Customer Reviews

American DJ Volume 4: Phoenix

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
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This deep progressive mix by Phoenix dj Markus Schultz is not for everyone, but for fans of dark, swirling, hypnotic, richly percussive dance music this is a fine seventy-one minutes of music. Most of the tracks here are built not on "melodies" but on textures and rhythms. Listeners need to close their eyes and let the beats and sounds carry them along for the ride. First-rate headphones and high volume on the hi-fi are good bets to enhance the experience.

Schulz here follows the progressive pathway forged over the past few years by such dance music luminaries as John Digweed, Dave Seaman, Chris Fortier, Sander Kleinenberg, Max Graham, John Debo, and Jerry Bonham in cobbling together this nontop set. The sequencing and mixing are excellent, and for the most part, the material is fresh (though certainly by this time Trisco's "Muzak" is a bit long of tooth). Vocals are scarce, but it is a tribute to Schulz' skills that when Coast 2 Coast's catchy "Home" comes along as the next-to-last track it sounds warming and welcome, rather than corny.

This is a first-rate disc and I recommend it to all fans of the progressive sound. Even the cover art is terrific, with the multicolored saguaros adding a fine touch. My only (small) gripe is that there are a few flaws in the recording, including some tiny but noticeable gaps between some of the early tracks.

Many will not seem to find progressive as somewhat likable, however, this mix is quite brilliant. Highly ambitious, combining slow, tribal sounds with hyptonic beats. A definitely brilliant work from Markus Schulz.

Growing up in Phoenix for a while listening to Markus, I kind of knew what to expect from this album. The transition from record to record is superb, almost giving you the impression that the first couple of records you hear is almost one record of itself. Nontheless, as you hear more along, it, variable changes. You tend to hear new genre's of electronic music, from it's progressive start to house, electro, and even trance as heard in Coast to Coast's "home". The best record, im my opinion, is a remix of David Forbes's "questions must be asked" which, subsequently the last record featured on the album, which is quite fitting to end Markus' first album, which combines everything pretty much, from trance to house to breakbeat, in one record. Markus is quite a versatile DJ, and his album reflects that perfectly.

Overall, his mix is good, from start to finish. My only downside is the cover art. I would have expected a better site rather than a cliche' desert. Nevertheless, judging a cover from it's contents is superficial enough.