- There must be something in the water in the Dutch town of Hague. DJ Remy, Sander Kleinenberg, Vincent de moor plus a host of other brilliant dance music musicians are all based here, whilst one of the hottest underground progressive teams also drinking from the fountain of deep, driving progressive ideas is Pako & Fredrik (P&K). Born and raised in Hague, it would be easy to say that they have been influenced by those around them, but their production efforts suggest otherwise. These lads are on the pulse and since teaming up in 1993 are one of the few production duo’s to produce consistent quality. If anything people look to them for direction.
Known well for their ‘Magic Shop’ track which appeared on both the Prague Global Underground and Carl Cox’s Fact 2 album, ‘Steel Blue’ on John Digweed’s Sydney GU mix and ‘Seaside Exposure’ on Northern Exposure 3 also have helped place Pako (Sekander Raisani) and Fredrik (Borgesius) on the map.
This ‘World In Progress’ CD has obviously traveled into my hands via the captivating rivers of Hague. So clean and crisp in it’s final form the collaboration of a number of brilliant tunes is never easy, but the, much clichéd, Journey takes me from driving progressive, with a hint of soft, higher pitch melodic samples to soften the listening experience, through to deeper, darker waters.murky. Nowhere’s ‘Desertion’ for example is a superbly crafted tune and really sets the platform for a dive into mysterious territory. Australian Luke Chable’s ‘Eat Static’ and P&K’s own late night studio effort ‘Beatus Possesor’ add untold depth to a long player put together by two very talented musicians.
Australian Zero Tolerance boys Jason Digby & Gab Oliver see their production effort ‘7 Stones’ sit perfectly in a tracklisting of class. By the time Ariane’s ‘Eternity’ has began to weave it’s loops and I find myself cutting up the rug (dancing) around the house, I am safe in the knowledge that this is not the last we will hear of one of Europe’s and the globes hottest production talents.
Those who like John Digweed, Phil Thompson, Anthony Pappa, Saeed & Plash for example will be similarly impressed.
Tracklist01. Roland Klinkenberg - Scuba Dreams
02. Paul Rogers - Lazy Monday
03. Tiny Elvis - Tempted
04. Nowhere - Desertion
05. Minilogue - Deep Motions
06. Luke Chable - Eat Static
07. Pako & Frederik - Beatus Possesor
08. Gyromancer - Gyromancer
09. Tone Depth - Opera Cafe
10. Digby & Oliver - Seven Stones
11. Head Affect - Afrochrome
12. Darko - Phased
13. RR Workshop - Mean Machine
14. Ariane - Eternity