The cities in French house crate-digger DJ Deep’s City to City mix series refer to Chicago and Detroit, but for this third volume he crosses the Atlantic, bringing Berlin to the party. Like past volumes, vintage US jack sounds dominate but, heard alongside cannily placed slices of contemporary European techno, we’re reminded just how fresh and timeless these old cuts can be. This collage approach is incredibly effective, and particularly relevant given the abiding taste in contemporary dance music for raw stateside house. It functions like an historicised update on Tresor’s seminal collection ‘Detroit-Berlin: The Techno Alliance.’
The second track sums up this relationship, Kerri Chandler’s ‘Pong’ remixed by Berghain resident Ben Klock, where Chandler’s bright analogue tones are rubbed raw, the drums filtered through quicksand. Indeed, the defining characteristic of the modern European tracks here, from Redshape, Frozen Border through to Claro Intellecto, are granite-smashing drum sounds and gun-metal warehouse echo, residual influences from dub techno that have become staple contemporary tropes. Deep scatters these throughout the mix, and they’re surprisingly comfortable alongside vintage house. Tracks like Kool Rock Steady’s ‘Make You Dance’ wear their age proudly on their sleeve, zigzag electro bounze and dizzying laser zaps, while others are less easy to place. Armando’s two penultimate contributions, ‘Don’t Take It’ and ‘We’re on the Move’, are particularly exciting, recalling Radioslave in their unremitting momentum. City to City 3 is a varied-yet-consistent, incredibly fresh mix.
Joshua Meggitt
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