Gosh Resident Advisor do pump out some absolute gash DJ mixes nowadays, don’t they? Thankfully this DJ mix from Maher Daniel goes against the trend.

Maher Daniel is someone that has very gradually come into my conscious but really has catapulted into it thanks to this really adept and classy mix.

I first came across his name maybe 10 years ago, producing house music, and a couple of years later this had become much more chilled and dreamy with his track, Lonely Stars In Open Skies, produced with Jon Charnis. Though the Luca Bacchetti mix is total fire.

Yet it wasn’t until 2020 when his name passed me by, during which time he had transformed to a more minimal-styled producer and DJ, unbeknownst to me, but everyone is a DJ now so don’t expect me to keep up with them all. Anyway – Periodico, produced with the one and only, Ricardo Villalobos, is an absolute diamond. I probably should have twigged then to look more into what Maher Daniel was doing but hey. I’m here now.

To call this mix “minimal” would perhaps be unfair, as there is far more going on, but as a whole, the structure and feel is minimal – and with tracks by the likes of Cristi Cons, Ricardo Villalobos and Topper, you could easily excuse my labelling.

Yet it starts with a string of unreleased records from Maher Daniel himself, generally pretty chilled and ambient – the mix only really “gets going” (if you need a beat) after around 30-40 minutes – and it goes well into minimal territory, peaking with the Amir Javasoul & Pheek Edit of Ricardo Villalobos’ Arnotikar – a track that I’ve long assumed will never see the light of day, or even YouTube, so enjoy it whilst you can.

The mix continues, it has some dreamy moment, some classic mid-2000’s minimal and some housier sounds all mixed in. It really is a very classy and enjoyable mix.

Enjoyment rating of 8.55.