Balance 018
Nick Warren
Balance Music [AU]
2xCD
Release date: 04 26 11

I’m glad this isn’t Global Underground 40: Vladivostok. I’ve been treading the forums online about this record, weeks and weeks before its release (why these CDs get reviewed so early on when everyone will forget about them by the time they come out is beyond me) and everyone seems to think this mix is too sparse all the while commenting on his GU run. The press release even tries a non-comparison to Joris Voorn’s memorable Balance 014. This mix is a totally different bea(s)t from all of those. It is simultaneously contemplative, savory and fluid. I especially like the obvious highlight in Disc One, Terry Lee Brown Junior’s take on Nick’s ‘Buenos Aires’. It proves once again, after all his detractors, that TLB Jr. still brings that heat. Nick uses the version to step it up a notch, to take everyone where they need to be. Nick really controls this mix throughout both discs. This is really evident two-thirds through Disc Two when Nick drops the centerpiece, Solee’s ‘Aragorn’ and follows it up with totally dry, I’m-purposefully-allowing-the-dancefloor-to-clear tech-house track. He brings it back a bit with the Solee remix of his own ‘Flowers’ but it is a long ending to a slowly unfolding mix, like most of these Balance albums. Fans of Nick Warren, good tech-house and those who favor the thinking man’s techno will gravitate towards this mix this spring. Its a nice bubbler. 7/10

Tracklist

Disc One

01 Ormatie – Only
02 Spieltape feat. Shamil – Morning Paper
03 Underset – Berlin
04 Fiord – The Tribe Has Spoken
05 Paul Hazendonk – My Addiction
06 Eelke Kleijn – Monkey Movin’
07 Jamie Anderson And Owain K – Without Sound
08 Nick Warren – Buenos Aires (Terry Lee Brown Junior Mix)
09 Nomad in the Dark – Drones (Send me)
10 Franck Orff – Hibiscus
11 Giorgos Gatzigristos – Tickless

Disc Two

01 Tripswitch – Collider (Nick Warren Mix)
02 Julio Largente – Darkened Underpass
03 Beat Factory featuring Stamina – Let’s Take a Walk
04 Lank – Ain’t No Problem
05 Yamil Colucci – Bristol Warm
06 Victoria R – Cosmos
07 Solee – Aragorn
08 Steve Mill – Someday
09 Steven Libby – 80D Test
10 Nick Warren – Flowers (Solee Remix)
11 Pablo Acenso – Bread

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