Nick Warren introduces the first mix of his seventh Global Underground endeavor, “Paris”, with an airy and wholly atypical collaboration of beautiful melody – songs from across the globe grace this spacious display of harpsichord, piano, acoustic guitar and subtle electronica. The first mix is quite literally everything an international release should be: A perfectly built musical machine churning out melodious fantasy with fanciful precision. Indeed, this is the disc to kick-back and close your eyes to. “Strange Parallels” is a title reflective of the mix’s composition: Oddly enough, selective beats and sweetly tempting basslines move the mix forward with the casual gait of a winemaker inspecting his vineyard in the waning sunlight of Southern France. However, unexpected instrumentation complements – one might say, `parallels’ – this rhythmic movement. During “Zusammenallien,” I found myself recollecting ancient memories of gazing upwards inside a planetarium. “Sedatives” and “Whiskers,” two of my favorites on the first disc, dash away my mental space exploration with acoustic guitars, reverberated and garbled vocals of some sort, violins, with xylophonic rhythms to boot! These tracks truly feel like discovered treasures in ways I have not been exposed to since the epic and stunning 1996 release of “Northern Exposure.”
“Being Around You” ushers in the atmospheric fluidity with which Warren had acquainted us on GU024: Reykjavik, yet there remains a mature and distinctive tension between the two sounds. Reykjavik babbled like a winding brook, and did so with great beauty; on Paris, Nick Warren has created an immaculately straight path along which he guides us. Looking far back into his Prague mixing days, such a concept would have been inconceivable for him – but just as we have watched Nick’s style change with every release since 1997, so too have we seen a remarkable decisiveness reoccur in the ebb and flow of his track selection. Of further notable mention are tracks such as “Love Movement” (a lovely remix of Ulrich Schnauss’), “Roll Your Own” (perhaps one of the most uniquely melodic pieces on the first disc) and “Lonely Planet.” Rounded out with what one might call musical hypnosis alongside an atmosphere more deftly crafted than that of both Reykjavik and Shanghai, Paris’ first mix encompasses the very premise of an artist’s necessary maturation – and the listener’s, as well.
And so, after a glowingly poetic critique of disc one… what, then, of disc two?
The second mix begins quite elegantly; the second track, Blue Foundation’s “Sweep,” is a beautiful rendition of the slick track which is also featured on Hernan Cattaneo’s upcoming Sequential: Volume 2 (although vastly reworked on the latter album). The pace appropriately quickens – a deserved metamorphosis after the wonderfully ambient first mix. Following a disappointingly drab “Cosmopolitan Drink,” (which I believe serves its function only in upping the BPM in preparation for “Head Down”), the pace picks up nicely, ending up feeling more comfortably electro than the first mix. In this regard, disc two’s forte is consistency; the quality of every track is there – and, standing alone, each would fare very well as a single track. “Buenos Aires / Bokoto 10 PM” and “Neptune” are both entirely driven by bass and beat – the characteristics of attractive club music. Remarkably, the instrumental melody (however much it has been converted to “electro” as opposed to the first disc) continues to move the mix forward – only, in disc two’s case, “propel” might be more fitting a word choice.
After the second mix’s undeniably subdued five opening tracks, the infectiously dirty grooves of “Neptune” finally blast the collection off the launch pad. “Non Verbal Language” is certainly another title befitting of its context, driven by its slick and extending bass and layered with epically scaled instrumentation that continues to cascade over the mix’s numerous electronic eccentricities. This is truly a club mix that speaks to the listener without ever really saying a word. The next several tracks remind me of the later tracks on Shanghai’s second disc – truly beat-oriented; it’s as strict as that. And yet, there is something more; something in the way the music intrinsically moves you. A prime example is “Five Five Zero,” which is heavily laden with thick, rhythmic electronica – blaring and booming from the stereo while never losing its agility. Like an overweight trapeze artist, the combination is able to work with shocking precision. Did I expect Nick Warren to drop the ball this close to the end? Well, no, but it’s always nice to have my expectations met (and, in this album’s case, far and widely exceeded). “One Morning by the Riverside” eases the force by introducing an entirely different piano-laden overture with prominently crisp hi-hats to keep the relentless pace from losing its edge. It segues into “I’m Lost,” which for the most part abandons the beat entirely and relies on the tasteful planetarium aura until Tenaglia-like tribal beats drop and the track starts to take shape. “I’m Lost” begins the pulsating, crisp and beautiful descent into obscurity, and Ohmna’s contribution should thus be considered a rich necessity. Concluding his masterpiece with “Blackout,” Warren weaves the final thread in the most intricately designed musical fabric of its kind in many years.
Nick Warren and his style seem to mature with every subsequent album he releases. Like a finely aged wine – perhaps originating from the most prized vineyards in France itself – Warren’s “Paris” is an undertaking which will certainly grow better with each passing day, and is truly meant for the EDM connoisseur within each of us.
-James Woodruff
