The London-based duo Swayzak are one of the few English practitioners of the post-Basic Channel tech-house sound that has taken hold of a large part of the continental dance community. After releasing two albums, James Taylor and David Brown were offered the opportunity to produce a double mix-CD in the Groovetechnology series. And it's a thing of beauty. Swayzak confess to not really being DJs, and the mix doesn't display any stunning technical abilities. The importance here lies in the choice of tracks, which is, frankly, impeccable.

CD1 has a slight edge when it comes to the groove. Those familiar with the minimal edges of house music will approve the inclusion of such artists as Philippe Cam, Akufen, and Herbert. The mix becomes a monument to continental house music (micro-house if you will), using both fairly new tracks, such as Pile's extremely cool 'World Record Holder,' and certifiable classics from Basic Channel ('Q1.1'), Ricardo Villalobos (the pumping '808 The Bass Queen'), and Luomo ('Synkro'), arguably the greatest dance tune of the past five years, allowed here to run out the lazy "because you groove the way you groove" mantra to its blissful conclusion). CD2 uses more of a dub influence and lets things loosen up a bit with the likes of Monolake, Mike Ink (in his Studio 1 guise), and Michael Mayer. More medicine for the weary soul. As it stands, 'Groovetechnology v1.3' is an amazing collection for the converted, but should also act as a nice introduction to those looking for an easy way to check out what the fuss is all about with this new brand of house music that is both experimental and poppy, forlorn and cheery, functional and sublime.