Überzone

Following the lead of Richie Hawtin and others within the techno community, West Coast breaks producer Überzone, aka Q, forgoes a standard turntable mix in favor of an entirely digital mix. His aim, as detailed in his liner notes, is to "take full advantage of all the new digital technology to embellish and accentuate the mix points of the tracks," and he certainly does so here, tweaking several of his own productions, most notably "The Freaks," and seamlessly incorporating the work of other similarly minded breaks producers like Koma & Bones. To the untrained ear, The Digital Mix sounds like a standard DJ mix despite the "multi-platform" billing, and even the most tech-savvy listeners probably won't notice anything too revolutionary here. After all, Pro-Tools editing had quietly been a longtime staple of DJ mix albums throughout the '90s and into the 2000s. Nevertheless, jaw-dropping mixing or not, Überzone steals the show here. He co-produces seven of the 15 tracks and mixes them intermittently throughout the album; furthermore, the remaining eight tracks he selects sound considerably reminiscent of his production style. Thus, the resulting mix sounds very much like an Überzone album, except one with thematic continuity and seamless flow. The lacking element of surprise may perhaps disappoint those hoping for something special here, yet longtime Überzone fans should find themselves quite satisfied by The Digital Mix. The music here is on a par with any of Überzone's past releases, if not an improvement because of the outside producers, and beyond that, the continuity and flow from track to track are definitely bonuses. You walk away almost wishing Überzone would retain this "digital mix" format for his subsequent releases. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide