(Ram/Inertia)

Probably the scene’s biggest name, Andy C rarely disappoints and Nightlife 2 is no exception. In fact, it may well be the best drum & bass mix I have heard. Chuck in a bonus disc of his own productions and you have money well spent.

Discuss with a drum & bass fan who their favourite DJ is, or who is the current leader of the scene, and inevitably the name Andy C will come up. Not only does he produce brilliant tracks but he is one of the tightest mixers going around regardless of genre. His DJ sets are pure dancefloor destroyers and this CD is no exception. Cleverly broken into two discs to showcase his two sides as DJ and producer, this is a must own for all drum & nass fans.

Disc one is where it’s at for me. Rather than getting things off slowly or relying on tricks, Andy gets straight into what he does best – tearing up a dancefloor - using tight mixes and brilliant track selection. This disc will have your head bobbing from go to woe. All the big names feature as he works through an astonishing 29 tracks in the disc, from Australia’s own Pendulum with their remixes of Bacteria and Pack of Wolves, to Total Science, Shimon, and Marcus Intalex who has the excellent Zumbar & Temperance.

It doesn’t stop their however, with other chestnuts including Drop It Down from Calibre, Now’s The Time from Moving Fusion & Fierce, the dope Soldiers from Technical Itch, as well as Age of Empires from Photek to close out the set. It is literally a who’s who of the scene and showcases why Andy C is in such demand worldwide. The mixing is spot on – so smooth at times that you have to check the CD player to see that the track numbers have changed. A mix as tight as this has me eagerly anticipating his New Year’s Eve set in Adelaide this year.

Disc Two is more mellow in pace, still mixed although quite possibly on a computer. Here the tunes are left to play out and be showcases, rather than cut and diced to move a dancefloor. Featuring tracks from his vast array of aliases, many titles will be familiar to fans. Tracks such as Body Rock, Pacman and Titan have been spun worldwide and other efforts include the Ram Trilogy Remix of Krust’s Warhead and the more mellow sounds of Cause n Effect from the Concept 2 alias. More something you would throw on to chill to than hype up, this disc is a great bonus when packaged with the huge sounds of disc one.

Overall this is a brilliant package and a must have for drum & bass fans. But, with the name Andy C attached did you really expect anything else?