‘Balance 024’ comes as the next chapter in Danny Howell’s compilations that have proven the calling card of his career. His numerous Global Underground volumes, Renaissance mixes and more besides have found a fond place in many a clubber’s home-listening collection, earning him a reputation as a musical storytellers in the electronic world.
‘Balance 024’ is Danny’s first freeform mix compilation proper since 2008, aside from a Dig Deeper label compendium.
Danny Howells: “It wasn't an intentional hiatus. I was focusing on my label for a while. I do like having a nice gap between albums though as it allows me to really stockpile the tracks I love so much. It's nice when you come to compile and you've got your favourite tunes from the last few years to pick from.
“I had a brief discussion with Balance a few years back so knew (hoped!) that a release was possibly still on the cards, so since then I was always semi-consciously thinking about the tracks I was buying and playing that I thought would be suited to an album. I'm talking about tracks that don't really age, and that mainly have some kind of soulful edge... gorgeous subtle melodies and so on. When the album idea was confirmed earlier this year it just boiled down to me filtering all those tracks I'd hoarded, making sure I focused on the ones that still did something to me, even after God knows how many listens.”
Putting together this mix was not simply a case of sitting in a dark room sifting through a load of tracks. His travels and experiences of recent years are all filtered into it, with manifold inspirations distilled therein. “Glastonbury had a huge impact on me this year and I used some of my time there to work on ideas for this mix,” says Danny. “I filled an old iPod with as many of my "shortlist" tracks as I could find and listened to them whenever I was in my camper van. I decided I really wanted to use The Mole’s tracks and the Will Saul remix one morning when the sun was rising and we'd all had a bit of a "moment" up on the hill.”
It’s out now.
© justaweemusicblog.com
Write a comment