Sixty-eight against one hundred and thirty-three. Within one festival-minded deep house selection, Maya Jane Coles' 'Dreamz' — a G major half-tempo drift at 68 bpm — sits next to the gallop of Rossi.'s 'Home', which opens the list at its fastest point. Instead of flattening the genre into a single comfortable tempo, this chart stretches it to its edges, and the edges are where it gets interesting.
The game of extremes shows even in the sequencing: it opens at 133 and closes at 96 with Scan 7's 'Black Wall', also the longest cut here (8:15). It arrives via Tresor, signed by the masked Detroit collective led by Trackmasta Lou, part of the Underground Resistance family and tied to the Berlin label since their 1996 debut 'Dark Territory'. Its exact mirror is 'Chez Moi (Waiting For You)': CC:DISCO! and Confidence Man knock out the shortest track (4:27), a cheeky 122 bpm mover for Phantasy Sound.
Remixed memory, self-released present
The other axis of contrast is generational. Deep Dish resurface with 'Say Hello' reread by PARAMIDA — Panorama Bar resident and Love On Rocks founder — who took the classic into her Tokyo Remix for Armada; Midland's remix of Shanti Celeste's 'Romance' declares its nostalgia in the title itself, 'Where Were You In 2005'; and M.A.N.D.Y. and Booka Shade sign 'Body Language' together on Get Physical. Facing them, the self-release generation: Kolter puts 'Trapped' out on his own Koltrax, Chris Stussy drops 'Side to Side' on Up The Stuss, and Rossi. releases straight through ROSSI.HOME//GRXWN.
Between those poles, the 126-130 bpm centre of gravity does the quiet work: Dam Swindle's 'Backyard Galaxy' on Heist, Cody Currie on Freerange, and Permanent Vacation showing up twice with Johannes Albert and Asa Tate, whose 'I Hope This Lasts Forever' sums up what the whole set is aiming for. But it is the extremes — Coles' whisper, Rossi.'s muscle, that black wall from Detroit — that turn a utilitarian list into an arc with a beginning and an end.
Sources: RA · Beatport
