kerri chandler: watergate 15

Next in line to mix it up for the illustrious Watergate CD series is New Jersey house innovator and widely-loved scene figurehead Kerri Chandler. With the club now in its 11th year, and with this series hitting installment number 15, and in light of Kerri's long-running relationship with Watergate, it is the perfect coming together of two clubbing tour de forces. Across the course of 18 tracks, the MadHouse and MadTech boss, tireless DJ and ever-evolving house producer lays out his vision of house music as it sounds in 2013, calling on tracks old and new from a wide array of labels as well as some exclusives, including two brand-new productions from Chandler himself. Also worth noting is the fact that the compilation was recorded live, so it transmits a certain raw energy you don't get with many mixes, and is so expertly done, it takes you right to middle of the dancefloor and below the club's famous lights without actually having to leave your own home. The mix kicks off with the excitable diva house of Detroit Swindle before touching on the bass line-heavy workout of Headless Ghost. Mixed as expertly as you would expect of someone who has been doing so for more than 20 years, the journey goes on to take in MadTech act No Artificial Colours before Kerri's own "Think of Something" track made exclusively for this mix proves him to be as pioneering as ever with its fulsome house bounce and warm musical tropes. Dipping into techier stuff from Bass Culture boss D'Julz, Oslo's returning talent Johnny D and the charismatic organic stylings of Real Cool's "U Know U Know," all shades of the house spectrum are catered to here in typically cohesive style. Also included along the way is another Kerri exclusive "Mama," this time made in collaboration with Ibadan Records boss Jerome Sydenham. That track is one of many jewels in this mix's crown and serves as yet another reminder that despite having first started producing and remixing for Atlantic Records in the late '80s for acts like Kool & The Gang, Kerri Chandler is as relevant and refreshing as any. Large swathes of the electronic world might have been aping Chandler's unique house blueprint in the last 12 months, but the man himself has continued to move forward, as this timeless Watergate 15 mix proves in spades. Also features Huxley, Chris Lattner, Alex Mills, Alix Alvarez, Nathan Barato, Clé, Italoboyz vs. Blind Minded, Nu (feat. Jo Ke), Renato Figoli, Subb-an, Jamie Jones, The Martinez Brothers (feat. Phil Weeks), Nick Fanciulli, Losoul, Tom Demac, DJ W!ld, and Shonky