TuneLab
Phil Weeks
Bateaux Mouches in Paris, France for Cercle
Phil Weeks playing on a boat in Paris for Cercle is exactly the kind of absurdly chic setting we’ve come to expect, where the soundtrack is as impeccably tailored as the attendees' outfits. The vibe is effortless cool, gliding along the Seine with deep, unfussy house music as the engine. This is a masterclass in no-nonsense, groove-first deep and tech house, locked at a steady 125 BPM and dominated by the foundational, no-frills thump of the 12A key. The energy profile is telling—a massive 0.80 in the low-end—which means every track is built on a rock-solid, bass-heavy foundation that makes subtlety feel powerful.
Weeks’ mixing is all about the long, hypnotic blend, letting tracks like ‘Formule Express - Maine Course’ and the quirky ‘Le Club - Un fait divers...’ unravel over minutes. The crate digs are impeccable: ‘Head Nodding Society - Nudge Up’ is a perfect, heads-down opener, while ‘Luca Lozano & Mr. Ho - Different Circles’ offers a dose of raw, lo-fi funk. The train-whistle sample of ‘Kamasutra - Kamasutra Express’ is a moment of pure joy, and dropping ‘Tim Deluxe - It Just Won't Do’ is a timeless, vocal-led crowd-pleaser.
He pushes off with ‘Nudge Up’, finds a peak in the relentless groove of ‘R.A.W. - Unbe’, and docks the boat with the extended, jazzy deep house of ‘Dizz Martin - This Is House Peach’.