DJ Rolando ‎– The Aztec Mystic Mix

Honestly, I've never been wild about later UR related releases. I mostly dig the stuff from the original lineup as well as Drexciya, The Martian, and Suburban Knight. However, Rolando has made a fantastic mix here with a lot of classic tracks along with a few of the best UR had to offer in the mid/late 90s. Properly mixed and eq'd by a skilled DJ, these tracks really come to life and sound great. In fact, this disc is probably one of the best things to come out of the Detroit Techno scene period.

I have had this mix burned from Soulseek for quite a while(at first just to check it out but also since it is a somewhat difficult release to find) but had recently found an actual copy on Ebay for relatively cheap. This set is consistently stronger than the '03 release of Vibrations simply due to the bombardment of classic Underground Resistance tracks, starting with the then new Jaguar single by Rolando himself. Akin to the rough, banging techno of Jeff Mills and other Detroit brethren at times but more aligned to the sublime "listenable" forms of electronic texturists; beautiful melodies are often frustratingly buried under the waves of percussion and bass which at times are brought out to be the primary focus(ie. The Martian's Ultraviolet Images). I cannot recommend this mix enough to anyone who has not heard it, techno fan or not.