For those of you that didn’t know, Seth Troxler started out DJing at 16 years old in Detroit (alongside working in a local record store) when he developed what he now likes to coin as, “A preternatural understanding of rave, and dance music history, that now allows him to conjures up mixes and tracks like Botticelli conjured his Venus.” As you can tell Seth’s a very modest guy. After making the inevitable move to Berlin (The be all and end all of Dance music), he now holds an impressive number of residencies, and throughout the past couple of years has carved out quite a reputation for himself. According to Seth’s Myspace page, he states his main influence as, “Robert Downey Jr., and the idea of releasing the shackles that bind Downey so he can finally do heroin in peace.” I like this guy already.
Boogybytes Vol. 5 brings you an intelligent, rhythmic and stripped back minimal mix where Seth has effortlessly sewn together sixteen tracks for your listening pleasure. Technically, the mixing is seamless, and you’d be hard pressed to point out where one track ends and the next begins. The selection of tracks reflects the nature of the style, giving you an insight into the minimal world of late, and what’s going on behind some of those closed doors in that crazy city of Berlin.
A spaced out intro takes you into a very interesting track The Royal We – Party Guilt (Dinkys Arp-a-pella). A cross between several post club arguments between myself and my girlfriend, rolled together, with a splattering of pads that takes you up leads you out of the intro and points you towards the dance floor. The mood switches to funky then the soulful grooves from Dinky & Baeka leading into deeper grooves by Deniz Kurtel on the remix, which is halted by an intrusion which can only be Ritchie Hawtin.
Alex Delano carries on in the same vein with Molar One. Seth then moves the focus onto your feet, making them work with a selection of tracks from Jabberjaw, Birds & Soul, Roman Flugel & a couple of reworks from himself. The last two tracks work well to bring the mix to a close, “Kiki – Cinema Obscura” laying down a solid rhythm, and Time For Us by Nicloas Jaar bringing the proceedings to a close in a seven minute wind down.
All round the mix covers all the angles bringing something different with each track. But of the sixteen on there, a couple have found their way into my record box. Craig Smith & The Revenge – The Soul Part II is the first dance floor track on the mix, with a bouncing bass line, those classic piano keys and an echoed vocals – simple yet affective. The vocals on Deniz Kurtel’s remix of N/A ft. Rosina – Fables & Fairytales, had me hooked from the first lick. Beat and vocals combine to create a masterpiece.
Admittedly I’d lost track of minimal music, trying to keep on top of my ever growing thirst for music of all styles past and present, but this mix has tuned me back in. From looking at Seth’s DJ calendar, he seems to be quite the busy boy in Europe for the coming months, with nothing in the UK yet. But you can be sure, if he makes it round my way anytime soon, I’ll be firmly rooted on the dance floor.
Release Date 08/03/2010 (BPITCH Control)
Work in Progress.......no literally, am a work in progress....
