It’s been quite a while since we saw those mighty knights from Toolroom Records throw down a pallet of quality tunes, and mix them together to create one of those extra-special compilations that just refuses to leave your CD player. More than a year after he released his first Toolroom Knights release, the label’s very own white Knight himself Mark Knight again jumps behind the decks to present version 2.0, a two-disc foray into some of 2009’s very best house music – spanning across every possible sub-genre you could think to name. And this is a very, very good thing.

The first disc comes brings with it a particularly minimal and tech-heavy vibe, although the deep, funky house strains that open the mix would have you thinking otherwise. It begins with the late-night sparkling grooves of Sasse’s Break Up, which signal a classy listen for the rest of the album, before the jazzy orchestra fades into Ragga Fonda’s chilled filler Libell, with even more class being cooked up courtesy of Andre Crom & Luca Doobie’s Parklife.

When the minimal really kicks in however, it evokes a fantastic image of the bonfire on the beach, and a DJ under the shack who’s dropping the tunes. We continue to follow Mark Knight on a journey into deep minimalism, which somehow still manages to keep that house music ‘bounce’ intact. With his bleepy, druggy remix of Black Science Orchestra’s Save Us, he barely bats an eye before dropping you into the miniscule rhythmic beeps and the bouncy saxophones of Kumbalha from Saeed Younan. It doesn’t stop there, because later on the disc we’re treated to Mark Knight’s Mannheim over a Hedgetrimerz Do You Feel It acapella, which delivers some nice grizzly vocals over some wicked cool Mark Knight rhythms and killer kicks.

As the night moves ever closer towards sunrise, things just gets deeper with Matteo DiMar’s Addicted, trading some of the minimalism for restrained tech pops and electro bass sweeps. The closing few tracks prove even further that Knight knows how to pick his records; it’s not just the best sounding tracks, but ones that also ooze class. With Mark Mendes & Mike Jacinto’s Relic, he serves up a heavy bassline that’s accompanied by a heart-rate monitor – because with a track this deep, it’s a definite necessity. The closing track once again sees Mark Knight working the studio knobs with his partner in crime Funkagenda, remixing another modern classic in the form of Leftfield’s Phat Planet which sees the duo carving up a modernized take that’s suited to the big-room dancefloors with lasers set to destroy.

Disc one might be heavy with minimal, but it’s minimal that’s turbo charged for the dancefloor – even so, things move even further into peaktime with the deep, thumping house that’s heard on the second disc of the latest Toolroom Knights. Opening soulful and deep with Soul Minority’s huge track A Soul Thing, over the course of the mix you’ll be listening to Lisbon Sunrise from S Groove as you chill at the oceanside with an early-morning groove, before we head back to the bonfire to get minimal again with Funkagenda providing some tougher techno rhythms. Knight then dials up the heat with Tiger Stripes, before lifting us even further with Alan Fitzpatrick’s remix of Digweed & Muir’s Aquatonic, laced over an acapella of X-Press 2’s Smoke Machine, leading the party gradually towards its conclusion with its energetic, pulsating beats

Knight then dives into Wolfgang Gartner & Francis Preve’s chart-topping Yin, dropping in some deep beats and scratchy electro bass to help draw us out of the groove-induced coma we’ve been sucked into. And in a fantastic finish, Knight’s final bow for the disc is his stunning progressive remix of Faithless new track Music Matters, complimenting Cass Fox’s vocals superbly with an energetic beat and impressive synth work.

Toolroom Knights is built like a story, a night out listening to some amazing music on the sand as the bonfire rages next to the party. It’s an amazing effort for ‘version 2.0’ of label boss Mark Knight’s contribution to the series, and shows just how much the Toolroom Records stable are across everything that’s going on in house music – from tech to funk, from electro to progressive, and everything in between. It’s a double-disc mix album that will no doubt start and finish your night in the classiest way possible, and it’s as good a reason as ever for being house proud in 2009.

Check out the tracklisting…

Disc one:
1. Sasse – Break Up
2. Ragga Fonda – Libell
3. Andre Crom & Luca Doobie – Parklife
4. Audiofly – 1999
5. Black Science Orchestra – Save Us (Mark Knight’s Rulin’ Mix)
6. Saeed Younan – Kumbalha
7. Adam S – What’s Occurring
8. Mark Knight – Mannheim
Hedgetrimerz – Do You Feel It (Acapella)
9. Mark Knight Feat. Dan Diamond – Club Politics
10. Matteo DiMarr – Addicted
11. Mark Mendes & Mike Jacinto – Relic
12. Kalva & Paul Thomas – Rizer
13. Richard Dinsdale & D-Unity – Monday Evils
14. Leftfield – Phat Planet (Mark Knight & Funkagenda Remix)

Disc two:
1. Soul Minority – A Soul Thing
2. Matt Masters – Deep Or What (Milton Jackson Remix)
3. S Groove – Lisbon Sunrise
4. Funkagenda – Do Geese See God
5. Workidz & Randall – Delta 51
6. Funkagenda – Breakwater (Dataworx Code Mix)
7. Alan Fitzpatrick – Amsterdam
Foremost Poets – Moonraker (Acapella)
8. Ismael Rivas & Luis Damora – Black State (Steve Nocerino Remix)
9. Tiger Stripes – Heat
10. John Digweed & Nick Muir – Aquatonic (Alan Fitzpatrick Remix)
X-Press 2 – Smoke Machine (Acapella)
11. Wolfgang Gartner & Francis Preve – Yin
12. D-Formation – Signs & Portents 09 (Original Rework Part 1)
13. Faithless – Music Matters Feat. Cass Fox (Mark Knight Remix)