COMPILATIONSREVIEWS 8.0
Derrick May & Jimmy Edgar We Love Detroit We Love Recordings Made in the Motor City
Ubiquitous referencing to Detroit these days may feel slightly strained, even clichéd, but there’s no doubting the dialogue between the city’s generations over the decades. Drawing upon that theme, We Love have drafted in Derrick ‘the innovator’ May and Berlin-based, ex- NY-dwelling fashionista Jimmy Edgar — originally from Detroit — to select, based on their interpretation of the ‘sound’. May’s, of course, pays attention to local roots while commenting on the wider, more international context of techno, with KiNK and Andres getting the nod alongside John Beltran and Carl Craig. Later, Edgar includes his own funky Y3K throwbacks to the movement, mainly focusing on the future path of the sound taken by Lando Kal, Kyle Hall and Darling Farah. Serving more to reinforce techno’s all-encompassing reach than strive for any concrete definition, ‘We Love Detroit’ is about as didactic as the dancefloor gets — in a good way. Adam Saville
DJ Deep Kern Vol. 1 Tresor
9.0 Narrative depth
LAUNCHING the new ‘Kern’ series for venerable Berlin institution Tresor, Cyril Etienne (DJ Deep) draws upon his very own “DJ Diary” as environmental and emotional context for each tune selected. To us, it might sound like a collection of stone-cold house and techno classics — old and new — classily mixed together. To him, however, it’s the sonic realization of his personal history; the musical moments that define him as a DJ. Whether that adds any value to us, as listeners, is by the by. No doubt aided by said injection of love, what really matters — in the grand ol’ scheme o’ things — is that from start to finish it sounds completely dope. Starting out with an original organ house cut recovered from Tresor’s archives, ‘93’s ‘Music In My Head’ by A.E.S (Arthur Forest, Eddie Fowlkes & Santonio Echols) offers a taster of rare gems to follow. Immediately after is Santonio’s unreleased synth stringed masterpiece ‘Amnesia’, and later Xperiment’s ‘Karn Evil 10’ and then
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Deepside aka St Germain’s ‘III’, all of which find spots on ‘The Rarities’ — a four-track sampler vinyl alongside another entitled ‘The Exclusives’ (featuring Kerri Chandler, Marcelus & Maan), both included in the package. The most effective moments, however, can be traced within the main fabric of the mix. Kerri Chandler’s chunky rework of Rootstrax’s sublime ‘Harlequin’ is vintage Pepe Braddock freshened up for the new generation. Elsewhere, Phlash! (Mick Shiner & Steve Hill) inject some nose-bleeding acid and The Bayara Citizens aka Joe Claussell wigs out with cosmic Afro-jazz flex ‘Kweyo Electric Dub’. Later, some psyche-house from DJ Gregory and some loopy minimal from Jonas Kopp crop up as part of an intuitive mix that segues effortlessly between early house and classic Motor City techno, while bridging gaps between later, more modern derivatives. As heritable as it is heartfelt, ‘Kern Vol.1’ is a hard one to beat. Adam Saville
8.0
Tiga Nonstop Different Recordings Everything-in-the-pot
Unwilling to stick to purist confines, Tiga has always teased the barriers of dance music convention. On ‘Nonstop’, however, he’s barking up its tree like a mad dog with ra(ve)bies. Whether digital localization or advancement of DJ technology (both?) has given the Turbo boss wings is moot, what’s clear is that he’s truly in his element. Starting out with indie-funk troubadour Kindness at 108bpm and working up the scale — through Audion, Duke Dumont, Locked Groove, Blawan and Factory Floor — towards 126bpm, Tiga’s ‘tempos without borders’ ethos materializes into nothing short of an outrageous dancefloor romp. Debuting his latest single produced alongside Matthew Dear, ‘Plush’, plus some Turbo exclusives, ‘Nonstop’ is by no means short of surprises, but the real joy here is Tiga’s ability to chew up and spit out techno, electro and bass into an incendiary fireball of relentless party energy. Lisa Loveday
www.djmag.com
Various Watergate X Watergate Records Decade dominating a dancefloor
To celebrate 10 years of clubbing refinery, iconic Berlin institution Watergate has conjured a double-part compilation that’s, well, pretty damn refined. Featuring efforts not just from loyal locals but across the map — musically and geographically — the wide-ranging respect adorning this club is reflected by a tracklist wall-to-wall with quality. While the involvement of Jesse Rose, Catz ‘N Dogz, DJ Sneak, Benoit & Sergio and Maceo Plex alongside locals like Sebo K, M.A.N.D.Y and Marco Resmann might scream diversity, the exclusivity of the production tells a different story. Stripping their craft back to the point of austerity, the artists on board know what’s expected. That it’s all on the same page — classy, sophisticated and not at all overblown — is more a testament to the muse-with-an-LED-wall than the artists. Lisa Loveday
7.5 Sven Väth
The Sound Of The Thirteenth Season Cocoon Lucky 13
The slide into administration of Sven’s Frankfurt Cocoon club surely confirmed that the techno titan’s going concern these days is Ibiza. And fairly so, because for 13 seasons now the veteran has pushed on with his techno agenda, bringing harder beats than anyone to the White Isle with more and more success each year. A look at the tracklist for this latest compendium, though, proves Sven still has his eye on the ball, with nuanced scenes and little-known names popping up frequently across both CDs. Disc one is a thoroughly contemporary blend that starts off stripped, deep and bassy, before getting twisted courtesy of tracks from Octave One, Ben Sims and Planetary Assault Systems. The second disc is deeper and more introverted, with Lawrence’s unusually minimal delights at the heart of a mix that also calls on Four Tet, Dixon and Roman Flügel. Kristan J Caryl
8.0
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