VA - New Releases by OnlyBeats - [A]

Overview

For the first hour, the most usable block sits at the bottom of the index: the eight cuts of '8 Days', the album Fred Everything and Atjazz wrote at a pace of one track per day over an eight-day stay at the Englishman's home. Deep house between 120 and 125 BPM with guests like Jorge Bezerra and Dominique Fils-Aimé: 'Float' in D major at 120 opens a floor without asking permission. Acid Pauli lives in the same lane, launching his own label, All Is Acid, to bring back 'Urwald', a restored 2009 cut; the nearly nine minutes of 'Gefällt Mir Nicht' at 120 are patience that pays off.

From warm-up to cruise: the 123-128 lane is the engine of the package, and it hands you harmonic pairings almost ready-made:

• 'Ikigai' by 88Dubs (B minor, 123) slides into 'Colours' by Alex Breitling (B major, 123): same tonic, same tempo, a change of light.
• 'Motion' by Ary Sya and Victor Flash (C minor, 123) resolves into 'Celebrate' by atsou and Marc Gonen (C major, 121): two BPM down without losing the room.
• Agustin Lobos' three cuts on SAMBA nail an exact 128: relay tech house that never touches the pitch fader.

For peak time, Alba Godoy drives trau-ma between 136 and 138; Alinep answers on Konekt Croatia with Alex Bau's repaint of 'Taas', 138 in D minor; and Anne leaves a ready-made mini-set: three cuts at 145 moving from A minor to B minor. If the peak calls for melody, 'Utopia' by Christina Novelli and Alex M.O.R.P.H. plants main-floor trance at 136 in E major.

The wildcard is Albert van Abbe, the Eindhoven producer, on Semantica, Svreca's Madrid label: six cuts jumping from 104 to 149 BPM, texture for resets and for the final stretch; 'Broken Cymbals Too' at 149 marks the ceiling of the entire package. And when the room has nothing left, Azotix pulls the shutter down with two cuts at 70 and 105 BPM. Seventy tracks don't make one set: they pack a bag that yields three or four different nights, and that is their real use.