When brothers Ali and Basti Schwarz team up behind the decks, you can always expect a fun party to evolve. The Tiefschwarz brothers have been almost in a league of their own in the last few years, rising to fame at an intense rate. While the minimal sound from Germany has tended to be a bit timid, often lacking requisite soul or musical emotion, Tiefschwarz have never fully associated themselves with straight minimal, delivering productions and DJ sets that slip only occasionally into that territory amid their usual rough and tumble electrohouse energy.
Interestingly enough, Tiefschwarz did a Time Warp album that was released at a similar time to this mix. One thing is clear though, and that is that 'Fabric 29' is a moodier and more carefully crafted mix. The mood is deep and somewhat ‘calm before the storm’ early on, with Claude Vonstroke and then the M.A.N.D.Y. remix of ‘Damage’ setting up the album delightfully with some emotive pieces of music. It isn’t long, however, until the mix starts to lift the pace, and it is with Touane’s ‘Bassic’ where the mix really begins to kick on, thanks to a production that I’m sure sounds heavenly on the Fabric sound system.
Thomas Schumacher’s ‘Rotor’ is a viciously addictive production, and by far the meanest part of the mix. Grit your teeth and enjoy as the mix continues to wonder into the depths of peaktime Fabric, especially with Ichundu’s gritty ‘Hey’ and the pulsating sonic sounds of Sleeper Thief’s ‘Freefall’. The mix isn’t as playful as you would expect from Tiefschwarz, and while ‘The Hammer of Thor’ by Riton has it’s moments of nicely toned melodies and upbeat bounce, there is an underlying sense of darkness amongst sweaty walls, a sound almost synonymous with Fabric in the last year or so. Kate Wax delivers a finale that brightens the mood a touch, thanks to its piano interludes, and a somewhat interesting set of sounds.
Don’t expect a minimal mix here from Tiefschwarz, as many of the tracks are beaming with life. It’s probably a little deeper and more moody then you would expect from the brothers, but the effort they have put in this mix definitely shines through in the end. The mixing is tight, and as such the flow is very good, with the productions telling their own story in the process.
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