Selection 2 can be considered the follow-up to two distinctly separate releases. It's Riley Reinhold's second mix album, following 2002's Friends -- a set for Kompakt that was to some extent overshadowed by Michael Mayer's Immer, released earlier that same year. It's also the second showcase for Reinhold's Trapez label; Selection 1, also released in 2002, was a track-in-whole affair only selected by the DJ. Selection 2 proves to serve two purposes as well. Most importantly, it is unequivocal proof that Trapez has transitioned into a top-flight label. At the same time, it shows how one member in the circle of Germanic house labels always manages to pick up the slack when another falls off; just as Force Tracks began its slide downward a couple years back, Trapez happened to get hot. Since then, the remarkable productions have flowed with a consistency that few others have ever matched -- Kompakt included. Selection 2's first quarter is dedicated solely to serene, streamlined microhouse with dubby undercurrents. Initiated with Donnacha Costello's sturdy yet woozy Pleite and the blippy burpiness of Akufen's Psychometry 2.1, it's not until the sixth track -- the third uncredited release from the Trapez Limited series -- that any true curve balls are thrown. From that point on, tracks with unexpected sounds -- smacking handclaps, sly melodies, ambitious keyboard motifs, relatively funky rhythmic properties -- follow with tight, interlocking precision. These tracks often take the weight off the bassline for normally doing most of the work. The tracks remain minimalist at heart, even though their makers realize that a track based around a fine bassline and swoon-inducing textures won't get them as far as they would've in 2001 or 2002. Those expecting more of the playfully seductive come-ons featured within Friends might be a little let down, but Selection 2 is a very different, more intense animal. The common links the mixes share come down to the equally effective track selections and the fact that the same proficient DJ can be held responsible. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi

1		Pleite
2		Mandolinfever
3		Boulevard
4		Psychometry 2.1
5		Count
6		Ltd 3
7		Ripped Backsides
8		Vampir von Düsseldorf
9		Quartal IV
10		Reflections
11		Kluppa
12		River
13		I
14		Euben
15		Knob [Steve Bug Rmx]

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