(NRK Sound Division/Inertia)

Hailing from Mainz, near Frankfurt, Germany, Ian Pooley a.k.a. Ian Pinnekamp has been bridging the gap between techno and house for years, and this collection for NRK is no exception. Pooley has been releasing tracks on numerous record labels such as Force Inc, John Acquaviva’s Definitive Records, Effective Records and NRK for over a decade. Testament to his success is being picked up by mainstream artists such as Daft Punk, The Cardigans, The Beloved, Green Velvet and many more to remix their tracks.

Pooley has recorded three albums to date, his ‘98 debut Meridian and 2000 follow up Since Then for V2, plus his third and latest album Souvenirs for Ministry Of Sound released earlier this year. In 2001 he mixed Nite:life 06 for the NRK series, and following it up with Excursions for Obsessive Recordings in 2003. Renowned as one of the most respected producers in the genre of dance music, Pooley, also a member of MENSA, has been working heavily over recent years to complete an artist album that fully reflects his artistic development.

On Subterranean Soundtrack he bridges warmer Brazilian and Latin flavoured house with quirkier electro and techno sounds. Pooley opens the selection with some psychedelic electro-house-for-freaks with tracks like Chicken Lips’ Dub of Soul Mekanik Invents by Ben E Luz. From here he drifts into the minimal Superworld by Vince mixed by DJ T from Germany’s Get Physical label. Although they call it a dub mix, it sounds closer to electro as there’s no dubby bass-lines; although the mix is hardly devoid of them.

The compilation also features some of the big electro-house hits such as Turntable Rocker’s infectious strings and vocal-laden TROY, which also featured on fellow German’s Teifschwarz’s Misch Masch mix last year.  

From here, Pooley drops the listener into a deep minimal abyss with Sinema’s Confusion/The Riddle, before smoothing things out and jazzings things up with Mike Monday’s Ca$h, which samples the legendary Johnny Cash, amidst bumping squeaky house sounds.

Next he drops the Texan’s JT Donaldson and Tim Shumaker of 2nd Shift, with their mix of Switchin’ Channels by those formidable Freaks, Luke Solomon, Justin Harris and Co, with some hella booty shaking styles thanks to a funky guitar lick and bass-line. Followed by Natural Rhythm’s aptly titled stepping number Get Up On That Floor, by now you’ll definitely be out of your chair listening to this one.

This skips cleverly and perfectly matched into JT Donalson’s Making Music and brings up the vibe, before dropping into the delightfully deep Tool Time by Marino Berardi a.k.a. Joey Youngman, which once again leaves me saying: “This is lose yourself on the dance floor music at its best!”

From here, Pooley moves from the ultra funky tribal dub Westworld by Chiapet, to Moby’s mix of Fortran 5’s Heart On The Line with tinges of Italo-house keys and cutesy girly vocals, to the Latin-tinged Aziza by Satin Souls. There’s a slight wobble into 2Mutes’ Feeling Good, before returning to a more tech-house tip with French producer I: Cube’s Obvlivion and Carl Craig’s emotive high tech soul No More Words. Nu Mood Orchestra’s Rain finally finishes off the journey on sweet ethereal tech-house tip.

Already like a who’s who of dance music, Pooley’s second disc, a collection of his own productions, collaborations and remixes showcases even further talent in the deep house arena. Pooley gives a taste of some of his own gems including slapping house ditty Quatro, Brazilian flavoured Calypso Theme, percussive Latin-tinged The Fly Shuffle, and the discofied Allnighter and Missing You. His collaborations with Magik Johnson, including the sweet Piha, released on 12 inch earlier this year, and the percussive and psychedelic gem Heke, probably one of my fave tracks on the disc, gives further weight to Pooley’s current direction, alongside his remixes of Noel Nanton’s Latin track Your Love, Nick Holder’s extra-phat On My Mind and Miguel Migs soulful Petalpushing.

While some of Pooley’s former mixes have left me cold, A Subterranean Soundtrack is warm, deep and inspiring. NRK are certainly back to form, and who can wait to hear what they have in store for us heads next.