nick warren pursues balance.
Nick Warren’s Balance 018 Mix is his first ever departure from turntables of some shape or form, replacing them with Ableton Live. It also represents a favorite idea of Mr. Warren’s: his twitter provided an FTP upload site for up and coming producers to send their work for him to compile. Apparently, he did make use of a few here and there in this release. This is one of my favorite parts about Nick Warren; his incredible support- as an elder voice in electronic music- of young or developing producers. I will cite his introduction of the world to Starkid in the Reykjavik Global Underground, sadly right before Starkid passed away. But optimistically, at least we got to hear Adam Spears’ brilliant single, “Crayons” before we lost him. Though I have mentioned Starkid before, if you are not aware of his absolutely brilliant work, I strongly recommend going to longlivestarkid.com and checking out his catalogue of music. Secondly, pay homage to Starkid, who would have been a gargantuan talent had he been given a full life.
Obviously, due to multiple mentions of Nick Warren and Way Out West (his collaboration with Jody), you likely know that I am a bit of a fan. Warren’s Paris Global Underground stands to this day as my favorite release on that label in recent memory. Though I have not enjoyed every release of Warren’s, I have always been a fan of his steadfast pursuit of following and chronicling the evolution of dance music through his mixes.
So this release, Mr. Warren’s first outing on the Balance Label, still retains his adoration of melancholic melody and his continual undulation between downtempo and proper house. But there are some fundamental issues with this mix, some of which get down to production/mastering mistakes. One track, a release by Paul Hazendonk on the first disc, has an inexcusable peak on a percussion element that is at times grating, and through headphones, frankly unlistenable. Some of the other tracks throughout have odd clipping sounds and to those producers, it could be viewed as a brand of distortion. To me however, it required me to sound check my headphones for output issues.
There are some beautiful moments throughout this first mix, but Nick also seems to jump around a lot in terms of mixing duties. At times, the transitions are subtle, beautiful and per the usual of this brilliant DJ. However, some of the changeovers and switches between tracks are harsh, quick, or appear not well thought out. I wonder if this is due to Nick having stepped away from the use of manual beat matching and has since turned full digital. It could also be a new style he is experimenting with, but I however notice the transitions much more blatantly than in his past work, and this- to me at least- does lead to a less enjoyable experience as a listener. The effect of being able to “see” a track transition coming, is like watching The Usual Suspects and knowing who Kaiser Soze is; not nearly as entertaining a movie, as the film is that revelation. The same I believe an elegant transition between two tracks should be, just as surprising and professionally done.
There is also a rather hum drum mood in this release, muddled and unclear if Nick is trying to pursue a relaxing sound, or a new variant of dance music. He himself confessed this release to be much “Techier” and “Deep” than his previous releases. Sadly, these to adjectives often are synonymous with “Dry” and “Confusing”. However, “Deep” mixes are oftentimes for me, emotionally confusing; they feel slightly unclear as a listener.
Though I truly adore Nick Warren’s work throughout the years he has been a DJ, I have to say that this mix is not his best, but it does have some wonderful moments. The first disc however has the absolutely horrid track from Paul Hazendonk that could easily be classified under the category of “Music for Deaf People.” Disc 2 though, has an interesting vibe, is clearer in terms of vision and has a few really beautiful tracks. I hope though, that we can see Mr. Warren going again towards that wonderful Paris House he did in GU032. This statement however, is probably a bit redundant to you dear reader and I apologize.
Give it a listen, feedback is always welcome and again I apologize for the lack of updates to my blog as of late. Keep your headphones on.
_backchat.
