The Groove Quest Vol. 5

The number that organizes the whole record sits in track five: 'Woof Boys' by PEACE MAKER! pushes the needle to 135 BPM while the rest of the compilation lives between 126 and 130. It is also the shortest cut (4:53), as if the sequencing itself admitted that a spike like that cannot be held for long. The fifth installment of The Groove Quest doesn't draw the classic ascending ramp: it draws a curve with a valley, a spike and a plateau.

The opening already plays tricks. 'Don't You Even Go There', by Garvin and Ms. Elin Liso, starts at 130, above the record's own average, and from there the sequence descends instead of climbing: 'EsEs' at 127, 'Let's Shake' at 128 — the only major-key cut of the eight, an E major letting light in among all those minor keys — and Amps' 'All I Need' bottoming out at 126. That the slowest cut is also the longest (6:28) hardly feels accidental: that is where the groove breathes before the assault.

After the spike, the plateau

Once 'Woof Boys' has done its damage, the final stretch settles into cruise mode: Justin Garcia's 'You Know' at 129, then Jonas Van Opstal's 'UFO' and Daniel Orpi's 'I'm Serious', both at 130. Two of those three cuts share C minor, so the close plays almost as a single harmonic block. Orpi is the biggest name to seal it: the Barcelona-born, London-based producer hit number one on Beatport's tech house chart with his 'Touch Me' EP on Kaluki Musik and has signed to Cuttin' Headz and Mindshake. PEACE MAKER!, a Portuguese producer with stops at Confession and IN/Rotation, provides the other recognizable name right where the record pushes hardest.

From the booth, the reading is straightforward: played in order, the record proposes a warm-up that isn't one; resequenced from 'All I Need' upwards, climbing from 126 to 130 and saving 'Woof Boys' for the finale, it becomes an immaculate three-quarter-hour ramp. That double life may be the best argument for a series the label frames as a showcase for emerging talent hunting the groove: five volumes in, the quest keeps yielding material that allows more than one map.