GLOBAL Underground returns this week with the first edition in their famous DJ city series for three years.
The 42nd edition of the series is mixed and curated by the excellent new wave German techno DJ, Patrice Bäumel and comes from a city at the very heart of electronic music, Berlin.
The infamous dance music label, which was founded in 1996, grew hand in hand with the dance music explosion during the 1990s and 2000s with their groundbreaking CD mixes featuring DJs such as Carl Cox, Dubfire, Danny Tenaglia, Nick Warren, Solomun, Sasha, John Digweed and Layo & Bushwacka! from exotic locations around the globe such as Rio De Janeiro, Taipei, Milan, Los Angeles, New York City, Shanghai and Dubai. Dance music aficionados and the dad dancers among us will all have a favourite from the 42 albums released since the late, great Tony De Vit debuted the series with his famous Live In Tel Aviv mix back in 1996.
The man at the helm of the new edition, Amsterdam based, German DJ Patrice Bäumel holds a great affection for the German capital. He says:
‘Berlin is my second home and where my heart is. My mother lives there and I spent some of my formative years growing up amidst the emergent techno scene.
I went to my first rave in Berlin – Mayday in ’93 and also cut my techno teeth at Love Parade and Hard Wax record store, however as a young person my ears were more attuned to hard techno and happy hardcore type sounds.
Today I play regularly at Kater Blau and love the non-stop vibe of Berlin. I always say ‘Had Frank Sinatra lived today, he would be singing about Berlin, the city that never sleeps.’
As a fan of the iconic series, curating and mixing the latest instalment was an easy decision to make for Patrice and the city of Berlin a great canvas on which to paint his sonic journey. He says:
‘There are two parts to the mix. The first half is a Berlin style outdoor party, maybe rooftop sunset vibe. However, it’s not Downtempo. It’s just more hypnotic, transcendent and lightly rhythmic – here comes the night. The second mix starts midway through the middle set at a warehouse party with all the intensity and movement you would expect from me at this time. The album was mixed love and took a long time to select the tracklisting and work through the mix. I wanted it to be the ultimate after party CD mix, something which Berlin and GU means to me.’
Global Underground GU42: Berlin, Patrice Bäumel is available now as a double CD, plus digital and streaming formats, and a limited Collector’s Edition 2xCD box set with 110-page photo book containing photographer Dean Belcher’s images of Berlin and 4×12 inch square art prints.
Parable & Patrice Bäumel present: Global Underground 42 Album Launch will be held at FOLD in Canning Town on Saturday 6th April, with the Berlin party being held at Kater Blau on Sunday 7th April.
Read the full interview with Patrice Bäumel HERE.
