House Lessons

• Track Listing

House Lessons collects Hamburg producer Sidney Charles's finest moments along with a selection of previously unreleased tracks, taking in originals, remixes, and collaborations with Avotre founder Santé, Pan-Pot, Hot Since 82, Patrick Topping, Hector Moralez, and Kalyde. Charles has become one of the most charted artists on Resident Advisor thanks to his consistently killer and infectious tracks on labels like Hot Creations, I'm a House Gangster, and Moda Black. He's held down resident duties at Sankey's Ibiza, and those DJ experiences clearly inform his groovy, bass-driven productions. House Lessons offers a 360-degree view of modern house music, from the bumpy, vibe-setting opener to the bouncy, shuffling garage inflections of "Drama" and the jacking Darius Syrossian remix of "Housin tha Rave." Mixed perfectly tight and always following an increasingly energetic narrative arc, the mix then takes in full-on retro rave stabs, slick and sliding tech house from masters of the form Luna City Express, and then dips into deeper, more bubbling, and New York-influenced house music. Midway through the mix and fully settled into an inviting groove, unhinged and playful originals like "Nuts," "Psyjack," and "Horny" sandwich raw tech from Patrick Topping and face-melting bangers from Pan-Pot as remixed by Sidney himself. The latter half of the mix keeps up the pressure and features shadowy, no-nonsense collaborative tracks by Santé and Sidney as well as dynamic and techno-leaning solo gems like "Silky Thread" and the whacked-out post-dubstep rhythms of closer "Disco Nap." This mix not only proves Sidney to be a fine DJ who can really tell a story, but also showcases the breadth and quality of his impressive discography to date.