Courtesy of Jon Freer from mosoul.co.uk here are his reviews of twelve house compilations (sorry no cover shots or tracklistings this time):
Danny Rampling: Break 4 Love (ITH/Defected)
First up from the hugely successful London stable is the influential Danny Rampling’s final compilation, released before he swaps his pair of turntables for china plates and vinyl for culinary delights. The man responsible for satisfying many a soul on the dancefloor and via the airwaves over the years, now hopes to fill bellies instead of ears, via his new venture as a restaurateur. This brilliant triple CD set spans the whole of his career, from his early House days at Shoom and blissed out Balearic moments, to the Disco influenced House sound that found favour on his radio show and at clubs in the 90s. CD 1 is an ace collection of time-honoured House cuts, which features the Nightwriter’s mesmerising key addled “Let The Music Use You”, Raze’s reassuring “Break For Love” and finishes with a flamboyant Disco flourish in the shape of Dan Hartman’s “Relight My Fire”. The second disc contains a few emotionless House bangers, but they do feature alongside wonderful tracks such as Gat Décor’s empathetic “Passion”, the magical key and jarring drum driven “It’s Alright I Feel It” from Nu Yorican Soul and Frankie Knuckles’ gorgeous “Whistle Song”. The final CD looks towards that white island and more horizontal partying days. It includes beautiful gems like the emotive stringed “Smokebelch” from Sabres Of Paradise, Chris Rea’s staid guitar driven “Josephine” and Keytronic Ensemble’s invigoratingly keyed “Calypso Of House”. What a way to call it a day…
Most Rated 2005 (ITH/Defected)
“Most Rated 2005″ sticks some of the finest underground and crossover House moments of 2005 on a two disc set, where the tracks were chosen by visitors to Defected’s website. It looks like they’ve made some good choices as well, with the first CD boasting a number of electro-tinged and deep thinking numbers alongside fat floor filling tackle. Highlights of this disc include Joey Negro’s own empowering guitar-addled overhaul of The Sunburst Band’s adoring “He Is” and M.A.N.D.Y. Vs Booka Shade’s powerful bassline driven “Body Language”. Poppier vocal numbers pepper the weaker disc two, but choice cuts such as the over-arching string kissed “Lets Be Young” from Quentin Harris and Jerome Sydenham & Mikael Nordgren’s lively “Stockholm Go Bang” make an appearance. This is the strongest collection in the “Most Rated” series to date.
Wax Wars (Defected)
Another hot release from the Defected stable is “Wax Wars”, where various label bosses get the chance to showcase their catalogues and DJ skills. This instalment sees Defected’s own Simon Dunmore battle it out with Brian Tappert of Soulfuric and Jamie Lewis of Purple Music, with each of them getting the chance to show their worth on one disc a piece. Full throttle House pours from the Defected disc, where great tracks like Johnny Corporate’s swinging sax touched “Sunday Shoutin”, KOT’s hearteningly keyed “Changes”, and Julien Jabre’s gleeful “Swimming Places” feature. Tappert brings us tuff, soulful and jazzy flavours, with tracks of note including “He Is The Galaxy”, where Donna Allen’s vocals are spliced over a sax sprayed Galaxy People backing, and Jask’s joyfully stringed overhaul of Connie Harvey’s “Thank You Lord”. Dunmore and Tappert have the battle tied due to the strength of certain tracks on their CDs, whilst Jamie Lewis’ disappointing vocal House disc means that he has certainly lost the fight.
Connected: Jay J (ITH/Defected/Shifted Music)
Jay J’s “Connected” compilation lays down a large number of own productions and retoolings alongside tracks from other artists. Ever productive in the studio, this collection lifts the lid on J’s deeper yet soul-minded House sound. The first CD features his and Chris Lum’s outstanding overhaul of Jill Scott’s “He Loves Me (Lyzel In E Flat)”, where absorbing strings and sweet keys fly over pick-me-up beats. The premier disc is made up nearly exclusively of Jay J’s own productions and remixes, and another cut of note on this CD is the shining “Make My Heart”, produced with Halo Varga, and remixed by Miguel Migs. The second CD contains a number of filtered gems, and contains tracks like Kiko Navarro’s heightening keyed relick of the Mojo Project’s “Tell Me Why” and the flying sax propelling “Road To Freedom” from Fudge. This comp gives a great insight into the work of a lesser-known figure in House.
OM:10 – A Decade Of Future Music
El Divino: House Of Sol
El Divino: Chilled
House Of Om: Groove Junkies (all Om Records)
San Fran’s acclaimed Om keep up the pressure with another clutch of various artist led CDs. The finest is undoubtedly a triple set entitled “Om:10 – A Decade Of Future Music”, which features an outstanding ‘classics’ disc. Empowering House and ever so relaxed downbeat surface on this disc, which features Mark Farina’s hallucinatory “Dream Machine” and Andy Caldwell’s impatient “I Can’t Wait”. The ‘downtempo’ disc also features a few recent gems, such as Jake Childs’ sleepily drummed and bass losing “Forgotten”, and Seafoam’s sodden “Magnus Buchan”. Unfortunately, the tracks on the recent House CD aren’t quite of the same calibre as those uptempo offerings on the classics disc.
The El Divino collections celebrate Om’s summer residency at the Ibizan club, and both selections, ‘House’ and ‘Chilled’ (which are sold separately), contain awesome cuts that sit alongside blander musical pieces. Hot stuff on the up jumpin’ House CD include Johnny Fiasco’s summer synthed “Take 5″ and the gymnastically keyed “Come On” from Miguel Migs. Solu Music’s thoughtfully synthilated “Marcello” and J Boogie’s gusty fluted “Golden Nectar” provide the highs on the sideways beaten sleepy CD. Taking the tempo up a notch, Groove Junkies ‘House Of Om’ double set is a hail of soul-smooched and frothily filtered House. SUMO’s afro-guitar overhaul of Blaze’s “My Beat” makes an appearance on disc 1, whilst mad dancing brass and sticking organ keys colour Pepe Link’s “Kalakuta” on the second CD. Whilst there are some choice musical moments on all these compilations, those with a tight budget should opt for “Om:10″.
Wicked Weekend (Slip’n'Slide)
Klubb House 2 (Slip’n'Slide)
Electro House (Kickin’ Music)
Rhythm Code Present Moov House (Kickin’ Music)
The Slip’n'Slide/Kickin family are still banging out compilations at a quite a pace, and here they unleash a quadruplet of bangin’ House releases. “Wicked Weekend” mixes filter heavy percussive monsters alongside soulless trancey numbers, but thankfully also features choice cuts in the form of Kerri Chandler’s cowbell and controlling synth driven “Bar A Thym” and DJ Technic’s frightening “Gabryelle”. “Klubb House 2″ is a collection of cold thumping big room House hitters and bad tempered Prog, whilst Electro House is an easy to devour Electro flexing outing. A highlight of the electrically charged CD is Jori Hulkkonen’s remix of Star You Star Me’s “A Place In My Heart”, where cheeky synths and a face pulling bass meet. “Moov House” is another tough effort, with notable numbers appearing in the shape of their own evil bass dominated “Sing (Dub)” and LAB Music’s fierce “Acid Test”. These comps are all very well for those into the tougher end of the House spectrum with some fine tracks being showcased, but lets hope there’s more soulful stuff on the way, too!