(Ministry of Sound/EMI)

Greg Churchill is one of New Zealand’s hottest house exports at the moment. You only need to see his name next to the Ministry of Sound icon to realise he must be doing something right. “It’s Only a Mixtape” is a pretty cool concept. It’s based on a home studio type set up where the DJ just plays on his/her normal equipment the way they would normally do it. Bugger all the fancy equipment to get rid of the click and the blips – this is raw, and this is closer to what a real mixtape would be like.

It’s not a standout compilation, but it definitely does present as being a dance worthy CD. A lot of the tracks can be heard out at any of our clubs, and there’s nothing special about the mixing, it’s all pretty simple. What we do have though, is great snapshot of what’s actually being played around the place, especially in NZ. There are quite a few Kiwi productions, which is great to see, including some of Greg’s own tunes such as Lesser Meaning (a really cool track) and Denny Crone. If I were to categorise the sound, I’d say electro. There is a strong bass-driven flavour to a lot of the tracks, and that typical 80s sound that seems to be all the rage at the moment. Tracks like Luke Walker and DJ Loki’s Alpaca throw in some dirty breakbeat mayhem and I think this really adds to the CD, and gives a real club feel, which reminds me of 2am badness on the dancefloor. This vibe is continued with Zombie Nation and their track Paeng Paeng, which is rough as guts and perfect to get a crowd moving. Zombie Nation just can’t put a foot wrong at the moment, with the large majority of their stuff coming out being solid gold quality. Further along is Moguai’s Tonight – a sure fire way to make even the most tiresome of chin strokers get off their butts and wave their hands stupidly. Great track, with a genuine warmth that is often difficult to find in mainstream electronica at the moment.

If you want to dance around your bedroom, or warm yourself up for a good night out on the town, this is the CD for you! Don’t expect magic mixing, or breathtaking manoeuvres with 4 decks and a mixer – just expect a good fun CD.