, but doesn’t stir the soul in any significant way. Zleep does the bog-standard murky monotone Berlin techno thing (with all the requisite hi-hat effects), but much of the stuff from Minus is done more effectively. And whereas tracks like Blackdeath and Ukaka are mildly funky, a typical Olav Basoski cut out-funks them within a minute. Mind, it’s not like Samim is trying to outdo them by any stretch but his minimal aesthetic is too restrained to create truly thrilling dance music. For instance, on one of the few instances of him letting wildly loose - Setupone - the potential for something exhilarating comes up short; the Latin-infused builds are wonderful, but the track seems timid to ratchet the energy higher afterwards, relegating the cut to the ‘really good’ camps rather than the ‘wicked awesome’ ones. This typical restraint makes the inclusion of a track like Heater all the more welcome, as it offers Flow some much needed light-heartedness. However, it’s final cut The Lick that’ll have you pulling a full double-take, wondering if this is even the same album. Whereas Heater may encourage hoe-downs, The Lick will encourage you to get down on a ho; all the playa’ stylee of modern r’n’b, yet delivered with enough self-awareness to let you in on the joke. Samim could have used more moments like this to liven up his debut.

However, Flow is mostly an album that has the minimal faithful in mind and remains quite easy-breezy in that regard. If you disliked Heater but mostly enjoy minimal, you’ll dig this album. If you loved Heater but can’t stand minimal, you’d be better off with a Ministry Of Sound compilation the track’s been featured on (there’s been about a dozen of them already). The rest who meet somewhere in the middle will find Flow a nice sit-at-home disc.

Various - Fabric 29: Tiefschwarz (Original TC Review)

Fabric: 2006

(2013 Update:
Yay, another dated review. It's not my fault though, as the Fabric series was going from strength to strength in the mid-'00s. Who'd have thought they'd settle into a predictable rut as the years wore on, not to mention get outclassed by the burgeoning Balance series.

Still, this particular edition remains solid enough, if anything for a tracklist filled with a 'who's who' of this scene - Tiefschwarz may not have accomplished much since this came out, but they knew their tech-house that year. It also captures the brief period when the minimal aesthetic had creativity, before the dominance of plink-plonk-hiss annoyances (re: the Dubfire effect). Though it was written for the benefit of TranceCritic readers not boned up on minimal, my detailing of its influence still holds up pretty well, though obviously a different tense is required.)


IN BRIEF: Minimal sounds without the pretentiousness.

Before I start, I’d like to give some much deserved props to Fabric. Of all the DJ mix compilations over the years, theirs has to be amongst the most daring. Never have I seen a series exhibit such a wide range of musical styles, all the while equally giving the spotlight to superstars and underground darlings. Fabric isn’t interested in pandering to the progressive elite or the deep house elite or the techno elite. They release DJ mixes for folks who enjoy dabbing in everything. And bloody prolifically at that. At the rate Fabric kicks these mixes out, I’m surprised the quality control has remained as consistent as it has.

It’s interesting that Tiefschwarz’ go was the one I should have come across to review for our first dip into this series. Some could point out tapping the German brothers for a mix was nothing more than Fabric jumping on the ‘minimal’ bandwagon, which might be a vali-

Eh? Oh, you noticed those apostrophes around minimal. Perhaps I should explain that. Y’see, folks, minimal is the new buzzword promo people and clueless scenesters are jumping on. Much like ‘electro’ before it (and to some extent, still), the term is annoyingly ambiguous in what kinds of music it refers to, but generally these are them: minimal/dub/deep techno; simple tech house; micro house; deep prog house; nearly anything with a 130 bpm groove and the cliché “rewards paying attention” is apt. The perversion of their pet genre’s name has raised the ire of purists, an all too common result of an underground sound becoming popular. It’s grown large enough that some long-time minimal artists distance themselves from the sound altogether. Heh, you can always tell a buzzword is getting big when those associated with it claim they produce anything but.

Was Fabric merely cashing in on the hot underground sound of the summer when they released this? Perhaps a little, but it’s hardly the first time the series dipped into these waters, and now’s as good a time as any to expose some underrated talent now that folks will be more interested in it. Tiefschwarz - Alexander and Sebastian to the tax men - have been around for a good decade, earning their keep in the house and techno trenches with various singles and remixes. I’d say they deserve a bit of time in the spotlight since their sound is all the hipster rage.

The brothers kick off their mix with some dark dubby tunes. Minimal? Tech house? Either or, really, as the tracks are quite sparse in arrangement, yet contain a definite groove one can shuffle their feet along to. Claude VonStroke’s Whose Afraid Of Detroit? is especially nice with a grumbling bassline and a bleepy hook - love those ominous pads lurking in the background.

Now this is where things get tricky in covering a release like this. How, pray tell, does one describe what goes on in a mix that contains lots of bleepy clicky sounds and groovy rhythms, but scant little in the way of noticeable hooks? By way of feeling, which has always been the appeal of minimal sounds in EDM. The drawing power of Tiefschwarz’ track selection is in the atmosphere they create and maintain rather than dropping big tunes after each other. A song like Touane’s Bassic is quite, um, basic on its own, with a good shoulder-shakin’ rhythm but little else. What it does do though, is keep your interest with intriguing soundscapes, piquing your curiosity as to what may follow. While their choice of Schumacher’s Rotor may be suspect in this case (those are some really drab sounds going on here), the track’s tone nonetheless matches what came before while providing a unique twist. Interest maintained, curiosity grows, onto the next smooth mix to see where we go next. It’s a winning formula, and Tiefschwarz execute it admirably during the course of their mix. Rotor is probably the only real stumble in this middle chunk; each successive track after displays a quirky wit in their choice of music while never losing the darkish overtones laid out in the beginning.

Of warning though: because Tiefschwarz have opted for a mix that expresses their muses with atmosphere, truly energetic moments are rather rare as a result. Yes, the rhythms do groove, and they sometimes even get mildly funky as well, but hardly ever do they excite; the shuffling percussion of Ichundu’s Hey is about as active things get. This isn’t to say there aren’t interesting arrangements to be heard, but if you’re looking for big room bombs, you’ve wandered into the wrong house, my friends.

As Tiefschwarz head into the final stretch, they leave the quirk behind and indulge in floaty (re: ketamine) tech house. There’s still a hint of unease, mind, a feeling that really hasn’t gone away since the opening track from Troy Pierce. But whereas the beginning delved into the ominous nature of it and the middle had fun with the oddities, the end calms you down in spite of some really bizarre sounds; The Hammer Of Thor from Riton will definitely make you take notice, although the hook is interesting enough.

Oops. Spoke too soon. Al and Seb throw one more bit of quirkiness our direction with the final track, a bloopy, glitchy downtempo remix of Kate Wax’s Beetles And Spiders done by Roman Flügel. It’s an amusing way to finish this disc off, but a bit heavy on the tongue-in-cheek wit.

Fortunately, the rest of their mix isn’t. Tiefschwarz have crafted a worthwhile addition to the Fabric legacy, with equal parts charm, groove, and fun without abandoning the aspects of what makes this sound appealing. Although it won’t convert those who are still suspicious of ‘minimal’, it will please those who enjoy the heady nature of the music nonetheless.

Pryda - Europa / Odyssey (Original TC Review)

Pryda Recordings: 2007

(2013 Update:
This was written back when the term 'Swedish House Mafia' was nothing but a pet name web forum users tagged to producers making electro house from the Scandinavian country, which is why Eric Prydz was considered a 'member'. Go figure Angello, Ingrosso, and Axwell would go on to use it as a proper performance name. But yes, Prydz most definitely is not a real member of the group, having stuck to his own path for much of his career. Ironically, he was predicted to be the biggest star of that clutch of producers, but his lack of memorable hits following Pjanoo and refusal (fear?) of touring overseas left a significant gap in his career, the real SHM all too eager to take in his place.)


IN BRIEF: Equivalent of filler.

The general consensus within clubland is if you want to get into Eric Prydz, stay away from the material released under his own name (Call On Me, Proper Education), for despite such singles’ instant catchiness, they will quickly irritate after having to hear it on the radio for the three-hundred fourty-seventh time; let the commercial populace, whom fancy buying a Ministry Of Sound Annual compilation as digging deep into the underground, have their novelty dance tunes. Rather, if you really want hear what the successful Swedish House Mafia member is capable of, his aliases are where you should be directing your attention.

Although all of his work tends to retain that nu-electro tech-house feel, the material released under the Pryda banner gains the most notice, and for good reason. Tracks like Aftermath and Frankfurt are classic class, with much of the Pryda discography all equal to the highlight task. However, no success goes without its vocal detractors, and Eric has seen his fair share of them when it comes to this alias. In a nutshell, he’s been accused of never quite reaching to the higher pastures his music hints him capable of, often settling for the tried and tested formulae that’s won him over again and again. Fair complaints, and unfortunately with this new single Europa, he’s given such negative folk more ammunition.

As is often the case with Prydz, the base elements will win you right over. Along with a pleasing backing synth that gently grows in prominence when it plays, a simple looping trancey hook gets plenty of washing effects thrown on it at the peaks, which makes for a decent climax. And that’s about it, really. Everything else is sparse in sound, limp in rhythmic energy, and lacking in ingenuity. Europa’s arrangement is the kind of thing most up-and-coming producers learn in House Music 101, and were it not for Prydz’ layers of effects propping it up, this would be a very, very mediocre tune. You’d think he used John Dahlbäck’s Seal Of Adequacy and called it a day. It’s like Chinese food: satisfying upon consumption, but leaves you feeling empty shortly after.

The complete opposite is to be said with B-Side, Odyssey. For the opening minute or so, you’ll probably dismiss this as Just Another ‘Minimal’ Track, and might even wonder why Prydz, more known for peak-time tunes, would make something like this. However, as this track builds, additional rhythmic layers work a fine groove while basslines and backing synths craft a surprisingly strong production. Unlike Europa’s immediate appeal that evaporates soon after, Odyssey’s subtle sonic depth works in its favor, as the climax comes off like an anticipated reveal rather than run-of-the-mill pandering. That being said, Odyssey is still a rather simple tune as well; more satisfying than the A-Side, certainly, but rudimentary in execution nonetheless.

I’ve a feeling this single is going to garner many split opinions, none the least amongst Prydz’ fanbase. For some, he can do no wrong, and the basic ideas he presents definitely are good. However, even for a producer who’s been guilty of holding back on potential, these tracks sound as though they were made without much thought. Maybe he needed some Christmas bills quickly paid off, so he knocked these out, posted them on Beatport for purchasable download, and sat back as folks eagerly snatched up New Pryda without bothering to listen beforehand. Maybe.

Marco V - Combi:Nations:III

In Charge: 2007

Hi, Party Sykonee here. You might remember me as that counterpart of Critic Sykonee from a long ago review, Marco V’s Combi:Nations II. Now that he no longer feels shackled by ‘amateur journalistic integrity’ while blogging, we’ve pretty much become the same dude. Hell, even my grammar’s no longer questionable, isn’t that right, Critic Sykonee?

Critic Sykonee: “You know it, P’.”

Ah, some of you might have noticed I never re-uploaded that Marco V review here, even though it fell within my alphabetical guideline. Truth is, I no longer have that mix, as it was handed to me on a CD-RW I re-used for my next review. I do recall liking it, and figured should I stumble upon it cheap, I’d pick up a copy. Well hell, I didn’t find one, but here’s the follow-up, Combi:Nations III. Less than a fiver? Perfect excuse to do the schizophrenic gimmick again. Maybe the CDs will be good too!

And the first disc, titled Before, is good. It’s electro house, but it’s fun, funky, and rowdy in all the right places. Pure Main Room At Midnight indulgence. Heck, Critic Sykonee would even like this nowadays. Have we really merged that much in the five years since this was released? Hey, 2007 Sykonee, what would you say about this?

2007 Sykonee: “Trance sucks. Faux-electro is garbage. Minimal’s nonsense. Samim’s Heater’s a disgrace. Only good music now is Ultimae, which I just discovered, and twisted forest psy. Jungle’s still cool too.”

Wow, 2007 Sykonee was a twat. Fortunately, he’s stuck in the past, so forget what he has to say. Maybe even poke fun at some of his reviews whenever I upload them! (Critic Sykonee: “They weren’t all bad…”)

Back to Combi:Nations III. It seems after his dabbling on the previous edition of this series, Marco V found a proper groove with electro house, as all the tunes he uses maintains the peak hour bedlam with a few solid anthems thrown in here and there. One can never go wrong with Josh Wink’s Higher State Of Consciousness - yes, even in a remixed form - and Sander van Doorn’s last great track, Riff, is also present. Overall, the Before disc showcases all the ways electro house got it right.

However, what I was really looking forward to was the second disc, After, as that was a surprising highlight of Combi:Nations II. What kick-ass techno gems would Marco V unleash this-

Huh? That Trentemøller remix of Les Djinns is the lead-off? Okay… I guess that was a popular tune but… Oh, fuck me. Robbie Rivera’s here too? That guy’s been shit forever and… God, this mix is horrible. Track after track of plod-tech-hiss-dribble, arranged with no structure at all. And what’s with that rip-off of Don’t You Want Me? Marco, you totally lost the plot on this one. I never thought I’d say this, but compared to the music on After, the farty electro disc is brilliant. Isn’t that right, 2007 Sykonee?

2007 Sykonee: “You know it, P’.”

Various - Balance 016: Agoria

EQ Recordings: Cat.# EQGCD029
Released March 2010

Track List:
Disc 1: Aller Retour
01. Gregg Kowalsky - Ashes From Evermore
02. Alva Noto - Monophaser 2 / DJ Koze - Lords of Panama
03. Mark Pritchard - ?
04. Manvoy de Saint Sadrill - Soeheniona
05. ToscaM - Joe Si Ha
06. Emiliana Torrini - Gun
07. Agoria - Parasite 2
08. Arandel - inD#5
09. Messina - Columpnam
10. 19.454.18.5.25.5.18 - When I Think Of
11. Pom Pom - 10
12. Agoria - Altre Voci
13. Glimpse - Train in Austria Part 2
14. The Field - Over the Ice (Live mix)
15. Olibusta - La Pazz
16. Cubenx - Mis Dias Y Tus Noches
17. Felix Laband - Whisitling in Tongues (Todd Terje remix)
18. Jozif - Back 2 My Roots (Jozif's 5 o'clock Fabric Shadow edit)
19. Bibio - Jealous of Roses
20. LCD Soundystem - 45:33 (Trus'me remix)
21. Boozoo Bajou featuring Rumer - Same Sun (Prins Thomas Diskomiks) / Oxia - Less Time
22. Hatikvah - Synchronicty (Block Barley & Engin Ozturk Holmby Hills Remix)
23. Rio en Medio - The Last Child's Tear
24. Tipper - Just as the Sun Went Down
25. Gregg Kowalsky - Ashes from Evermore / Alva Noto - Monophaser

Disc 2: Rising Sine
01. Sylvain Chauveau - Hurlements En Faveur De Serge T.
02. Aphrodite's Child - Loud Loud Loud
03. Taron Trekka - Shirol / Suedmilch - We Were
04. The Same - Szarpiesz Minerwa
05. Ogris Debris - G-Thong (You and Me remix)
06. Francesco Tristano - Knee for Thought
07. Different Gear - One Thing More (Dub mix)
08. Michael Forzza - Abstractor 2.0
09. Chris Carrier and Jef K - Morning
10. DVS1 - Running
11. Drama Society & Vladislav Delay - Almodrama
12. Agoria - Libellules
13. Avril - French Kiss
14. Gadi Mizrahi - I Know
15. Jonny Greenwood - Tehellet
16. Avril - French Kiss
17. Mark Broom - Twenty Nine (Broom 09 mix)
18. Einmusik - Atlantis
19. Perc & Passarella Death Squad - Temperature's Rising
20. Aufgang - Sonar (Spitzer remix)
21. Shit Robot - Simple Things (Work it Out) (Serge Santiago remix)
22. Efdemin - Acid bells (Martyn remix)
23. 3 Chairs - No Drum Machine part 2
24. Kid A - Lonely
25. Sylvain Chauveau - Hurlements En Faveur De Serge T.


IN BRIEF: The series continues to mash things up.

I’m not certain when it started (Fortier’s 3-disc offering is my pick, although I’m sure many others would say Holden’s was the jump-point), but the Balance series has become synonymous with DJing Artistic Indulgence. For a while, that mostly entailed thematic sets rather than standard dubplate rinsing, the sort of sets undoubtedly inspired by Sasha and Digweed’s offerings from the 90s. Then Joris Voorn decided to take things one step further, using tracks as bits of samples to create a larger whole. It was an ambitious project and earned the man a ton of critical praise for the effort, even if the actual musical product was only - *gasp* - good. Now, subsequent Balance sets have followed his example, bringing crap-loads of disparate tunes into tracklists, growing ever more eclectic and quirky as we go. To be fair, this has more to do with the types of DJs now being featured. Whether it’s been EQ Recordings trying to recapture Voorn’s buzz or it was their intention to take the series down this road, I’m not sure. Whatever the case, we should expect to see more ‘kitchen-sink’ sets in the future.

Anyhow, getting to the task at hand: Agoria. Born Sébastien Devaud, the guy deejayed and released various singles throughout the 00s before getting a major break with At The Controls, a DJ mix series that grew in prominence at the same time as Balance did (again, thanks to James Holden), but folded shortly after Agoria’s offering. Uh oh… might this be an evil omen? Ah, heh, not likely, since it was due to the end of Resist that saw At The Controls’ demise. Still, early buzz on this release did have some red flags flaring up. After all, just how many of these ultra-eclectic sets can we sit through before someone overreaches?

These are two very odd CDs. Monsieur Devaud seems to have no qualm about mismatching genres and free-wheeling mixes. Unlike Voorn’s clinically perfect stitching, there are many rough transitions, quirky key mashings, and flow derailments, providing a very loose tone to the music. I actually rather prefer this approach, as the feeling of an intimate human touch becomes more prevalent, faults and all. And honestly, the faults seem to melt away once you give these CDs a couple listens. It’s quite like a mixtape, where such roughness makes sense once you realize the context of the song selection.

That said, the first CD really is a bit of a mess. Oh, it starts out fine, taking in some laidback vibes for a nice, chill start; however, if the vocal mash-up of Soeheniona with Tosca’s Joe Si Ha is off-putting for you, you may as well skip the rest, as there are rougher ones down the road. Before that though, we get a nice build-up of ominous minimal-tech, peaking out with an inspired mix of his own operatic Altre Voci, Glimpse’s Train To Austria, and The Field’s Over The Ice. And man, you gotta’ love the fact he uses a live recording of the latter, giving the peak just that extra bit of energy as you hear the crowd cheering.

Unfortunately, all forward momentum dies here, as Agoria opts to ease us back down to chill territory to end the CD out. All well and good, and he capably manages this for a few tracks. Things get wonky though, as he begins pitching tunes down so it sounds like we’re trudging through molasses. It sucks all energy out of the set, and we’re forced to amble through a collection of classy funk and soul songs that fail to mesh into an enjoyable flow.

The funny thing is the peak of this ‘home’ disc is more exciting than the peak of the ‘clubby’ CD2. After getting my trainspotter senses tingling with opener Loud Loud Loud by Aphrodite’s Child (the first verse was used in one of my favorite hip-hop tunes, and I never knew where it was from …until now!), Agoria takes us on yet another ominous minimal-tech build. Though it lags in a few places - because minimal-tech always lags when played for too long - there are enough creepy effects and melodic moments to keep your attention. During the big peak, however, it gets messy. The backbone is Avril’s take on the classic French Kiss, which is quite good, but thrown in there is the breathy vocal of I Know, which unfortunately comes saddled with a mismatched bassline; and then we have a breakdown detour for an eerie cello solo (Tehellet). Agoria tries to hold this breakdown for far too long, expecting us to sit through it as it somehow works in his mind while the audience can only uncomfortably cheer him on, hoping he’ll sort things out eventually. Instead, what was intended to be a riveting climax comes off forced and wincingly tedious.

After that, it’s back to the dark minimal-tech beats and trancey, blissed vibes. Sweet, and easily wipes away those cringe-inducing feelings from the peak of the CD. There’s perhaps a few obvious tunes here (Acid Bells, Twenty Nine), but also cool obscurities (Sonar) to keep things fresh. The fact the end of this CD plays out like a traditional DJ set probably also helps keep things on an even keel after the rocky middle-section.

Though there are problems to be had with Balance 16, I still give this a strong recommendation. Forced moments notwithstanding, I just prefer the rougher sound on display here, not to mention the wide range of music on hand. Agoria may not have matched any of the series’ highlights, but it’s still a set that’ll hold your attention.


Score: 7/10

ACE TRACKS:
Rather pointless highlighting tracks in sets like these.


Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.