- What a difference an apostrophe (and a simple rearranging of words) makes: The music under review here was originally supposed to be called Sound of the City: Dan Ghenacia, Paris, but someone thought better and changed it to Sound of the City: Dan Ghenacia's Paris. The former implies that Dan Ghenacia was/is the sound of the city, which the former Freak 'n Chic head most definitely never was. The latter simply allows the current Circo Loco resident to simply do what he does best, which he has no problem doing here over the course of two discs on this '90s themed mix.
The sound of Paris around the time that Ghenacia returned to France after a stay in California was decidedly not the type of bouncy West Coast house that he had fallen in love with. His famed Batofar residency was influential, but was never mainstream. (The boat can only hold so many people, you see.) Ghenacia remembers taking records from San Diego that he bought for less than a dollar and re-selling them for 30 francs. That's probably all you need to know when determining how unique Ghenacia's collection was at the time in Paris. "I wasn't that skilled," he admits. "I just had fantastic records."
The internet has changed the landscape of buying 12-inches forever. Geography, bar a few far-flung places, no longer plays much of a role. It's the way that you put them together. Ghenacia has now had years of practice, and his skills have clearly caught up to the tunes. On Sound of the City Paris, you can hear him pulling off effortless mixes in key and cutting out of records at just the right moment. Ghenacia knows these records inside and out. Who else would know to fade DJ Deep and Jovonn's "Back in the Dark" organ lick directly into Mustafa's wobbly lead line on "Circles"?
Most of the tracks on here are a decade old (or more). Produced right before the minimal wave that Freak 'n Chic itself took part in, each tune has something memorable about it (if not multiple things). It doesn't always work exactly. The move into epic territory near the end of disc one feels forced. You can hear the glide of BPMs being raised or lowered in a noticeable way in the mix every so often. But as proof as to why Ghenacia became such a force in the house and techno scene, Sound of the City Paris is a valuable document. It may not have been the sound of the entire city, but it was the sound of enough of the city to still matter in 2011.
TracklistCD1
01. Black Strobe - Paris Acid City
02. Home and Garden - Tribute To Paranoia (Tim Schumacher Remix)
03. Johnny Dangerous - Father In Heaven (Repercussion Mix)
04. BT – Remember (Mood 2 Swing Dub)
05. Billy Sprockets - Club 101
06. DJ Rasoul - To Be Free
07. Soldier Of Twilight - Mainfloor
08. Soha - Eve
09. Didier Sinclair - Funky Taste
10. Lance Desardi - Remembrance
11. DJ Deep And Jovonn - Back In The Dark
12. Mustafa - Circles (The Master Mix)
13. Audio Clash - Live And Die (Wild Pitch Mix)
14. Layo And Bushwaka feat. Robert Owens - Low Life (Love From San Francisco Remix)
CD2
01. The Absolute Family – Encense's Road
02. Boo Williams – Space 1999
03. Gemini - Where Do I Go
04. Children Of Planet Earth - Are You The Future (Guiro Dub)
05. Krikor - Sometimes Sweat Susan
06. The Persuader - What Is The Time, Mr Templar?
07. Phil Weeks - It Put Me Well (Fred Everything Remix)
08. Dringers - Koka
09. Dan Ghenacia & Phil Weeks - First Step
10. DJ Bertrand – Fuckin Filter (Ivan's Cube Cleaning Dub)
11. Crispin J Glover - The Beat Goes On
12. Llorca feat. Lady Bird - My Precious Thing (Llorca Acid Mix)
13. Touloulou - Theme Of Guts The Rug's (The Rug’s Underground Vox Mix)
14. Cassio Ware - I Wanna See You Freak Like This (Kenny Dope Remix)