TuneLab
CLAUDE VONSTROKE chunky house in The Lab
at #Smirnoffhouse
Sometimes, we just need the uncomplicated, hip-swaying joy of proper chunky house, and Claude VonStroke in The Lab at the Smirnoff House is here to provide the grease. This is a booth built for fun, all sticky floors and wide grins, a welcome antidote to chin-stroking pretension. It’s a masterfully executed tech house session, locked into a groovy 124.4 BPM pocket and harmonically centered on the upbeat, funky 12A key, with soulful detours into 7A.
The mixing is smooth and dancefloor-focused, prioritizing bassline bounce and percussive shuffle over dramatic builds, a lesson in making people move without overcomplicating things. The crate digging is quintessential Dirtybird adjacent: Ciszak's 'Hypnose' is a wobbly, hypnotic weapon, and Ariano Kinà's 'Get It When We Want It' offers a slick, introspective vibe. The true delights are in the classics and curveballs—Cirez D's 'In the Reds' brings a shot of pure, unadulterated techno sleaze, while the Danny Krivit edit of 'What Am I Here for?' is a sublime slice of filtered disco-house.
Mark Knight & Armand Van Helden's 'The Music Began to Play' is a piano-driven bomb, and the closing 'Traction' remix by Paride Saraceni ensures the energy never dips. It kicks off with a mysterious groove, builds a head of steam with the raw energy of 'In the Reds', and winds down with the driving, no-nonsense funk of Christian Smith's 'Traction'.