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(Tidy Trax/Stomp)
2 years, 65 releases, 5 DJs, 4 CDs, hard dance from bouncey to trancey and even a bit techy, ladies and gentleman I present to you Tidy Trax’s latest in-house annual – Keep It Tidy Vol. 4.
So, you have possibly the largest number of releases on the hard house market, you chuck some of the biggest parties in the UK, and your artists tour worldwide regularly. Not everybody, however, has turntables – and with the quantity of releases being churned out you can’t afford to release a CD every couple of months to showcase them. So how do you keep your label’s name out there and give the punters what they want? You get some of the biggest names signed to your label, give them a disc each to mix, and access two years of your backcatalogue. The end result? A compilation of four CDs full of gems.
Each CD is digitally mixed, which is a shame as I love a live mix. That would be the only downside as each artist is given the opportunity to display their own style over an hour long set.
Disc 1 – Paul Maddox
This mix is what most would describe as straight up UK Hard House, opening quite bouncy with his own New York, New York the pace is gradually lifted and there is only one time I grimaced as the cheesy almost hardstyle Demons is followed by the awful Chainsaw the latter’s sample of somebody starting a chainsaw is possibly the worst idea ever. Thankfully this is rectified pretty quickly with the old favourite Coming On Strong (SHOKK Remix) followed by Anne Savages Hellraiser getting the mix back on track and as the BPM’s rise the mix really comes into its own. Pants & Corset with Malice In Wonderland and Guyver’s Trapped are standouts and one of the few Ingo tracks I can stand 48 hours is also a welcome inclusion. The highlight of this mix for me is the closer, the hard as nails Candyman from the Hard House Madmen Lab4, definitely a class way to close any set. Overall not a bad set, the last half is all class.
Disc 2 – Lee Haslam
Next up is Lee Haslam and the man seems to be a bit a fan of some uplifting Trance riffs through his Hard Dance. From early on with tracks like Hells Reign from Champion Burns and the Nick Sentience remix of Ignition there is huge elements of uplifting riffs and breakdowns synonymous with Trance without being cheesy. Again the pace builds nicely through his set tracks like Take off from Stimulator, Scared from Tomorrow People and Emotion from Lee Pasch will be familiar to most hard dance heads. Lee also like to toot his own horn to an extent with three of his own tracks in the latter half of the mix and I say good on him as all are class the standout for me being Here Comes The Pain. Again the gem of the set is the closer, as Paul Glazby’s I’m Your Nightmare is the perfect closer, hard fast and generally banging. Again quite a good set probably a bit more consistent than disc 1 however it will annoy some who are anti Trance.
Disc 3 – Amber D
Not somebody I had heard a lot about admittedly I placed this disc in with some apprehension as female jocks can sometimes go a little softer and I like my hard dance hard, but damn was I pleasantly surprised. Opening quite hard with tracks like So Long from Ruddell & Maddox, Its In My Head (Maddox Remix) & Underground the set only gets better. Gems from Tara Reynolds, SJ & Babydoc & BK sit alongside the master Tony De Vit with I Don’t Care (BK Remix) being a standout of a dope set. It doesn’t end their however as BK is back again with the dope Im Your DJ before the pace is lifted with Lab4 and Requiem its haunting riffs have destroyed dancefloors worldwide and will have many tearing it up across their lounge rooms. Closing things out are a young gun in Guyver with his dark and fast Man On the Moon and Riot Brothers bringing the set to an appropriately paced close. This is the pick of the four discs for me, hard from go to wo without once straying and becoming cheesy.
Disc 4 – The Tidy Boys
Rounding things up are the label head honchos and the do quite an admirable job. At times the Tidy Boys to have a tendency to play quite bouncy a style that for me can leave a Hard house set sounding quite cheesy thankfully there is none of that hear (apart from the Such a Good Feeling remix but I can forgive). Going quite Trancey in the early stages with Signum’s What Ya Got 4 Me and Everybody’s Hardcore from the busiest man over four discs Paul Maddox. The mix gradually builds in pace to an early peak in Tony De Vit’s Give Me A Reason, the man truly was genius in the studio and it is such a pity he passed before the scene he helped establish really blew worldwide. Another out and out star is BK and his Go Fuck Yourself which is nestled mid mix is for me the pick of this entire set, that is until you wrap your ears around Andy Farleys remix of Good Side a deep dark almost acid tech rework of the original that forces you to snap your head to the beat. Other standouts are Riot Brothers Ripped Out and the closer from Guyver Serious Sound its haunting backing complimenting the tough bassline nicely. Again a good mix a touch more vocal than the others but remains safely away from sounding cheesy.
Overall this album is great value for fans of hard dance, over the four discs you get 65 tracks, and over four hours pretty much all of it is quality. In a cluttered compilation market this definitely deserves your attention.
