Preceded by Andre Galluzzi and Marcel Dettmann, Len Faki is the third resident of Berlin’s Berghain to create a compilation for the club’s own CD series. The mix is intended to act as a pared-down to-scale reflection of Len’s epic sets at Berghain – something both he, and the club are renowned for indulging in.
In John Beltran’s Vienna, orchestral sounds dance lightly on top of the classically euphonic rumble of a storm and make for a rather evanescent opening. Thunder soon gives way to techno and we get straight to business with Edit-Select’s exclusive track, Bauer. The pace is set very early on and by track four,Collabs featuring Speedy J and Chris Liebing’s Magnit Express, we’ve surged headlong into dark techno territory. The type of techno that comprises the main body of the compilation is the type of harder techno that had become less fashionable in clubs but has been making a re-appearance over the past few months; Someone Else’s Lowdown Brittle is exemplary with is whirring loops and industrial edge. Pfirter’s Mi Chica wavers between the peaks and troughs of an electronic wave whilst a constant beat chugs straight through the middle. Both this and the following track exude an air of playfulness in composition and overall effect but then we take turn for the serious with the racing energy of JP Montesino's Viaje Numero Uno. It seems less a track and more a network of equally-weighted elements that you experience the power of, rather than hear.
Berghain 03 contains four exclusive tracks, one of which is Faki’s own, BX3. It soon becomes clear that the entire mix has been subtly building up to this absolute punisher, which sits in line with Faki’s general style of production - it could almost be described as perfect techno. Radioslave’s Neverending hits the ground running from the intense heights of BX3 and the addition of Dennis Ferrer’s tribal lyrics keeps it travelling along with confidence and a deep, gratifying groove. Lyrics such as these will never fail against a simple techno backdrop.
The radical change of gear that occurs at track fourteen is utterly surprising, uplifting and delightful. Faki seamlessly transforms the mix and we find ourselves immersed in piano house with matching vocals to boot. The inclusion of old favourites, Basement Jaxx's Fly Life and Laurent Garnier's The Man With The Red Face is a bold move on his part but despite initial reservations anyone may hold he does manage to avoid any clichés. By focusing on the gritty over euphoric, shallow and immediately satisfying elements, the tracks are intelligently re-contextualised in such a way that nothing about the mix is compromised.
Len’s style of mixing is a prominent feature of the CD. He tends towards massively drawn-out but detectable layering which will suddenly drop into the next track. It’s executed so smoothly that it works to re-configure entire tracks. A mixing highlight is track seventeen into eighteen.
Ferrer and Sydenham’s highly regarded Timbuktu marks the beginning of the end. Unfortunately it does sound dated, but Burial’s remix of Bloc Party’s Where Is Home quickly comes to the rescue and effortlessly brings back a contemporary mood courtesy of dubstep. The haunting lyrics are perfectly suited to the dark, reflective, melancholy sound that is so distinctively Burial. A sincerely emotive closer ensures that the mix travels 360 back to the elemental sounds of John Beltran’s opener.
Tracklisting:
01. John Beltran – Vienna
02. Edit-Select – Bauer (Exclusive Track)
03. Roman Lindau – Raumgestaltung
04. Collabs feat. Speedy J & Chris Liebing – Magnit Express
05. Gez Varley pres. Tony Montana – The World Is Yours
06. Someone Else – Lowdown Brittle (Wink’s Profound Sound Interpretation)
07. Pfirter – Mi Chica
08. Eric Johnston – Waiting For Weird
09. JP Montesino – Viaje Numero Uno
10. Planetary Assault Systems – Surface Noise
11. Len Faki – BX 3 (Exclusive Track)
12. Radio Slave - Neverending (Exclusive Track)
13. Radio Slave w/ Dennis Ferrer – Neverending w/ Jero A capella
14. Koljah & Oliver Deutschmann - Eaten Back To Life (Ed Davenport’s Stripped Mix)
15. Tony Lionni – Found A Place (Exclusive Track)
16. Basement Jaxx – Fly Life (Xtra Mix)
17. Nick Holder & Kaje pres. Trackheadz – Feel (Instrumental Mix)
18. Laurent Garnier – The Man With The Red Face
19. Ferrer & Sydenham Inc. - Timbuktu
20. Bloc Party - Where is Home? (Burial Remix)