Masters of the feel good party tune, The Freestylers have been in the business for over ten years. Matt Cantor and Aston Harvey have toured the world, released four artist albums and are no strangers to Australian shores. Known for their funky mix of breaks, reggae, dancehall and hip hop, they have released a new mix album A Different Story Vol 1, and just in time for summer.

Showcasing all their big hits, mixed in with a hearty collection of banging tunes, this is pretty much a retrospective of their entire career. What you get is their tracks, interspersed with tracks that seemingly inspired the sounds that they have produced over the years. From their early work on We Rock Hard – in my opinion their best album – you get their dance floor fillers Drop the Boom, We Rock Hard and Rufneck, cut and pasted with a bit of breaks (*Hashim’s* Al Naafiysh (The Soul)); some old school electro (*Altern 8’s* Activ 8, Beat Club’s Security and Information Society’s Running); a smattering of house (*Adonis’* No Way Back) and some dope hip hop (_The Creator_ by Pete Rock & CL Smooth).

Then there’s a number of tracks from their subsequent albums, Pressure Point, Raw As F**k and Adventures in Freestyle, most notably their hits Get Down Massive, Fast Life, In Love With You, Beat It Down, The Slammer and their biggest hit to date, Push Up. Also featuring in this mix is their collaboration with Pendulum on the drum and bass hit Fasten Your Seatbelts (however, Painkiller is a notable omission).

The Freestylers have never been ones to limit themselves to one style, and it shows. Their influences run far and wide, and they seem to have a penchant for any type of music that sounds good. I know that’s a bit of a cliché but one listen to this album and for any dance music fan, it’ll bring back memories of summer. These tracks were what I listened to when I was starting out with dance music so they hold some sort of significance for me.

Featuring a number of high profile names in dance music, from the Autobots, Krafty Kuts and DJ Fresh and Deekline, the Freestylers have created the perfect mix for the upcoming festival season. Bringing it back to when it wasn’t all about electro.