If you were to take 33 songs from the Billboard dance chart for the past twelve months and send it to Chicago to be mixed, making sure to throw in a dose of scratching, To Kool Chris "Absolute Dance" is what you get. In the Chicago house tradition, he has produced a non-stop mega mix of vocal dance songs that is similar in style to Bad Boy Bill or Richard "Humpty" Vission. The one thing that sets this apart from the aforementioned artists is the song selection. Now all of these songs are good on their own, however, when you smash 33 of the into an seventy-eight minute CD, it can be a little much to handle. It is very reminiscent of a hard house mix compilation. A major plus that adds real character to this mix is To Kool Chris' ability to scratch over top of some pretty bangin' tracks. His mixing is another key point to the disc. He tears through over three hours of records in less than eighty minutes with out any type of slip or double-beat during a mix. He makes a it a point to outline that he is using only vinyl, so it is that much more impressive.
TKC starts this mix with his intro, then breaks into "Poison" by Groove Coverage, then into the hit "Able to Love" by Benny Bennassi. This song is true to Bennassi form with the filtered bass and robotic vocals. From there he takes the mix into vocal trance mode. He mixes six trance records including: "Dreamland" by DJ Ross, "Sex Machine" by Mike Heart, and the Latin vocal killer "Moi... Lolita" by Space Kid. After flexing his trance muscles, TKC mellows the mix out a bit with the hit sensation Motorcycle. Dave Dresden, Josh Gabriel, and vocalist Jes make up the group Motorcycle and their track "As the Rush Comes" is definitely one of the records of the year. TKC steps it back up with his rap-inspired track "Zombie Nation." If it was supposed to be a remake of the Kernkraft 400 track by the same name, it doesn't retain any of the track that made that song a hit. After the redundant track by Ian Van Dahl "I Can't Let You Go," TKC mixes in a remake of the "Cutting Crew" classic "I Just Died In Your Arms." The vocals are not the originals, however, they still have a great sound.
Dance veteran ATB delivers his first of two tracks about halfway through this disc. "Long Way Home" has some sweet and sensual vocals laid over a typical banging ATB bass line and an enchanting breakdown. The Mamas & The Papas' sampled hit "California Dreaming" even finds its way into the mix. This song, released late last year by the Royal Gigolos, has been on every conceivable dance chart on the planet and hammered by every mainstream DJ out there. He covers some more hard trance ground with "Satellite" by Ocean Lab, and "Come With Me" by Special D. After those tracks the mix takes a cruise and reveals the Nalin & Kane vs. Dennis the Menace track "Cruising." TKC slams through a few more tracks including "Surrender" by Lasgo. The beautiful vocals from Lasgo are always sure to be a hit. Then he lays out the second Bennassi track, "No Matter What You Do." For info about this song please read about the earlier description of "Able To Love," they are not very different. Rounding out this disc is the second ATB track that says "I Don't Wanna Stop" along with a gang of vocal trance tracks from DHT, Baracuda, Nova Space, and finally Kate Ryan.
This CD is not for the faint of heart, it is full-on hard and pounding. TKC's technical skills are quite good, but this disc may be harder for the new dance music listener to get into. The great thing about "Absolute Dance" is that it is sure to get people on the dance floor, and that's all that really matters, right?
