Following on from Guido Schneider’s enigmatic ‘Fo-
cus On’ Album last year, Poker Flat are especially
proud to introduce the next in the series, in the scin-
tillating form of Focus On: Argy.
Comprising partly of new and exclusive produc-
tions by Argy with a strong handful of well known
and up-coming names, and highlights from his back-
catalogue of releases and remixes, the mix acts as
a showcase for Argy’s unique style, taking influence
from strong, energetic peak time house through to
deep and spaced out percussive journeys. Hot col-
laborations with Solomun, The Mole, Maral Salmassi,
Dj Gregory, Jerome Sydenham and Bayoga all open
up various mindsets, various avenues of Argy’s musi-
cal passions, as we traverse through an impeccable
selection of modern house music.
Not wishing to conform to the rules of a mainstream
house Dj-compilation, Argy takes a bold and clear
stance when it comes to the structure of the mix.
The first three tracks start things running strong, as
if you’ve just arrived in the middle of a peak-time set,
with the phasing chord stabs from Argy’s Remix of
Jerome Sydenham’s Ebian melting into the powerful
bass of ‘The Storm’. It’s a soaring, urgent introduc-
tion that’s wonderfully unconventional and captures
the complete spirit of Argy’s idealology. These tracks
were designed for the dancefloor, and it spells out
the intentions of the mix with style and honesty. From
there on things become more cerebral, with Argy’s
debut hit on Poker Flat, ‘Love Dose’, introducing a
passage where time is frozen and the party begins to
unfold at its own heady pace. From there on we are
simply left in the delightful and submissive position of
the Listener, as the introduction also serves as a con-
tract between Argy and his audience. We are now
completely under his spell... locked in and Focused
On. Each track is clearly introduced with a defined
mixing style, announcing each new moment to the
audience and making a spectacle of the variety and
depth of music on offer.
‘I would never dare to approach an album without
a concept,’ Argy divulges, and its clear from listen-
ing to both the exclusive vinyl tracks, and the hour
long mix, that he means what he says. Each brand
new and exclusive track featured on the vinyl release
is a fresh collaboration between Argy and another
producer or musician, and the concept dictates that
both must have an active part in the recording of the
track. Argy wanted to try something new, something
very rare, which is to group together collaborations
with various other artists in the form of an album,
and is a highly-focused album at that, exploring as
any different dancefloor possibilities as are possible
within his sound.
Traversing the spectrum from the intense travelling
grooves of ‘Anenome’, with Solomun, a track that
is perhaps the most energetic trip on show here, to
the evolving percussive workout of ‘Under No Illu-
sion’, with percussionist Bayoga, there are endless
delights on offer. Teaming up with Canadian-in-Berlin
