When one of electronic music’s most respected staples, Renaissance, and Brazilian DJ and producer Gui Boratto teamed up for the first time, the result can surely be compared to a spacey sound journey through an atmospheric rainforest. Boratto gets in the mix with this groovy third release for the Renaissance name, following the likes of M.A.N.D.Y, Dave Seaman and James Zabiella. For the mix, Boratto picked tracks by some of his favorite artists and producers of the moment—Tricky, Josh Wink, Martin Buttrich, Lusine, Christian Smith, Mathew Jonson, and Bomb the Base, to name a few—as well as his own material, including four never heard before productions. While one might get locked in from song two, which is a John Tejada remix of Boratto’s 2009 “Take My Breath Away,” almost every song is a trip of its own, including Tricky’s “Past Mistake” making for a surprisingly eerie, yet beautiful ending.

This is not really a mix to listen to on the go, rather slower and more gratifying given the proper time of day, it blends and bends styles ranging from minimal to tech house to tribal to simply beautifully crafted vocal tracks, all along being a very, well, Renaissance album. If the compilation was to represent any given club night it would be the one where you didn’t really want to stay out till 4:30 am but did anyway because the music was too good to leave. Or the provisions for the night had kicked in too hard.

This is not a compilation of bangers; rather subtle, dark, and smooth, the mix flows in a signature Gui Boratto style—intricate and deep.

-Words by Klementina Mellin

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