Riaan Wolmarans
CDs of the week
The 30 000 or so stylish ravers who descended on Gallagher Estate recently for the 5fm Camel Experience 1 Triple 9 proved that dance in all its forms, be it Grace Jones’s retro, Goldie’s demanding drum’n’bass or the more commercial ATB anthems, is as popular as ever – as if anyone ever doubted that. If you hanker back to that magical night, buy the Camel Experience 1 Triple 9 album (Gallo). It features tracks from the party’s main attractions, Anne Savage, Brooklyn Bounce and others, roughly representing the retro, drum’n’bass and main dance categories from the party. It’s got ATB’s mix of Seal’s Killer, Side Effects with Henos Aqui, and you never thought you’d buy a dance CD with the Weather Girls on, did you? It’s nicely mixed by DJ Paul, but maybe it’s a case of too many dance genres spoiling the musical broth.
Moving to the serious side of dance, a few recently released albums present quality music that has not been played to death on the dingy dance floors of overpriced rave clubs. For a healthy dose of funky rhythms and superb scratching, set your CD player alight with Joey Beltram’s The Sound of 2am (Moonshine). Deep drum sounds and divine mixing, veering into the world of electronica and progressive house, give this album a definite upbeat style which should liven up the dreariest of gatherings, grabbing your attention from White Label’s Verbs to SF Express’s Dream Away, plus two of the legendary Mr Beltram’s own tracks. Don’t wait until 2am to put this one on.
Samuel von Freshmka, dance prodigy and crafty collaborator of Duke Mushroom, springs I am the Freshmka (Moonshine) on us. It’s an exciting mixture of house, breaks and big beat, designed for pure listening pleasure on oddly-named tracks like Fyvush Finkel Flavas.
Drum’n’bass is by no means left behind – it doesn’t get much better than Dieselboy’s A Soldier’s Story (Moonshine). Here we have, dished up on a finely assembled tray of hectic drum beats, 15-odd tracks from Vertigo, DJ Friction, Peshay and Kosheen, to mention a few. This is no album for slumbering dopeheads – you’d better gather all your wits and energy for a full-face blast of drummed-out decadence.
Mixer, in assocation with the United DJs of America, hits a home run with the serious house on Murk’s Starring in Miami Vice (DMC). Keeping the vibe decidedly hard and saturated in deep bass, you’ll find solace in top tracks such as 68 Beats’s The Tribal Anthem, Eddie Amador’s Rise and SNS’s well-known Get Up Go To Work. A fine piece of work from Miami residents Oscar Gaetan and Ralph Falcon (who is maybe better known here under their Funky Green Dogs alias).
Bring some anarchy into your lowly life with Deejay Punk-Roc’s Anarchy in the USA (Moonshine). It’s serious breakbeat time with this DJ – apparently he’s quite a sight to see playing live, but even just his music is invigorating, too.
Lastly, pay some attention to Dillons and Dickens’s Steers and Queers (Gallo). There’s not much queer about this happening 14-track album, of which the first four are their very own creations, such as the funky Soul Good. Thereafter they madly mix tracks from Rachel McFarlane, Blackout and others (including the popular Soakin Wet from the 99 Allstars) with their own stuff, creating a lively album tailor-made to fill up dance floors.