House is a Home

An employee of Let It Be Records and a central figure in the new team of promoters/DJs known as Sound in Motion, Jevne is at a pivotal point in his musical career. His latest mixed compilation--@ Home Two, the second of his self-released "@ Home" series--mates house, techno, and heavy, ethnic drums, as Jevne paints a 16-track soundscape of tribal tech-house.

At the start the mix seems to lollygag a bit, but it picks up by the fourth song, Green House Presents' "Caravan," which features a housey female vocal loop echoed over driving drums. The next one, Dr. Kucho and Wally Lopez's "Fireworks," explodes with a climax like an Independence Day night-sky finale, revealing that Jevne doesn't fear the more avant-garde selections. He busts out a surprise mid-set with his own track, titled "Feelin' Good," showing off his proficiency as a producer by layering a stack of different sounds that flow nicely as one. Throughout the last third of @ Home, the drums become more aggressive and unrelenting, culminating with Oxia's "Again," but unfortunately not ending there. The last song, Freak Machine's "Fantasy," might cause those familiar with Jevne's sound (which is usually of a higher class) to do a double take, as it seems a bit cheap with its token rave sirens and the trivial repeating of the word fantasy by a breathy, bothered woman. But had the mix ended one track earlier, I'd have had no complaints.

As a whole, the "@ Home" series gracefully transcends the boundary that limits most club and rave DJs: the bedroom wall. It can be a difficult experience to create mixes on your own equipment in your own room, as most non-superstar DJs do. The dance floor is to a DJ as a thermometer is to a meteorologist: Without it, you can't gauge what's hot and what's not. Imagine, then, how a DJ can create a worthy mix that showcases his skills without use of the live environment.

With @ Home Two, Jevne does just that by recording a mix that works with the casual listener as well as the dance-floor freak. The album embodies an honesty that Jevne highlights in the liner notes, "The tracks are a reflection of the sounds that I am currently feeling." Breaking down barriers is as simple as that.