Progression Sessions Germany Live 2004 - LTJ Bukem and MC Conrad

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  • Continuing their phenomenal Pregressions Sessions mix series, LTJ Bukem and MC Conrad take to the stage in Germany to dispense another healthy dose of intelligent drum'n'bass. As per usual, the duo deliver the sounds in fine style with LTJ Bukem controlling the decks with his tight beatmixing skills, chopping beats in and out of the mix and pulling off rewinds while MC Conrad keeps the crowd in control with his lethal combination of hype up MC shouts and singing vocals. The kicks off with a noisy Munich crowd - definitely one crowd that digs the drum'n'bass and even more so when they found out they were going to be recorded live! Greg Packer's Organ Tune is the lead off tune for the CD, however one can't help but think that they only managed to record half the set as the tune and Conrad fade in. As the title suggests, Organ Tune is based around a monotonic organ hook, and is accompanied by a funky rolling break and catchy bass line with occasional female vocal shouts and tech stabs. The tune is nice and simple enough to allow Conrad to sing his own melody to the beat which fits in quite nicely with the beat. MC Conrad & Makoto present their new tune Golden Girl and while LTJ cuts the beat in and out of the mix, Conrad goes head to head against himself on the vinyl as he sings along. Golden Girl features an old skool style drum'n'bass beat, dramatic synth lines and big dubby bass with Conrad exposing the heart of his soul on vocals. Burning by Catch 22 turns the vibes up a notch with a liquid melodic bassline and diva vocal shouts. This then leads into the cowboy western influenced Shootout featuring a western style guitar riff, hammer cocking samples and cinematic percussion. The mix then moves into the soothing Splashdown produced by ICR who sends the listener to a realm of heavy, squelching basslines soaked in the funk with aquatic samples swimming around it before the mix comes to an end with Makoto & Bun's Let Me Love You - finally bringing the mix to a climax with harder beats using punchier snares and again a funky bassline. I mentioned this before after reviewing Progression Sessions Japan. The partnering of Bukem and Conrad is a match made in heaven - Bukem has formidable mixing skills and he does mix tightly while Conrad compliments him on the mic, providing a lot of melody with his singing while managing to interact with the crowd and call for rewinds. Actually if it wasn't for Conrad on the mic, the mix would sound very bland - the intro tunes especially don't seem to progress much from each other - similar rolling beats backed with similar bass lines. For those who already have earlier Progression Sessions, you already know what to expect don't disappoint yourselves by missing out on this one. For those who have never heard it, now's your chance especially since there is only a run of 10000 of these puppies available!
RA