(Pschent/Creative Vibes)

It is nice to drift of into fantasy land now and then… indulging in fine French cuisine, basking in the greatness of architectural decadence while flirting with someone who is devastatingly beautiful… float away…

If you are prone to these mental slips then listening to Mezzanine Del’Alcazar Vol 3 is only going to make things much worse. If you did not know already, Mezzanine Del’Alcazar is a popular Parisian high class restaurant and bar offering the best in sophisticated dining and, most importantly, modern down-tempo electronica and deep house.

Mezzanine Del’Alcazar Vol 3 is brought to us by French record label Pschent who also brings us Stéphane Pompougnac’s influential Hotel Costes series. CD1, or “Dinner Time”, is mixed by Fabrice Lamy who is the Artistic Director of La Mezzanine. CD2, or “Seduction Time”, is mixed by Dyed Soundorom the new rising star of Parisian soirées.

If you appreciate high quality down tempo electronica then this is a release that you should not be without. “Dinner Time” is a nice smooth loungy affair. There is a lot of variety here as Fabrice Lamy deftly moves between tracks. Alix’s Notre Disque Dur creates anticipation with is ominous sounding, tension building melody. Simon Says’ Late at Night is perfectly placed as it bounces along with its feel good vocals and funky work on the organ.

Fabrice gets nice, techy and futuristic with Swayzak’s State of Grace and 2 Square’s Cosmonaught. Cosmonaught’s lyrics are fanatical in parts building a sense of disorientation – “I’ll spend days inside the space simulation machine… even when the other trainees can’t take it anymore… I’ll still be inside… spinning around”.

Other highlights include Cocosuma’s Blue It (Jack Lahana Remix), Mr Scruff’s Valley of the Sausages, and Jazzanova’s That Night (Vikter Duplaix Remix).

“Seduction Time” is mostly a deep house affair with the odd breaks track thrown in keeping things dynamic. Dyed Soundorom has done a sterling job in piecing this one together. He begins from a high standard with Herbert’s I’ll Do IT. Ben Neville’s Awshashen is positioned well with its gliding deep minimal bassline.

The 80’s inspired funk in Super Style Deluxe’s Oldfold cannot be ignored. Either can the fact that Malente’s full blown breaks track Don’t Stop (The Body Rock)(reminiscent of Freq Nasty) appears straight after it and works so well that you could not imagine it any other way.

Other highlights include Brett Johnson’s cheeky tune Temptations and Lies (feat. Dave Barker) with an unmistakable lounge movement most associated with Hotel Costes, and Booka Shade, Many Chelonis and R Jones’s deep tech house track One & One.