Renaissance Ibiza/Deep Dish

A feeling of suspense lingers throughout Deep Dish's DJ-mixing, as one never truly knows which direction the Maryland duo will take their set with the successive track. The movements from house to trance to Underworld and even to the infamous Culture Club remix on Deep Dish's excellent Yoshiesque album are a perfect example of these sweeping shifts in not only sound, but more importantly, mood. Particularly at a point in time -- late 2000 -- when a plethora of Gatecrasher, Ministry of Sound, and Tranceport-style mix CDs assaulted listeners with a barrage of hands-in-the-air anthems in their attempt to give the consumer bang for their buck, albums such as Deep Dish's Renaissance Ibiza are refreshing and welcome. On this particular mix album, Deep Dish flirts with the uplifting synths of trance, but thankfully remains grounded, for the most part sticking with killer rhythms rather than sublime melodies, until the concluding moment of tranquil bliss when they drop BT's "Dreaming (Evolution Mix)" and MRE's "The Deep Edge." They begin the album with some mid-tempo deep house tracks and eventually move into the pumping progressive house, characterized by pounding bass beats and driving rhythms. Of course, there are tracks such as their own remix of Sven Vath's "Barbarella" and the sensual synth washes of "The Flying Song (Markus Schulz Vocal Mix" when the music drifts into unclassifiable territory -- these moments are simply too ethereal for house, yet too secular for trance -- it's a fine line they balance better than most anyone. So while their first disc flirts with intensity, instead delivering an ever-fluctuating state of mood, their second set begins with a bang (three of the first four are Timo Maas productions), never letting up its tempo as they navigate through some questionable territory -- Moby's "Porcelain (Futureshock Mix)" and Green Velvet's "Flash (Danny Tenaglia's Nitrous Oxide Mix)," two arguably played out yet undeniably great songs -- before their glossy trance finale. Along the way, there are many twists and turns as the duo continually change direction and style, yet this is exactly why they are so appealing: few DJs -- with the exception of Danny Tenaglia and a few others -- are this willing to take risks on different styles of music and the handful of familiar tracks that always find their way into Deep Dish's sets. ~ Jason Birchmeier