Tiga

This fifth instalment in Turbo's Montreal Mix Sessions knocked me on my ass, only to get back up and boogie again. This is no ordinary, straight-up house or techno mix CD, nope. This is Montreal DJ, promoter, club and record store owner and Turbo Records boss Tiga showing exactly why his sound, style and flair have him holding down massively successful residencies, touring and playing shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Carl Cox, Jeff Mills and Daft Punk. On this double CD set, Tiga travels like mad, musically, flawlessly crossing electronic genres with a single mix, offering up surprise after surprise while keeping a super-tight flow. Somehow, I imagine him with a grin on his face for the entire two-and-a-half-hour experience. The first CD would cause any dance floor to erupt. Showcasing Tiga's signature sona sound, it builds from the deep, dubby techno sounds of Elias's "Moneypeople" and Stewart S. Walker's "Cleopatra's Needle" to the Moroder-inspired "Algebra," and then the heavy tribal sounds of "Centrafrique." Classic, jack-yer-house sounds are covered, segueing smoothly into deep, sexy-as-hell techno, camp-y piano, hard beats and then pulling back as Tiga allows his passion for driving electro to shine through with Mateo Murphy's "Love Express" and DJ Hell's "Jack the House." Rounding it out is the funky, hard dance floor fave "Powder Toast," by Martin Venetjoki. As if that wasn't enough, the second mixed CD is a brilliant survey of contemporary electro. Kicking off with two Disko B releases, Tiga simply doesn't look back. If you ever thought that electro was a limited sound, check this as the man makes the links between removed, retro and robotic, funky and futuristic, and slinky and silly. From Detroit smoothness to German goodness, it's all here, a complete package complimented by appropriately camp-y album art.