Various Artists - One Love: Smash Your Stereo, mixed by Jason Herd, Andy Murphy & Junior Sanchez

You want the sound of now, the sound that is rocking crowds Australia wide? Then you need to get your hands on Onelove’s 6th installment in their hugely successful CD series. ‘Onelove: Smash Your Stereo serves up three discs of commercial electro and house that has been knocking the socks off Onelove regulars in Melbourne and is sure to be lapped up across the country. With two internationals and one local DJ to mix it up, Onelove has sure come a long way from their early beginnings. Established in 2001 by Peter Raff and Frank Cotela at The Prince Bandroom in Melbourne, Onelove has become one of Australia’s longest running, most loved and successful club nights. Screaming 80s/90s flashbacks and sampling galore, Onelove: Smash Your Stereo sticks to the old skool formula that has been working so well for them for a while now.

UK DJ Jason Herd starts the night off at Midnight (disc 1), keeping it totally vocal, funky house music, perfect for the girls to get them dancing early on. A prolific producer in his own right, Midnight features Herd productions like So Strong and Wawa & Herd feat. Amanda Wilson’s The Right Way, alongside a beautiful sample in Inaya Day’s Breakaway and a sample that only older dance music fans will pick up in James Fitch feat. Sunscreem’s Perfect Motion. What commercial electro/house compilation isn’t complete without old Bob Sinclar in there too?! Oh and how could I forget Dave Spoon? AARGH!

3AM (disc 2) is mixed by Melbourne’s Andy Murphy who steps things up a gear into main electro house territory with very much the sound of now. Young Andy ‘s set starts the fire with huge tracks from Calvin Harris Acceptable in the 80s and Groove Armada Get Down, and sticks hard and fast to the fashionable past, and to tracks laddened with squeaks, blips and all that jazz. Shake that thing giiiiirrrrl – Solid Groove and Sinden’s Din Da Da and The Freelance Hellraiser’s Weightlessness are definite party-stompers for today’s kids, sure to get the girls bopping about in their heels. The funky I Am Finn number I Love You steps the beat up while Jurgen Paape’s Take That (Drive Remix) and Robot Needs Oil’s Volta (with the not so elegant remix by John Acquaviva ) remind you of another venue in Melbourne, one open much longer than Onelove…. you know which one I mean! 80s/90s are alive and well in this set with Fatboy Slim’s early guise of Mighty Dub Katz and Richard Grey’s rework of Tainted Love. This disc encapsulates the true Onelove sound and gives the best realistic vibe of the venue for those who’ve never been.

Legendary DJ and New York institution Junior Sanchez takes us into the Backroom (disc 3) for a mash up mix of cutting-edge electro, nu-rave, indie dance and classics that helped shaped today’s sound. With more samples than you can poke a stick at, listening to this is a delight for the dance music trainspotter or sheer annoyance for those seeking more creativity and originality. Kavinsky’s Testarossa and Larry Tee feat. Princess Superstar’s Licky (Work it Out) screams of old skool in a wickedly masterful way, whereas the rework of PM Dawn’s Set Adrift on Memory Bliss is questionable on various levels. Dirtier, grittier and grimy, with more layers than your average lasagna, Sanchez’s set shows his experience and tight DJing skills. His experience sometimes goes too far for example Babe Ruth’s The Mexican is a huge flashback for this market, you might have to ask Mum and Dad about that one.

Onelove: Smash Your Stereo is sure to be a winner for the mainstream electro/house market and for the electro-heads out there too. With a bit of something that even the biggest dance music devotee could dance to, Onelove have yet again produced a compilation that is annoyingly catchy and somewhat mainstream, yet is at times surprisingly good and well defined. A fun party-starter compilation for your collection.

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