Last year, Ministry of Sound launched a new compilation series focusing on the “emerging” underground sound of house. The end result was more like an advertorial for Deamau5 than a serious compilation, yet it nonetheless marked the entrance of some new sounds into mainstream club fodder. MOS are back with the second instalment, and they now look to be taking this new direction a little more seriously. The first release suffered from being a little too generic – without a DJ at the helm, it came off as bland and lacked credibility. This time they’ve done the right thing and got some serious names on board. Local hero Hook N Sling is at the helm of the first disc, with fast rising Canadian DJ-cum producer Adam K the other one to get the nod.

Right off the bat, let’s get one thing clear – this is not a progressive house release. MOS are using the term “progression” loosely and have allowed their two DJs to explore their own respective pockets of big room house. First up is Hook N Sling who has put together a compilation that is quite the revelation. Tightly mixed, beautifully programmed and constructed with a deadly focus, this is a mix full of quality. Sling AKA Anthony Maniscalco shows that he is not just a talent in the studio, but also knows a thing or two about DJing. The music here has a tough yet totally accessible edge – it is deep, driving, bouncy tech, laced with a touch of menace and a hip-thrusting imperative. Despite the familiar vocal of the opening track of Oliver Twizt’s You’re Not Alone, Sling quickly takes us to big room tech house territory with his own collaboration with Kid Kenobi, Another Night. Then boom, a flurry of beats from the likes of Felix Baumgartner, MDX, Neon Stereo and Laidback Luke explore the limits of your ear canal’s bass response and we are in a head-slamming groove.

The pace is relentless until we hit Deadmau5’s Slip (which, no matter what you think about our recently tattooed friend, is still a cranking piece of music). Some proper big room sounds follow from Style of Eye and Popof – epic builds and slamming basslines. The journey reaches an apt conclusion with Sling’s own Pryda-esque track Highball before melting into the subdued sounds of Bertie Blackman’s Town of Sorrow. Quality stuff. The only thing the mix suffers from is perhaps being a touch too “one-note”. There’s not enough musical punctuation; it lacks the musical equivalent of a semi-colon (like the one I just used to make this point) to give the ears a breather.

Adam K delivers a disc featuring some of the more luscious sounds he’s become to be known for. More upfront, upbeat, and even a touch unexpected, the mix weaves together a diverse collection of sounds, straying from straight-up house, a load of electro and even some classic progressive. Starting off with the Patricia Never Leaves the House from Dr Kucho!, he thrusts the mix straight into the funk before cleverly melting into Audiojack’s tasty take of Underworld’s Holding The Moth. The tech-house sounds continue before things start to unravel with the inclusion of a good lashing of electro house in the form of Kurd Maverick’s take on Blue Monday. From here we are dropped into a syrupy prog-cum-trance remake of I Need to Feel Love (by, of course, Adam K and Soha) that is annoying only because I like it more than I should. This marks the beginning of the requisite passage of sultry female vocals, but by now Adam K seems to be taking us in too many directions and the musical flow gets distracted by one too many earnest warblings.

Adam K has opted to include probably his biggest release to date Twilight, yet this tune also made an appearance on the first Progression release and despite being layered with the Shakedown’s At Night, it does not offer anything we’ve not heard before. Gat Décor’s Passion is a surprising and welcome inclusion, and things should really have finished up with Beautiful Life from Gui Borrato but we get one more track than we need.

So what we have here is a compilation of surprising contrasts. Adam K’s disc succeeds only in that it is a touch more memorable, yet in the mixing and programming stakes, Mr Sling is light years ahead. On one hand a tightly focused effort that suffers from its own relentless energy, and on the other an upfront fluffy collection of tunes that many will find be perfect for many a Saturday night warm up. Certainly a step in the right direction from Ministry, let’s hope they continue to cast their net wide to expose some of the great Australian talent we have on offer.