TuneLab
HIDDEN RECORDINGS w/ DEEPAK SHARMA in The Lab NYC
When Hidden Recordings’ Deepak Sharma takes over The Lab NYC, we know we’re in for a lesson in patience and power—a set that laughs at the input genre tag of 'trance' and dives headfirst into minimal techno’s murky depths. The atmosphere is closer to a Berlin bunker than a Big Apple lounge, all shadows and serious head-nodding to the relentless, percussive drive. Technically, this is a masterstroke in tension, averaging 123.4 BPM but ranging from a crawling 94 to a peak 125, with the 12A key serving as the gravitational center. Low-end energy soars at 65%, creating a cavernous, immersive soundscape where basslines feel physical, while mids at 28% add subtle melodic texture and highs are kept to a mere 6% for an almost tactile, dusty feel.
The mixing is long-form and narrative, letting tracks like Scott Dunning’s 20-minute 'Red Shadow and Green' unfold with cinematic patience. For the diggers, the surprises are key: opening with Gigi D’Agostino’s 'La Passion' is a bold, nostalgic curveball, while Zak Rush’s 'Freefall' delivers hypnotic, loop-based hypnosis. The Chemical Brothers’ 'Hey Boy Hey Girl' gets a sinister, stripped-back treatment, and Alex Dolby & Santos’ 'Raw Road (Carlo Lio Remix)' is a peak-time techno weapon. Marcos Salas’ 'Obreros' adds a raw, industrial edge, and 2Pole’s 'Hyperion' provides a moment of eerie, atmospheric release.
The journey winds from the playful irony of 'La Passion' into the dense, rhythmic heart of 'Raw Road', before closing with the crystalline, ambient-tinged resolve of Blacktee’s 'Crystalline City (Consoless Remix)'. A Deepak Sharma tracklist that proves minimal techno is alive, well, and endlessly inventive in the right hands.