S. Väth

Only one comment on der BABA!!??

Well, I experienced him for the first time in 1996 @ Skanderborg Festival in Denmark. What a turning point that became. It was a revalation which instantly made me realize that since the beginning of my journey into electronic music in 1993, I had never come across genuine quality before.

His presence...Oh the presence! No-one I have seen ever since have been able to shine behind those decks as Baba. Confidence, quality track selection and this inexplainable aura. I was sold and have since travelled thousands and thousands of miles to re-witness the sensation. That man can span a time-bow without breaking a sweat. It´s not that much in the mix (though I must point out that his 30 sec to 1 minute seamless mixes are a trademark - not lack of skills!), but in the flow of the tracks. The way he´s able to find tunes that just fit like...Well you get my point.

Nowadays I have moved on from that Sven-sound to all kinds of shit, but still I had a blast seeing him again - for the first time in 4 years - in 2007. Still bringing just a single slingback of, maybe 60 vinyls. Still the magic.

I will always love you Sven! You truly are a one-of-a-kind.

Thanks for the inspiration and for the good times

I have experienced him live for the 1st time in 1990 in a small sweaty club with a capacity of 200 people. On the heights of the movement he was riding the wave very well at Omen. His performances are certainly remembered by any who have had the joy to see him in action. Mayday 1992 certainly was a revelation. Not that his DJ skills are godlike, there certainly are better mixers around, the way he is able to steer a crowd though is remarkable. He describes himself as a dancer and that is his virtue, still.
It is astonishing that he is one of the few, who grew out of the closet into mainstream without losing his club credibility. I see him live once year on an open air festival and I have to admit that I've never had a dull moment....

It requires almost a circular reasoning to explain why we admire Sven so much. First of all the music he creates has soul, feeling, emotion- it's sly, intelligent and rythmically superior. When you listen to a Vath track you wonder if he first had those crazy sounds in his head, then spent hours tweaking samplers and production equipment to produce sounds that matched what was in his head. OR, did he just turn on the machine and, through shear brilliance, morph basic tones and samples into amazing techno?

Sven is not a DJ Pierre (scratching records), he's not Lekebusch (mixing 3 records at once), and he's not Liebing (using samplers and air effect to blow your mind with talent). But his vision into which tracks and in what order to play them is astounding. His timing is nothing shy of perfect- his mixes drop sounds and pick up new riffs mechanically, almost willfully, without the need to overuse the mixer or show off with filters and delays.

And, most importantly, Sven is the only DJ alive that can mix ANY, absolutely ANY, 2 records together as if they were meant to be played in sequence. He brings together so many different styles and flavors of smart techno and blends them together like a Long Island Iced Tea. You know Sven is the master, so when he reaches a little deeper into the crate and spins a record with a more unorthodox sound, it's almost like the record would be nothing without Sven. It's HIS genius that makes you shake your head and say, "No Way! It's not possible! This is so fresh and groundbreaking!"

Perhaps a simpler explanation is that Sven somehow sees deep into your soul, into places that YOU don't even have access to, and discovers what your heart wants to hear next. Then he pulls that exact record from the crate, melts it into the one playing, and gives a smile to the crowd that says, "this is what you were hoping for, right?"

There are many exciting DJ's to watch, and many terrific producers to listen to, but Vath is synonomous with soul. Do not pass up an opportunity to watch him play. He is simply the greatest.

Sven has dominated the techno scene for many many years now. Sven first did trance in the beginning of the 90s and later he found his passion for techno and have made techno since then and its always high quality music from Sven..
Sven has big hits like : L Esperanza,Ritual of life,Ballet fusion,Scorpios Movement and many many more hits. He is also famous for his Cocoon label and club. Everyone who has been in this scene for many years knows who he is and love him.. When he is behind the decks people know its gonna be a huge set ...

If there is a history book about the Electronic dance scene you will find Sven there...

Sven's charisma is incredible, and although he doesn't show a lot of mixing techniques, the selection of traxx he makes always roxx the house!!!
I've heard Him 3 times so far...First time He played in front of 7000 people in Bulgaria, where i come from, in year 2000. He stayed behind the decks for 8 hours and everybody were absolutely crazy all of these 8 hours...
in 2003 He visited us again, and although He played "only" 4hrs this time Sven played absolutely unbelieveble tracks, there was no way to stay in one place - dance,dance,dance!!
The third chance i had to hear Him was in Florida 142, Spain while i was on vacation in Barcelona. After 2 months of listening to the new stuff that comes out, in my mind i was remembering the tracks from Sven's set in Florida 142.
Sven is GOD.

Vätish! I was on two sets, one in '94 at the legendary Cologne based Techno Club Warehouse (simply one of the roughest audiences in Europe) and years later at the Love Park placed at the Berlin Tresor backyard during Love Parade 2000...

Both sets were so stunningly hard no one could stand still. Especially for the German audience (with Kraftwerk, DAF and others in mind...) Väth is like a good friend who plays the sounds you want to hear on the floor as he always pursues to play a bit harder than others do without ever playing monotonous bollock hardcore.

My girlfriend has encountered him several times in his studio when she was 16 - she liked his sets (full of Frankfurt Trance and not that hard at these days) but never appreciated those moments as quite important as in her words he was just a normal guy drinkng champagne and taking drugs; phew, I would have sold my soul to be so close to him!

His records are mostly well-done up-to-date productions with the last two (Contact and Fire) being more dancable and more interesting due to the partners in crime Anthony Rother, Johannes Heil and especially Wuttke / Flügel who produced the tracks.

Väth has no technical excellence, he don't 'showcase' his record box like Hell or Dave Clarke do, he ain't the guy touched by the Hand of God but nobody knows to make the crowd go mad on music better than he does. At the hitlist of the "Most valuable artist in contemporary electronic dance music" he is leading the pace together with Jeff Mills and Ritchie Hawtin.

If you have a chance to see him, go there, don't miss it!

S O N O R E X

Sven is the Man!!!
His Mixing is not so perfect as the mixing from Jeff Mills but he spans a sound bow like no one else in the world he is the only one who can play more then 8 hours and the crowd still rocks on!!
Big Thanks to Mister Sven Väth for all the glorious Nights at the Omen/Frankfurt and at all the other places he ever played!!

I know Sven has his critics, but for me he remains the german Godfather of Techno. What he started in the year of 1988 in the legendary "Omen" in Frankfurt became a vibe that will ever go on. The "Omen" closed down in october 1998, but in the heart of its children, it still lives on. Sven Väth always had the right hand to pick out the "pearls" out of thousands of releases in the last years. The tunes he played during the last 14 years all became famous classics. No matter if the releases of the first "techno-wave" back in 1990, lateron trance, acid and at the end of the decade again techno. When I first had the chance to see him performing behind the decks, I was like turning crazy... He's got the charisma to make 5000 people go wild for ten hours or more, and still remains innovative in his music style (though he doesn't always show up his best mixing techniques...) Big respect!!