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CD1- The Mfa - The Difference It Makes (Original Mix)
- Meta.83 - Metalgroove Ep: Antrieb
- Jake Fairley - Oshawa
- Zeta Reticula - Tool 1
- Petter - All Together
- Baby Ford & The Ifach Collective - Bad Friday
- Zeta Reticula - Tool 3
- Avus - Real
- Dj Esp - No Future Ep: No Future (Soundburnt Mix)
- Jase From Outta Space Feat. Claire - Do What You Want (Infusion'S Sky Mix)
- Nathan Fake - Outhouse (Fluffy Mix)
- Nathan Fake - Outhouse (Original Mix)
- Fortdax - Fortune Telling Fish, Curled To Suggest 'Home'
- Pqm - You Are Sleeping (Pqm Meets Luke Chable Vocal Pass)
- Petter/Baby Ford & The Ifach Collective - These Days (Instrumental)/Beats Of Bad Friday
- Herrmann & Kleine - Leaving You Behind (Without Knowing Where To Go)
CD2- Meek - Happy
- Meerkat - Colours (Jh Re-Edit)
- Avus - Your Body (Original Mix)
- Scape One - Pfx Tokyo
- Fc Kahuna - Hayling (Kosmas Epsilon Mix)
- Holden - The Wheel (Pass 1)
- Kotai + Mo - Black Acid Pt. 1
- Epsilon 9 - Lifeformation (Infernal Machine Mix)
- Carl A. Finlow - Ghetto Server
- Gill Norris - Forme
- Ficta - Eli
- Petter - Tonediary
- Form & Function - Wonderland (Original Mix)
- Meta.83 - Metalgroove Ep: End Titles
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 The eagerly anticipated 5th installment of the ‘Balance’ series has eventually landed, bringing one of the finest selections of tunes ever. Following the EQ’s tendency to promote young, upcoming Australian talents it’s now James Holden, a UK-based acknowledged DJ and producer, who was given the chance to showcase his remarkable skills behind the decks. Those of you who have been lucky enough to see James performing live, for instance in Piekarnia this summer, probably are the last to be encouraged to take a closer look at this compilation, but – just in case – let me assure you: every buck spent on getting this one is bound to pay off handsomely and you’ll surely not regret being taken on a journey by Holden! Having put the first CD into the player you’re instantly smashed with an extraordinary, weird and trippy opener ‘The Difference It Makes’ by MFA. Pace and mood set in a more-than-appropriate manner, off we go deeper into the world of twisted sounds, ruthlessly spun by James. Three unexpectedly short, two-minute tracks change the vibe a little, heading the mix into more tech-house, hard direction, making the way for one of the highlights – ‘All Together’ by Petter. This massive, further flavoured by spooky synths and awesome build-ups tune is due to be released shortly by Border Community, a label run by – guess who? – James Holden (couldn’t have found better). Flowing smoothly from track to track you encounter Infusion’s remix of ‘Do What You Want’ by Jose From Outta Space. Whether you like Claire’s vocals or not, you’re certain to get high on that emotional, rocking piece as it really stands out of the others. If this wasn’t enough for your stoned and puzzled head you slowly approach the ultimate killer, ‘Outhouse’ by Nathan Fake (signed for Border Community too). Both mixes featured in the mix compliment each other flawlessly – Fluffy preparing you for the bang and Original actually hitting you. Pure, hedonistic dance – all we need, right? Luckily, you are given a few seconds to catch the breath before another stomper moves in. This time the track everybody knows, one of the summer top-ones, Chable’s remix of ‘You Are Sleeping’ acquires a completely new dimension with the preceding epic tune by FortDax. Nothing to be added. Coming smoothly to the end of CD no1 things are starting to calm down and you finally find some time to wind down. Petter’s ‘These Days’ (presented for the first time by John Digweed in his KissFM show) is a beautiful instrumental piece, succeeded greatly by a sort of experimental, breakbeat tune by Hermann & Kleine. Times for a swap – not only are the CD’s changed but you also get turned upside down with the style progression. Second disc is a coveted piece of plastic for all those enjoying electro influenced dance music. Similarly to CD 1 there’s no time for a gentle introduction – ‘Happy’ by Meek starts off the disc with a serious boom. Then, again, you are served with three original, although extraordinary short tunes, out of which one does deserve a few extra words. ‘Colours’ by Meerkat makes you goosebump with unimaginable strings and subtle vocal – definitely too short one, Mr. Holden! ‘Hayling’ by FC Kahuna is yet another tune that won’t pass unnoticed in the club, mainly because of its fast, driving bassline and unique atmosphere. Soon we move to the latest, although the yet to be completed Holden’s tune, ‘The Wheel’ is a somewhat dark, not to say psychedelic track that fits flawlessly into the whole CD, making you not only jump but also float away into the more acid part of your mind. Staying there doesn’t take long, though, as Epsilon’s 9 ‘Lifeformation’ takes the mix into the progressive part. Gill’s Norris ‘Forme’ adds a happy vibe to the whole, while ‘Eli’ by Ficta turns to a sort of a nostalgic part of the compilation. Petter’s breaks and Form & Function’s drowsy beats forecast the approaching final of the masterpiece, finished off with a chilling track by Meta.83. It’s all over! Once again, Holden did not let his fans down. The quality of this release is better than one could have expected, putting it on top of the ladder of this year’s compilations. Out of many outstanding aspects, the unique mixing deserves mentioning – no doubt you’ll be surprised a few times when instead off letting the track explode James perfectly blends it with another, not giving you a second to get bored. If you were to buy one compilation this year – go ahead and grab ‘Balance 005’. It’s worth it.  Comments[0]
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Review: James Holden - Balance 005
