(Invada/Universal)

One of Australia’s most reknowned beat makers, Katalyst has taken some of the most diverse tracks, from a wide array of eras, in a wide array of genres, and mixed them together into what is a must have two disc set for all music connoisseurs.

Katalyst burst onto the scene with his brilliant Manipulating Agent and Agent Manipulated releases a couple of years back. The subsequent acclaim has seen him in much demand and more importantly got him the major label deal to put together these two discs.

As the booklet says Katalyst has a wide variety of musical influences and apparently a brilliant ear for a classic track, over two discs here some of music’s finest in Roy Ayers, Nina Simone and Ramsey Lewis sit beside modern day hip hop icons like Nas and The Wu-Tang Clan.

What Katalyst has succeeded in doing is rare on a compilation. Each track is an absolute killer. You can recognise samples from some of your favourite songs on old classics such as I Chase The Devil, I Put A Spell On You, Calafornia Soul or Space Blues, with realisations such as how everyone from Kanye West to the Prodigy has bastardised this track.

Next up get a taste of some golden era hip hop from Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Brand Nubian, Run DMC and Public Enemy. This is real hip hop, quality lyrics, gritty beats, funky samples, and not a reference to bling in sight.

Added to the above options are some hot tracks from modern day stars. Nas provides Get Down off his God’s Son album, there is Satasfied from underground star J-Live, The Red from Jaylib and I Changed My Mind from the Quannum Collective. Each track standing out yet fitting amongst its peers so well you would swear they were from the same era not as far as 30 years apart.

Mixing here is excellent, purists (like myself) will breath a sigh of relief as all tracks here are from vinyl and it still raises a smile when I here the inferior quality of an old classic mixed with vinyl surface noise. Katalyst keeps the tricks to a minimum here and the songs allowed to be heard in there intended form and he also manages to broach the various age gaps with smart track selection and clever individual mixes.

I have raved about this release but it truly deserves it. A must for lovers of hip hop with a funk background, it also provides enough points of interest for music lovers of any genre to get value for money. I’m not sure who said it but an appropriate quote for this release is “you cannot move forward without knowing where we have come from” and for the hip hop generation Dusted is a brilliant look into the past.