Riaan Wolmarans
CD OFTHEWEEK
The dance shelves of CD stores are clogged with row after row of almost identical-sounding, hits-of-the-moment albums. All fun to listen to, all guaranteed to sell well, but often approaching a heard-one-heard-’em-all level. In this quagmire of beats, DJ Mbuso’s Urban House Mix:Second Session (David Gresham) is as welcome as an ice-cold drink on a hot dance floor. Mbuso, a resident at Jo’burg’s Sublime and a regular Saturday-night guest on Yfm, throws in classics (Johnny Fiasco’s Don’t Stop, Farleyand Heller) alongside newer tracks byIan Pooley and The Freaks, among others.
He creates an accomplished mix of funk, jazzy sounds, housey beats and catchy basslines, steadily flowing from one track to the other with perfectly adequate mixing. The beat remains infectious without ever spiking into a commercial hands-up-in-the-air pitch.
Put this album into the CD player to rescue your suburban sensibilities from the Darudes and ATBs of our time.