- Cocoon Recordings have enlisted the help of two of the hottest tech house artists in Loco Dice & Ricardo Villalobos to mix their latest venture into the mix compilation arena, the Green & Blue album. Green & Blue are outdoor parties held in Germany, and with both Ricardo and Loco Dice both being resident at the parties, there was no better choice when choosing two talents to portray the sounds of the parties.
The Green Mix, by Loco Dice, begins very smoothly, with some nice intricate sounds early on with the likes of Bucci & PinkElln and Alexander East delivering two early highlights. There are some quirky percussive elements and a nice subtle stabbing bassline in ‘Las velas no Arden’ while the low-end rumbles continue in DJ Red’s ‘Rame’. Pier Bucci & Pink Elln remix ‘Teco’ by Monne Automne resulting in a smooth and quirky number the flows nicely midway into the mix. Dave Shokh & Wimpy’s remix of Revolver Jesus lifts the pace and intensity in the mix as the basslines get a little chunkier, a point proven with the sinister ‘Futurist’ by Loude. Pig And Dan add some delicious melodies to the mix with their brilliant ‘What comes around´ while Loco Dice himself adds a bit of funk in the penultimate track, ‘Jacuzzi Games’. Konrad Black & Ghostman finish the mix off with ‘Medusa Smile’, a track the concludes the mix with a twisted and pretty dirty touch thanks to its deep basslines and quirky sounds and percussion. It’s a pretty smooth mix from Loco Dice, full of some tasty baselines and some chunky tech on the whole.
Ricardo Villalobos gets stuck into the Blue mix early on with some chunky stuff thanks to Delano Smith and Kids In The Street. Kenny "Dope" Gonzales’ ‘Krafty’ is short but quite sweet and Sasse adds a bit of a retro touch with the delightful ‘Do Robots Have Soul?’ There is a fantastic eerie feel to Donnacha Castello’s ‘Bear Bounces Back’ while the minimal and quirky sounds continue with productions by John Tejeda, Lucci and Sammy Dee & Guido Schneider. Darth Vegas uses a dark and dirty approach with ‘Machinery Mix´, a production full of intense drums and dark moody basslines. The mix starts to lift a gear late on, thanks to a fantastic track by ‘Woody’ which uses some nice upbeat drums and a nice driving bassline. The energetic and somewhat creepy sounds of ‘Dr. Mottes Euphorhythm’ helps bring the mix home shortly before it mixes into the driving acid sounds of Mystic Bill’s ‘Take Me Back’. It closes off a pretty interesting mix by Ricardo, a mix that really will appeal to those who like it minimal as it really goes that way for a big chunk of the mix.
With Ricardo and Loco Dice in the mix, you should know that you are going to get some pretty high quality minimal and tech house, and they don’t disappoint. Both mixes compliment each other well, with Loco Dice’s mix probably the chunkier of the two, and Ricardo’s mix indulging in some fantastic minimal stuff at times as well as some driving material. They are both quality discs and as such it is a quality release by two in form DJ’s.