Offering up an impressively diverse approach to house music's 120-beats-per-minute regimen, Swayzak seems to chronicle a hipster's club night out in this mix. The initial clacking, mechano-minimalist tech-house by Akufen, Konrad Black, and Luomo approximates car or bus sounds driving through the quiet night before sending its passengers off through the club's door. Inside, it's a crowd of distinct characters: There's the longing lounge singer Louie Austen, mixed by Herbert; the numb club girl in Felix Da Housecat's "What Does It Feel Like"; the floating Rasta crooning over Rockers Hi-Fi's dubby "Push Push"; and the anxious post-rock scenester 'fessing up over drum-machine-driven funk in LCD Soundsystem's "Losing My Edge." Finally, after a touch of tweaky early-a.m. tech-house, the dawn breaks on German duo Salz's deep remix of Thomas Dolby's melancholy 1981 hit "One of Our Submarines," as Dolby's cries of "Goodbye, empire" bring a chill against the morning sun. With its natural flow and flawless selection, Swayzak's mix offers up a potent document of a night in the life of a scene called house.
Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Chicago, David Brown, Frankie Knuckles, James Taylor
