BnB Review: Cocoon Heroes - Maetrik Live At Cocoon Ibiza

Written by Youri Jozee

Deep House -

Cocoon Recordings presents the long-awaited release of Maetrik's live set at the label's closing party at Amnesia, Ibiza. Here's the full analysis...

2011 has been an exceptionally good year to Eric Estornell, better known as Maetrik and Maceo Plex. Both guises have brought him considerable success in the form of hotly tipped releases, remixes and live performances. One of these performances –his gig as Maetrik at Cocoon’s closing party at Ibiza’s Amnesia- has just been released on CD. The big question here of course is whether the magic of Maetrik’s live performances work well as a recording or not. Let’s find out…

The ten-track disc shifts from beefy deep house to warm Balearic grooves and back again, lining up four unreleased tracks, a handful of remixes plus some of Maetrik’s finest work to date. The mix gets down to brass tacks from the very first second, opening strong with The Poem and moving on to the equally solid Maetrik remix of Sillicone Soul’s 3AM. Throughout the mix, Maetrik manages to create a very balanced but dynamic groove: punchy tracks and deeper, stripped-down material are blended in a very exciting way, by which its composer manages to keep things worth your attention for the CDs entire playtime. Among the biggest tracks in the mix is the stomping Reason, a track soaked with soaring synths and the mysteriously druggy vibe of Crush On Me.

Our verdict:
We’re always a bit wary when it comes to live registrations, but this mix delivers, simple as that. The choice of records and overall dynamics are superb, and the mix as a whole never succumbs into dull moments. Must have been one hell of a party…

Rating: 8.0/10
Label: Cocoon Recordings
Release date: out now

Tracklist:
01. Maetrik – The Poem
02. Silicone Soul – 3am (Maetrik Jazzersize Remix)
03. Maetrik – Particle House
04. Popof – Blue Dream (Maetrik Remix)
05. Maetrik – Pressure
06. Maetrik – The Entity
07. Maetrik – Reason
08. Maceo Plex – Deez Nuts
09. Maetrik – Crush On Me
10. Maceo Plex – Under The Sheets