(MAT Recordings)

Throughout the last decade of endless musical fads, Kate Monroe has stayed amazingly true to the sound that she is so well known for. This obviously has a lot to do with the music she plays and the music she loves being one and the same. As well as being a highly respected figure in industry circles, through her long-running Sublime residency and myriad other appearances around the country, Kate has developed an immense and devoted fanbase. And it’s not hard to see why. 

Although she has been known to play a fairly wide variety of styles (I recently witnessed her perform impressively at an 80s themed benefit, despite admitting her musical diet in that era consisted of mostly AC/DC), the mainstay of Kate’s sets has always been classic vocal house. Opener You Are My Everything from U J Project is a perfect example. T-Jam’s It’s a Shame has Monroe written all over it, and a glorious slab of old school piano driven disco goodness it is too. Things take a decidedly techy turn with Family Business from Special Forces, and it becomes clear we have reached the chunky party section with Sneak’s booty shaker Que Pasa. JSonic’s Release the Pressure is a mindblowing piece of instrumental house, and easily the stand out track of this compilation. It weaves in and out, teasing for a full 3 minutes before it hits full force. Some very classy, well thought out mixing from Ms Monroe. The electro flavoured Rollin’ Stone from The Sunlounge takes things back to down and dirty, a theme continued with A Studio/Polina’s SOS (Skylark mix). Stand By Me is another impressive tune from Inaya Day and Mr Timothy.

This is the first release on Kate’s newly established label Mat Recordings, and the first part of a planned series of three compilations covering the full spectrum of house music. The second instalment (Mat White) will apparently cover the full-on dancefloor department, and I can’t wait to hear it. The beauty of mixes such as this is that they bring to our attention tracks which would never be picked up for mainstream compilations. There are a few well known numbers thrown in (Sneak, MrTimothy), but for the most part Kate has brought together a stack of exceptionally good quality underground house, most of which none of us will have heard before. Kate’s mixing is technically flawless but unobtrusive – the tracks are clearly the stars here. As a side note, the cover art is exceptional – understated, classy and a million miles away from the usual Hed Kandi-esque house mix treatment. Monroe fans will probably already own it, but for anyone with even a passing interest in top quality, fad-free house this is a must have.