Artist: Chris Gainer
Title: Directional
Label: Urban Syndication
By: Simon Jones | 3 July 2002
Tracklist:

1. Fever - Distorted Horizon
2. Chonga - Quantum Gospel (Sleepfreaks Mix)
3. Seconds Out - Vanishing Point
4. Pappa & Gilbey - Twisted (Darko Mix)
5. Greed - LOVE (Darko Vs Gainer Mix)
6. Sleepfreaks - Mona Lisa
7. Sleepfreaks - Chemical Shift (Killahurtz Mix)
8. Kybosh - Playing With My Mind (Sleepfreaks Mix)
9. Substructure - Electronik
10. Darko - Search

Chris Gainer "Directional"

Urban Syndication is the company that overlooks the operations of the imprints Sumsonic and Mechanism, home to the artists Sleepfreaks, Darko and Seconds Out to name but a few. The main people behind this label are Mark O Brien, Chris Gainer and Paul Rogers who between them also produce under the aforementioned guises and many more, and they have put together a showcase of some of the best material from their label, as well as some of the best work they have done for others, plus slipped in the odd unreleased gem on this mix called 'Directional' which has been mixed by Chris Gainer, so let's take a look at what's on offer here.

Fusing deep and sublime tech house, nu skool breaks, and even delving into downtempo areas, the duo have crafted some outstanding material and the mix is started off with the sweeping effects of Fever - Horizon, which builds the mood gradually, easing us in for what is to come, subtle percussion being masterfully laid over a deep, sublime house groove that is continued with the Sleepfreaks Mix of Chonga's Quantum Gospel, deeper beats emerging from the mix, before the mix diversifies off into a deeper direction, courtesy of Seconds Out’s excellent Vanishing Point.

Picking right up, Darko's subtle mellow rework of Pappa and Gilbey's Twisted flows into the massive Darko vs Gainer mix of Greed’s Love (featuring Lesley) with precision execution before an unreleased gem from Sleepfreaks in the shape of Mona Lisa is slowly edged into the mix. twisted percussion fusing with tight bass patterns seamlessly as the Killahurtz mix of Chemical Shift takes over and takes the pace down a few notches only to lift it back up again, via a laid back chord arrangement that simmers slowly before the main arrangement of the track hammers back in. A very tasty moment of this mix indeed.

As the pace drives forward once more, the fast paced tech grooves of Playing With Your Mind by Kybosh, remixed by the Sleepfreaks enters the fray, synths firing off the rapid percussion like a marksman hitting centre target every time, before Substructure's Electronik takes things to a darker, eerie place, letting Darko return once more with the laid back synths of Search which brings the mix to an end in fine fashion.

So there you have it. A showcase of the many 'directions' both this outstanding set of labels and artists have gone in over the past few months. In a way it’s the story so far, but the story is far from over yet and they have an excellent range of material lined up for the forthcoming months. Watch out for it.