(Pacha)

Reviewing house music is always something that I do with more than a dollop of hesitation.  Mainly because I feel that I really don’t know enough about the DJs and the types of house music that they play.  House music is so varied that in all likelihood I would find myself listening to music that I can enjoy in very small doses but that would drive me to distraction if I had to listen to more than two hours of it. So I experienced immense relief when I started listening to Hector Romero’s mix; it was a CD of exactly the sort of house music that I love.

I usually expect the opening tracks to be quite down-tempo as the DJ builds the mix, but Hector has an unconventional style, deciding instead to get into things from the outset.  Groove laden bass lines underpin the opening track as little build-ups lift the intensity of Turntablerocker’s “I Heard You Were Dead”, giving way to a strong piano riff in the aptly named “Piano Track”.  I bet the producer sat up all night thinking of that name!  If this track doesn’t have you bouncing around and looking for a space to dance, check your pulse!

If the first two tracks surprised me by being unexpectedly inviting, then the third track caught me off-guard by being exactly what I had been dreading the whole album might be like.  “No More Conversations” by Freeform 5 has a really commercial “disco” feel to it, reminding me instantly of Sophie Ellis Baxter or teenage years spent watching girls dancing around their handbags.  I was listening to the song in the car and was discussing the shortcomings of the track with my wife when suddenly we heard a little voice coming from behind us: our three-year-old daughter was singing along and she announced, “I like this song daddy”.  She also likes Hi-5 and The Wiggles!

Luckily, that track is the only blemish on an otherwise solid and at times extremely interesting mix of house music.  If “no more conversations” brought back terrible memories of school discos in the 1980’s, then “Watching You” by the unfortunately named Tiny Stikz (Is anyone else reminded of Nick Skitz?) delights the senses with nasty bass lines and the vocals of a woman who oozes sultry sex appeal. 

Hector Romero uses clever track selection to ensure that the mix keeps the listener interested and engaged at all times.  Far too often a DJ will play a sequence of too-similar tracks. Hector, however, winds his way from dirty into brighter sounding electro house and then into messy little numbers that stop and start and jar the senses … whilst not offending them entirely.

The unconventional turns back into the conventional with “Te Quiero” – must every house mix feature a flamenco guitar?  I’m not averse to this instrument, but it is getting tiresome. Admittedly, “Te Quiero” is saved from the mundane by the use of a sultry female voice.  I know this has also been done repeatedly, but I don’t think I will ever tire of the sound of Spanish women whispering sexy things in “my” ear. I do hope my wife doesn’t find out!

If you love to sing along to big house numbers, then Narcotic Thrusts “Waiting for You” towards the back end of this mix is for you. The vocals on the track sound amazingly similar to Kylie Minogue and it’s no surprise to learn that Narcotic Thrust actually remixed Kylie’s “Red Blooded Woman” in 2004.  Maybe they got some pointers from Australia’s favourite daughter! But my absolute favourite vocal track in this mix is Slok’s “Lonely Child”.  It’s deliciously wicked and it gets body moving every time.

All in all this is a thoroughly enjoyable house mix and one that I will be putting on in my car whenever I feel like something with great variety that does not take itself too seriously. I am a fan of the 2 DJ compilation format.  Not only does it allow you to sample work by obscure artists, but it also increases the depth and variety of tracks on the CD. So, when Hector Romero’s mix was so enjoyable, I had high hopes for Juan Diaz’s mix. 

The mix opens with “Afrika” by Marlon D, a fairly up-funk fused house sound that uses a repetitive and blurred vocal as well as an MC-style voiceover to compliment the distinct drumbeats.  As the drums fade, the soothing sounds of piano and a female vocal fuse into proceedings and wash away the harsher sounds leaving only soaring beauty which manages to stop me in my tracks.  I move yet am utterly still all in the same moment.  A moment to savour!

All moments pass, however, and this one is no different – the rhythms change back to a pulsating funk sound, tinged with electro bleeps that compliment the drums, rather than pushing against them.  But just as quickly, Juan winds back towards flowing sounds once more, with the wonderfully named “Fatal Song”.  Synth melodies lead into small build-ups producing a sound that grabs the listener and throws them into the middle of the dance floor.  I can see why they chose Juan Diaz to parter Hector Romeo on this compilation as so far he really has matched him blow for blow. 

The next trio of songs really are the highlight of Juan’s mix as he continues to impress with his track selection.  Grant Nelson’s “Je suis ta drogue” has a bass line and progression that is scarily similar in may ways to tracks that Sasha and Digweed included in the original Renaissance compilation, but the hypnotic repetition is broken by the wonderful “Housemusic”.  Scattered effects build in intensity until the vocal drops into your consciousness and the breakdown silences proceedings momentarily before the process of long repetition starts up once again.  Juan’s fusion from there to the next track catches me out time and again, so good is his selection.

Now, if this mix were a sporting event, say a game of football, I’d have to say that this mix definitely is a game of two halves.  If the first half is about different individuals pulling together, playing together brilliantly and creating a thing of utter brilliance, then the second half is a bunch of players all looking at one another, completely devoid of ideas and praying that their first half performance be enough to get them over the line.

It starts with another reworking of the 1984 club hit “Let the Music Play” by Shannon, which has been renamed Babylon (into a groove).  The beauty of “Let the Music Play” is Shannon’s climactic explosion into the verse at the end of a long chorus.  On this version, however, the producer uses the whole chorus whilst bizarrely missing out on the climax and as a result the song is much weaker.  Adding insult to injury, it’s been camped up well beyond any acceptable level.  Kujay Dada’s recent version is far superior and should have been used instead. “It’s killing me” is an apt name.  I shall say no more.

Two bad tracks in a row can sometimes be saved by a piece of brilliance.  Unfortunately, Juan chooses this moment to deploy the worst track of the mix.  Morillo’s re-mix of “Father” is dull, monotonous, uninspired dross. The track gives up from the outset and then whinges its way through another four minutes and forty seconds before it’s finally put out of its misery. Thankfully things pick up again after this, but to be honest, short of listening to a needle scraping across an empty turntable, it would be hard to get more boring than “Father” – and even that’s debatable.  Juan plays one of his own tracks to raise the bar a little and thankfully he succeeds: “Free” has a distinctly tribal feel to it and gives me hope of a strong finish …

... which fails to materialise. Juan opts instead for dull followed by obvious.  The final track is one of those “I’ve had a great time and I don’t mind a bit of cheese” moments which you’ll only forgive if the DJ has spent the set blowing you away.  Unfortunately for Juan, who started so brilliantly, I am now far from being in a forgiving mood.  Half a mix is not really good enough and it can’t compete with the brilliance of Hector Romero’s mix.

I recommend this compilation for Hector’s mix on its own; and in truth half of Juan’s mix is utterly brilliant, so you are getting one and half mixes of true quality. I’d say that’s worth your attention. But overall I was disappointed with this CD, because it had the potential to be one of my surprise recommendations of the year.