Various Artists - The 2006 Annual, Mixed by John Course & Mark Dynamix

(Ministry of Sound/EMI)

Ministry of Sound’s Annual series are like the McDonalds of the mix compilation world. You know what you’re getting, the quality is consistent and it’s enjoyable enough while you’re scoffing it down, but it tastes bland and leaves you feeling strangely unsatisfied once you’re finished. But like suckers we keep coming back for more – making the Annual series the most popular compilation series in Australian dance music history.

So what’s on the menu for the Annual this year? Let’s start with the electro appetiser, followed by a large serving of electro for the main course, and for dessert… yep you guessed it, electro. There was a time a few years back when the Annual series featured at least a smattering of progressive and trance to liven things up, but to whinge about electro’s dominance would be to miss the fact that it’s put the freshness and credibility back into house music. Aussie clubs are now booming out edgy, interesting sounds that would have cleared the floor only a year ago. 

Never is the all-pervasive influence of electro more evident than on John Course’s Annual mix. He’s a veteran of the Melbourne club scene, not only as a DJ but also as one of the main men behind the Vicious label, but in the past has delivered what could only be described as house of the lowest common denominator. But if he’s pandering to his audience, it appears they’re up for something a little more challenging and interesting in 2006 – the content is definitely a whole lot more groovy than it’s been for a while.

Throwing aside the Annual formula of a retrospective look at the year gone by, Course‘s Annual mix is a selection of sure-fire electro house hit predictions from the likes of Martin Solveig, Inaya Day and Tom Novy that are already having an impact in the clubs. There’s little doubt nearly every single track is gonna get hammered over the summer months, and Bob Sinclar’s Love Generation is already being hailed by the peeps from ITM as this year’s So Much Love to Give. Nonetheless, all the endless electro becomes a little tiring by the time his mix wraps up, and there’s a nagging feeling that it’s just Course’s traditional funky house glossed over with a transparent electro sheen.

Mark Dynamix on the other hand delivers an Annual mix that, while staying within the commercial expectations of a Ministry of Sound compilation, encapsulates perfectly the year in house that has just passed us by. It’s doubtful there’s much here you haven’t heard already, but all the year’s big electro hits make an appearance. There’s the usual suspects like Bodyrockers, Rogue Traders and Les Rhythm Digitales, coupled with undeniably classy inclusions like Axwell’s mix of Hard to Beat, Mylo’s smashing remix of Freeform Five’s No More Conversations and the crankin’ electro anthem For Sale.  

Dynamix was championing electro long before it was cool, and interestingly he claimed in a recent interview that he’s playing fewer genres than ever before. “I don’t play any hard stuff, I hardly play any techno, I don’t play much progressive stuff anymore… the music’s changed and I’ve changed with it.” This may make you mourn for the days when Dynamix would effortlessly change between tech, progressive and trance with the deft flick of a crossfader, but Sydney’s finest has managed to hold onto his credibility in the face of electro becoming ‘so hot right now’. This is easily the most rockin’ Annual mix Dynamix has delivered for years – professionally mixed and accessible, yet capable of making anyone who’s managed to miss the electro explosion to sit up and take notice.

Something funny happened this year as the Ministry’s latest Annual made its way out of the deep fryer. You never really expect a lot when you take the wraps of dance music’s equivalent of a Big Mac, so the quality of the Annual comes as a big surprise this year. While the potential is there for the new wave of dance to grow just as generic and predictable as what preceded it, this doesn’t change the fact that, all of a sudden, the more visible and mainstream side of house sounds fresh, innovative and cutting edge. Who would have thought? For a bland Maccas meal, the MOS Annual 2006 tastes surprisingly good. Must have something to do with that ‘New Taste’ menu…

You need to be logged in to add comments... Login Now

There are 0 user comments