Various Artists
Body Language Vol. 4
Get Physical
2007
A-



god knows why Get Physical tapped Dixon to guide their latest Body Language mix, but let’s give thanks that they did. Otherwise, we’d probably be sitting here debating which of the many interchangeable minimal mixes to anoint as crossover fodder for the masses. Body Language Vol. 4 cuts right through the debate, complete with Thom Yorke’s “Eraser,” and settles it once and for all.

I mean, the thing starts with Timo Maas for God sakes! (A guy responsible for a record named Music For The Maases and Music For The Maases 2, if you’re wondering.) Sure, it leads to perhaps the least linear mixes of the entire thing—straight into the Chromatics’ “In the City”—but, for most, the gauntlet is thrown. Get Physical is now…something bigger than we all imagined. A label that has Moby drop by for a remix. Get Physical has never been shy about aiming for the big room, but this is ridiculous.

The Chromatics are bled straight into Owusu & Hannibal’s “What's It About.” This wouldn’t be remarkable, I suppose, if it didn’t begin the upswing of the disc’s major crest. Sounding like a Jackson 5 song dreamt up by Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas, it contains a chorus that begins with the line “Had a dream the other day / I was made out of cotton candy.” Speechless.

Crucially, for non-dance music inclined people, there are plenty of tracks here that work the vocal side of things. I have no idea what Mari Boine’s “Filer Ti Voui (Henrik Schwarz Remix)” is on about (it’s in French…I think) or Thom Yorke’s “Eraser” (joke too easy…must resist), for that matter, but the human touch is there nonetheless. For dance music headz, what seems to be the first appearance of “The Sun Can't Compare” in a mix this year comes later on—as well as a 2006 track from Henrik Schwarz/Âme/Dixon featuring Derrick Carter that talks about things like an “apocalyptic sun” and sees fit to let forth some of the most unapologetic house piano licks that you’re likely to hear in 2007.

House music is the name of the game, if you haven’t figured it out by now. Dixon has been plying his trade for many years now with the Sonar Kollektiv label, waiting patiently for the inevitable deep house revival to come to Germany. With 2007 seeing avowed minimalists like Efdemin and labels like Get Physical proclaiming their love for the sound of Chicago, the time is nigh—and Dixon takes full advantage. It’s hard to say what Body Language Vol. 4 will sound like in a few years—dance music will have undoubtedly moved on to other genres to pillage—but in 2007, this is the sound of now. Enjoy.

STYLUSMAGAZINE.COM RECOMMENDED ALBUM




Reviewed by: Nina Phillips
Reviewed on: 2007-08-09
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