Carl Cox - Black Rock Desert

Carl Cox compilations are few and far between these days. Is he just so busy that he doesn’t have the time? Possibly, as this debut double disc for Global Underground is actually a live recording. That said, it’s not just any old live recording – it’s taken from his set at last year’s legendary Burning Man festival in Nevada, which is widely touted as the best festival on the planet. The thought of the big man (or the “chocolate buddah” as Sven Vath once referred to him) slumming it with thousands of naked hippies in the scorching desert sun is an amusing one, and it’s a shame there’s no video footage to accompany.
 
It’s largely Carl Cox in heads down, techno groove, non-crowd-pleasing form – so if you’re looking for one of his more anthem-filled sets, you’ve come to the wrong place. It’s great to see hear him at his most underground – kicking off with Tiefschwarz & Seth Troxler’s bubbling, charismatic Trust, and wasting no time in getting stuck into taut grooves. Lee Van Dowski & Glimpse’ La Cocina Del Cabron injects a little Latin flavour into the rolling techno landscape, before Henry Saiz’s remix of Guy J’s Lamur fires up its glistening melancholic melodies out of nowhere.
 
The melodics are just a temporary distraction however, and it feels like a bit of a randomly placed track. Lance Bioise & Rod B’s Faaktree changes the rhythm to a bouncy throb, and by the time we hit Fergie’s Maktub towards the end, it’s a full-on onslaught. It’s like minimal never happened. Light relief comes at the end – Trevor Rockliffe’s funk-fest Move! and Christian Smith’s blessed out Flyertalk giving a rousing finale.
 
He yields a bit of big room riffage over on the start of the second disc, with Robbie Rivera’s aptly-titled Deadmau5-ish The Main Room and the yearning strings of Oliver Dahl’s remix of Noir’s The Off World. Things plod along fairly undiscernibly until Wilson, Smallwood & Ingram’s injects some driving sub bass, airy pads and teasing little tech stabs into the mix – but again, this ray of light in the techno depths is soon sucked away, and it’s back to the heads down business. Thankfully the warmth returns with Ananda Project’s remix of John Dalagelis’ tingly Asio, albeit with a rather sudden change in rhythm.
 
There’s another sudden shift to a much more minimal beat on James Zabiela’s Darkness 2 – the energy that had been so present during the rest of the disc largely dissipating – but it’s just a temporary tease. The final trio comes good – Petrae Foy &  PJC Project covering Underworld’s Dark & Long, John Tejada giving Gui Boratto’s Take My Breath Away a hot rework, and Poletica’s What Kind Of World Do You Want? finishing off in a quirky, Italo-disco tinged melodic fashion.
 
This compilation is unlikely to convert any non-believers, but Carl Cox fans are liable to love it. For this reviewer, it doesn’t always make for enjoyable home listening – but it depends how much you like your tech-at-home I guess. One thing’s for sure – if I’d been there at Burning Man, I’d blatantly be stomping my heels off to this.