(Underwater/Shock)

This is the latest and third offering in the much-lauded Underwater series, this time starring seventeen-year superstar DJ stalwart Darren Emerson alongside old pal and label mate Paul Jackson. I found this a slightly meandering effort, tuning in and out through a few listens as I went about my daily “secret woman’s business.”

All tracks are from the Underwater label, which may have been no mean feat Nice picks from the Emerson side of things include a sweetly electro-tinged mix of Gus Gus’s David (funnily enough, the Darren Emerson Mix!) and the bouncy, lo-fi turn from Australia’s very own PNAU and I found Mutiny to be an oddly piano accordion-like affair with a catchy, jumped up beat.

In fact, the first part of the disc seems to carry on the oh-so-popular 80s posturing style that is “so hot right now”, conjuring up images of white-gloved eye-lined boys popping and locking across a shiny dance floor, while a frocked up band pounds away at a synth and keyboard . . . or perhaps I am getting away with myself.

Things get a little more housey-vocally later on and head off into anthemic territory without a pause for thought. A growling track or two from Greg Churchill sets a faster pace, only to lose it slightly with two consecutive tracks by the same artist – one acid, one vocal, with some strangely awkward “uh, yeah, uh, yeah’s” thrown into the mix.

After that it is back to the warbling vocals style of Mutiny, unashamedly promoting the sort of ecstatic happiness afforded to a joyful, snogging moment on a packed, trashed dance floor. If you’re into house-and-dance-like-it-used-to-be, this could well be an album for you.

I have to say, of the two CDs, I pick Paul Jackson’s mix as the more aggressive but blander of the two discs. It is noticeably more beat-driven and amps up the electro style to a more manageable level, but has some weirdly out of place moments. Jackson’s own Blockbuster kicks things off in slightly darker fashion and uses his own tracks to advantage, interlaced with the slightly dodgy The Spell (sounds like that terrible, terrible Starburst lollies ad slash “hit single”) and the better, moodier tunes on offer from Agoria.

But on the whole, I was taken aback by the couple of truly cheesy bits, which really could have been avoided. This is, in my humble opinion, definitely one for the true fans.