Vagabundos

Cesar Merveille and Mirko Loko

Merveille’s mix begins with a real nugget from label boss Luciano, and his remix of Tim Wright’s ?Thirst’, ploughing right into a deep and distinctly underground house sound, with raw productions from the likes of Daze Maxim, Rob Mello’s remix of Losoul, and Roustam.   Merveille’s own mix of Afriqua provides a turning point on the mix, ushering in a psychedelic and melodious passage, magnified with the superb Ricardo Villalobos remix of Envoy.  Tracks from Delano Smith, Ultrasone and Merveille & Crosson wrap up a consistent yet varied selection of music from Merveille that sets the perfect tone for the continuing disc.

Mirko Loko has been one of Cadenza’s over present figures over the years, with his style leaning towards the otherworldly vibes of the Detroit pioneers, and his Vagabundos mix definitely reflects this love of melancholic electronic sounds.  Eduardo De La Calle’s minimal and tweaky opener sets the course for a playful delivery of fine tracks from Matthew Dear, Roy Ayers (the terrifically tribal Ame New Release Information   remix of Tarzan) and the old skool Chicago flavour of Tevo Howard.  Mirko also airs an exclusive cut from the compilation’s other selector; Cesar Merveille’s ?DEA’ exemplifying the term ?hypnotic’ perfectly.  Mirko digs deep to revive the Anada Project’s stone cold classic ?Cascades Of Colour’ (the Danny Tenaglia edit here of the Rui Da Silva/Saffron Remix), keeping the late night vibe with offerings from Pig & Dan, Carl Craig’s remix of Mirko’s own ?Love Harmonic’ and throwing in a double whammy of original Chi-town grooves from Master C&J and Virgo, finishing on the gorgeous melodies of Chateau Flight.

Previously, Cadenza’s young guns Argy and Andrea Oliva showed us a romping party mood on the first Vagabundos compilation back in March, and on this volume, Cesar and Mirko take us on a deeper journey, all the while delivering a solid double disc album of the best contemporary grooves and some forgotten classic from yesteryear.

Argy, Olivia & Luciano

And so the collective re-group for what promises to be a huge 12 months, and kickstarting it all is this double mix album from two of the Vagabundos DJs; Andrea Oliva and Argy. No stranger to the electronic music scene; Andrea Oliva has had a huge 12 months, with his profile ascend to dizzying heights with releases on Cadenza, Saved, Be As One and DJ Sneak’s Magnetic, whilst Argy continues to shine with his pure house sounds appearing on Ibadan, Versatile, Dennis Ferrer’s Objektivity and his own These Days label, the duo join together to mix a superb 2 hours plus of Vagabundos vibes.

Taking a disc each, Argy gets straight down to business, maintaining the energy already set by Oliva. A short intro from Richie Hawtin’s Plastikman project paves the way for a bumpin’ selection of music from the likes of Nathan Baratto, DJ Sneak and Radio Slave, always mixed with the assured, quick style that makes an Argy Dj set well worth the investment. As the mixes flow, the music gets decidedly tougher, showing Argy’s techno sensibilities with tracks and remixes from heavyweights like Kink (the blissful breakbeats of his collaboration with Marc Romboy), Christian Smith, Robert Hood, Technasia and Argy himself, culminating in the rather beautiful DJ Sprinkles remix of June’s ?Lost Area’, before a ?one last tune’ effort from the original 90s house of Harmony Funk.

Oliva’s mix starts lightly with the deeper sounds of Shlomi Aber and quickly locks into a groove with some of the finest house music on the block from artists like Nick Curly, Dan Ghenecia, Todd Terry (under his House Of Gypsies guise) and Loco Dice. The pace doesn’t drop for one minute, showcasing Oliva’s always on point style, and dedication to a good groove. The mix builds to a crescendo of Oliva’s own remix of Lucianos “Rise Of Angel” and into one of electronic music’s most classic contemporary pieces, the classic “Knights Of The Jaguar” by DJ Rolando.