- It seems like everything is coming up ten these days: DEMF, Mutek, Poker Flat, Raum…musik and many more have celebrated—or will soon—a decade in the dance music business. But, as we all know, in this industry you're only as good as your last festival or record. Luckily for Raum, at least, that last release was the first part in their ten-year anniversary series, and a record that included a Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts cut that continued his stunning run.
The next release on Raum... should have it just as good, though, as all three tracks on their Ten Years Raum – Sampler Part Two are just as engaging. Damian Schwartz & Guti start things off with "Salsón," a piano-led number that could probably quite easily match up alongside "Enfant (Chants)" if you wanted it to. No babbling children here though. Instead, we have horns, a tiny cowbell and a busy bassline. It's a swinger, plain and simple.
Reboot follows it up with "Three Rows," which continues in his current minimal house style that falls directly in line with Mannheimer Johnny D. As a fellow RA colleague put it in a recent Reboot review, you can hear how "his delicate and uniquely skewed sonic vision may have been enveloped slightly in the two-chord, drum driven madness of the year that was," but while that's obviously the case here, it isn't so much of a problem: The rhythm that Reboot sets out is undeniable—nu-deep house on steroids, really—and leavened by sonic accents that offer glimpses of Cadenza-like complexity.
Christian Burkhardt relieves the tension a bit, offering a softer kick and more melody in his percussion, along with syn-trumpets and a touch of whooping for good measure. It's nice enough, but in contrast to its predecessors, it feels light and inconsequential—a mediocre dessert after a hearty main course.
Tracklist A1 Damian Schwartz & Guti - Salsón
B1 Reboot - Three Rows
B2 Christian Burkhardt - Tide