“A Parisian lesbian icon” no less, Chloé has struck us as a talented girl with a lot of groove, but after seeing her play a set at Sonár (by Night, natch), at around 90BPM, when we all wanted to get our wiggle on, we were left with less than a glowing impression of her. This CD, recorded live at the legendary Robert Johnson club in Offenbach, Germany, is the first in the club’s new series of mixes – and goes a long way to redeeming her for the aforementioned incident.
We do start off at a sluggish pace, with the off-kilter electronica weirdness of Gudrun Gut’s Rock Bottom Riser – but its atmospheric, otherworldliness makes for a good mood-setter. The gently haunting chords and delicate synth twinkles of DJ Kôze’s Mariposa usher us towards more solid, dancefloor climbs, with Zurich-based talent Kalabrese joining the dots between grooves for the ‘floor and quirkiness for the ears and head on Makelovedisco. The bumping, juicy subs and trippy vocal treatment of SIS’s wonderful Orgsa take things up to the next level, Chloé effortlessly building up the pace and layers without us noticing, so that somehow by the time those pounding kicks of Steve Angello’s remix of Shinedoe’s Phunk thump into the mix, you forget that just 10 minutes ago you were listening to subdued, soft material.
Tinges of techno and electro begin to creep into the mix with the retro synths and handclaps of Samim & Michal’s Circles and subsequently the brain-warping acid of Vincenzo’s The Phantom Image, cold electro throbs continuing over the next 2 tracks until we reach the subtly militant techno ticking of Plein Soleil’s Cassius Belli. Acid house gets a look-in next on Larry Heard’s Spinal Tap, before we reach the big-riffed crescendo. Homebase’s Centrino squeals and distends itself violently with its tech house / electro fusion, before Joakim’s epic mix of Seventeen Evergreen’s The Music Is The Wine destroys all in its path with its huge swathes of wobbling synths.
It’s a very enjoyable, well-programmed mix that flows pretty seamlessly from one point to another, and combines a range of styles completely coherently. Worth checking.
Tracklisting:
1 – Gudrun Gut – Rock bottom riser / Monika enterprise
2 – DJ Koze – Mariposa / Kompakt
3 – Kalabrese – Makelovedisco / Phictiv records
4 – SIS – Orgsa / Cecille records
5 – Shinedoe – Phunk (Steve Angello re-edit) / Size records
6 – Partial Arts – Cruising / Dialect recordings
7 – Samim & Michal – Circles / Kindisch rec.
8 – Vincenzo- The Phantom Image / Pokerflat
9 – Daso & Pawas – Ice / Flash rec.
10 – Heiko Mso feat. Malte – Reach / klang electronik
11 – Plein Soleil – Casus Belli/ Live at Robert Johnson
12 – Larry heard – Spinal Tap / Alleviated Records
13 – Trulz & Robin feat. Baseman – turn my head / Planet noise
14 – Homebase – Centrino / Waskids
15 – Music is the wine (Joakim remix) / Lucky number music