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Various Artists - Wild Weekends, mixed by Shamus & Baby Gee
Created On August 18th, 2008 by SLIDINGDOORS
You would have thought that DJs as well known as Shamus and Baby Gee might have ramped up the Wild label a little… Unfortunately this is not the case on Wild Weekends, and although I predicted as much I’m still disappointed!
Like most, I first heard about Wild FM back in the early 90s when it was vying for a fulltime broadcast license. The competition was fierce between contenders Free FM (a gay radio station), Kick FM (dedicated to Country music) and Wild. Kick FM won out in the end, but it did launch Wild FM onto the dance scene in Sydney. You could even say that it was the start of commercial dance in Australia. For a while it was a huge success, renowned for commercial “floor fillers”. The label died off somewhat as Aussie dance lovers started to spread their wings and discover their own styles, however, looking deeper underground for their music.
Shamus and I have had a DJ/dancer relationship for years, and I always looked for his name on line ups. He was such a staple at Sounds on Sunday in Greenwood’s amazing courtyard, and I looked forward to a solid dance whenever I saw he was due to play. He is one of the few DJs that plays for a crowd and not himself. He reads his crowd beautifully and his timing is impeccable. Lending his talents to disc one, I was curious to see what he would bring to the label. Starting off well with Gusto’s Disco’s Revenge and Mobin Master’s Show Me Love, these will always get bodies on a dancefloor. Lulling them into a coma after that is not exactly ideal.
On several occasions I got my hopes up and thought he was really going to punch in with a big track, but no… in fact, a couple of times I almost forgot the CD was playing! Throwing in an electro twist to these mixes did not add much excitement to the set, and the only way I could think to describe it is monotonous bordering on repetitive. Hi Tack’s Silence (an absolute anthem!) and a re-tooled version of Basement Jaxx Where’s Your Head At even go nowhere. I’m wondering if this is part of the issue; that there’s nothing new or ground breaking about the CD. Adding your own twist to anthems is great but you MUST get it right, and in this case he misses the mark.
Bay Gee made his name as resident DJ for Brisbane’s hottest club Family. His diversity is huge as he is comfortable playing most styles. Electro, house and trance are his forte, and I was equally interested to see what he would do with disc two. Paul Johnson’s Get Get Down 2008 was an interesting inclusion, and it slides beautifully into Sidney Sampson & Skitzofrenix You Don’t Love Me. However, once again, as the tracklisting wears on it becomes somewhat boring. That being said there is a massive version of Utah Saints’ Something Good 08. Funkerman’s Speed Up is irritating and probably could have been left off the mix altogether… Baby Gee definitely adds another level to the mix, but like Shamus it’s a little unfulfilling.
If you are a die-hard Wild fan or are just starting out in the dance scene, then this CD is for you. Club music with training wheels, if you will. I can’t see this compilation igniting any dancefloor fires… better luck next time guys.
djlt says...
heh... i actually quite liked the cd :)