****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I love DJ mixes. Having been on the rave scene in its coming out stage during the early to mid 90s on the West Coast, I've experienced the DJs live (when I first experienced traveling DJs as more than wedding DJs). There's nothing like that on earth because you are in the midst of a large body of people who feed off the music and the DJ - also a person - feeds off the people. That is why live is, well, alive.That being said, I have always been looking for something a bit more subdued. You can't be pumped up all the time. A little down time and some reflection (and not a coming down thing) is so nice. Dave Seaman has moments of this on some of his mixes (I'm thinking of his Renaissance Worldwide set) and some other mellow turns in his mixes. But these are sporadic and are used to build towards a climax of some kind.A big fan of Danny Tenaglia, I stumbled upon his Back to Mine CD some time ago and found it a pleasant change, good for some chill time. But it's still bordering uptempo. Morcheeba's is really good but a bit more funky than mellow.So a some more research into the Back to the Mine series turns up Nick Warren's CD. I have his GU stuff but haven't spent enough time with them to review them well. So there is this CD.I've had it for a time and just had an hour or two to myself the other night and was able to pop it in and let it play. At first, it was background music, nice background music at that.But as time moved on, I dropped everything and entered the chill zone, bordering on Zen. This is an incredible mix, by far the best downtempo/chill CD I've encountered. I have been playing it over and over again and it never ceases to mellow me right out.As noted on other reviews, 'This Love' is one of the most beautiful tracks I've encountered on any DJ set. Instant chill. Even Moby's 'Go' works here, diluted enough that it doesn't have that pop feel to it. There are moments where it seems as if it seems the downtempo may give rise to the obligatory crescendo towards a climax, but Mr. Warren brings it back down. It's under control.If you are looking for a break from the pulsating, driving music of most DJ mix sets and something other than music for the coming down phase, this is one you can pop in any time at all and feel right at home where you are.
