dOP – Watergate 06 | Album Review

Monday, June 7th, 2010 | Album Review

It’s a natural progression for successful clubs to sell mix CDs based around their brand. Ministry started it, fabric made it cutting edge and now them there Berlin folk are having a stab too. Both Berghain and Panorama have their own CD series, whilst this month Watergate releases their sixth mix. Lying at the heart of mix number six are three Parisians in the form of dOP. Far from being DJs they’ve tried to capture the river side LED sparkle of the infamous Berlin club with their own unique live element which has been exciting the plaudits over the last year. Rather than mix other people’s music they’ve compiled a psuedo jam session come live set of their own creations and collaborations with their friends like Noze, Seuil and Catz and Dogz. It’s supposed to give an insight into how they make music, when they’re on their own or hanging out with friends as well as giving the CD some uniqueness and spontaneity that you get from jam sessions. It’s a though thing to pull off. Creating a mix that flows from start to finish can be a difficult task. To create an entire body music from scratch and have it flow is even harder.

Yet dOP have taken it in their stride. Their mix flows beautifully, hitting on a dreamy and hypnotic sound that is controlled and refined throughout. Nothing is rushed on this mix; it elegantly coasts through shifting soundscapes from radiating melodies, bumping grooves and distinctive riffs. Their use of real instruments for many of the riffs creates infectious hooks that pull you through the mix. Riffs like the whimsical French accordion used on the Seuil collaboration ‘New York’; or the twinkling piano found on ‘Deaf Wagrant’ and the woodwind motif that trickles through ‘Play Play Play’, really get under your skin and draw you through the progression.

But between these distinctive hooks lie deep sweeping melodies and bumping grooves that carry the listener through. Glory Hole for instance, another Seuil collaboration, is a beautiful track. Its hypnotic and subtle layers, that are reminiscent of Carl Craig’s Detroit futurism sound, provides a dreamy transition from the bumpy groove of The Ceremony to the unwinding final section of the mix. Whilst tracks like Carte Blanche and Call The Shots with their growling basslines add a real rawness and energy to keep things moving.

It’s this oscillating progression between sounds which makes this mix so interesting. The way it subtlety shifts and mutates through this refined and controlled sound; keeping the listener strung on a constant edge is brilliant. But what’s more brilliant is that this mix is made up almost entirely of new unreleased dOP material. It’s practically an album, yet it’s a mix. I wait with baited breath to see what their official album – expected later this year – will be like, but until then this is definitely worth a purchase.

Buy dOP – Watergate 06 from Amazon (CD|MP3), Play.com (CD) or HMV (CD)

Tracklist:
01. Enliven dOP Acoustic – The Dust (Recorded Live at Watergate)
02. dOP & Nôze – Les Fils du Calvaire
03. Aquarius Heaven & dOP – Before You Go
04. Daniele Papini & dOP – Carte Blanche
05. dOP & Seuil – New York
06. dOP – Stock Option (Tiefschwarz Remix)
07. Mathias Kaden & dOP – The Ceremony
08. Seuil & dOP – Glory Hole
09. Catz & Dogz & dOP – Deaf Wagrant (Selianka Edit)
10. Wareika & dOP – Play Play Play
11. Art of Tones ft. Jaw – Call The Shots (Motor City Drum Ensemble Remix)
12. Khan – Candy Girl (dOP Remix)
13. dOP – Goodbye

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Related Posts

No comments yet.

Leave a comment

Search

Links

Share!

Bookmark and Share