One of Australia’s favorite sons Grant Smillie brings us the first release in the new Audio Riot series. Smillie is one half of TV Rock and one of Australia’s most in demand DJs, hosting Nova FM’s ‘Overdrive’ every Saturday night in Adelaide and Melbourne which is the most up-to-date and listened to dance music show in the country. Audio Riot is the latest in a long line of mix compilation albums that Smillie has done, but this could well be his best. The first disc is a classic club mix while the second is a no rules Mash Up Mix where Smillie has given himself a free license to show off his programming and mixing prowess.

Disc 1 kicks of with All About House Music 2007 by Noir. A solid beginning that leads wonderfully into one of the tracks of 2007, Untitled by Jorgensen. If you own a radio or have been out in any pub and club in the past 12 months then there’s no doubt you’ve heard this big electro anthem. A lot of big hitters like this soon wear thin, but this track has an unerring structure that makes it impossible to dislike. A smash hit anytime its played, Smillie uses it to kick start his mix and set in stone the aural track he is taking you down for the next 70 minutes; which is slamming electro house of the highest possible quality.

As is the case with any other popular genre of the moment, electro house was swiped hard with a wide stretching brush that tried to tarnish the reputation of the genre. The genre has had to work harder than most to uphold its credibility and rid itself of a cheesy image that has polluted and eroded the quality of the genre itself. And disc 1’s mix is a classic example of electro house being popular for the masses, while also being musically sound. Untitled, Canto Della Liberta and my personal favourite Gail In The O are exceptional pieces of production. This mix is silky smooth all the way through and wouldn’t be out of place being played to any dance-floor at 3am anywhere in the country.

So It Goes is the only slight blip for the mix, an abstract piece that, only momentarily, throws the mix a little bit. Smillie though gets us back on track with another huge anthem of 2007, Coup D’etat by Bass Kleph with Australian producer extraordinaire Hook n Sling on the remix. Another personal favourite is highlighted in this mix, the Robbie Rivera remix of Federico Franchi’s huge single Cream. This is pure fun and house music at its very finest hour. Once again if you’ve been out anywhere in the past year, or at least even just have ears, you would’ve heard this anthem. Getting towards the end of the mix and there’s time for a few more highlights with the penultimate track Showrocker by Laidback Luke and the finale It’s True by Axwell & Sebastian Ingrosso.

Now we’re onto disc 2, and it’s mash up time. The first and it’s one of my favourites (yes AGAIN) with the Switch remix of Making Me Money. It’s hard to think that there has ever been a more catchy and groovy tune made than this one but I’m sure there has been… I’m just yet to find it! The Michael Jackson track is a little bit lost on me, as is Streamline by Swanky Tunes but the Ignition track Secret Sunday Lover is a solid piece that leads seamlessly into Business Acumen by In Flagrantni. It’s only 1 minute and 15 seconds in length, but what it lacks in length it makes up in effect.
Armand Van Helden’s huge hit single NYC Beat is the next highlight on the mix with this remix courtesy of Emperor Machine. One of the more popular tracks in 2007, this track still works on me with its layered structure, funky beat and groovy vocals.

Fischerspooner’s timeless classic Emerge is given a fresh new sound by a Naughty’s Chiefrocker remix. No matter what is twiddled and fiddled with this track, it’s always going to be a hit. And no mix compilation these days can be complete without a piece of production from the French producer extraordinaire Sebastien Leger, and this time Smillie uses Mars as the weapon of choice… With devastating effect. overall, the mix flows on without the same panache or punch that the first disc had but nether less is a solid installment from start to finish.

Smillie might have dropped the ball, albeit momentarily, with the second disc with its more abstract and obscure Mash Up vibe, but its his Club Mix on the first that is the real selling point. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better electro house mix this year. Smillie might be an evergreen stalwart of the dance music scene in Australia, but judging by these two discs he has a lot more music left in him.