TuneLab
Maceo Plex
at our virtual Gashouder for Awakenings Festival 2020 | Online weekender
Maceo Plex playing a virtual Gashouder for Awakenings Festival 2020—a surreal concept for a surreal time, but one that delivered a dose of his signature cinematic, melodic techno straight to our living rooms. The vibe is dystopian yet beautiful, like watching a sci-fi film on a massive screen with a punishing sound system. This is peak-time melodic techno, relentlessly driving at 130.4 BPM, with harmonic tension built between the 5A and 12A keys.
The energy balance is classic Maceo: 71% low-end provides a robust, techno framework, while the mids (22%) carry the emotional synth work, and strategic highs (6%) add sparkle. His mixing is dramatic, using long builds and sudden drops to create a narrative sweep, perfect for the virtual festival format. For tracklist sleuths, the set opens with an unknown weapon, quickly followed by the vintage rave stabs of 'Caustic Window - On The Romance Tip'.
'Ellen Allien - Sehnsucht' brings a touch of Berlin grit, while the epic 'Brett Jacobs - Law of Averages (Io Mulen Remix)' is a 13-minute journey of evolving arpeggios. The cheeky drop of 'Gillette & 20 Fingers - Short, Short Man' is a moment of pure, absurd joy. It starts mysteriously, peaks with the intense, rolling rhythm of 'Ricky Sinz - Riders', and closes on the majestic, strings-laden 'Rone - Babel (Maceo Plex Remix)', providing a fittingly grand finale for our isolated rave.