get lost : mixed by damian lazarus and matthew styles
new double cd mix on damians own crosstown rebels label during which the pair throw all manner of weird electro based noises at you to make you twist and turn and possibly dance if you happen to be that way inclined. check out any decent dance related websites and forums and there is a deluge of information about the electro scene that can be baffling with its subgenres, of these, you may have read about the thriving scene known as 'minimal'. well, despite having not gone anywhere near a club for years, i have been reliably informed that damian lazarus is a bit of minimal guru with his genre defining 'rebel futurism', and 'suck my deck' mixes. so, to find out what you have been missing, this release could indeed make you feel very up-to-date. but besides trying to keep up and get down with the scenesters, is it any good ?
well, of the 2 discs on offer, the first cd is definitely for the groove lovers, and more enjoyable due to its simple objective to make your feet/spine move. subsequently, the mood is rather subdued to start with, but its not long before the tempo is on the increase, and you are wanting to raise your arms in wild abandon and grin like the proverbial cheshire cat. track names are irrelevant, as all you need to know is that this is a damn fine set of electro (minimal, tech, detroit house, whatever) with some tingling melodies and compelling beats.
whereas the second disc goes into some very strange directions, with such weirdness as 'position normal' making the flow feel rather unsettled, which is followed by some rather cheesy 80's synth funk, going by the charming name of 'sunshine f*ck (part 1) by trickski', with a production that 80's also rans imagination would have chucked away as a b-side. thankfully, the bad stuff is easily outweighed by the 'whoa - what the fuck is this' type of good, such as the electro'd hip hop funk of anaerobic robots, the superb acidic tinged dark-n-nasty moods of paranoia by john tejada, or the smile inducing cut-n-paste by si begg, before things settle down towards the end, with the epic 9 minutes of perfect techno, 'detroit' by moonstar, in which the title of the track gives away the game as to how this slice of excellence sounds - deep, warm and somewhat out of place in these surroundings!
in fact, it's quite possible that by the end of the 14 tracks you will be crying out for a simple chord-chorus-chord structure song, as your head will be truly messed up by the freaky-deaky productions, the pummeling subsonic electronica, and overall strangeness that has been chosen to be your soundtrack for the last 70 minutes.
i suspect that this is a mix that definitely requires some more attention and love to get the most out of it, there is so much to come to terms with across the 2 cds, because despite its hormonal teenage f*ck off attitude, this stuff just really wants to be loved.
so, i urge you to ignore the advise projected in the title, and find this little monster in the racks as soon as possible to find out of your blood still flows in the right direction.
track listing
CD1
1. Mlle.Caro & Franck Garcia - Far Away
2. Repeat Repeat - Carpark
3. Goldfish & der Dulz - Privacy (Patrick Chardronnet Mix pt.2)
4. Styro 2000 - Sanagol
5. The Knife - Silent Shout (Troy Pierce Barado En Locombia Mix)
6. DJ Koze - Pattern Wirtschaft
7. Rob Mello - Give Me (Demo Mix)
8. Butane - Sound of Digidown (Someone Else Remix)
9. Monolake - Plumbicion
10. Add Noise - Jam Econo
11.Prosumer - Blei
12. Solieb - Circus Maximus
13. Ost & Kjex - How No To Be A Biscuit
14. Und - Coccopuffs
15. Ra-X - Opium Den (Part V)
CD2
1. Andy Couzenz - De Do Da Da
2. Naum - Feln
3. Fourtet - A Joy (Battles Remix)
4. Position Normal - Jimmy Had Jane
5. Trickski - Sunshine F**k (Part 1)
6. Anaerobic Robots - Darwin or Lose
7. John Tejada - Paranoia
8. Si Begg - On Ice
9. Berghiem 34 - Take My Soul
10. Modeler - Mint Condition
11. Duoteque - Lola
12. Moonstarr - Detroit
13. Abe Duque Feat Gene la Fosse. - Take Me To Heaven
14. Hannas Barber - Beautiful Squishy Lightbulbs