Customer Reviews

Space Ibiza 2007

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3 star:		(1)
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Seeking a decent club mix to jump-start your summer nightlife? Spun the hell out of Eddie Halliwell's "Cream Ibiza 2007" already? Pick up the latest offering from Azuli Records, "Space Ibiza 2007" which manages to sport some light, airy and comfortably fresh mixing and tracks.

Kaskade's funk-infused "Sorry" kicks things off, transitioning into the pleasantly moody "I Thought That" by The Migrants. Unlike Space Ibiza 2006, the 2007 release seems to seek a certain direction and embraces tracks which aid in marking that direction. In this case, the path Azuli Records seems to want to follow appears to be that of the hybridization of relatively cutting edge electro and tech-house with surprising minimal numbers - but this hybridization, as it were, can become confusing and irritable at times. The `NY Sexy Mix' of "Changes" sent me bouncing, though, and sky-high lyricists, such as those featured on tracks like "Guilty" and "I Got Cash" revive memories of the innocence of mid-90's EDM, which for some will age like moldy bread and to others snuggle nicely within the mélange of the bumping house. For a club compilation, disc one certainly books the ticket without being OVERLY-stale; the second disc, however, caught me off-guard!

I did not expect an Ibiza-influenced release to feature any minimal tech-house at all - that style of EDM simply has not previously coincided -commercially- with Ibiza before. Disc two, however, is so heavily influenced by minimal tech-house that it sounds like a hopped-up version of some wacky Alex Smoke, M.A.N.D.Y., Tigerskin, Omid 16B or Booka Shade. Truly surprising, as the two discs juxtapose with one another like night and day. For me, THIS is the selling point for Azuli's 2007 compilation and makes it stand far apart from the label's lukewarmly received Space Ibiza 2006 release. With a pretty decent lineup of minimal artists including Remo, Smash TV, Oxia and Audion, disc two surely impressed me with its diversity. But make no mistake - it is not a minimal house album in a purist sense. The minimal house is interspersed amongst sensual melodic house tracks such as "I Feel For You," "Umbrella," "Agent Blue" and of course the closing track, "Azure (Part 1)." Booka Shade lends two grinding and soulful tracks to the mix to keep things shaken, not stirred, and the same can be said about "I Got Cash" and "Da Bump." And so, while disc two is neither a downtempo nor a purely minimal house mix, it breathes stark contrast with regards to disc one which oozes energetic movement of the body.

Azuli's Space Ibiza 2007 is a decent, and arguably ripe collection of tracks snatched from the uppermost surface and innermost depths of the electronic dance music spectra. Why three stars? The album's inability to pick a mood and ride it out long enough for a dancer to catch on is a snag. It is also not as solidly mixed as (in my opinion) Cream Ibiza 07 was. Lastly, this mix isnt worth twenty six dollars, not by a longshot. If you can pick it up for eighteen or so, I would definitely recommend it based on its startling diversity; and it really is a fine album - just a bit wobbly.

~Lex