I got my hot little hands on this tasty double CD a couple of weeks ago. I couldn’t really resist when I saw Nubreed’s name on the title. I’m a long time fan of the lads and I’m always happy to pick up a tune or album from them. I wasn’t too sure about King Unique though. I was under the impression that the style of music wasn’t exactly progressive, but I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Good decision that, cos as it happened, I developed much stronger feelings for the KU disc than the Nubreed one, which was a little unexpected.

I really felt that the KU mix offered a smooth, bassy, ballsy, bouncy groove that prevented me from turning it off or changing tracks to quickly. Modeselektor’s “Ziq Zaq” kicks things off in typical wobbly style and the mix moves quickly (in musical terms, not time wise) and eloquently through a range of more down tempo stuff – the sort of thing you stick on after a big night – before we run into the first stand out track, Kupon’s “Zoom Out”. This track offers a massive punchy beat and solid tech sounds that just make you wanna dance. Not jump around like a loon, but just grind away on the dancefloor, or in the kitchen, or lounge room. Whatever’s closest I guess. From here we swing into the now classic “Night Falls” by Booka Shade, which showcases the true techno sound that they have become famous for. More minimal in style, it offers the perfect introduction to the next part of the mix, which in my mind, is the best section of 10-20 mins on either disc.

KU smoothly cross from “Night Falls” into “I Try” by Francois Dubois, then into Kupon’s “Zoom Out” mashed with Felix Da Housecat’s “Rocket Ride”. It just works so well. Especially the mash up. The two tracks compliment each other amazingly well, and I find myself constantly returning to this point on the CD. The vocals of “Rocket Ride” are up beat, catchy and fun, whilst the backing track “Zoom In” is darker with a rolling bassline and tight percussion. The rest of the mix could not expect to be as good as this, but the transitions from track to track are all tight as a nun’s… shoe laces, and the tunes are pretty cool too. Take particular note of Thomas Schumacher’s “RedPurple”, it’s a real solid track.

Whilst defining the KU mix as prog may be imaginative to say the least, there’s no way you could deny that the Nubreed disc is prog in all it’s Aussie, breaky, gritty glory. It’s not the best mix I’ve ever heard by the boys, and it’s not really as good as I was hoping, but it’s still good. There’s heaps of Aussie-produced, Aussie remixed stuff. In fact most of it is. And there are some real quality tracks in there. I like Danny Bonnici and Dan Mangan’s “Periwethel”, with it’s glitches and awesome beat structure, and Vance Musgrove’s remix of Headland’s “Nightfall” is a great intro track to the mix. I felt that perhaps the mix didn’t really go anywhere. I know that some progressive should be like that, subtle changes, mind-altering sounds and smooth transitions, but I think it missed the mark a little. The mix, technically, is perfect, there’s not a beat or a hat or a melody that doesn’t fit perfectly into its surroundings, but I guess it just lacked feeling.

That said, however, the second of my favourite bits on the compilation comes in the form of the Hook N Sling remix of the Sarah McLeod (of Super Jesus) track “He Doesn’t Love You”. This is a truly awesome song, and a really solid way to finish off the CD. It’s got the great vocals of Sarah and a gritty, grooving, gargantuan bassline and f*ck-off break beat. I can’t wait to play this track out and watch it devastate a dancefloor – because it will. Awesome. So that was an enjoyable way to finish off a pretty decent mix.

I came into doing this review with predetermined ideas about what I would like and dislike, and like all quality music should do, it educated me and made me see and hear things I would have not thought I would. I really enjoyed the King Unique mix, even though I would have previously argued that it wasn’t my style. And the Aussie Nubreed lads again delivered a solid progressive breaks selection that I’m sure most of their fans will enjoy. So check out this CD, EQ Recordings know what they’re doing, and here’s another case in point.