TuneLab
Kush Jones
Mixmag Lab London
Of course the database flagged this as 'Anime'—because nothing says underground club culture like a Japanese vocal track wedged between ghetto house and a trance classic, all expertly deployed by Kush Jones in the Mixmag Lab. We're here for the genre-blurring chaos, the kind that makes Shazam throw up its hands in surrender. The Lab's sterile brightness is a stark contrast to the warm, wobbling low-end Jones coaxes from the decks, a testament to the physicality of his selections.
Technically, this is a masterclass in breakbeat and UK garage fluidity, averaging a brisk 148 BPM and anchored in the 12A Camelot key for much of its runtime. The energy arc is a rollercoaster, with the low-end consistently driving the narrative while mid-range melodies and those frantic high-end percussive hits from tracks like 'Nikki Nair - Scuzzy' provide the emotional release. His mixing is seamless but purposeful, using long blends to let the dissonant harmonies of a track like the 'Futarino Kimochino Hontono Himitsu' edit resolve into something oddly euphoric.
The crate-digging is sublime: the audacious trance opener 'System F - Out of the Blue' instantly disarms, 'DJ Swisha - Pop n Shake' is a raw, unadulterated weapon, and 'DJ DEEON - Herbal Grinder' represents the ghetto house foundation he's playing with. Throwing 'DJ Pillsbury - BedRock (Juke Remix)' into the mix is a leftfield genius move, proving no BPM or genre boundary is sacred. The journey is a perfect loop, from the soaring synth lines of 'Out of the Blue' into a peak-time frenzy, finally grounding us with the stomping, sample-heavy grind of 'Herbal Grinder' as a fitting, sweat-drenched conclusion.