TuneLab
NICK MONACO
Nick Monaco's live set in The Lab NYC begins, as all the best ones do, with a track that makes you double-check the Shazam results. We're deep in the kind of session where genre lines blur into a pleasing, melodic haze. The vibe is intimate, heads-nodding in a room lit by the soft glow of hardware, the air thick with the scent of dedicated listening. Technically, Monaco weaves a tapestry at an average 123 BPM, anchored in the warm, minor tonality of 5A. The energy profile is telling—a dominant 0.648 low-end leaves plenty of space for melodic flourishes and live textures to breathe.
His mixing is fluid, less about sharp cuts and more about harmonic blending, allowing the set to undulate between deep introspection and subtle, percussive drive. The journey is built on a foundation of sustained bass, with mid and high frequencies used as precise emotional accents. For crate diggers, the selections are a masterclass in eclectic curation. Opening with Danny Daniel Angeles De La Cumbia's 'Ella Se Fue' is a bold, latin-tinged statement. Cirrustwenty's 'Flight' provides a weightless, atmospheric ascent, while the inclusion of David Borden's 'The Continuing Story of Counterpoint, Pt.
9' is a nerdy, academic flex that somehow works. CamelPhat & Max Milner's 'Hope' delivers the requisite melodic house heartstring-pull, and Monolink's 'Return to Oz' serves as the anthemic, vocal-led peak. The entire expedition starts on that cumbia curveball, crests with Monolink's emotive pull, and resolves into the deep, contemplative waters of Celio Barros' 'Solitude'.