Photo by Krijin van Noordwijk

There are interludes on Joris Voorn’s new two-disc set so momentous they might move you to tears. Balance 014 charges like a ghost train roaring out of the moors, its ethereal ambience giving way to cirrus-level strings, its blunted calm opening up to boiling cauldrons of bass. Given that his father is a classical composer, his mother a music teacher, and, as a child, Voorn himself practiced violin for an hour a day in the Dutch countryside, you could see how his musical storytelling might resonate with symphonic sensibilities, even if he’s since moved on to traditionally non-symphonic instruments.

In an era when DJing as an art form is frequently kneed and elbowed against the ropes (“I don’t really see the technical merit in playing two songs at the same speed together,” noted electronic producer Deadmau5 late last year), new technology is pushing club music beyond the ease of a two-turntables-and-a-mixer platform. Both micro in its deconstruction of source material and maximal in its thematic arc, Balance 014 has given new life to both Voorn’s chosen profession and the album’s journey in the age of iTunes. “The selection and mixing are amazing, and the entire concept is both brilliant and educational,” raves DJ Danny Tenaglia. “Welcome to the future.”

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