★★★☆☆
Olivier Mateu is in the Mobilee hotseat to referee a double-disc set of deep house best described as duking it out. Rounding up label highlights reaching deep, tech-tweaking standards, Ray Okpara and David Labeij provide firm fixtures, both in staying on the dancefloor and with their cast iron demeanours, seeing the club as one long strip it can fully extend into (unsurprising, given the press release’s mentioning of Rodriguez’ 10-hours-a-day studio habit). A stiff funkiness has And.Id attempting disco depressurization, one that pushes home the singular loop, whether riff or bass, to propel everything around it. A crossroads of thinking man’s DJ where the cogs and pistons visibly perform, and a spinner riding a buzz out of routine and repetition, the Frenchman plays patiently for vibes to descend, once in a while adding a pinch of class (his remix of “Chi This Wonder Up”).
Re.You’s “Junction” looks to join the trending masses of low slung bass-house while keeping a tribal membership to hand at the same time, taking the doggedness to new determined levels until maximized by Pan-Pot and Safeword, techno-siding breakers of glass chins. As he goes for self/collaborates with those already detailed, disc two sustains the show of one-sided potency. Another dash of the high-rent (“Roads,” the skippier “Nuages”) stands amongst a set of exacting tech-fed pendulums showing only occasional leniency (the friendlier, less taut “Ghetto Blaster”). Slackers need not apply, those fine with burning rubber from the soles of their shoes, pull on your pumps.
File under: Sebo K, Anja Schneider, Tassilo