I’m not typically a fan of mixed CDs. A live event can never be captured, it seems, on an 80 minute compact disc. Tony Moran’s latest though, proves me wrong. Easily weaving the biggest in vocal anthems with the hardest of underground sounds, Moran winds us through a deep, dark dance epic of a compilation.
Don’t be fooled by the tracklisting. If you’re like me and put back any mixed CD with only the hot vocal anthems, you may be put off at first with this. Yes, Deborah Cox is there with her latest smash, "EASY AS LIFE," but in a subtle, yet alternate mix. Holly James' new remake of "TOUCH IT" is there too, but as an acapella over some Friburn and Urik beats. It’s those little things that usually only other DJs notice that set this one apart.
Another great thing about this compilation that others fail to do is the weaving of vocals with non-vocal underground tracks. The two never seem to clash and actually accent each other well. It’s obvious that these tracks weren’t just thrown together randomly. This kind of effort takes you a long way in my book. There’s a certain syle going on thats seen in most of Moran’s productions. He went to great length to find other tracks (ones he didn’t produce) to accompany them. The end result is two CDs worth of magic.
I won’t go into great detail about each and every song that’s here, leaving the suprises to you, but there are some great ones in the mix. Deborah’s "EASY AS LIFE" as mentioned earlier, "JUMPIN" by the Party Starters, "KEROSCENE," and, one of my top songs of the year, "SHOW IT" by the Friburn & Urik crew are all worth the price of the CD alone. (On a side note, the vocal from SHOW IT in the copy I’ve been playing since the summer sounds almost like Eartha Kitt, while the copy on this compilation sounds like a new one - strange).
You won’t go wrong with this - It’s circuit music done the right way, great job.
