I remember one Sunday morning in 2002 I was watching Rage on ABC and saw the video of X-Press 2’s latest hit track Lazy, featuring David Byrne. I was thinking to myself at the time that this would probably be another one-hit-wonder from a British group I hadn’t heard of. Soon enough, I discovered they’d in fact been doing their thing since the early 1990s – and are still going strong.

The two-disc ‘best of’ collection Raise Your Hands shows off X-Press 2’s impressive production pedigree. From their signature tracks Lazy and London Xpress, to their twisted underground anthems Rock 2 House and AC/DC, Raise Your Hands showcases an exquisite selection of material. The gritty touch of Muzikizum and Give It, featuring the vocal talent of Kurt Wagner, bring texture to the compilation, while Smoke Machine is a big-room tribal house anthem. New number Fire, well supported by the vocal talents of hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa, will surely emerge as one of the greatest tracks of this party season. Disc One rounds out with Witchi Tai To, featuring The Polyphonic Spree frontman Tim De Laughter – a true feelgood send-off.

Disc 2 brings together remixes of X-Press 2 by standout artists like Radioslave, Freeform Five and Norman Cook, with X-Press 2 providing some interesting alternative versions of their own work. As a whole, Raise Your Hands is a well-rounded tribute to the diverse sounds of X-Press 2.