Laurent Garnier - Mixmag Live! Volume 19

It's simply incredible what Laurent Garnier can do with a one hour DJ set. In some cases, he is able to select tracks which, out of context, are not particularly interesting, but once woven expertly into the framework of his mix, they become something entirely different, moulding into shape with the other tracks to make a single piece of music that progresses and is ultimately coherent.
Garnier’s imaginative and coherent gift of selection is at play here, in what is one of his best recorded mixes. Starting off cool with a jazzy St Germain track, Garnier seamlessly blends such classics as the Chicago acid of Kaay Alexi Shelby’s ‘My Medusa’ and Davina’s ‘Don’t you want it’ of the Underground Resistance imprint. However, it doesn’t take long for the mix to become almost ruthlessly hard, as it transforms into a raging acid-techno beast, characterising Garnier’s mid 90’s DJ style. The peak comes at about 40 minutes in, when Sven Vath’s ‘Ballet Fusion’ suddenly collides with the alien sound of Kenny Larkin’s ‘Catatonic: First State’. Otherworldly strings float atop Larkin’s extraterrestrial rhythms and skull-crunching bass. Garnier’s journey continues, deeper, bringing us down with the mystical sounds of Drexciya’s ‘Journey home’.