Olgamikks

This DJ mix album was conceived as a tribute to the Nachdigital festival that takes place annually in Saxonia, Germany. Put together by DJ Robag Wruhme (a fixture at that festival, which is now in its 15th year), it is made of up sound files drawn from Wruhme's various remix projects over the past several years; the tracks were then re-remixed and blended end to end in a seamless mix that veers gently from bouncy techno to dub house to glitchy electro-funk. There are tracks from relatively well-known artists like Dntel, Modeselektor, and Claude VonStroke, as well as from more obscure artists like Audision and Extrawelt. The guest artists are particularly interesting -- Modeselektor's "The White Flash" features Radiohead's Thom Yorke, and on "The Greasy" Claude VonStroke is joined by the always wonderful Bootsy Collins, though sadly he contributes no vocals. If you think this sounds like an album as joyful as it is weird, then you've caught the spirit just right: there are moments of strange foreboding (check the downright creepy vocal samples on Romboy & Bodzin's "The Alchemist") alongside long stretches of pure, understated joy (that Modeselektor track), and sometimes those elements are woven through each other. It all adds up to an unusually engaging and emotionally involving mix program. ~ Rick Anderson