The new annual Desolat sampler is a special one – it marks the 5th anniversary of the label. 8 tracks accompanied with a mix by Loco Dice himself once again reveal the imprint’s inclination towards the most danceable sort of techno.
Dice seems to be suffering from a naming crisis. While the tracks on his latest EP are amalgamated under one slightly varying title (“Autotox”, “Detox”, “Neurotox” and “Retox”), the newest one bears an infantile name “Lolopopinho”. But unlike the EP, which is by far not the most convincing work by the Desolat boss, the opening track of the sampler is pretty top-notch. Depending on a DJ’s will, it can be either a peak time banger or a track which purpose is to catch the crowd’s attention and to switch them from light swinging mood to fierce dancing.
Shlomi Aber proceeds with this groovy sound on his “Mancha”, a resolute nighttime stomper, whose enchantment lies into its bouncing bassline, adorned only by blurred vocals.
Hector’s “Amorphous mass” also stakes on heavy bass, but in this case it’s less homogenous. Desolat’s mainstay contributes to the sampler with a dark and waddling track with echoing vocals.
The deep and spacious side of sound is represented by Yaya’s “Our connection” and tINI’s “Room 305”. Yaya makes it trippy and dreamy, while Desolat’s first lady delivers some piquancy by spicing up her piece with lyrics “Are you serious? You wanna hurt me?”. In the mix these tracks follow each other, providing a smooth transition from the warming up phase to the steady rocking.
Horatio does his bit with a thing called “How much 909 can you take?”. Romanian DJs are notorious for being uncompromising – indeed, it takes a maniac to dare to shove so much drum into a single track. Horatio somehow manages to turn excess into harmony, which is a formidable asset for a techno artist. It looks like he started to explore this ground with his most famous composition by now, “Ramayana” (Carlo Lio remix), but it definitely can’t compete with “How much 909 can you take?” in the amount of knocking and tapping.
Lucero en Vivo’s “La France” was efficiently used by Dice as far back as in 2010, when it was included in Amnesia Ibiza Underground 10 mix CD, but it’s only now when the outstanding track sees the full release. This piece is voiced by cinematographically shrewish women (in French, of course) and is highly unlikely to be mistaken for anything else.
The mix showcases the universally recognized Loco Dice’s ability to rule the dancefloor. It is reinforced with exclusive tracks by Basti Grub, Guti, Francisco Allendes, Dragosh, Premiesku, Ali Borem and Benny Rodrigues, which provide a constant build-up from the more relaxed pole of the sampler to the maximum tension.
“Lolopopinho” serves as a watershed separating the intro part from a continuum of moving and shaking it. The second dividing line happens to be on the 57th minute: the mix bursts out with a meaningful pause, after which the silence gets immediately smashed into smithereens. The sound landscape goes wild, you can hear anything from metal clanking to quasi bells ringing and – oh, yes – the hands down winning 909 by Horatio. Alexkid’s “Enty”, a slightly moody and airy thing, serves as a perfect closing to this selection of powerful tracks.
Loco Dice’s take on music has always been club-oriented. His mixes are sanguine and dance-incentive at every turn, and the one accompanying the anniversary sampler is no exception. Desolat artists keep well abreast with their boss in developing and improving the label’s signature sound. The imprint faces its 5th birthday in a fine shape and it seems that future looks quite rosy for them.
5 YEARS DESOLAT
Label: Desolat
Release Date: 04.02.2013
Words: Lena Kochetkova