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Founder and host of the famed indie mash-up club, Trash, and equally renowned for his pulsating techno sets a la Bugged Out, it would be an understatement to say Erol Alkan has achieved somewhat of a legendary status for his DJing dexterity. With a chaotic and genre-bending style, not much escapes the man’s hyper-eclectic and frankly mind-boggling sets – sets that are perhaps only outdone by 2 Many DJs for their startling diversity. What a massive surprise then, that ‘A Bugged Out Mix’ is his debut release at the helm.
Divided into two very distinct CDs, with ‘Bugged-Out’ ostensibly reflecting the world of Erol’s club set, and ‘Bugged-In’ the ‘after-hours’ mix, there’s plenty of scope here for Erol to exhibit his taste and skills. However, it’s only in the wonderfully unorthodox and otherworldly second mix, that Erol excels and manages to achieve something distanced from the humdrum of most mix CDs. For while ‘Bugged Out’ is often pounding and is a nice snippet into some of the techy and electro tunes dominating clubland at the moment, for a man who seemingly prides himself on electrifying diversity, the track selection is perhaps too obvious.
Despite including Soulwax’s own thumping mix of ‘E Talking’, the opening of ‘Bugged-Out’ only ever threatens to take off. The funky, acidy ‘Time-Out’ from DJ-T and the criminally overplayed ‘Geht’s Noch’ by Roman Flugel typify the meandering, hardly foot-stomping tone that pervades throughout the start of the album. Thankfully, a bit of substance is introduced with the thoroughly brilliant ‘Vladivostok’ by Tekel and Spirit Catcher’s genuinely freaky ‘Voodoo Knights’. Better still, Sebastian’s ‘Dolami’ is the sound of being slouched in the corner of a club, sweating profusely, realising you’ve taken far too much. But really these are only glimpses of brilliance in what is essentially a formulaic mix.
Redemption is to be found, however, in ‘Bugged In’. Some of you may shudder at the thought of an ‘after-hours’ mix, but what Erol serves up couldn’t really be further away from the Balearic, highly commercial CDs that adorn the shelves of WHSmiths. Majestic, dreamy and downright eerie, the thoughtful choice of tunes take you on a blissed out journey that is, hey, way out there. Magnet’s 'Willow Song’ from the cult film The Wicker Man and prog rockers Rare Bird’s beautiful ‘Passing Through’ effortlessly sit beside a Gonzales piano movement and the stunning Ulrich Schnauss mix of Justin Robertson’s ‘Love Movement’. And ImpLOG’s robotic ‘Holland Tunnel Drive’ complete with vacuum noises, is the kind of head-fuck tune that we’ve come to expect from Erol. And hey, Spacemen 3’s epic ‘Big City’ is a fitting way to end any mix, not just this one.
