TuneLab
Chaos In The CBD
Mixmag Lab London
We’ve all been in this exact state: bleary-eyed, leaning against a speaker stack as Chaos In The CBD weaves their atmospheric magic in the Mixmag Lab London, a set that feels less like a performance and more like a shared, lucid dream. The atmosphere is hazy and warm, the kind of lighting that makes everything look slightly out of focus, perfect for the brothers’ signature deep, dubby soundscapes. This is a deep house journey par excellence, clocking in at a steady 127 BPM average and firmly rooted in the comforting, minor tonality of 12A.
The energy is profoundly low-end focused, with a whopping 68% of the spectrum dedicated to sub-bass and warm pads, creating a cocooning, hypnotic effect that’s punctuated by crisp mid-range percussion. The mixing is patient and textural, allowing tracks to breathe and evolve, with clever modulations into 7A and 5B adding just enough melodic variation to keep the mind engaged. The tracklist is a historian’s delight: the opener, Fazed Idjuts’ ‘Dust of Life’, sets a dusty, timeless tone, while Jon Cutler’s ‘Living (J.C's Demo Mix)’ is a classic, soulful house weapon.
The inclusion of Planet Soul’s ‘Set U Free (Fever Mix)’ is a joyous, piano-led surprise, and Dirty Secretz’s ‘Eternity (Edit)’ offers a moment of pure, driving deepness. The journey begins in a cloud of ambient dust, builds gently through the extended, jazzy chords of their own ‘Marlboro Sounds’, and finally dissolves into the sublime, François K.-dubbed bliss of Onda’s ‘Waiting for Your Love’ as a perfect closing track.