Sven Väth - The Sound of the 10th Season

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  • In the excellent bonus DVD that comes with The Sound of the 10th Season, there is an interview with Richie Hawtin which is particularly revealing. He talks about how Ibiza has been a centre point for electronic music for 20 years, and then points out that it has only been since Cocoon started on the island in 2000, that "underground techno waves" have been sent around the world, leading to the present day where techno has a much more widespread following internationally. Hawtin also admits that while the music has "evolved," the ideals represented remain the same; so gone are the pure techno German-only affairs of 2001 and—more importantly, as of 2009—also gone is the minimal techno sound whose pioneers/stars are what people most associate with Cocoon—Villalobos, Luciano, Loco Dice and, of course, Hawtin himself. In simple terms, Väth and Hawtin advocate the theory that it is as a result of Cocoon Ibiza that the values of techno and underground have become so popular worldwide. The theory, I suppose, has some credence, but it conveniently ignores the influence of anywhere or anything else in terms of the changing trends within electronic music, like Berlin for example. It's more accurate to describe Cocoon Ibiza as an important conduit through which the "underground" has become popular, a key place for those intrigued or curious to experience what all the fuss was about. Musically, whereas before it was almost exclusively the hard techno sound you'd associate with guests like Carl Cox, it was innovators like Richie and Ricardo that had become the mainstays of the Monday night sound. And, in 2009, it was really a case of anything goes, with smatterings of house throughout symbolising the gentrification of Cocoon if you will. CD1 of The Sound of the 10th Season is straight into the big house-influenced tunes with "Caedmoon Loop," a funky house track that was played all over the island, exemplifying really how open Cocoon's music policy now is. On the same theme, Michel Cleis' magical remix of Spencer Parker's "The Beginning" is the track that most sounds like Cocoon Ibiza 2009 to me; grooving piano house and hypnotic ethereal spirals combining to represent a true Cocoon classic that was played all season long. The altogether light feeling to the compilation continues through some fairly techy house tracks peaking at Egbert's "Magie," a devastating track at the best of times: Throw in 3000 people and the Amnesia ice cannon and you can imagine the carnage. Overall, CD2 is a much moodier affair, with heavy bass throbs—representing the sessions of Ricardo and more notably Loco Dice on the Amnesia terrace—in abundance and darker influences taking us straight to those 5am moments before the sun has risen and the night is very firmly on. "I Love You" and "Meanland" particularly mark those almost anonymous tracks that peppered Monday nights, the unsung heroes that kept in excess of 6000 ravers in the club till dawn every week. Then we come to "La Mezcla." When I saw it on the tracklist I was surprised, not so much because it will always personally remain a Cocoon 2008 track, but more so that it wasn't actually played all that much this summer, although some, Sven included, did give it the occasional airing. That said, and on reflection, it more than deserves to be recorded within the Cocoon Sound of the Season anthologies and juxtaposed here amongst sinister frequency-warping electronica, like Koze's "Mrs Bojangels," it perfectly illustrates the contemporary "anything goes" attitude of Papa Sven's roadshow. Given that 2009 won't be remembered as a vintage year for anthems or even breaking new ground musically, there are certain limitations within which this collection has been compiled, compounded of course by the fact that it is immediately retrospective. Ultimately though, it is a pretty accurate representation of yet another enthralling Cocoon summer season and for fanatics, the bonus DVD material is unmissable.
  • Tracklist
      CD 1 – Noche 01. Alejandro Mosso - Somebody 02. Anthea & Celler - Ceadmon Loop 03. Spencer Parker - The Beginning (Michel Cleis Rmx) 04. Sebastian Lutz - I'm Telling You (Nico Purman Remix) 05. Dreher & Smart - Call of Banganzwe (Matt John Discopub Remix) 06. Electric Rescue - The Darkest Star 07. Franco Cazzola - In Mexico With You (Ahmet Sisman Remix) 08. Egbert - Magie (Techno Version) 09. Umek - Pravim Haos 10. Marc Marzenit - Not Assigned 11. Ilario Alicante - Living in Africa CD 2 – Dia 01. Prostitune - Money Nugget 02. Basti Pieper feat. Eddy Pirax - I Love You 03. Lee Jones - Aria (Lawrence Remix) 04. Cesare vs Disorder - Mean Land 05. Precious System - The Voice Of Planet Love 06. Yousef - Come Home 07. Michel Cleis feat. Totó La - La Mezcla 08. Stefan Goldmann - Art of Sorrow 09. DJ Koze - Mrs Bojangels 10. Pantha Du Prince - Behind The Stars
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