But when Laidback Luke is behind the decks, you just know it's going to be different from those standard CD's. Being the Luke fanatic as I am, I bought it without checking the track list or listening to a preview. I didn't listened for it untill I got onto the plane to my holiday. There's no better way to get focused on the music you're listening than to be 10.000 km high!
What Do You Get?
The fine artwork is the first thing that you will notice. If you are familiar with the Mixmash covers made by french artist KOA, you're sure gonna love this! Hundreds of little doodles in the style of KOA forming the official Cream logo. Very original!
The fine artwork is the first thing that you will notice. If you are familiar with the Mixmash covers made by french artist KOA, you're sure gonna love this! Hundreds of little doodles in the style of KOA forming the official Cream logo. Very original!
Like most cream Ibiza CD's, the CD has a nice cardboard-like interior. The CD is unfoldable as you can see above. Inside are the two CD's, and a small booklet talking about some cream Ibiza event dates and the necessary legal copyrights. Also in the booklet is a small thank you note from The Dutchman himself! Not many dj's take the time for that, especially on a mix compilation CD. Great show of character!
The CD with it's KOA artwork and Super You&Me logo, is supposed to be a representation of the Luke his own brand of Events. The mission of this CD is to give you an idea of how he is live. If you listen to his radio mixes on Radio FG every week, or simply see him a lot. You know what his sound is like. Let's see if he manages to put an entire concept of international events into 2 hours!
CD 1: The Experience
The first cd of the compilation inmediately starts of loud with Together by Swanky Tunes, but thanks to the smooth progressive melody it remains pleasant to hear. I've often promptly put this CD on because of the easy and immediate start of the mix. Couldn't have started off better!
Swanky Tunes feat. Mr. V.I. - Together (Original Mix) by MixmashRecords
Swanky Tunes together video
Before continuing my review, you unexperienced Luke listeners need to know that he oftend tends to use his "inyourface" mix style. That means he promptly mixes in tracks using various hard mixing techniques. Don't expect long synchronizing transitions. It's often just there, which is a good thing live, but when listening to your iPod, it could be a bit akward.
That's what happened at the first transition. Boom, Nicky Romero's Flash kicks in promptly without a warning. The mix missed the flow to allow these kind of prompt transitions, because it just started of. Luckily, the next one is a lot better. Keeping the melodic flow of the mix, Flash quickly mixes into a series of his own label's biggest progressive releases: Push Push, Step By Step and my personal favourite of this cd, Timebomb.
The cd promised a lot of personal edits and mashups on the CD, and the first has already revealed itself. Using the vocals from his remix for Holiday on Heaven, Luke creates the first of many pleasant exclusive edits on this cd. There is one more mashup with the Diplo rework of Get up that I would like to highlight. Luke has done the impossible here in my opinion: Combining a pop song with one of the loudest house tracks of the past couple of years. Bravo on that, one of the best mashes I've ever heard! Three mash ups sound a little scarce on a 25 track cd, but the whole mix is one big edit. Tracks are often slightly schanged by Luke with his mix panel. The tracklist says three mash ups/edits, but in reality, there are hands full of them!
The first 4-5 tracks were a nice opening, but the true Luke mix experience will start here: Underground club tracks, purely made for having fun. The next 40 minutes will be a roller coaster of beats and basslines. Don't expect to hear a breakdown anytime soon, this is pure house! Kicked off with a big spin, you know that's the moment to get ready.
The more slowly paced shake it is quickly replaced by Tiësto's lesser known tribal banger Bleckentrommel. This is one of those incredible tracks that Luke presents to you. It really feels like he's standing next to you with a crate of tunes you've never heard before, and picks out the best for you. No matter how experienced you are, musically, you're most definately get surprised here are and there. The tracklisting on this CD is pure gold!
Boys Noize "YEAH" Preview by Boys Noize
Boyz Nouse their more melodic Yeah is a quick brake from the bassline, fun track madness, giving you some time to catch your breath and prepare for another series of phatness!
Because quickly after yeah, Luke picks up where he left with the incredible Flashin' and a remix from his good friend Hatiras mixed together with the vocals from Luke his Dirty Talk remix. A member of his forum, Mitch De Klein is than featured with his sick percussion track, Slagwerk.
The rest of the CD has the same degree of phatness to it, as the previous one. But here and there, the transitions feel way to hasty and sloppy. Some ones are just there...But although it's a tad annoying, it almost doesn't hurt the incredible phat flow of the mix. Yes, almost, because there is one track between the other great ones that simply destroys the whole tempo and flow of the the mix CD. The Gangsterdam track is simply a pointless self-destruction.
Oliver Twizt- Gangsterdam (Mixmash) by Olivertwizt
CD 1 Finally reached it's end with Sidney Samson's remix for Punk. I didn't really got that track. It's in the same pace as the rest of tracks and doesn't really has a finished feel to it. Of of the unnecessary points of this CD.
CD 1: The Verdict
Apart from the few sloppy mix moments and a strange ending, CD 1 did really well as an opener. I love to put this CD on, when I have nothing to listen to. The opening is so temptative. You're being sucked into a party, figuratively speaking. The sweet easy melodies drive you in, but once the doors shut after the Holiday track, the real tribal, electro phatness begins. The cd is full with energy and the mixing fun is just dripping off! Although most tracks are have not more than 1 minute of playtime, Luke has still picked out the essence of the track. Thanks to the one minute playtime, Luke was able to put a stunning total of 25 tracks on this CD. Now that's worth your money! Together with the three excellent mash-ups, the CD forms an example for other dj's, how they should effectively pick their tracks. You can clearly hear that Luke had a great time doing this CD, Something that you rarely find nowadays on a mix CD. But sometimes that fun get's in the way of a pleasant listening experience. Some transitions are, like I said earlier, too sloppy and too fast. Especially the one from Timebomb too Holiday makes no sense at all. Luckily the overall track listing and flow of this CD more than compensates those minor irritations.
The Score
Track Selection: Overall superb, but a few tracks disrupt the flow and especially the final track is really weird.
Track Mixing: The overall feeling to the CD is excellent, but the mixing is a little bit sloppy here and there. Could have been better, considering Luke is one of the best mixers out there:
CD 2: The Experience
The second CD kicks off with the first exclusive single from the mix: Laidback Luke's forthcoming collab with Wynter Gordon. During the track, Luke let's his next track already roll in with some vocal loops here and there. But out of nowhere, the second tracks begins. It felt like the second track should have been the opener, and Speak Up just was there for the exclusive opening. Luckily, the rest of the mix quickly takes a better direction.
Jay Robinson - Optimal Grime (Original Mix) [Optimal Grime EP] by MixmashRecords
Yes, the next minutes of the CD are filled with dubstep, one of the many genres Luke has been playing with. The second exclusive is Jay Robinson's> Optimal Grime, a forthcoming dubstep release on Mixmash Records (the first dubstep release ever!). During the second drop of the autobots track, Luke gently let's one of my dubstep favourites slide in: Nero. A brief breakdown is than prompty disturbed by one of the best transitions of the mix. Luke edited the Nero track live on his mixer for it to syncronize with his own track, My God. Since dubstep and house have an entirely different rhythm, it shows again how good Luke can mix.
After a less success mash up of No Access and Silence, the CD continues with Ferry Corsten's take on Luke's own track, Till Tonight. From here on, the transitions are simply superb. Better than on the CD 1. Next there is yet another exclusive (!!!): Luke's remix for Alice Deejay. What follows next it pretty surprising. Luke brings back a very old 2007 track of him, called Molotov, back to live with a vocal mash up. It shows again that Luke has no rules concerning his Track selection. A very nice suprise indeed! After the addicting Bang Bang, Luke uses yet another mash up! Often used in his sets and dj mixes, Rave N Roll vs. Rhythm Of The Night is a very familiar face.
The CD continues with some typical Luke bangers, like his own edit of Raven and Hatiras his remix of Spaced Out. Another Laidback Luke-set classic is Canblasters remix for Drop The Lime, adding some comic relief to the big phat basslines. Although I must say, this CD is again, full of mixing pleasure. Yes, another exclusive track! Chocolate Puma and Firebeatz their Dutch monster collab called Bang (Hardcore Mix. After some more tracks, you can feel the end of the CD is near.
Where the first CD lacked a proper ending, this CD does that more than enough. A classic, A brutal classic. Would have never expected this to be the last track. But I'm glad he did. Chemical Brother's Do It Again, with it's rhythm and vocals, musically invite you to, yes, play the CD again. It's not really an end to a mix CD, but more of an invitation to play it again, and again, and again...Great final track.
CD 2: The Verdict
This CD continued where CD 1 ended. Again, this mix is full of innovative tracklisting and risky transitions. But where CD 1 had some trouble with the sudden tempo killing tracks, this CD goes way more smoothly. Luke wanted to give a representative of his live sets and partys, and he succeeded again on this on. However, this CD feels a little less concerning the tracklisting, although the sudden dubstep and sudden use of classics still keep it on an high level. Tracks will feel a little more obvious here, but are still pleasant to listen to. The Score
Track Listing: Like I said, it felt a little more obvious. But the hands full of edits and mashups on this CD, and the three excellent exclusive tracks make more than up for it.
Track Mixing: Better than the first CD. But the absence of a flow in the tracks is a little bit unfortunate, making this mix have a little less character. But some transitions are so otherworldly, you just got to hear them!
Cream Ibiza Super You & Me mixed by Laidback Luke: The Final Verdict
In the beginning if it was possible to put such a broad concept into two hours. Luke uses tons of different underground tracks for his Livesets, and apart from his own productions, they are never the same. But the fact that he has put 48 tracks into 120 minutes of music, already shows he did his best! He does what most compilation dj's fail to do: Give a quick tour through a musical event or concept, without losing the listening flow. And apart from a few exceptions, Luke delivers two incredible mixes that represent his current livesets and his You&Me concept perfectly. This CD is an example for other DJ's out there, on how to mix your tracks and how to pick them. Although he's a big name in the industry, Laidback Luke still finds the time to find clever unknown tracks. He has no boundaries concerning his mixes. It was a risky move, since the Cream CD's are usually mixed very casually, but it shows character that Luke keeps his own style and ideas about mixing a CD. I've heard a lot of compilation CD's over the years and I can easily say that this is the best one till date. Combining risky tracklisting and mix moves correctly, Laidback Luke shows that he is currently the best DJ in the industry. Together with the overwhelming amount of mash-ups and edits, and plenty of exclusive unreleased tracks, this CD will more than compensate the fact that it's just a compilation album. A powerful display of the entertainment potential that a turntable can deliver.
You can purchase the CD, digitally here:
http://www.amazon.com/Cream-Ibiza-Laidback-Luke/dp/B0051T47JA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308757142&sr=8-1 (US)
http://hmv.com/hmvweb/simpleMultiSearch.do?searchUID=&pGroupID=0&adultFlag=false&simpleSearchString=cream+ibiza+laidback+luke&primaryID=0&btnSubmitSearch.x=0&btnSubmitSearch.y=0 (UK)
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/cream-ibiza-laidback-luke/id441251107 (iTunes)
