Various - Panorama Bar 06 Part I / Part II

  • Share
  • Ryan Elliott's Panorama Bar 06—like Cassy's seminal Panorama Bar 01 before it—is less a showcase for big tunes than a sleek mood piece assembled from house verging on techno, and vice versa. Its 35 tracks make for an impressively taut whole, and the ten tracks that were commissioned for the mix are the kind of secret-weapon superglue that holds great DJ sets together. Material like this can seem destined to recede into the shadows no matter how good it is. Thus Panorama Bar 06 Part I and Part II are two of Ostgut Ton's best EPs in ages hiding in plain sight. These cuts are tools, by and large, but simplicity and functionality haven't ruled out creativity and personality. Makam exemplifies this on "Girls Night," honing tried-and-true dub techno synths into something altogether sharper and shiftier than you'll find on plenty of other tunes like it. Tuff City Kids do something similar on "Breacher," built from driving drums and the wisps of a disco build—its swell is bigger and more euphoric than its elements would suggest was possible. Roman Flügel's murky "The Odd Lobster" and Terrence Dixon's loopy "Innocence" are both producers' heaviest and most straightforward productions in some time, but what they lack in wacky twists, they make up for in unrelenting groove. Newworldaquarium and Marcel Dettmann both go beatless on their offerings, presenting moody distillations of their signature sounds to blast off or cool down DJ sets. A pair of Panorama Bar 06 exclusives, though, aren't likely to maintain such a low profile. "Leave Me," melding a dusty deep house backing to zappy, futuristic techno flourishes, is Borrowed Identity's best track in an already exceptional 12-month run. It's low-key by nature, but the confidence of the execution makes it pop. And Deadbeat's "Woah!" is every bit deserving of its exclamatory title. Half blissfully melodic, half punishingly percussive, all dubby and disorienting, it's likely to breath fresh air—or add fuel to the fire—of any set it's let loose in.
  • Tracklist
      Part I A1 Newworldaquarium – Thousand Oaks A2 Roman Flügel – The Odd Lobster A3 Terrence Dixon – Innocence B1 Borrowed Identity – Leave Me B2 Tuff City Kids – Breacher Part II A1 The Oliverwho Factory – Take It Slow A2 Deadbeat – Woah! B1 Nick Höppner – Track For Eb B2 Makam – Girls Night B3 Marcel Dettmann – Light
RA