What can be said about D Ramirez (aka Dean Marriott ) besides that he is one of the hottest properties in dance music today? This English house/electro/techno producer from Sheffield, Northeast UK isn’t a newbie to the scene, having forged a healthy career in the 90s, however it is in 2006 that he enjoyed both underground and chart success with his remix of Bodyrox Yeah Yeah, plus some hot remixing work for names like Roger Sanchez, Ferry Corsten and Plump DJs that has in turn made him massive! To top it off, last year he released La Discotek, a track that has truly made him a global name in the commercial electro house scene. The single features a load of remixes as well as the easily recognizable funky arse-grooving original and the deeper darker electro-ladden D.Ramirez dub.

Shakedown step up the pace, adding funkier breaks to their remix, whereas Darren Emerson manipulates it right back, pushing it more into more electro territory yet maintaining a solid dance beat. Cagedbaby’s mega long remix lost me in a myriad of heavy vocal work and down-tempo sounds all over an inappropriately fast beat. Would suit the more alternative listener. To go one further, Emerson Todd’s remix which rounds of the single totally grated on my poor ears, with its heavy re-work of the main beat, adding ‘whoops’ and bleeps that I just couldn’t handle for long. To be honest, I’m not much of an electro fan yet I can enjoy and appreciate the original and D.Ramirez dub, however the remixes just never seem to reach the same heights for me.

Anyhow at the end of the day, La Discotek is and continues to be a massive hit here in the commercial market, with it still being heard in clubs, bars, shops and cars. The remixes are for those seeking much more from their electro. D Ramirez is a name we haven’t seen the last of – if he keeps churning our numbers like this, I suspect 2007/2008 will also be massive for him again.