Various Artists - The Lab 01, mixed by Loco Dice

There is quite a buzz surrounding Loco Dice at the moment. A quick glance at his achievements over the past few years and the hype is easily justified. Let’s have a look here then… Establish a solid reputation as a DJ through legendary sets at Ibiza’s hedonistic DC-10? Check. Set up the successful Desolat label with fellow producer Martin Buttrich? Check. Produce one of the most acclaimed house albums of 2008? Check. Embark on an ‘Under 300’ tour playing sold out gigs at intimate club venues across Europe? Ahhh yep, check. Not bad for a guy who not so long ago was a hip-hop MC, supporting the likes of Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube. Now the man of the moment delivers the first mix in a new series for the infamous NRK Music – and it’s only going to add increased kudos to his already impressive CV.

The first disc is an excellent example of how to put together some of the most forward thinking house music on offer today. It is, quite frankly, an absolute winner. The tone of the mix is set with the dark and otherworldly sounds of Orbit 1.3, then locks into a 4/4 beat and weaves its way through hypnotic tech, bouncy basslines and beats so thick and chunky that they manage to defy their minimal heritage. Apart from the superb track selection and expert mixing, the key to this mix is Dice’s skill of knowing when to drop certain tracks. Be it the tribal drums and happy chants of African Children, the scatman stutters of Bubububadub (with a bassline so good it’ll make you scrunch up your face with delight) or the 5-year-old-let-loose-on-the-piano fumbles of Salon – whenever it feels as if the mix might run the risk of disappearing too deeply into itself, these tracks provide the necessary hooks to maintain interest. It’s an excursion through the dark and sweaty dance floors of Europe, never once sounding contrived or losing its grip on a relentless, rolling groove.

Dice opts for a more classic deep house sound on disc two, with cuts from house veterans such as Terry Lee Brown Jr, Audio Soul Project and Tyree Cooper alongside contemporary artists like Jay Haze and Sascha Dive. The beats are shuffling, the bass is hollower and the chopped-up one to two second vocal samples that were present on disc one are gone. Here the vocals are set free upon melodic loops, creating a deep and soulful vibe. It echoes the 90’s house of Chicago and Detroit, yet there are only one or two tracks actually from the era. Whilst it’s a nice enough trip through the sound of old, it unfortunately falls a little flat in places and ends up drifting by without much of a fuss.

Despite this, when the time comes for the chitter chatter of favourite mix compilations of ’09, it will be surprising if The Lab 01 isn’t mentioned. Based purely on the quality of disc one, it damn well should be.

Check out the tracklisting…

Disc 1:
01. Akiko Kiyama – Hakobi (0801)
02. Second-Hand Satellites – Orbit 1.3
03. Chaton – +91 Ahead Session 1.5
04. Chris Lattner – African Children
05. Robert Dietz – Klondike
06. Önur Ozer – Eclipse (Loco Dice Remix)
07. Kerri Chandler – Pong (Ben Klock’s Bones & Strings Dub)
08. MHM 1 – Bubububadub
09. Ion Ludwig – Transnoir
10. Damian Schwartz & Guti – Salon
11. Terrence Dixon – Below Radar (Rhythm Is Rhythm Remix By Mathias Kaden)
12. Someone Else – You Don’t Got Me
13. Alex Flatner feat. Lopazz – Perfect Circles (Damian Schwartz Remix)
14. Mirko Loko – Serena

Disc 2:
01. Nick Holder – Inside Your Soul (Sirus Remix)
02. Jay Haze – Mama Coca
03. Terry Lee Brown Jr In A Deep Session With The Timewriter – Everyday
04. Loco Dice – Black Truffles In The Snow – (Mike Huckaby’s The Jazzed Out S Y N T H Remix)
05. DJ Ali – You Don’t Know (Ruff Cut)
06. Alix Alvarez – Boom Bip
07. Joseph Malik – Believe And See (Plastic Avengers Remix)
08. Franck Roger – Take Off (Matt That’s House Bonus Beat)
09. 95 North – Forever Underground (Bass Dub)
10. Audio Soul Project – Song For Fred
11. Sascha Dive – Deepest America (Samuel Davis Dark Soul Mix)
12. Daso & Pawas – Det
13. Tyree Cooper – Love