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| quote: | Eleventh in line in the Balance saga, Luke Fair has proudly brought us his very own Balance compilation. Featuring previous DJs like James Holden, Desyn Masiello, Paolo Mojo and most recently, Jimmy Van M, Balance has become renowned for its progressive thinking and wealth of varying sounds. With this sort of history behind them, Canadian born Luke Fair hasn’t been set an easy task of living up to his predecessors.
As unique as every Balance is, this eleventh instalment is not about to change that plan. Presenting us with 2 discs of lush music, from Deep House to Progressive Trance, Mr Fair explains how the compilation is meant to capture an entire night at a club. Providing special edits for every song, Luke has personalized this Balance like none before it with his unique style of layering and track selection.
Opting for a slightly ambient yet deep and housey feeling, Luke opens the first disc with ‘Vampire Song.’ Already displaying the mood of the ensuing 2 discs worth of music, the song gracefully makes way for the King Britt Mix of ‘Can’t Hold Back.’ An awesome Deep House number, I can’t help but reminisce of times gone past, feelings that I haven’t felt yet and for some reason the notes remind me of ‘Wavy Gravy.’ Slowly becoming more House orientated with tracks like ‘Home Planet,’ the mix continues to have that groovy club feeling to it. Combining two songs like ‘Red Planet’ and ‘Serene,’ Luke Fair manages to swing the mood one way and another. The mix stays on course very well at this point.
Julien Jabre’s ‘War,’ adds extra atmosphere with its lush strings, deep percussion and electronic melody. It sounds as though Luke Fair isn’t letting any loose as song after song is magically mixed with the last, the edits he has created do indeed customize the mix. Leaning slightly more to the Techno side with ‘Burnin,’ Fair shows off his talent as the feeling within the songs mellows down a bit and begins to build again with the vocal track ‘KTB.’ Displaying Funky House elements in lots of songs at this point, 69 Police is worthy of specific mention, a wonderful bassline entwined with strange effects and vocal samples, this is one of my favourite of the first disc. Maybe a little awkwardly, ‘Our House Music’ is presented, similar in ways to earlier songs it has a faster feeling to it which would sure have the dance floor going. With the final two tracks Luke Fair has the mix flying with energy and atmosphere. Tom Novy’s ‘Unexpected,’ lends a hand with its strange yet deep and melodic sounds to close of this remarkable first disc.
With yet another disc to look forward to, it’s rather exciting attempting to anticipate where Luke might go with this CD. To get the second disc moving, the ambient intro of ‘She’s Worth It’ featuring Joris Voorn, has the mix already kicking with energy in the form of House music. To follow is ‘Time and Space,’ from none other then Francois K. Definitely more Funky then the first disc, things go very well at this stage with tracks like ‘Trampoline’ and ‘Booty Song.’ Deciding to change the score with some different sounds, ‘Playing with Fire’ adds a nice element of harmony, melody and rhythm. The next artist is Elektrochemie Lk, it’s unusual if this is the same Elektrochemie of old as the style is rather more House and rather melodic even. As Luke Fair promised the songs begin to gain even more melodic and progressive elements, like Zouin, with its beautiful pad. Looking back the middle of the second disc gives somewhat of a nostalgic feeling just as the first did; it also lets you know there’s more still to come.
Almost instantly the disc comes back into top gear, building with ‘Djs in a Row.’ This sort of House adds a great feeling of variation, especially with the semi Electro influenced ‘Footlovers,’ which blends perfectly with what I have regarded as one of 16 Bit Lolita’s weakest productions, I was wrong. Merging the two songs together ‘Difficult If Not Impossible,’ really holds the mix up and works wonders in the middle of this set. Almost a blend between Funky and Progressive, ‘Africando’ keeps the flow of the disc going sublimely and also allows ‘Ethna’ to build from it. Nearing the penultimate finale, Luke Fair use’s Marnix’s ‘Fire,’ to deceive the listener, the song begins rather mellowly but suddenly jumps up a notch and is a great Funky dance number. Going deep again with a Subtech tune, the progressive melody towards the end lends itself well to the final two songs of the compilation. Giving it an early morning feeling Fair has done well to swing the mood a final time, and with Humate’s Progressive Trance number ‘Curious,’ he makes it a CD worth remembering.
In retrospect, for the most part, Luke Fair has managed not to focus on the individual tracks but instead on the entirety of the compilation. Blending sounds from everything from Funky, Deep, Tech and Progressive House, Balance 11 goes beyond the level of previous Balances, not outshining them but in fact just separating his from the others, as any leading compilation series should do. Balance 11 is a colourful assortment of the sound and skill of Luke Fair, so keep an eye out for the man in a club near you. |
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