TuneLab
Peanut Butter Wolf | The Lab LA
Mixmag
Peanut Butter Wolf in The Lab LA is a reminder that before 'crate digging' became a DJ buzzword, it was just called having good taste—and this man's taste is encyclopedic, eclectic, and utterly compelling. We are, as always, humbled by a selector who can make a 13-minute Ghostface Killah track feel like a necessary rhythmic interlude. The vibe is that of a late-night living room session with the coolest person you know, where the only rule is 'no skips'. Technically, this is a masterclass in balearic and eclectic house, cruising at an average 122 BPM and heavily favoring the versatile 12A key for seamless genre-hopping. The energy is beautifully balanced, with a solid low-end (0.48 avg) providing a funky backbone for explorations into electro, boogie, and hip-hop-tinged house.
Wolf's mixing is intuitive and musical, often letting tracks play out to showcase their full character, with harmonic shifts into 3B and 4B adding depth and surprise. The tracklist is a historian's dream. 'Lectric Workers' 'Robot is Systematic' is a perfect, icy electro opener. Kapote's 'Grandmaster (Edit)' is a swinging, sample-heavy house bomb, and Tyree's 'I Fear the Night' is a deep, Chic-sampling classic. Charlie's 'Spacer Woman' is a dose of cosmic Italo-disco, while Digital Mind's 'Count Down' offers pure, driving acid house.
Floorplan's 'Ritual' brings the soulful, Robert Hood-inspired piano house, and 2 Body's 'Astoria' is a smooth, jazzy deep house cut. The journey begins with the robotic funk of 'Robot is Systematic', hits a peak with the anthemic acid lines of 'Count Down', and closes on the smoky, jazzy vibes of KC Flightt's 'Let's Get Jazzy (Dope Dub Mix)'. A live set that feels less like a mix and more like a curated education.