BnB Review: The Lab 03 - Seth Troxler
Written by Youri Jozee
House - After previous contributions by Steve Bug and Loco Dice, NRK refuels its The Lab series with a new 2xCD package mixed by one of house music’s brightest youngsters: Seth Troxler.
Seth’s his name, deep and dubby house is his game. Originally hailing from Detroit, Seth Troxler has been dropping a serious amount of dirty, dirty house bombs over the past few years, but it wasn’t until 2010 that his name started to grace some of the biggest compilations out there. With a sound that’s rooted into somewhat dark, twisted, and unconventional fx, Seth’s love for the more abstract side of house music is rapidly building itself a massive fanbase.
His mix for the The Lab series bears this sound all over itself. It has become a mysterious, very dynamic and utterly catchy mix driven by both minimal as punchy rhythm patterns, subtle bass moves and special, sometimes oldschool-sounding themes. The first disc kicks off big with the huge Echologist Dub version of Bearweasel’s Button Down The Moose, a majestic piece of dub house/techno and the melodic, oriental space disco-tinged A Blast Of Loser (9406 Version) by Lindstrom cs. Mungolian Jetset. And it just doesn’t simply stop there. Seth’s record bag is a case of pure gold for any fan of dub-styled melody-driven house, as proved by heavy hitting cuts on this comp such as Soul Capsule’s incredibly hot Lady Science(NYC Sunrise) and the Deetron-ish Mosaic by David Durango.
The second disc starts off dubbier that the first one, but is of at least the same skyrocketing quality. Take Chaim feat. Meital De Razon – Alive (Denix Kurzel remix) for instance, a warm piece of dreamy house music with lush synthesizers and lovely vocals held together by softly thumping kicks and reverb percussions. Or Dinky’s This Is Your Heart, which is another fantastic slab of sparkling minimal house with amazing melodics by the Chilean mistress of suave electronics.Near the end, we are treated to what is the highlight of this second disc: Westboy’s SLIVA (Chaim remix), a Chicago-styled house groove with a tight rhythm and a great set of melodies that will turn any club upside down.
Our verdict:
Of course we already knew it, but Seth once again proves that he’s got it going on when it comes to house music with a bite. Both CDs are filled with white hot, sometimes rather obscure gems that switch from colourful to dark and, at moments, sinister. The Lab 03 has not only become a signature mix for Seth, but also the best installment in the series so far.
Rating: 8.2/10
Label: NRK
Release date: October 10th, 2011
Tracklist
CD1
01. Hatikvah - Big Mind
02. Bearweasel - Button Down The Moose (Echologist Dub)
03. David Alvarado - Beautification
04. Lindstrom Vs Mungolian Jetset - A Blast Of Loser (9406 Version)
05. Hati Munetsi - Ceremony (African Mix)
06. Tommy Bones - After The Club
07. Home & Garden - Themes Of Yesterday
08. Dinky - Polvo
09. Soul Capsule - Lady Science (NYC Sunrise)
10. DBX - City On The Edge Of Forever
11. Daze Maxim - Tomorrow Universe
12. Deepak Sharma & Dieter Krause - Wolkenreise (DJ Qu Remix)
13. David Durango - Mosaic
14. Vernon Bara & Igor Vicente - Don't Feel No Way
15. DeWalta - Farina
16. Masomenos – Sunsun
CD2
01. POD - Rozetta Says Bad Shit
02. Ark - Arkuarium
03. Exercise One - Prowl
04. Chaim feat. Meital De Razon - Alive (Deniz Kurtel Remix)
05. Ric Y Martin - Teiwass
06. Oni Ayhun - OAR001-A
07. Crosson & Merveille - No Hastel
08. Und - Rodeo
09. Dinky - This Is Your Heart
10. Dntel - Dreams (Lawrence Mix 02)
11. WestBoy - S L I V A (Chaim Remix)
12. Daniel Bortz & Sascha Sibler - Fantasy
13. Superpitcher - White Lightning
14. Radioactive Man – Fed-Ex To Munchen (Andrew Weatherall Version Edit)
15. Dinky - Time To Lose It
