Twenty-five cuts, but this review stays with the three names that justify the volume on their own. First up is Joeski, signing 'Abre Tus Ojos (Acid Dub Mix)' with Sama: five-plus minutes at 123 BPM in C minor, tucked away at slot eleven. The New Yorker — born in Brooklyn, raised in Queens — has been on the scene since 1991, when he emerged as a founding member of The Chocolate Factory collective, and in 2001 he launched Maya Records with 'Hustler's Revenge'; his 'El Amor' with DJ Chus pushed that label to the forefront of the U.S. house sound. Finding a name of that caliber sitting quietly mid-tracklist says a lot about the depth of this series' bench.
The second is HP Vince with 'I Need U (Old School House Mix)', six minutes at 127 BPM in D minor. The Dutchman, active since the early nineties and behind the P.I.M.P. project with Jamez on Touché, has made disco-streaked house his specialty, and here the subtitle keeps its word: old-school groove, no ironic winks, no modern makeover.
The third one is the curveball, and that is exactly why it matters: Sandro Silva, co-author with Quintino of 'Epic' (2011) — regarded as the first true big room house track and a Dutch chart number one — shows up with 'Feel (Extended Mix)'. It is the fastest cut of the lot (135 BPM) and, despite the surname, one of the shortest: a 2:57 shot of A major working as an energy spike early in the record.
Around these three, the bulk of the volume moves between 122 and 128 BPM, with two curious escapes at the close: Oliversam's 'Andalucía More Guitar', the longest cut (8:20 at 117 BPM, guitar announced right in the title), and Dr House's 'Pompeii', listed at 70. But the heart lies with those three names: two nineties veterans and a big room icon sharing, for once, the same house turf.
Sources: MyHouseRadio · Wikipedia · Last.fm
