COMPILATIONSREVIEWS
Various New Jack Techno Turbo
8.0
Techno, techno, techno, techno
AN integral part of shaping his hometown Montreal into the respected electronic music outpost that it is today — the record shop he opened in 1994 was called DNA Records, while he released Kenny Glasgow’s ‘Toronto Mix Sessions’ back in 2001 — Tiga’s heart has always beaten to the 130-plus pump of techno. It was this pulse that he shared with Jori Hulkkonen, the producer with whom he achieved worldwide fame via ‘Sunglasses At Night’, and it’s the sound that his label comes back to as, from Blawan to Ben Sims, techno returns to its panel-beating best. Let’s make it clear, this comp isn’t for the faint- hearted, meaning anyone who affixes the word
‘deep’ to their musical tastes. Kicking off with the heads-down elemental thump of ‘Iron & Water’ from Chinese-Italian pairing Gingy & Bordello — the former of whom teams up with Hotflush’s Locked Groove for one of the comp highlights, ‘Tie Dye’, a twisted mix of freaked-out acid and party whistles — this is the spirit of Berghain embraced on a global scale. Locked Groove’s ‘Different Paths’ sounds like a lorry reversing into a crusher while T Tijn’s ‘The Anti Mixdown’ takes its cues from Blawan, Randomer et al, as does Sei A’s ‘Mercy Bass’, the only mercy being its comparatively slow tempo. Milano’s ‘Wasteland’ fizzes ominously like a melting geiger counter, and Duke Dumont scores
high on ‘Underground Persistence’ in both the pun and wah-wahing bass stakes. Another Canadian, Toronto’s Nautiluss, provides further late-night, backstreet menace with the stripped percussive thrust of ‘Troubleman’ while recent Turbo arrival Clouds shreds the bass cones with the clanks and distortion of ‘Gang 49’. It’s topped off by Thomas Anderson, the Swedish producer who scored one of the label’s biggest hits with ‘Washing Machine’. Gone are the huge electro builds of old, replaced by a linear heads-down groove, all throbbing gated bass offset by a twinkling top-line. Techno is back and it’s ready to shake shit up again. JOE ROBERTS
8.0
Joris Voorn & Cassy Cocoon Heroes Cocoon
Magimix
This year’s annual run of Cocoon parties at Amnesia, Ibiza — their 13th consecutive season — goes under the title Into The Magic. Appropriately, Sven has selected two modern heavyweights from different ends of the spectrum to serve up mixes of what to expect, with Dutch techno stalwart Joris Voorn heading up disc one, and classy deep house mistress Cassy taking the second. Voorn’s effort is typically far-ranging, packs in plenty of tracks from a wide remit of scenes and manages to make it work. Next to tried-and-tested names like Guy Gerber, Lawrence and Oxia sit newcomers like Hot Since 82 and Egal 3, with the free-flowing results touching on deep and swirly house as much as darker and more twisted techno. It’s no doubt the Cassy disc will appeal to the more discerning fan, though: going deep as ever, classic house influences blend into stripped Berlin techno with plenty of hypnotic highs along the way. Kristan J Caryl
088
Paul Woolford The Lab 04 NRK Bassology
With Paul Woolford’s recent ‘comeback’ inspired by his bass flirtations, you might expect this epic double-disc affair to land somewhere between his normal remit and newer Special Request alias. But while Woolford’s work with Scuba, Appleblim and T.Williams has sent him down some unexpected side roads, with bass being so all-encompassing, it hasn’t inspired a reinvention — this is largely business as usual for the UK house and techno producer, but no worse for it. Surprises do arrive, but between Untold’s ‘Motion The Dance’, Mr Beatnick’s ‘Synthetes’ — what Charles Stepney might have made if signed to Planet E — Trevino aka Marcus Intalex’s ‘Tweakanomics’ and NB Funky’s faultless ‘Riddim Box’, all apparent tracklisting oddities have clearly been picked for how they slot into the general Detroit aesthetic. With a seamless, yet not frictionless, airtight selection, Woolford doesn’t need bass music’s seal of cool. Sunil Chauhan
8.0
9.0
Various Future Disco Presents Poolside Sounds Future Disco Everybody loves the sunshine
Yeah, yeah. Poolside sounds. How many feel-good summer mix albums does the world need? Well, when they sound as good as the latest offering from Future Disco, the flagship series on UK DJ/ producer Sean Brosnan’s label, you’ll only wish there were more. Mixed by Sean (with a second unmixed CD), ‘Poolside Sounds’ is drenched in laidback house and eclectic Balearic sounds. The summer party scene is set from the start, with tracks as delicious as Soho808’s super-slinky ‘Get Up Disco’ to ‘Do You Believe?’ by the appropriately named Poolside — a track that can only be described as the love child of Frankie Valli’s ‘Oh What A Night’ and ‘80s Kool & The Gang (wrong, but oh so right). MAM’s ‘Crushed Ice’ turns the notch up once more with a gorgeous French house-style tune that’s as irresistible as another cocktail at sunset. A summer essential. Zoe Wallis
www.djmag.com
Foals Tapes !K7
Dancefloor mosaic
More famed for their hipster quiffs and angular riffs than their DJ skills, Foals’ snappy chops on punk-dance tunes (Young Turks, Transgressive, Sub Pop) and raucous live shows are the reason why indie circles revere them worldwide. Considering the band’s regular DJ slots at trendy dens, though, the announcement that !K7 would be putting out a mix comp wasn’t a complete surprise. However, the presence of Dorian Concept, Carl Craig, Tanner Ross, John Talabot, Teengirl Fantasy, Art Department, Maurice Fulton, Jimmy Edgar and Sepalcure in the selection not only raised a few eyebrows here at DJ Mag HQ, it had us scrambling for the office stereo. A diverse tracklist covering DFA disco, lo-fi pop, leftfield deep house and techno would mean sweet fanny apple without bags of dancefloor nous holding it together, but, thankfully, they own an articulated lorry load of the stuff, which they have applied skilfully. Adam Saville
8.5
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