Various Artists – Dots And Pearls 6

January is the month for dreaming, or so the saying goes and there’s more than enough on 2020’s Dots and Pearls 6 to satisfy the wildest flights of fantasy, as Cocoon Recordings invites well known international artists to once again rub shoulders with some of the freshest new talents around.

First up, Eduardo de la Calle & Romina Cohn’s “I’m Losing My Mind“ does a decent job helping us lose ours. Taking the classic DBX template as a start point, Cohn‘s random, spaced out musings elevate things to another level as they filter through all manner of machinery, bathing the hypnotic percussion in a lysergic glow. Fabe’s “Call of Origin“ pulls no punches either, the energetic, bass driven intro bouncing its way centre stage before expanding into lush open spaces with occasional melodic scatters and washes of warm pads that radiate good vibes.

Over the last couple of years, Adana Twins have rightly consolidated there position at the top table, so it’s a pleasure to have them on board with “Origo“. Like snake charmers relentlessly teasing and twisting the infectious hook line in all manner of directions, they demonstrate complete control of their art, pushing all the right buttons to bring things nicely to the boil. As with all Cocoon compilations the deeper you dive, the stranger the vibe and Juan Sanchez delivers a dose of trance-inducing, minimal techno. Abiding by the same dogma as the track before, “Narcissus“ offsets a constantly morphing hypnotic hook line with raw, stripped 909 beats in a classic mid 90‘s style.

Michael Klein’s “Continuation“ maintains the intensity as Cocoon’s Techno Tardis transports the listener even further back to a sweaty early nineties warehouse. It could be London, it could be Berlin… wherever it is, it sure sounds like home. Rico Puestel then snuffs out the candle, plunging us back into darkness. With “Perpetua Mobilia“ he unleashes a deep, prowling beast of a track that reminds us that just when you think you‘ve got a handle on Cocoon, it sheds its skin again, revealing yet another mask behind the mask.

As we motor on towards morning, Radu Dracul adds some bite to proceedings with “Spectrae“, a slow burning psychedelic trip with gently percolating acid lines that smooth out the rough textures of the preceding tracks before giving way to a cavernous breakbeat inflected breakdown. And then finally, Joe Metzenmacher and Borka & The Gang close out the collection, paying homage to the melodic side of Detroit with the quirky, idiosyncratic yet ultimately beautiful “Magic Talk“. With echoes of DJ Rolando and Rhythm is Rhythm, it surrounds the dance floor in a warm embrace as keys, strings and bass combine effortlessly to produce a priceless moment of collective euphoria that sees us safely home.