Garrett David, Chicagodeep and Taelue are Mystical Institute

We live in a world where almost nothing is left to chance, overnight success is the result of spreadsheet hoodoo and dance music is just as big and stupid as any pop music genre that ever came before it. In this world, imitation isn’t sincere or complimentary and everyone chases the same clichés and formulae until the bottom falls out and they scramble to copy the next carefully massaged and managed phenom. For the DJ, the “scene” as presently constituted looks like a mile long conveyor belt of boring dudes that kind of look like Disclosure were trapped inside a J. Crew outlet mall for a weekend making music so empty and hollow it leaves no impression and you might play it four or five times because you can’t remember anything remarkable about it.

This situation is not new, though it might be happening to you or me personally for the first time. Thankfully the antidote is simple too: get off your fucking ass and get to work, get digging, because since the Cro Mags began beating two rocks together and even when the last man is reduced to doing the same, there are always going to be good shit being made, even if it’s not handed to you.

Mystical Institute’s Shared Growth EP is a record almost certainly made without a blueprint or a booking agent’s input or any impetus other than to kick some shit around. This collaboration between Garrett David, Chicagodeep and Taelue (the latter two frequent collaborators themselves) is as serious as a heart attack but also an utter joy, in addition to claiming some new ground for Deep House rather than setting up stakes in familiar territory. “Sea Believer” is all glistening chords and snaking grooves – one of the prettiest tracks to come around this year and certainly one of the most danceable. “Night Rhythms” is a Deep House answer to John Carpenter – a bassline that sounds like a live action version of Space Invaders and synths that seem to hang in the air like a haze. The B-side tracks have this same, cinematic and slightly sinister feeling – music from an OST for a movie that hasn’t been made.

Mystical Institute: Shared Growth (Perpetual Rhythms)
A1. Mystical Institute: “Sea Believer”
A2. Mystical Institute: “Night Rhythms”
B1. Mystical Institute: “Minds Rising”
B2. Mystical Institute: “Shared Growth”

First published in 5 Magazine #151 featuring Karizma, Noncompliant, Quentin Harris & Ultra Nate & more. Become a member of 5 Magazine for First & Full Access to Real House Music for only $2 per month!