Various (Love On The Rocks)
June 24, 2024
- Groovy enough for the heads, loud enough for the club – the PARAMIDA label is turning ten.
- “The Love Theme”, the last track on the 10-year anniversary compilation of Love On The Rocks, The sky is the limitsums up the label perfectly. Inspired equally by UK rave and early New York house, it combines sultry lyrics with muted drums and neon stabs. But just as things get funky, Alex Kassian and Running Hot add the piano from Haddaway’s “What is Love?” for a nostalgic, hands-in-the-air moment. “The Love Theme” strikes an enviable balance between swing groove and emotional vulnerability. For a decade, PARAMIDA’s label has pushed this style of house, adding a bit of fun to the often self-serious world of diggers in which their label operates. Love On The Rocks’ records are flamboyant – think big Italo drums and progressive melodies –And intoxicating, the kind of thing that Francesco Del Garda (a regular at their parties) reached for well into the morning after the morning after. The rest of The sky is the limit moves fluidly between these two poles. The label’s last releases were hot And difficult takes on contemporary trance, leaning towards the Goa end of the spectrum with dramatic build-ups and bouncy basslines. There are plenty of gated chord progressions and wobbly basslines here, but the vibe is more chill-out room than forest rave. PARAMIDA’s own contribution starts with nearly two minutes of seagulls, waves and Café del Mar chords before building to a progressive groove. You can smell the patchouli oil on Dreamphaze’s “Life Cycle” as undulating chords and a twangy guitar line glide across the stereo field. Fantastic Man & Tornado Wallace go all-out on Balearic kitsch on “Skybus Theme” with a sample that sounds like a yearning Shamu. Were it not for that wobbly bassline, the whole thing could drift into cinematic melodrama. Tracks like this (and Massimiliano Pagliara’s contribution, which feels like a shot of vitamin D) are leisurely and snappy, an important part of the label’s sound. But other tracks on the record channel her penchant for cheesy peak-time songs. Sweely debuts a fat hip-house song, “Let’s Start,” and Simone de Kunovich’s “Final Destination” is genuinely cheeky – and cheesy. Love On The Rocks forms a unique Venn diagram in dance music. PARAMIDA regularly brings the scene’s most sophisticated selectors (think Laurine, Cecilio and Truly Madly) to her parties, but she also releases everything from heart-wrenching Trance revivalism to new editions of politically charged discoThe label operates close to the zeitgeist, never chases trends, but is always on point. The sky is the limit works so well as a compilation because it maintains that ethos. Each post is subtle and complex, and is intended to last well beyond the expiration date of whatever trend is currently sweeping social media.
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Tracklist
- 01. PARAMIDA – Limbo In Heaven 02. Massimiliano Pagliara – Venus In Blue Marine 03. Sweely – Let’s Start 04. Simone De Kunovich – Final Destination 05. Fantastic Man & Tornado Wallace – Skybus Theme 06. Dreamphaze – Life Cycle 07. E-Talking – Mystere De L’Amour 08. Alex Kassian & Runnin Hot – The Love Theme
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