Taking a shotgun approach is a tactic employed in many areas, not just shooting. In taking this avenue the subject is casting their nets far and wide, with the logic that the bigger spread of the launch the more likely reward. A label that has much more class than this, Wagram, has done just that with City Clubbing 2. A four-disc compilation, one for each of Paris, Berlin, London and NYC, aims to define the house sound in these regions, no doubt a label boss’ clever scheme.

Paris features the likes of Bob Sinclar and Kiko with his track Forces Of Life, and the Paris sound certainly has a harder edge since the early Dimitri days. Driving beats with a hint of prog are the go it seems; early disco seems to have taken a back seat to the modern bleeps and squeaks. Berlin is much of the same, the glitchy Leibe Ist… from Stephan Bodzin a trippy soundscape to contend with.

Swayzak’s Silent Luv with its heavy accented vocal number is a highlight of London, the rave stylings pf Coburn’s We Interrupt This Program are also great fun. You would expect New York to give us a bit more funk in the trunk, and it delivers the goods, well relatively speaking. India’s Love and Happyness is a definite treat on here as is the soulful Your Love from Frankie Knuckles, the melody instantly recognisable.

The collection of music on here is of high quality, but it lacks a definite soul. Jamming fifteen tracks to each and every disc, this is a good value package but it doesn’t deliver. It feels like takeaway music, something to put on in the background, the occasional nod for something special but on the whole a non-event.

In a word: Lazy.