- There's a debate to be had about vinyl vs. digital DJing, but Swiss jock Deetron isn't interested in having it. Balance 20 sees him devote a single mix CD to each type, and in the process he proves that DJing doesn't have anything to do with how you're doing it. It's what you do with what you have. Few DJs would have the facility to pull this off with quite as much finesse. Deetron is helped along by years spent producing tracks (there are some neat edits and production done after the fact in Cubase and Wavelab on the first disc) as well as mixing in clubs on three turntables (at certain moments, Deetron's expert analogue version might fool you into believing it's the digital).
Most interesting, though, is how similar they both sound. That's partly because of Deetron's taste of course. Vocals appear early and often with The Unabombers' remix of Shit Robot's "Losing My Patience" and Ame's remix of Osunlade's "Envison" providing particular highlights. But it's also again a testament to skill: There is a lot of melody spread around these two discs, but it rarely feels overcooked. Promise me Todd Terje's "Bonysh" and "Ragysh," Caribou's remix of Virgo Four and Dave Aju's take on Nicolas Jaar's "Space Is Only Noise..." in the course of an hour, and I'd wonder how much space you left anything else to breathe. On the digital mix, it feels so much like a natural progression that, by the end, when he throws in ten minutes of dub and unstable synth pop, it feels like anything is possible.
The analogue mix takes up where the digital left off, starting in dub territory but quickly ramping up to a sturdier beat (aided by Deetron's own brilliant DJ tool, "Threee"). The mixes throughout are almost more thrilling than in the digital: Ripperton's "Swept Illusions" blends seamlessly key-wise into the aforementioned Ame remix of Osunlade's "Envison." Romanthony's voice cuts through the B-side on Shed's WAX 30003 like hot butter. Late in the game, Cosmin TRG adds a third layer of dizzying rotating synths to the mesmerizing Johanna Knutsson/Surgeon mix. It's already impressive to be mixing drum tracks on a third turntable, but Deetron is constantly playing stuff with complex melodies and pulling it off without a slip-up. He DJs the same way no matter what the tools at hand: Really fast and really well.
TracklistCD 1: Digital
01. Autechre - Nine
02. Reno Wurzbacher - Julischkaa / Model 500 - Infoworld (Loop)
03. Julio Bashmore - Craboon
04. Shit Robot - Losing My Patience (Unabombers remix)
05. Todd Terje - Bonysh
06. BNJM - Blocks
07. DJ Koze - The Geklöppel Continues
08. Ricardo Villalobos - What's Wrong My Friends + Wishmountain - Video
09. Move D - Your Personal Healer
10. Todd Terje - Ragysh
11. System 7 - Positive Noise (Carl Craig Remix)
12. Resonance - Yellow Train
13. Burial/Four Tet/Thom Yorke - Ego
14. Maceo Plex - You & Me
15. Lawrence - Above The Sky
16. Virgo Four - It's A Crime (Caribou Remix)
17. Mr. Beatnick - Synthetes
18. Cavalier - Kaimanawa
19. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise if You Can See (Dave Aju Remix)
20. Throbbing Gristle - Hot On The Heels Of Love (Ratcliffe Remix)
21. Avus - Reality Itself
22. LV and Message To Bears Feat. Zaki Ibrahim - Explode
23. Model 500 - Infoworld (Loop)
24. Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto - Pioneer IOO
25. Andy Stott - Tell Me Anything
26. Savage Progress - Heart Begin to Beat
CD 2: Analogue
01. I:Cube - Un Dimanche Sans Fin
02. Substance - Relish (Shed Version)
03. Roots Panorama - Threee (Deetron Beats)
04. Ripperton - Swept Illusions - Caravan
05. Osunlade - Envision (Ame Remix)
06. Mampo Village - Descending of the Supernatural
07. Deetron - Croque
08. Super Flu - Hallo Halle
09. Sneaker - You Think You Think
10. Mathew Jonson - Learning To Fly (Dub)
11. Wbeeza - A116
12. Reggie Dokes - Haiti
13. WAX 30003 (B)
14. Romanthony - Bring U Up (Deetron edit)
15. Mike Dehnert - Umlaut 2
16. Four Tet - Pinnacles
17. Redshape - Son of A
18. Simon Garcia - Tears In Vain
19. Johanna Knutsson - Heavy Baby (Minilogue's cut for a cut)
20. Surgeon - The Crawling Frog is Torn and Smiles
21. Cosmin TRG - Fizic
22. Radio Slave - Let It Rain (Deetron edit)
23. Deetron - Starblazer
24. Lone - Coreshine Voodoo
25. Rhythm Is Rhythm - Kaos
26. Ronny & Renzo - Heartbreak Theme (C2 Cinema Remix)
27. Deetron - Collide