Vicious Cuts Summer 2008 is the latest mix compilation to come from one of Australia’s hottest house music labels Vicious. Summer 2008 is the fourth installment in the revered series and is mixed by Ministry of Sound golden boy John Course and quite possibly Australia’s hottest current DJ/producer export Dirty South. The Vicious series pretty much goes head to head in the market with the previously mentioned industry stalwarts Ministry of Sound, pushing their electro house mix compilations into the highly competitive market with a great degree of success. Their previous three compilations have sold very well and by bringing together Course and South, all things point to a successful take up of this album; bearing in mind that the last time Course and South were together on a mix compilation album, Ministry of Sound Sessions Four they sold over 140,000 units!

There’s nothing new about what is delivered over the two discs on this album; maybe just a new way of delivering it. With 37 tracks over two big discs, the album hosts selectiongs from some of the world’s biggest names like Bodyrox, Luciana, Tocadisco, Bob Sinclar, Stonebridge, Potbelleez, Steve Angello, Laidback Luke and Carl Kennedy. In and around this are a heavy dose of singles, edits, remixes and reworks from a throng of Australian producers such as Dirty South himself, Freemasons and Vandalism.

The label boss John Course takes the reins on the first half of the album, and his mix is stock standard to what you’d expect to hear from Australia’s king of house music mix compilations. It seems no current house music compilation album can be released in Australia without Course delivering at least one of the mixes. Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing, as time and time again Course has delivered some of the country’s finest moments. But variety doesn’t really seem to be on the menu, as the same sound for all 20 songs is pretty prominent throughout. This however isn’t such a bad thing. Course finds his groove early on with Never Give Up, Sunday School and What Planet You On, before getting into the guts of the mix with Break of Dawn 2008, Frisbee and a personal favourite of mine Smash Disco by Vandalism.

The only exception to this rule of thumb could be Unique by Master Project, which breaks the shackles of the standard sound of the mix and is a devastating electro house anthem that is purely infectious. The rest of the mix is a bevy of electro house anthems that have been tried and tested over the past year, with The Nightrain, Gotta Keep On, Automatic and Feel Like Makin Love with the Potbelleez Don’t Hold Back acapella over the top. Penultimate track Darker Side of White is, for me, one of the most enjoyable tracks of the entire album. Slamming, slamming, slamming, SLAMMING electro house!

Flipping on disc two and it’s Dirty South’s time to impress. South has had a HUGE 12 months, causing havoc internationally with his remixes and releases, proving to the world that the boy from OZ is one of THE hottest producers in the world right now. His rise to the top echelon of house producers worldwide was complimented by his Grammy nomination and his latest project by being commissioned to remix none other than Snoop Dogg. South begins his mix by hitting you square between the eyes with the heavyweight single Be by Steve Angello & Laidback Luke, which is followed by his equally successful single Let It Go. It’s just one of 6 pieces of production featured on the album, with Everybody, Better Day, Minority and The End also featured, as well as South’s cracking remix of Body Crash by Buy Now. With the quality of production shown on display, it’s easy to see why the world of house music has become infectiously attuned to anything that is touched and produced by Dirty South.

And over the course of the mix he shows us his full bag of tricks. He doesn’t just mix in and out of each track, there’s acapellas, edits and effects thrown in and over the top of the tracks to give a better representation of Dirty South’s distinct style & sound. This is shown best with the use of Better Day acapella over Everybody Freankin’ and the Bob Sinclar I Feel For You acapella over Phunk, with a further three acapellas featured in the mix. And there’s some downright damaging electro house anthems scurried in and amongst the throng. Genesis, 555 and Kore really tickle my fancy, but none come close to Oxia’s 12 Years Later. This track is just delicious. It has the qualities of trance with its uplifting, euphoric, driving rhythm and is complimented beautifull by some driving house beats. Easily the best track of the album. The penultimate track Morumbi by Tocadisco is another enjoyable piece that flows effortlessly into the last track on the mix and the album, the aptly titled single from Dirty South himself, his famous Doors rework The End.

In summary if you dine out on a stable diet of Ministry of Sound, Pacha and indeed previous Vicious mix compilations then this album will be right up your alley. You’re not going to find any surprises in here, just a well presented and executed mix compilation album that delivers some delicious electro house music. A must have for the lovable electro house punters out there.