Balance 016

DJ: Agoria.
Audio Mixer: Agoria.
Recording information: Bluesound (2008).
Photographer: Denis Rouvre.
Agoria's contribution to the Balance mix series is definitely one aimed seemingly at contemplation more than groove-shaking, based on a cursory overview of the artists featured. (Perhaps not for nothing is the cover art a portrayal of someone whose head appears swathed in gauze.) But a strict ambient or Balearic disco mix this is not. If anything, it's one of the broadest samplings around covering what that term can mean, from the introductory serene swell of Gregg Kowalsky's "Ashes from Evermore" to Bibio's funk reworking "Jealous of Roses" to LCD Soundsystem's "45'33"," as showcased via a selection of the Trus'me remix. Agoria's ear for bringing in earlier pioneers such as Aphrodite's Child is laudable but the emphasis primarily remains on newer artists, and as a sampler alone this would be valuable. Yet Agoria's ability to elegantly, effortlessly mix song for song is key, and hearing the way he builds the mix track for track from pure calm to understated microhouse/glitch to celebratory grooves is its own reward. By the time beats are first quietly introduced on Manvoy de Saint Sadrill's "Soecheniona" he's already set the stage superbly, and when his own "Altre Voci" fully brings the mix up to its first moment of full exultance and release, he's earned the moment. The breakdown of the track listing itself is less relevant than the overall flow of the selections; this is a mix to digest as a piece, not as a formal list. Thus Emiliana Torrini's voice first ghosts in on Tosca's "Joe Si Ha" almost two minutes before "her" track begins, so well that it might as well be a full collaboration. ~ Ned Raggett