Artist: Shiloh
Title: Cafe Del Mariachi
Label: Hope Recordings
By: Darren Rhys | 17 April 2007
Tracklist:

• A: Original Mix
• B: Nick Warren Mix

Shiloh "Cafe Del Mariachi"

Brothers Colin and Justin Moreh will be better known to you as slick Canadian production outfit Shiloh. Having gained a foothold in the progressive scene thanks to acclaimed releases on labels such as Electrofly, Baroque and Hope, the quality of their output spanning several years has remained remarkably consistent. 'Cafe Del Mariachi' is a tough progressive cut, complete with a remix from a true legend of the scene, Nick Warren.

The track kicks off with crisp, punchy beats and a low slung, driving bassline. A series of synths add body to the mid-range, with pads building to the fore to bring warmth and atmosphere to the piece. The synths veer off into a more experimental direction during the middle part of the track, which is a welcome change of direction from the progressive opening. Continuing to build to a huge crescendo, a trancey breakdown features an arpeggio line carrying things forward cautiously, until the lively pads add terrific prominence to the track before the key elements explode once again for a slamming finale. Another solid original from Shiloh, not their best work, but certainly highly usable and versatile for club use.

The Nick Warren Mix kicks off in a deeper fashion, with some sci-fi atmospherics flickering throughout the soundscape while solid percussion lays the foundation below. A monstrous arpeggio bassline utilizing some of the same keys as the original teases its way into the foreground, before things are stripped back to basics. The deep, rolling bassline filters up to dominate both low and mid frequency ranges, before things crash back to the floor and the percussion is subtly enhanced. There are occasional lashings of the melodic synths utilised on Shiloh's original throughout, but essentially things are kept deep and driving throughout. The latter part of the track is where we are treated to a variation in the bassline, creating a more musical finale to what is an absolutely awesome piece of house music.

As a fan of Hope Records, I expected little else than an excellent release here, but was genuinely blown away by the quality of Nick Warren's Mix in particular. The reworking takes the best parts of the original and screws every last drop of quality from them.