Hard dance in Australia is a genre which has, of late, really been going from strength to strength. More and more DJs are expanding into production, so the Australian flag is being flown ever higher. Leading the charge is Sydney’s purveyor of all things hard, fast and euphoric; DJ Yoshi. He is here to show us all how it’s done with his debut artist album, ‘Caught in the Rhythm’. Yoshi seems to stand out from the pack, as his sound is inspired more by the UK hard dance style rather than mainland European hard trance and hardstyle, which makes for a refreshing change. I slapped on the CD and instantly the party began, but was it all I had hoped for?

The intro on track 1 invited me to take a journey through “the hardcore underground” with Yoshi leading the way. I love hearing CDs and DJ sets alike which have an excellent intro and this one sets the tone nicely for the trip that lies ahead. There are no punches pulled here, the CD goes straight into top gear with ‘31 Seconds’, with it’s flawless four to the floor beat and clubby synths. The relentless romping ‘Rhythm’ continues on into ‘Visionary’, a track which is quintessentially hard dance, although the melody had me bouncing up and down with my hands in the air nonetheless. This isn’t brutal hard trance nor is it stuff that pushes the boundaries, but then again, does it have to? ‘Caught in the Rhythm’ is simple yet highly effective.

One thing not so good about the album is that it is loaded with samples and references from bygone classics. Like ‘MC Undertaker’ and the vocal sample from ‘What’s This?’ by Tilt. I like it when this is done to good effect, but far too many hard dance CDs seem to rely on them. What about making future classics instead of re-treading a bygone era? That being said ‘Caught in the Rhythm’ is a party CD, and adding those samples adds to the party vibe, so in the end it’s all good.

Yoshi turns up the heat big time with ‘Mental Atmosphere’, this one proving why Yoshi has been playing regularly overseas, including the big hard dance parties in London, with its whopping bassline and feel good melody just how they like it over there. As the tracks progress, the sound gradually starts including a more European feel, whilst still having that overall UK hard trance complexion. ‘Drop the Acid’ features that vocal sample from ‘What’s This?’ (one of the greatest prog/tech house tracks of all time in my humble opinion) and uses it to great effect during the breakdown. I couldn’t get enough of the toe tappingly techy beat of this tune.

Track of the album honours have to go to ‘50,000 Watts’ due to its raw, savage and unrelenting synths. It takes the album from the more commercial clubby sounds into darker and more innovative territory. The remainder of the tunes until the curtain dropper ‘Touch Me’ all had that big swirling build up synth before the beat took over, and even though they sounded great, as a producer I had come to expect something just a little bit more creative from such a high flyer. Nonetheless it’s a good listen, especially if (like me) you have a sweet tooth for big rolling synths.