Album Review: Pan-Pot Curates “Watergate 17”

When it comes to clubs, the name Watergate carries an almost sacred connotation. For over a decade, the elite venue has served as a cornerstone within the realms of techno and nightlife in general. Now celebrating its 12th birthday, the legendary night spot charged Second State label bosses Pan-Pot to preside over the 17th album in the Watergate compilation series. The decision made sense – having served as key players in the club’s development since its inception, the Berlin based duo knows the “sound” and “personality” of Watergate like no other artist. This landmark compilation is proof.

Over the course of 19 hand-selected tracks, Pan-Pot takes us along on a ride that embodies every night owl’s dancefloor fantasy. The mix opens up slowly, almost teasingly, with Pavel Petrov’s ambient gem “Adapt” before laying the groundwork for the journey to come with Radio Slave’s pumping driver “Don’t Stop.”

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Even when it crests on more groove oriented tracks like Whyt Noyz‘s funky house influenced “Shift” or Santé and Sydney Charles’s chic and fluid dub edit of Darlyn Vlys’s “Floor 122,” the mix keeps the focus on the dancefloor, reminding us that when it comes to techno at Watergate one thing holds true: the bigger and heavier the sound is, the better.

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Toward the end of the mix, things get darker and undeniably sexier. One of our favorite tracks on the album is hands down Pan-Pot‘s own “Grey Matter,” a pounding number that combines warped vocals and a pulsating big room bass line that figuratively gets under your skin and stays there. Coming in at a close second is Ben Klock‘s tribal, drum-heavy remix of Josh Wink‘s frenetic “Are You There?”

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Fans will find a wealth of exclusive unreleased material across a slew of independent labels, as well as contributions by heavyweights such as Maceo Plex, Ben Klock, Mark Broom and Alberto Pascual. Techno is meant to be felt in your bones; it is supposed to fill your head, take over your mind and send you into a glorious state of autopilot, and that is exactly what this mix does. A flawless testament to Watergate’s big room sound and atmosphere, Pan-Pot’s Watergate 17 gets ★★★★★.

The album isn’t scheduled for release until October 13 via Watergate Records, but here’s a set Pan-Pot curated for the club last year; we hope it will help tide you over until next month.

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WATERGATE 17  | PAN-POT Complete Tracklist

1. Pavel Petrov – “Adapt” (Traum Schallplatten)
2. Radio Slave – “Don’t Stop No Sleep” (Nonplus Records)
3. Marco Resmann – “Hello Again” (Watergate Records Exclusive Track)
4. Clint Stewart – “Drenched” (Watergate Records Exclusive Track)
5. Shall Ocin / Paneo – “Lurking Wolves” (Ellum Audio)
6. Whyt Noyze – “Shift” (Sci+Tec)
7. Mark Broom – “Nucleus” (Gynoid Audio)
8. Darlyn Vlys – “Floor 122” (Santé + Sidney Charles Warehouse Dub) (AVOTRE)
9. Pan-Pot – “Substance” (Second State)
10. Alberto Pascual – “Doer” (CLR)
11. Dario Zenker – “27 Northwest” (Ilian Tape)
12. Maceo Plex – “Conjure Bass” (Ellum Audio)
13. Stephan Hinz – “Hungry” (Watergate Records Exclusive Track)
14. Skober – “Bring It To Me” (Phobiq Recordings)
15. Pan-Pot – “Grey Matter” (Second State)
16. Josh Wink – “Are You There” (Ben Klock Remix) (Ovum Recordings)
17. Martin Eyerer – “Reckless” (Watergate Records Exclusive Track)
18. Pan-Pot & Slam – “Conductor” (Watergate Records Exclusive Track)
19. Pan-Pot & Vincenzo – “Fiction Inc.” (Watergate Records Exclusive Track)