Mix of the Week 10/4: Watergate 26 – WhoMadeWho
As the official label for one of Berlin’s most highly regarded electronic music institutions, Watergate Records have produced nothing but quality. In the past, the highly coveted Watergate mix series has featured artists such as Ellen Allien, Kerri Chandler and Solomun. Now it is time for the Danish three-piece, WhoMadeWho, to step up to the plate and mix their unique blend of genres with Watergate’s underground sensibility. Debuting the mix at the Watergate Club alongside dOP, Artbat and Jimi Jules, WhoMadeWho have delivered a wild 87-minutes filled with brand new and exclusive tracks.
Over the past decade, WhoMadeWho have experimented with all genres from rave to rock, applying elements of pop, indie, techno, disco, punk and funk to their unique flavour of club music. Without missing a beat, they seamlessly move through this array of contrasting musical tones and sounds, all while grounding the mix in an atmospheric and at times cinematic timbre. Some tracks blur the lines of genres, such as an original remix of Concret and Tyu's ‘BlueBlackYellowGreen’ and a remix from Artbat of WhoMadeWho’s ‘Montserrat’. Other tracks introduce tense and suspense shades of psychedelia, such as Tim Engelhardt's ‘Under Armour’ and the standout track Artbat's ‘Closer’, which have the effect of creating intense drama in the mix. This dramatic flair permeates throughout the mix and as a result, WhoMadeWho crafts a kind of musical narrative across the 87-minutes. This culminates in an emotive crescendo towards the end, with tracks like Otto B's ‘Willy’ and their collaborative cover with Björk’s Ruede Hagelstein, ‘Violently Happy’ building to this height before Speaking Minds & Amarcord's ‘Blue Days’ psychologically drains the listener for a finale.
This stellar 87-minute mix not only highlights the talent of the genre blending WhoMadeWho but also maintains the high standard and established reputation of the Watergate label.
