- The Panorama Bar resident curates the series' latest instalment.
- In the age of the digital single and streaming, the DJ mix has held its own among other longplayer formats for consuming music. Five years ago, RA's Andrew Ryce traced how the proliferation of online mixes killed sales of DJ mix CDs by offering a free, unlicensed and therefore more diverse alternative from a plethora of outlets. Since then, the online market has consolidated, with a smaller number of big name podcast series dominating the field.
Meanwhile, those in the physical goods space are exploring ways to adapt the format to the music industry's post-internet overhaul. Mumdance folded several online and IRL formats into last year's Shared Meanings, which included a free downloadable mix, a vinyl sampler and the unmixed tracks as a digital compilation. Others have tried unusual tactics to promote their collections—fabric ended its mix CD series and launched a digital one. Beats In Space recently announced the launch of its own official DJ mix series with supplementary physical products. Ostgut Ton's two mix series, Berghain and Panorama Bar, were moved online in 2014.
The latest instalment of Ostgut Ton's Panorama Bar series, mixed by its former booker and longtime resident nd_baumecker, or Andy Baumecker, is the second to appear exclusively online. A few skeuomorphic anachronisms persist—why is the artwork designed like a jewel case insert? But more importantly, the label's decision to migrate the series to the web acknowledged that the distinction between official, licensed CD mixes and informal online ones was increasingly arbitrary, and the club's move attempts a solution to the challenge of licensing music for a free DJ mix. It hasn't always been easy—Ostgut Ton's own licensing policy, adapted to free-download mixes, ended up delaying Panorama Bar 07's release.
The label's mix series has the added benefit of enabling Berghain and Panorama Bar to adopt newer artists, sustain the venue's sonic identity and control how and where it's presented. Baumecker's contribution delivers solidly on all counts. His two-hour set is comprised mostly of recent releases, which is probably due as much to licensing restrictions as it is to Baumecker's enduring passion for new dance music. He balances fresh material from veteran acts like Patrick Pulsinger and Irl with tracks from up-and-comers like Hungarian house head Route 8 and the Canadian artist D. Tiffany. Her percussive little floater "Something About You" provides a nice landing pad for the epicness of the preceding track, "High Energy," by Ross From Friends.
That track, appearing about two-thirds of the way in, is the mix's last peak before it settles towards a conclusion. The first climax happens about 40 minutes in with the FaltyDL earworm "Paradox Garage Part 1 (With Your Love)." That those two tracks are the mix's most banging speaks more to Baumecker's subtle sense of dynamics and keen manipulation of energy than to the tracks themselves. Panorama Bar 07 simmers rather than boils. Across its two hours, Baumecker maintains a mid-tempo momentum, displaying a preference for melody and texture throughout. It's a testament to his mastery of flow and mood.
Tracklist1. Mystical Institute - Sea Believer
2. Keith Worthy - Guilty Pleasures ($ Of N.C. Mix)
3. Greenspan and Taraval - Follow The Moonlight
4. Duplex - Isolator
5. Cabaret Voltaire - Easy Life (Jive Turkey Mix)
6. Dolo Percussion - Dolo 9
7. Anthony Naples - The Vision (Mix NY)
8. QY - American
9. Jinjé - Big Skies
10. Saint Etienne - Stoned To Say The Least (Beta)
11. Barker & Baumecker - Nie Wieder
12. FaltyDL - Paradox Garage Part 1 (With Your Love)
13. Röyksopp - Sombre Detune
14. Œil Cube - Lost Flute
15. Ajukaja - Stranger
16. Pulsinger & Irl - State 606
17. Duke Slammer - Coastal Decay (Pan Solo Remix)
18. Route 8 - From The Valley
19. Dave Aju - Wayahed
20. Chaos In The CBD - Educate The Heart
21. Ross From Friends - High Energy
22. D. Tiffany - Something About You
23. Zombie Zombie - Hyperespace (I:Cube Vampire Tango 87 Remix)
24. Peverelist - Under Clearing Skies
25. Barker & Baumecker - Strung
26. School Of Seven Bells - Low Times (Lafaye's Brain Mix)
27. Gen Ludd - Bloods Avalanche
28. Pépe - Motorforce
29. E Myers - Hate