VA - New Releases by OnlyBeats - [R]

Overview

Sorted by tempo, this batch draws a ramp from 119 to 158 BPM with one huge landing at 130. That ramp is the whole story: what matters here is not the catalogue but how you climb it.

The foundation is the Afro house block from MoBlack Records, the label Mimmo Falcone founded in 2013 after a decade living in Ghana: 'Bondhu' at 119, 'Taka Dum' at 120, Bull & Jems' 'Asha' at 121 and 'Ferena' at 122, four one-BPM steps that work as a literal warm-up. The same range holds the progressive cuts from Dj Meoz and Redspace (120-122) and Ruben Karapetyan's two journeys for Meanwhile, both past the seven-minute mark: first-hour material. From there, the deep house of Retromigration and Raynow (124-130) eases the pulse toward the record's interchange point, that 130 where Rad.Lez's techno, the tech house of Rapham and Ron Reeser and Rawls' 'Every Day' all meet: a junction from which you can turn toward any style without touching the pitch fader.

The valleys that break the ramp

The final climb is not linear, and that is the fun of it:

• Ramon Tapia's 'Faltran' drops to 107 in the middle of an EP that otherwise runs between 137 and 144.
• Rødder's 'Quadrant' brakes to 92 after three cuts at 135-138.
• Risa Taniguchi's 'Spinnin Back' and Rudy Ripani's 'Pressure' are both listed at 71, effectively half-time against the 138-141 where the rest of their cuts live.

Tapia himself, a Dutch-Chilean with a past on Strictly Rhythm, owns the strongest stretch up top: his 'Game Plan' arrives on RSPX, the techno arm of Radio Slave's Rekids. Taniguchi, a Tokyo producer trained in classical piano and part of Beatport Next's Class of 2022, nails her 141s on 'Black Mirror'. And just when 144 looked like the ceiling, RK79 sprints away at 155-158 with two short bursts of hard dance. Read this way, it is not a compilation at all: it is a six-hour set already sequenced, plateaus, false endings and final sprint included.