I would appreciate it if some of you stopped calling a reviewer an idiot only because he has a different opinion on an album you like. If you disagree, write a review yourself and give some arguments why the album is good. Or just give some arguments in short. But please put some work into it. and above all: calm down. it's "only" music. no one's dying because len faki got a bad rating on ra. and i don't think he'll sell less copies because of that.

Then: why are some of you so focused on a deephouse revival on ra? maybe there is one, but there are many other records with good ratings - especially the ones by ostgut. if there's a trend on ra then there are many in my perspective: the neverending dubtechno-thing, the crossing of dubstep and techno. and, as i said, the ostgut-/ berghain-thing. and what about the recent surgeon-podcast? i don't think you can reduce all that to a deephouse revival ra is suffering. maybe there could be even more styles, rougher, harder sorts of music etc. etc. but then, please, name that and say what's better/ fresher than all this deephouse etc. in your opinion. i think it's better to not just complain about a certain state of things but to give it a direction towards something new/ different.

what a great tracklist.. he compares the most sensual tracks wich you can play at berghain..

very nice!

boring

The truth, I think, is that in rejecting minimal for being dull and lacking in drama people seem to have opted for a return of big room sounds, with a wider variety of sounds within a set and a quite 90's style to a lot of them. The Dettmann sound has elements to this too. I wouldn't be surprised to see a wider return of piano, builds and hard riffs this year.


you've hit the nail on the head g'n'b, especially the part about dettmann. I was going through a stack of techno records from the late 90s the other night, stuff on Lost Recordings, Mark Broom etc, and there is definitely a similarity between them and the dnse, grainy dettmann style stuff... I'm all for it if techno gets darker again

The people who are having a partial boo about individuals saying they disagree:

I don't have time to write my own review nor would I want to. I agree it's not nice to call the reviewer incompetent as it is his opinion and I am all for opinions.

Rather than one word posts saying "disagree", I would like to see some sort of rating system like the DJs get, that is applicable to singles and albums.
You see might affect sales and if this album gets one bad review it could deter a person from buying it! The only reason I post disagree is so that others may be tempted to give it a listen rather than think "2/5 oh dear i'll give that a miss".
"Disagree" isn't very useful though, I Know.
And yes people shouldn't go off what one reviewer says, but they might. It is like an advert.

Soo... would a rating system work?



Would a

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Posted by RichardBrophy
The truth, I think, is that in rejecting minimal for being dull and lacking in drama people seem to have opted for a return of big room sounds, with a wider variety of sounds within a set and a quite 90's style to a lot of them. The Dettmann sound has elements to this too. I wouldn't be surprised to see a wider return of piano, builds and hard riffs this year.


you've hit the nail on the head g'n'b, especially the part about dettmann. I was going through a stack of techno records from the late 90s the other night, stuff on Lost Recordings, Mark Broom etc, and there is definitely a similarity between them and the dnse, grainy dettmann style stuff... I'm all for it if techno gets darker again

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the bad news is that trance might get back too. & i am not talking about border community kinda thing.


and since a couple of people here asked to tell what we like about the album. i'll have a try to explain.

what's good about this mix is that it serves as a good document of what music people get to hear nowadays when they go to the club (most particularly Berghain).

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I saw len faki in berghain on saturday night. He absolutely killed it.

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and i guess it was the point.
there are only 3 types of mixes -
1.showcasing the creator - like Hawtin's DE9 or Voorn's Balance or Villalobos' Fabric
2.showcasing the epoch - like Efdemin's Carry On & Appleblim's Dubstep Allstars
3.showcasing the shorter period of time, being a document of state of things. like this one. half pretty dark/half pretty deep. half the future/half the past.
of course after a couple years people would still listen to DE9 & Balance and this might be forgotten...
but anyways, we live today & today it definitely deserves more than 2 stars.

didn't it crossed your mind that there was a reason for picking up the tracks he picked?
i bet Len spent more than just one hour compiling this mix..



ps: excuse my poor english.

I agree with the reviewer. Then again I'm not a fan of Berghain stuff in general. If my teenage niece listened to techno, I'd point her at Dettman & Faki. BIG, bland, obvious, dated & ludicrously over tuneful

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Posted by Senghog
I agree with the reviewer. Then again I'm not a fan of Berghain stuff in general. If my teenage niece listened to techno, I'd point her at Dettman & Faki. BIG, bland, obvious, dated & ludicrously over tuneful

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Dettmann is 'over tuneful'? and why the fuck are we talking about your niece?

man, democracy's a bitch.

just to echo a couple of comments:

- pete may have put the boot into this release, but his review is certainly not ill-considered.

- as people have been saying, if you are going to disagree and say the review is complete rubbish, more than a one word post would seem appropriate.

- i dont know about the deep house revival thing some people are talking about, but if you check the stuff pete has been rating both at and at mnml ssgs, it clearly doesnt fall primarily into that category.

- my own opinion is that i only listened to this mix once and dont want to listen to it again. the early part of the mix is not that interesting, and that latter part has an awful flow to it. given the remarkably high output of ostgut, this dud really stands out for how weak it is.

yea people who are trapped in the idea that is all deep house or only into the the newest rage, have a type of selective hearing. in that in a scan people are only seeing one dimension, by choice. electronic music will always have trends, in my opinion, as it is always pushing boundries due to technology, but also has cyclical elements in it like anything else.
people are extrmemly passionate about this music, because once you get hooked deep into, it is hard to think of much else. there is such an incredible range of electronic music to fit all moods, at almost any point in the day. it stirs emotions. so to rip into the people who are reviewing it is a bit shallow. sure disagree or agree w/ it, thats what the forum concept is all about. but the arguement that a bad rating on is going to heavily impact sales is a bit naive. if you are so ready to digest everything on the first look and run with it as a final word, then maybe you desrve to be let down when its bad or surprised when its good. you are the one listening to it.

some need to dig a little deeper and don't believe everything you read on the internet.

2 of 5.. mm.. i don't think so. very good compilation. i love this compilation.

well, i haven't heard the mix yet but.......i'm thrilled to be a part of it!!
big thanks to len and the good people at ostgut ton!

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Posted by svenone electronic music will always have trends, in my opinion, as it is always pushing boundries due to technology, but also has cyclical elements in it like anything else.

people are extrmemly passionate about this music, because once you get hooked deep into, it is hard to think of much else. there is such an incredible range of electronic music to fit all moods, at almost any point in the day. it stirs emotions.

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these words convey the way i feel completely. very well put...

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Posted by chrisdisco

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Posted by svenone electronic music will always have trends, in my opinion, as it is always pushing boundries due to technology, but also has cyclical elements in it like anything else.

people are extrmemly passionate about this music, because once you get hooked deep into, it is hard to think of much else. there is such an incredible range of electronic music to fit all moods, at almost any point in the day. it stirs emotions.

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these words convey the way i feel completely. very well put...

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thanks man...just trying to keep it real.

listened to the mix now. and i agree with the reviewer. im puzzled, it just didnt "work" for me.. big fan of fly life and some of the other tunes in the second half but after the first half it just felt "wrong" in some kind of way.

Did reading this review not crack you up, hard? I laughed out loud a few times when I read this at work today. This isn't just a good, honest review of the mix CD. It is enjoyable, high quality writing.

umm

read this and wasnt surpised it got slated having seen the track list
, and in a weird way was kind of pleased - knock off perch and all that

but still bought it anyways, what with the othet 2 being so good, and having listened to it, chnaged my mind totally

is a good listen and delivers... and seriously, no way OT would put out rubbish under Berghain banner

Ostgut Ton is a label at the fore of European dance music. A number of its records will live on to define what was great about this decade. Some, no less ambitious and probably not lacking in heart, will fall quite flat. Which record is which is largely a matter of opinion, and the distinctions will polarize people. Labels so hot, attached to scenes so hot, don't tend to elicit ho-hum 'it's okay I guess' reactions.

RA hasn't been unkind to the label, though. Out of sixteen Ostgut Ton record reviews, the low score is 2, which appears only twice (here, and on MyMy's 'Southbound'). No 2 1/2s, no 3s. Some 3 1/2s. Three records land a rating of 4. And a whopping seven out of sixteen Ostgut records reviewed were given ratings of 4 1/2.

We've come to expect an awful lot of Ostgut. Peter Chambers makes no bones about his high expectations. This review's disappointment seems to have a lot to do with what we demand of music-makers of Ostgut calibre. A good reputation can be a tough thing to walk around with...

well said. world would be a seriously poorer place without

just checking, you dont work for the label do you?

I wish!

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Posted by iainhasaface
man, democracy's a bitch.

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Best post I've ever read

Sure, the reviewer doesn't like the mix... doesn't even like big room techno overly... surely, doesn't even really like what other people like in the main judging by all his other posts. Now, most people won't bother reading over his posts around the forums, but it seems that the reviewer enjoys either liking music that is niche, or knocking things slightly off their perch.

That's cool. But I'd have expected to come up with a reviewer that didn't have such a agenda.



It's a good solid big room mix, a few things that could be improved on (hence why it should have been a 3 or 3.5 out of 5 maybe) but it does what it DOES well. Not as great as some, but good in it's field, which is what a review should be about in many ways.

I could review Cassy's mix CD and say that it was go nothing borefest that reminded me of too many late 90's forays into reduction from my mates, and then a lot of people would complain, but it'd be a poor review, that misses the point. (Btw I like it, but not the best in it's field that's for sure).

Anyhow... it is a slight lowering of the series, but there's more to the mix that the reviewer has said.

I have listening the Cd more than 10 times.
The Start with John Beltran – Vienna- to Edit-Select – Bauer
is a great Start and it keep the Level until Basement Jaxx begins.

With Basemament Jaxx the House Musik Round is starting and the Level are drop's extremly.
Nick Holder & Kaje pres. Trackheadz – Feel (Instrumental Mix)
Laurent Garnier – The Man with the Red Face
are so boring and i dont like hear them anymore.
So, i skip to Ferrer & Sydenham which is uplifting the Mix a little.

Bloc Party - Where Is Home is an amazing Track to end this mix Compilation.
I would give Berghain 03 4/5 and not 2.
This is completly unfair and have nothing to do with a fairly Review.


Djjudge

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Dettmann is 'over tuneful'? and why the fuck are we talking about your niece?

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LOL

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Posted by ericjohnston
well, i haven't heard the mix yet but.......i'm thrilled to be a part of it!!
big thanks to len and the good people at ostgut ton!

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...good energy.

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Posted by djjudge
With Basemament Jaxx the House Musik Round is starting and the Level are drop's extremly.

I would give Berghain 03 4/5 and not 2.
This is completly unfair and have nothing to do with a fairly Review.
Djjudge

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Sorry, but either I don't understand your English, or you're saying that a big drop in quality (which is how I interpret your use of the word 'level')is acceptable in a mix with a 4/5 rating. In that case, I'm glad you're not doing the reviews here!

Imo there's nothing unfair about the review. It's a personal opinion and one that I expect to agree with (once I get to hear it). I guess that you would try to seek out all the positives (oh my god, there's one really nice track in it ) and have them cancel out all the crap. That's not the way it works. A dj mix is all about a good flow and working towards a cool finish. Playing US deep house after dark techno does not fit into this compartment for me.

I'm sure this kind of thing would work in the middle of a set to give your audience a breather and I'm sure I wouldn't mind. Of course finishing off with a Burial remix does compensate quite a bit

i had heard nothing particularly positive about the mix before peter's review, so it wasn't terribly shocking to me

then i heard the mix and, at first, was pleasantly surprised, thinking that i may end up disagreeing with him. unfortunately, by the time the sirens come in i realized peter is probably right. after the siren business, the mix really lost me. i don't understand why these radio slave tracks all of a sudden need to have a vocal over them; clearly 'neverending....' stands out well enough on its own without some stupid acapella to distract from it. i thought the acapellas in the ame fabric mix were well done, but here i can't say the same. unfortunately tony lionni's 'found a place', a really great track, just gets lost amidst the insanity, and the 'man with the red face' seems to come completely out of left field, more in a confusing way than a good way.

it's a shame because i do like len's djing and productions quite a bit, and i of course hold ostgut in the highest esteem. i just think len is capable of much better than this.

i also think that if you're going to disagree with the reviewer, please at least offer some reasons why, other than just calling him dumb.

Am I the only person who thought BX3 was boring?

Radio Slaves remix of My Black Sheep FTMFW...

Really didn't enjoy this... Expected way more from Faki.

Bah, Radioslave vocals = bad.

Im surprised with the reaction to this, I really enjoyed it. Nothing too surprising or cutting edge, not quite as good as Dettmans mix, but surely not 2/5?

This mix was terrible, I want my money back!

I think labels should stop releasing CD Mixes. CD Mixes are boring.It's not possible to rate a Dj skills on a 70' mix.Len Faki is a very good dj but I agree to say this is a boring mix.I also found Marcel Dettmann and Galuzzi mixes boring. CD mixes are pointless.I wonder who buy CD mixes nowadays.I certainly don't.There are so many great mix on the web, podcasts etc...there are just better, and free.

All this hype around big european clubs compilations is stupid, fabric, fuse, berghain etc...I just don't get why so many of you get so excited with the next fabric stuff or berghain or whatever...

Has some nice tracks, and nice begining, but mix is pretty dry overall. Still deserves at least 3 in my opinion.

It's really interesting to see the reaction to this mix here. Obviously, the reviewer didn't like it at all, and many others dislike it as well. Now, this mix certainly doesn't compare to Marcel Dettman's Berghain 02, but is it really that bad? Personally, I must like 'muscle Mary main room techno (that gets all weepy toward the end)' because as funny as that description is, that's what we've got here. Len Faki has saved one of his excellent productions for the peak of the mix, 'BX 3.' And from there, the energy is dying down, allowing the sweat to dry. And even those who dislike this mix seem to agree that the first half is extremely well done. Now, the second half does have some older tracks, but I'm of the opinion that its better to use excellent tracks that are older than newer tracks that are worse. And Faki seems to agree by using some of the coolest tracks to give his post-workout time that edge of bliss. Sure, you could say it goes on too long towards the end, but you can always turn it off before it's over, and the choice is way less cheesy than most mixes I've heard. (BTW, for the argument about how this formula is stale, name one other mix that goes from full speed bangers to uplifting melodic house over the course of one disc. I would say that this approach is risky, as shown by the bad reactions. But stale? For this reason, I can still see myself pulling out this mix in a year.) Personally, I felt the weakest moment on the disc was actually the new Radio Slave track 'Neverending' which doesn't meet Radio Slave's normally extremely high standards. 4/5

i kinda like it....it s weird how everyone thinks this mix is shit...

Really, sirens for 1/4 of the mix? Really?

And throwing in classics is a good idea, but to pick tracks that EVERYONE already knows really is a desperate attempt to recover a bad mix.

On it's own Len Faki – BX 3 is a great track and it does transition from Planetary Assault Systems perfectly. Other than that, I don't understand what he was going for in this mix. The ball needs to be picked up for 04.

sometimes you have to suffer until you get what you want. In this case it's the burial remix. I like the way it builds up in the end.

love this mix!

i bought this perfect work

this mix is awesome

bx3 rrush

i think thath most complited ostgut work..
splendid)

Len Faki makes a killer journey in this mix, top shelf mixing with a smooth selection of tracks, bx3 is massive, the ending has a strong vibe after having been punished berghain style, 4/5 at first, after listening to it at least twenty times its a 5/5

It has all the ingredients for a great mix!

Best CD of 2009

Couple of years late, but I want to give my thoughts. It's great that minimal-heads think that anything banging is unsophisticated, but I happen to like driving, danceable techno.

BX3 is such a killer track that on that track alone this compilation deserves a 3. However, the mix is pretty good, and while I do agree that "Man With the Red Face" should have been left out, besides that I wouldn't want any other CD to be the soundtrack to a good clubbing night.

I also would be seriously fucking pissed if labels stopped releasing CD mixes. What the **** am I gonna listen to if they don't release them? I'm not a DJ, I have no need to collect a shit ton of records, I only collect a select few. That's not my thing. The primary source of my music besides that is mix CDs.

I agree! This mix is 4/5 for me. Yeah, it does get a lower energy after BX 3, but that's not a bad thing to end a mix. The 1st half of the mix plus more is straight up Berghain banging techno!

Yeah, he does switch styles alot but, so did Marcel Fengler in Berghain 05. He went from House, bass music, techno, etc and he got a 4/5

I do believe for a Berghain mix you should keep it exclusively techno, but that doesn't make it a bad mix that he put a few house tracks towards the end.