Featuring a spot ..ion of sounds from yesterday, today and tomorrow’s electronic maestros, including an eclectic mixture of the likes of Aeroplane, Aphex Twin, Bryan Ferry, The Cure, Loco Dice, Speedy J, Omid 16B and more...
After 12 albums of cutting-edge dance music from all corners of the globe, EQ’s visionary Balance series has evolved into a never ending search to find the perfect equilibrium: the happy marriage of integrity, innovation and entertainment. Balance 013 continues this great tradition but gives it to you supersized, with three DJs blazing a trail of 56 tracks across three jam-packed CDs.
At the helm of this voyage is London-based DJ collective SOS (aka SexOnSubstance), featuring Demi, Desyn Masiello and Omid 16B. As friends, producers, DJs, label owners – and model clubland citizens – Demi, Desyn and Omid are three of the most passionate talents working in electronic music today. Taking inspiration from their SexOnWax and Deeper Substance imprints to form SOS in 2004, they’ve built a first-rate reputation for quality music, inventive mixing and an infectious party spirit, whether it’s on a boat along the Thames, deep inside Bedrock or Ministry of Sound, or glowing in the sun in Ibiza or Miami. Like Danny Krivit, François K and Joe Claussell’s legendary Body & Soul connection before them, the chemistry between the members of SOS makes for a proper three-headed DJ monster.
Balance 013 marks the first time the trio has committed their energetic and eclectic sound to CD, and the result is nothing short of mind-blowing. Having locked themselves away for weeks, submerged in their home studios, SOS painstakingly programmed and pieced together a three-disc opus using many of their signature re-edits, top-drawer treasures from underground troves, and a few kinky surprises out of left field.
The journey begins with crashing waves and a sublime guitar solo. Omid’s track ‘Seagull’, made using a simple four-track when he was in an early-90s band called The Reunion, is heard here for the very first time. We then glide into a realm of guitar loops and spaced out disco. And from there we catch a chugging, hypnotic groove that takes us right into the heart of the mix. Here the SOS sound snakes cleverly between cosmic dub, ambient breakbeats, Arabian horns and all things house. It’s a playground perfect for the more experimental shades of SOS’s palette.
The next disc continues where the first left off with The Cure’s ‘Lullaby’ and blends the blissful nostalgia of the original with a new, dreamy soundscape that lies beyond. Continuing to build the mix, SOS passes through the deepest analogue territories before hitting the acid funk running. In true SOS style, things later take a turn for the surreal when the rude boys splice it up to ask, in the voice of Queen’s frontman Freddie Mercury, ‘is this the real life’? After an infusion of twisted, percussive techno, the energy flow reaches a climax before dropping back two decades to the timeless party sounds of Inner City’s ‘Big Fun’.
The final mix is every bit as epic and compelling. It’s also more club-orientated, with tracks cherry-picked from a brotherhood of underground talents. Sure enough at times it gets pretty intense, with prime dancefloor cuts from the likes of Aphex Twin, but it’s always in keeping with the ebb and flow of the project. Effortlessly organic and seamlessly dynamic, the sequence progresses, releasing pressure and leading to the atmospheric finale entitled ‘Full of E_mty’ from Omid’s Like 3 Ears And 1 Eye album.
Fair dinkum, SOS. Individually they are dynamite; collectively they are the bomb. Taking the art of DJing, moving it forward and making it truly progressive. Three DJs, three CDs and an explosive sequence of trip-tech sounds from right around the world, mixed the way SOS plays live – welcome to Balance 013!
TRACKLISTING
Disc 1
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Omid 16b - Seagull
AN-2 - Wide Open
Modern Heads feat Pig & Dan - Gliding Hypnotherapy
Omid 16b - The Final Choice
Christian Smith & John Selway - Slow River
LFO - Nurture (Surgeon Remix)
Speedy J - De-Orbit
Jody Wisternoff - Starstrings (Instrumental)
Aeroplane - Caramellas
Chymera - Umbrella (Beatless Mix)
Imagination - Just An Illusion (Lindstrøm Dub)
DJ Frtizo - Pimms By The Pool (SOS Remix)
Bryan Ferry - Don't Stop The Dance (12" Remix))
Jan Driver - Kardamoon
MC Sultan - Der Bauch
Brandy - The Ritual (Chateau Flight Remix)
Cocteau Twins – Cherry Coloured Funk (Seefeel Remix)
The Cure - Lullaby
Disc 2
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The Cure - Lullaby
Dusty Kid - Luna
Josel - Digiboy (DJ Tarkan & V-Sag Remix)
Nima Gorji - Whatever
Spirit Catcher - Brain Candy
Kollektiv Turmstrasse - Wagnis
Marsmobil - Mangia Amore (Makossa & Megablast Remake) (Lucas Abadi Edit)
The Blacklight Society - 2028
Whizz Kidzz - Fly High
Aeroplane / Corporation of One - Aeroplane (Dub) / The Real Life
Sugar Caine Pres. Bionik Phunk - Once In A Lifetime (Dub)
Marc Romboy vs Stephan Bodzin - Atlas
Slytek - Spin Out (Neon Skin Mix)
Ink & Needle - Six
Middleman - Dum Dum
Inner City - Big Fun (Edit)
Joeski - Caribe Elektrico (Stan Kolev Outer Limits Mix)
Henrik B - Logo
Disc 3
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Speedy J - Fill 17
Joash - Salome
Aeroplane - Pacific Air Race (Dub)
Paul Keeley - A Sort Of Homecoming
DJ Pippi & David Penn - Do U Feel It (The Piano Mix)
AFX - VBS.Redlof.B
Dimitri - Here She Comes (Elektrokid Remix)
Kid Massive - Release (Raoul Tech Dub)
Levan - Miau
Ozze - Bend The Rules
Loco Dice - City Lights (Martin Buttrich Remix)
Michael Ho - Kiss The Wasp
Ytre Rymden Dansskola - Kjappfot
Kingpin Cartel - Moogie Nights
Michael Cassette – Shadow's Movement
Bastian - Game Over
Alessi Brothers - Savin' The Day
Stereo Brains - Luna (Jhonny and Peps Remix)
The Detroit Experiment - Think Twice
Omid 16b – Full Of E_mty
EQ's Balance CD series harks back to an era when dance music wasnt just a commodity, the series name a constant reminder of the tightrope it walks by capturing an elusive ideal: combining the excitement of old with a cutting edge approach.
Before its emergence, the Australian landscape was a battleground for competing overseas super-brands. Their use of local DJs merely a marketing ploy to win over the Australian audience. Comparatively, Balances inception was aimed at showcasing Australian DJs to a global audience without the expectations and restrictions enforced by other labels.
Allowing the necessary conditions for creativity has seen Balance grow in reputation from a little known local series to the benchmark against which any new series is gauged.
Just some of the things they've said about the Balance Series...
"When it comes to DJ mix series there is arguably none better than EQ's Balance series right now.
IDJ Magazine - Jose Riera
Balance 004 mixed by Phil K
"If they do it as well as Phil K has here, that has got to be good news for dance fans everywhere."
DJ MAGAZINE - Compilation Of The Issue
Balance 005 mixed by James Holden
"Innovative, addictive and mixed with some considerable degree of skill, there’s no reason why this album shouldn't appeal to everyone."
M8 Magazine (UK) COMPILATION OF THE YEAR
Balance 006 mixed by Anthony Pappa
"...This cool series from Australia now enlists Anthony Pappa...to compile and mix this follow-up to James Holden's adventures last year, and it's fantastic folks!...It's an amazing next step in the great Balance series!"
Xpander.nl
Balance 007 mixed by Chris Fortier
"US DJ Chris Fortier rises to the challenge for the seventh edition of this consistently excellent mix series. It's a wonderful triumph of both technique and substance that wiggles on in a seemingly never-ending groove."
DJ Magazine
Balance 008 mixed by Desyn Masiello
"Compilation of the year"
M8 Magazine
Balance 008 mixed by Desyn Masiello
It's compelling stuff from start to finish and will have you grooving around your house and make you itching to go out clubbing. With DJs like Desyn around dance music is in some very safe hands."
IDJ Magazine
Balance 009 mixed by Paolo Mojo
"Paolo Mojo steps up to the plate, compiling and mixing a two disc instalment in this acclaimed mix series. This one of those essential mix cd's to have in your collection."
DMC Update
Balance 10 mixed by Jimmy Van M
The final disc 'Uptempo' is a reflection of Van M's style in a club and is an enchanting, dark ride punctuated with glimmers of light for the soul. It's a fitting finale to what is one of the best mix albums of 2006."
IDJ - Review (November 2006) - Jose Riera
Balance 011 mixed by Luke Fair
"easily one of the most inspiring DJ sets of 2007."
Image Magazine - Denver
"This is the most colorful house release I have heard in quite a while; possibly ever".
Ibeats.co.uk