Over the last seven years, DJ T’s Berlin-based Get Physical label has certainly become a major force to be reckoned with in the contemporary spheres of techno and electro-house, with the arena-filling likes of Booka Shade, Thomas Schumacher and Samim all sharing space amongst an impressive artist roster. This latest mix compilation from the label sees electro-house duo M.A.N.D.Y. crafting a 24 track, 74 minute long mix that draws upon the label’s output during 2006-2009, with a couple of previously unreleased exclusives also tucked in amongst the tracklisting. It’s also a mix that leans distinctly towards extrovert, ‘main room’ club atmospheres, but manages to balance its more crowd-pleasing tendencies nicely with a firm focus on the less played-out Get Physical offerings of the last four years.
While it’s a slight shame that the duo shift the focus away so soon from the opening deep, moody electro atmospheres set out by Audiofly X’s ‘Mar Del Plata 2009’ and Booka Shade’s gorgeously glimmering ‘Borghia’ into the more pneumatically-loaded, straight-ahead tech-house styles of their own previously unreleased remix of Damien Lazarus’ ‘Neverending’, it proves to be a move that nicely winds the tension up. From there, Siopsis’ ‘Penny From The Lane’ drops things smoothly down into French hiphop-topped techy broken rhythms, setting the stage for a peaktime club selection that takes in impressive offerings from Chelonis M Jones, Elektrochemie and Dakar, though it’s debatable whether Reboot’s reworking of M.A.N.D.Y. Vs Booka Shade’s take on Laurie Anderson’s ‘O Superman’ really adds anything to an update that was already pretty sensational in the first place. From there on, Italoboyz and Tiger Stripes manage to keep things upbeat and tech-house laden, before Slok’s tasty remix of Elbee Bad’s ‘Just Don’t Stop The Dance’ and Matthew Dear’s previously unreleased ‘Free To Ask’ nicely top things off by injecting some additional funk sensibility right at the end. Like Dear’s own preceding mix session for Get Physical, this latest trawl through the label’s enviable backcatalogue manages to push the right buttons.
Chris Downton
