Josh Wink

With Profound Sounds v2, the followup to 1999’s Profound Sounds, Philadelphia-based DJ/producer Josh Wink marks a rare achievement in the world of mix CDs. After choosing sixteen selections from various artists like David Alvarado, Swayzak, and Dave Clarke, Wink created a special, exclusive edit of each song on his computer, adding bits of original production and rearranging the sounds to his liking. The new edits were then mixed together using Final Scratch, a software program that provides a digital interface for MP3s to be played through turntables via a computer. The result is a painstaking effort that was probably more time-consuming than the majority of DJ mixes out there.

This, of course, may be of little interest to those who aren’t audiophiles, so it is fortunate that Wink provides enough lively and smooth moments on Profound Sounds v2 to capture the attention of more casual listeners. Highlights include the dark keys of Mindlab’s “Lick,” the tense bass line and minor chord electro-funk that compose Frankie Bones’s “E Series 2,” and the rubbery vocals swirling around Wink’s own trippy “Superfreak (Freak)” (Blakkat Remix). But are these sounds really profound? Perhaps some of them have the potential to be so under certain pharmacological situations (though Wink himself is patently against the use of mind-altering substances). With one’s unassisted brain, then, these sounds are merely groovy beats to make you move on the dance floor that will nevertheless provide little insight into the grander scheme of life. But Wink’s technique is certainly deep.