Let's get one thing straight from the hump – I am and will always be partial to the music that influenced my formative years on and off the air in New York City: House. It is from that unjaded perspective that I now review, with pride, House Mix Down: Miami 2005 [Hi-Bias 10292]. Get your four turntables out of semi-storage now.
I first thought that this is a kind of "blue-eyed house" experience, and then I realized that we do not need yet another sub-category, even though some of these sounded less churchy or anthem-like than at first listen. But, as the NFL refs say, "Upon further review...," and may I say in daily playing, that assessment may have merit in its own right, but dear reader, this freakin' album/CD is Baaad! Track after bumpin', groovy, basement bassy track- this is my kind of party, and makes me want to call up all the club owners I know, so I can showcase and witness this music making the crowd sway to and fro as it always will do. This compilation is sweet!
Track one gets you anticipating "The Weekend" via Michael Gray; by number three Mylo lets you "Drop The Pressure," and you keep hearing the Miami Sound Machine hook "doc, doc, doc, doc doctor beat" inside the mix which delights my musical mind. Come along for the ride and bear with me until we shall pick the lyrical fruits. Love this Mylo jam again, again, again... and again I play it; hearing it inside my sleep even.
Next track is the anthem of WMC 2005 according to my editor, DJ Ron: Stonebridge's "Put 'Em High" featuring Therese on lead vocals. So stick 'em up and reach for the sky while you're at it!
I'd like to be that late night announcer on the spot that implores you to "use your credit card and order now" when Armand Van Helden's "My My My" kicks in – "Uhh! Where's my dance date?" It's such a familiar hook by now, and makes you wanna hop off of your bar stool.
"Beat on the Drums" all you men, and beat your chests too while you are at it as we approach the partay floor and whip it to track nine from DJ Fist (sounds like the painful punter name next, move with enuff respect into MYNT and Kim Sozzi's "How Did You Know?" just bumping along._z_dancemusic_z_);
Track eleven, "Money Shot" by Hatiras, is one of those whose energy can make a novice mixer sound seasoned - if you drop in just right, the rhythm will do all the work. By then you should b e thinking of your next mix unless you are just segueing along with me. In that case, the very Manhattan and airy female vocals of "Burning Sunshine" are on tap from Cocobongo. This reminds me slightly of the Chic or Sister Sledge sound of the late 1970s, and almost acts as counterdistinction that prepares us to take the album home.
DJS Rule is the name of the act this time and not a chant. They bring us "Feel Love," and indeed we do likewise for them and so let us now board Red Carpet, "Alright"? Right in the middle of this, the fourteenth track is a beautiful, quiet, and meditational interlude that stokes you with the reaffirming lyric "It's gonna be alright..." Even when the beat picks back up, it somehow seems quieter and personally peaceful to me. Chill pill duly noted.
Fifteenth and final is Taras "I Love You" whose repetitious reflections within this lavish liquid mix solidly seal this album's pact with your ears. "You know what to do" says the voicemail message. This is the second cut herein that I have gotten stuck on as in 'repeat track function,' lost in merry over-and-overness because I didn't want the experience to end. Maybe I was thinking that all those "I love Yous" were truly meant for me. Then I snapped out of it and remembered: "repeat All!"
Fifteen fantasy frolicking frets bridge this CD, and equals props for the non-stop mix to Toronto's DJ Ravel and tom da bomb. These are not watered–down generic LP cuts, these, as my man Frankie Crocker used to say, are: "the new remixed versions ladies and gentlemen..." You can replicate any of today's club experience musically with this collection. The rest of the din you have to carefully create through your own research. Should you be a workout warrior or own one of those calisthenics studios with all the spandex, this is a perfect working up a sweat CD for boom box insertion.
