It’s a well-known fact that dance music has never really penetrated the mainstream in America in the same way it has in Australia and the UK. For a moment back in 2002, it looked like British dance trio Dirty Vegas were going to fix that up, with their gorgeous fusion of progressive house, acoustic rock, and pop melodies taking their self-titled debut album into the top 10 of the Billboard charts. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out, arguably because of the absolute turd they put out as a second album. Indeed, if you look up poo, rubbish, crap, trash and waste in the dictionary, you will see a picture of Dirty Vegas’ One album. Nice tunes, but they forgot to bring the dance beats.

In between the release of those two studio albums, they put out an awesome mix as part of The Trip series, gathering together an eclectic collection of rap, soul, pop and rock, all grounded in a classic Balearic vibe. They created a delicious sonic cake, mixing ingredients from INXS, Marvin Gaye, Tears For Fears, 4 Hero, Grace Jones and Run DMC, amongst others. So they certainly dropped the ball on the second album, so much in fact that hardly anyone bought it, and so they split up, succumbing to second album syndrome.

Having recently re-grouped, they’ve turned back to dance music, staging hybrid live/DJ shows, and now they release this mix on Roger Sanchez’s Stealth label. Recorded live at Sankeys in Manchester, the guys throw down a beat-driven collection of tech house that has its moments, but overall it’s all a bit one-way and lacking in contrast. While I’ll make an exception for Armin van Buuren’s recently released Universal Religion 4, I’ve never been a fan of live mixes recorded on CD. What’s the point? If I want a clubbing experience, I’ll go to a club. A CD for home listening needs to be different to a club DJ set. I think that’s the issue I have with this. If I was at Sankeys when it was recorded I’m sure I would have had a great time, but at home I’m just not feeling it.

The mix starts with the Dirty Vegas remix of Take My Hand by Nightriders, and it sets up the tribal rhythmic foundations of the mix nicely. The samba-esque beats of Saeed Younan’s Backroom Honey make for an intriguing few minutes, but then I find myself drifting off during tracks from Tolfrey & Ramirez, Death Metal Disco Scene and Santos, all of which sound peculiarly average in this mix. Layers of beats are all very good, but they need colouring with vocals, melody, or at the very least some kind of variation in sound.

The hypnotic grooves and vocals that permeate Charles Ramirez’s Working Hard and Victor Vera & Mijail’s Jungler go some way towards wrestling the mix away from complete blandness. The groove gets a little funky with the surging Passarani remix of If You Love Me Tonight by Maja, but then things get rather pedestrian. When the familiar bouncing synths of the Mark Knight & D. Ramirez collaboration with Underworld on Downpipe appear, it’s a blessed relief. At last, some melody and some colour! The mix concludes with a track from Dirty Vegas themselves, and it’s a progressive monster built around layers of synths, epic vocals and rolling beats. It’s an amazing finish to an otherwise bewilderingly average mix.

The lesson here seems to be that the boys should stick to producing their own tracks. If you like your mixes beat-heavy and with very little melody then you may find something to enjoy here. If not, then I’d suggest spending your dollars on something else, as I think investing in this would only end in disappointment. Ultimately, it’s just not interesting enough to warrant repeated listens.