- I had been looking forward to hearing Cass’ new mixology since I heard has dazzling Melbourne set in January this year. In recent years it has been all too rare for a mix cd to stand out and mark itself, not only as being special, but also important. Spundae Interpretations III is one such cd.
This compilation marks the residency of Cass at the respected US West Coast club Spundae and is the third in the Spundae Interpretations series (the first two were mixed by Spundae Recordings founder and club resident, Jerry Bonham). It is also Cass’ first mix cd where he has had total creative control (Prologue of last year was a label compilation for Fire).
Over two cds, Cass takes us on an authentic progressive journey where he is the master of his own landscape. This cd is a departure from any we’ve heard in recent years. The mix is richly textured, stylistically eclectic, and technically faultless. Cass moves us forward, sure, but, unlike many progressive cds, we are never stuck in some one-note mythical groove where we begin to hope that the journey will end. Instead, our pilot steers us through imaginative sound-scapes infused with the confidence of his programming and mixing skills. We are never quite sure what lays around the next bend and Cass isn’t about to warn us either.
In other words, the journey is invigorating, not only for the listener, but for the progressive sound itself. Cass paints a sound-scape; now shimmering, now infused with darkness, sometimes of epic proportions, at other times intimate. When the first cd opens with Jeff Sharel’s Time Condition we sense that something is up. We soon realise that nothing stays the same for long. 4/4 basslines erode, disappear, reappear as breaks. In the end “styles” cease to matter since the mix is seamless. Cd 1 is in turns sophisticated and sexy; its twists and turns invigorate the listener. It is quite simply a stunning mix with tracks from Gus Gus, Lee Burridge, Bushwacka!, and Mekon among others.
When cd 2 opens with the symphonic exhilaration of Charlie May’s aptly named progressive stormer Behemoth you think for a moment that we’ve strayed into the more traditional 2nd progressive cd territory. But you’re wrong, Cass is still the pilot here and he isn’t about to take the linear route home. Instead, similar to the first cd but with more intensity, we twist and turn through breaks, electro/disco sounds, techno, breaks (always the breaks ), house, progressive house bombs, and more breaks (Excession’s Spatialize and dark globe’s mix of All The Freaks) until our journey ends with 16b’s The Game. Cass leaves us stunned at the intensity of the journey, sometimes dark, more often melodic, at times playful. In the end there is no doubt that we have heard some of the best dance music around brilliantly mixed by one of djing’s rising stars.