Timo Maas's label comes out with another summer release, this time it is a mix album about a night that is run at DC-10, mixed by two of the residents. Does it capture the vibe of Circo Loco's Night?

Ibiza Monday Morning Sessions (Four:Twenty)

Timo Maas’s great label four:twenty comes out with the third installment in what has been known as a creative mix album series. Ibiza is known to just about every single electronic music fan and the club DC10 should be familiar to most of you. Circo Loco was started in 1999 by Andrea Pelino and Antonio, the party is hosted at the famous DC10 club in Ibiza. The next year, they added residents Cirillo, Tania Vulcano, Fabrizio and Jo Mills. The party has grown tremendously in recent years and the fact that party is held usually on a Monday morning, while most of the world gets up and goes to work, the true partiers party in DC10. It has to be the most unique club in the entire world because it seems to be the only club that has deejays hounding the promoters to play, not the other way around, as is the case with just about every club in the world. It is unheard of in clubbing circles that A List deejays beg promoters to play gigs. Pete Tong, Sasha, Danny Tenaglia, Jon Carter and Norman Cook have all played this night unannounced. This was supposed to be called "We are Circo Loco Vol.III" but it was changed to "Ibiza Monday Morning Session", so the first CD was mixed by Italian Deejay and Artist Cirillo, most known for his vandit release, a few years ago and the second CD was mixed by Uruguayan house deejay Tania Vulcano.

Tracklist CD 1 – Mixed by Cirillo

1.Screwheads – You Fucker
2.Chab – Memory (Romanian Edit)
3.Justin Martin – Sad Piano (Charles Webster Remix)
4.Marky Star feat. Black Santa – Buy This Record
5.Roman S – It is midnight now
6.D’Watchmen and Hd Substance – Bad Promoter
7.Wintersun – Can’t Stand the Pain
8.Gill Norris – For me
9.Gui Boratto – Molestado remix
10.Hybrid – Gravastar
11.Slam feat. Tyrone Visionary Palmer – Lifetimes

Screwheads – You Fucker

I’m a real fan of dirty filthy intros and this track is no different. The track slowly creeps in, with an electro bassline and swirling sound effects. It is more of an acapella in my mind because it is so short but it works well. A male voice comes in talking about someone who stood up to fuckers and screw heads. It reminds me in a lot of ways of “Ultra Vixens” but it certainly catches your attention, right from the start.

Chab – Memory (Romanian Edit)
This builds nicely with some drums and some funky noises start to move in from the back. It is driven by an altered keyboard and it has some groovy elements that start to build in, which is well done. A female vocal sings some notes in the background, giving the track a real layered effect. This track is a great song to start building a set with, because it is slow but it still gets you moving. Eventually the song picks up and moves into more driving house and a robotic voice (similar to Daft Punk) moves in. The bass eventually gets a bit harder as the song wears on and then a lush melody joins in, giving you that hands in the air feeling.

Justin Martin – Sad Piano (Charles Webster Remix)

After the great start, song number three starts to build even more on what was already played. “Sad Piano” begins with a melodic oriented piano line with some tapping sound effects in the background. A robotic sound effect comes in and out every 5 seconds but you don’t seem to notice that because the piano line grabs you hook, line and sinker. Here the track is taking you more on a journey and it builds the tempo of the set as well.

Marky Star feat. Black Santa – Buy This Record

This song would be my favorite of the compilation, if it was not for the last track of the first CD but this is really a gem. We start with just drums, with sound effects coming in every three to four seconds and then about thirty seconds in, the song moves into heavy bass with a driving tech-house line. I started immediately dancing to this, it is something about driving tech-house that gets you going. Even while the track is going, you know the track has not finished building. A short time later, the vocal comes in, this just adds to the track, to make it a true tech house record. A robotic voice then appears, singing “Buy this record, I need the cash, this house thing is a pain in the ass, I need to get out of this fucking town and I need to find a new club to party down”, all backed by the heavy bass and driving tech house. You wonder why more deejays did not pick up this gem because it has all the right elements to work anywhere. The vocal repeats itself twice, then goes instrumental and the track drives itself then the vocal reappears near the end to finish you off, just pure genius on the part of Marky Star.

Roman S – It is midnight now

We now move into a track with a faint melody that is surrounded by drums. The melody hooks you in, some weird spacey vocal comes in but it is not clear. A faint riff appears in the back, it is faint when you first hear it but eventually it starts to move to the front. The track has a unique breakdown after that, everything goes silent and you hear the vocal “It’s midnight, the house is dark” and then the beats come back in. Normally you have tracks mixed into each other and near the end of the first song, you hear parts of the second, well this is not the case. It keeps going and then changes into track six with no hint or indication of a new track coming in.

D’Watchmen and Hd Substance – Bad Promoter

Eventually the song or parts of song five change and you do move into a track six. We start with a vocal that says “I’m a slave for you” and no it is not Britney Spears, I can assure you of that. The song goes into melodic instrumental driven house and then a female voice comes in saying “Give it to me”. “Bad Promoter” relies heavily on bells and other types of those instruments to add to the main part of the tune. About 2.5 minutes into the song, it goes into a deeper fold with much heavier bass, it slowly changes thought, but not a complete sudden change. A deep riff emerges from the back, which is addictive and you now realize that this mix has been dark but it is going to get even darker before the end.

Wintersun – Can’t Stand the Pain

We move now into vocal driven dark house. The synths are dark, the bassline is dark, the percussion that is used gives a dark impression and a diva is wailing in the background, singing “Ohhhhh”. The vocal comes in with power and effectiveness, singing “I can’t stand the pain, I can’t take no more your hurting me” then moves into “NaNaNa” which is repeated. The diva moves into “I don’t think I can stand it any longer” around the dark house bassline, which is just almost too much for me. I’m a big fan of strong vocal driven house songs and the fact that it is dark, makes it tastier. About halfway into the song, the percussion changes to a different rhythm, it is not that noticeable and then the vocal comes back in and repeats but now the bassline has shifted to almost tribal. Strong song, well thought out, the mix keeps getting darker.

Gill Norris – For me

This track takes the pace down a bit from the euphoric high of “Can’t stand the pain” and track number eight is a layered track with nice swirly sound effects that really add to it. A keyboard riff is added, which gives the track more support. This is more instrument driven than some of the previous songs but it takes the pace down a bit and paves the way for the tracks that will eventually end the CD.

Gui Boratto – ????(Molestado remix)

We move into what feels like a slower pace, we are technically three tracks from the end. You wonder what Cirillo is doing here but eventually it makes sense. This is similar to “For Me”, in that it is a layered track and it is also instrumental driven house, which focuses more on what is pushing the melody than the track structure. About three minutes into the track, the pace starts to quicken somewhat. Eventually it moves into dark beats and then track ten is brought in

Hybrid – Gravastar

Now we move into Hybrid’s famous dark breaks odyssey called “Gravastar”, I know some people are thinking house then breaks and probably wondering does this work? And the answer is yes, it does work. The track is layered as all Hybrid tracks are and uses the Hybrid’s trademark of a rolling bassline, which Hybrid have made famous. I think this adds to the dark direction of the CD and now the previous track makes sense, Cirillo slows the pace down to just gear into Gravastar perfectly. The swirling sound effects, the drive of this track, such a good choice. It slows down near the end and then almost without any mixing, it moves into the final track of this CD

Slam feat. Tyrone Visionary Palmer – Lifetimes

As I said earlier in this review, “Buy this record” would have been my favorite song but when one of your top twenty songs of all time is kicked in, you can’t help it. Slam’s famous driving tech-house odyssey called “Lifetimes”. Almost all of you have heard it, the ones who have not, have either been living in a cave for a few years or you are very new to electronic music. This finishes off the mix on a high note, each track was well thought out. Slam’s evil driving bassline and complementary riffs coupled with Tyrone Visionary Palmer’s hypnotic lyrics just give you the ass kicking you need, if you have not started to bob your head to any of these songs, this one has to have done it or you are really listening to the wrong style of music.

CD 2 – Mixed by Tania Vulcano

1.Freaks – High Spirits
2.Kenny Hawkes – Sleaze Walking (miss a jour 2004)
3.Sound Machine – Beautiful People
4.Jeff Samuel – Knob (Steve Bug Remix)
5.Owusu and Green – Nevermore (DJ T Dub)
6.Mathew Jonson – Typerope
7.Luciano – Stone Age
8.Neville Watson – Since you went away
9.Evan d soundlab series vol.1 – die punk (jose de divlan mix)
10.M.a.n.d.y – Achaat
11.Joe Montana – The Ship
12.Locodice – Cella door
13.Basement Jaxx – Flylife Extra

Freaks – High Spirits

The second disc in this compilation starts with “High Spirits”. It is a beautiful house record with a simple but chugging bassline, it builds slowly. It is nothing too complicated, it gently starts you off to the second disc. As the song progresses, you hear a “Get Up” vocal sample but it is incredibly faint and near the back of the track but a nice gentle opener. You think you are moving to song two but you are really in for a surprise here because you don’t move into song two, you start into a funky house direction, then you think did the label screw up with the track sequencing and the answer is No. I love false endings or tricks in tracks that just keep going. The second part of the track uses more spacey sound effects. A vocal goes in, singing “If it wasn’t for the music, I don’t know what I do,do,do,do” which adds to the second part. It then moves into track number two, for real this time.

Kenny Hawkes – Sleaze Walking (miss a jour 2004)

You are hit right away with track number two, it is a driving house with swirly sound effects and incredible percussion that gives the track definition. The track does not have that “Buy this record” drive but it has some edge. About a little over two minutes into the track, an electro riff comes in then leaves, then some robotic sound effects start to come in and out at times. The track does have a surprise, at times it has a phone ringing in the background and some people might reach for their phone because the ring is similar to a lot of people’s home phone ringtone. The vocal from the end of track one appears now, which gives the track a bit more life to it then at the very end, a deep Barry White style voice comes in saying “You and your woman”.

Sound Machine – Beautiful People

“Beautiful people” starts with some robotic style sound effects and then a male vocal speaks but what you take notice of in this track is the heavier bassline, coupled with the altered percussion that come in and out. The altered percussion is the hook of the song and it catches you and takes you with it. The vocal is the same voice as the end of track two and it has that deep sensual edge, the voice is talking about “Beautiful People”. This reminds me of King Unique in so many ways, this track contains a dirty edge to it, which always gets high marks in my book. So few records are like this and even fewer deejays play these tracks anymore.

Jeff Samuel – Knob (Steve Bug Remix)

We move from a dark dirty track to something a lot lighter. Here we have a relaxed feel with a piano driven line. It is almost jazz house at times and these nice instruments come in and add to the melody. It is what I call a building block record, something that helps build the mix and keeps you interested at the same time.

Owusu and Green – Nevermore (DJ T Dub)

We continue with the building block records with track five. “Nevermore” is relaxed house that is instrumental driven as well. The bassline is made up of just solid drum hits and snares, which seem to give the track, some extra life. An electro style riff moves in from the back at times, slowly moves forward and ends up more near the middle. Tania Vulcano is smartly building this set by using building blocks.

Mathew Jonson – Typerope

“Typerope” is something a little different from most house records because very few are minimalist house these days and very few work but this is an exception. This makes use of some cool sounding sound effects and a bass guitar strums some notes here. An altered organ style riff comes in from the back and drives it. I think this is a Vulcano hallmark, about six tracks in, she seems to play records that have a riff that builds in from the background or it could be just a coincidence.

Luciano – Stone Age

Now the pace starts to pick up with track seven. “Stone Age” has a grinding bassline, it is an instrumental house track. This track is similar to last few tracks, in that they are instrumental tracks that rely more on melody to move them forward. Few deejays have the patience to build up a set like this, most would be in higher tempo tracks by now but Vulcano rather let the pot simmer than let it boil. Some star sounding sound effects run in from the back, then hit you and then leave, that repeats a few times. The track does have a subtle drive to it, that gets catches you hook, line and sinker but that’s always a good thing.

Neville Watson – Since you went away

So now, the pot is between medium and high heat and Vulcano is not letting things go too fast or too slow. The first thing that hits you, when this song starts is the echoed sound effects that seem pretty tripped out at times. The bassline is slow but heavy but the tempo of this song is faster than the first seven, so it tends to foreshadow, what is coming up. The vocal in this song is altered but it is unclear what they are saying.

Evan d soundlab series vol.1 – die punk (jose de divlan mix)

This song has a very heavy bassline, which has more drive to it than some of the previous songs. The pot is nearing high heat now and in comes an electro piano riff that seems to add life into the song. Some weird sound effects come rushing in and out and then all of the sudden, the bassline changes to something that is more pulsating, which is different and not what you would expect. It stays like this till the end.

M.a.n.d.y – Achaat

We move into another instrumental track, with a harsher bassline that you would expect from a track like this. The vocal is unclear and it seems to come in and then go, the percussion seems to add to it and then about a minute later, a female vocal comes in from the back and sings “Eeeee”, it is a little faint but you clearly hear it. Another minute passes by and the vocal then moves to the middle. It continues like this till you see the track numbers change on your CD player.

Joe Montana – The Ship

You don’t notice that song eleven starts, no hint of a song coming in or bassline changing or anything. About half a minute into the song, it starts to change and eventually you start to get into “The Ship”. Now the pot is under high heat and the water is just about to boil and it is nearly done, exactly like this mix. The riffs here drive the song and light percussion make up the background. It uses a male vocal sample “the way we used to do, in the Paradise Garage”, which refers to the late 1970’s in New York City at the famous Paradise Garage and the deejay there was Larry Levan, which is a major part of house history. Some bass guitar notes come and do there thing then leave, the bassline starts to change to something more electro based and then we move into song twelve.

Locodice – Cella door

It is hard to imagine a four twenty compilation without a track from the Timo’s own label. Locodice is a protégé of Timo Maas and his tracks are always incredibly dark journeys and “Cella Door” is no different. This is a dark electro trip, with an electro bassline with some weird sound effects that sound similar to something you heard in 80’s tunes. It slowly builds, the electro and the house parts come together, very nicely. The tune contains a driving part, but I’m not sure, what part of the track gives it the drive. We gently glide into the final track

Basement Jaxx – Flylife Extra

We move into the final track of this second CD and this compilation. This reminds me of Da Hool – Meet her at the loveparade at times because of air horn sound effect that is used at times. The track is a brilliant way to finish the CD. It is up-tempo, it allows the CD to end on a high note.

Conclusion:
Four Twenty has released a gem of a compilation, it shows what the CircoLoco night is all about and what it is like. Cirillo gives you a deep, dark and dirty ride through many genres of house, the highlight being the two nasty tech house records. CD 1 is a joy to listen to from start to finish and it keeps your interest. Tania Vulcano shows that she will be one to watch for in the future, she carefully builds her set, she uses no big tunes, just quality ones that work. Her mix is more of an instrumental house driven ride but it works well. These CDs will be playing on my CD player, all summer, what a joy and it makes me want to plan a trip to Ibiza. It sounds like it has completely captured the vibe from the Circo Loco Night. Four Twenty does what you don’t expect but the results are excellent and well done.

Out This Summer, Check the Website for further details.