Compilation Review: ‘Cocoon Heroes mixed by Joris Voorn & Cassy’ (Cocoon)

★★★★★

The classic double disc face-off of house against techno, the rough and the smooth, deep massages and strident face-slapping, the contrast of the heat of the day and the heat of the night, all taking place on the infamous Cocoon canvas.

Joris Voorn morphs funkiness and fear-calming through a fog machine, creating a forever penetrating vibe you can only sink into with scuba apparatus on. Sections allow you to try it on from the dance floor’s outskirts, though Steve Lawler and Ronan Portela’s tribal booms insist on deserting the margins as Voorn gets into a metronomic stride, delving into a cocktail of styles, angles and sneak attacks that come masterfully merged with no small amount of quiet determination.

On names alone Cassy’s mix is impressive. Pearson Sound, Sigha, Paul Woolford (whose Psycatron hook-up “Stolen” is absolute fire) and Mr G are the pinpoints for techno at its crunching, funk-flattening best, and for mix statisticians, disc two goes through a roll call half the size of that of Voorn’s. Allowing herself the slimmest of organization time before getting into the belly of a supremely well-oiled mix, it’s a vast machine (the drums of Shed, Wax are a case of no demolition job too large), dominating with barely a second’s rest.
File under: Lawrence, Stefny Winter