- Azuli’s annual pilgrimage to the daytime dancefloor is becoming a regular event in the compilation calendar, and here Smokin’ Jo and Reche link up to present two and a half hours of choice house tackle. Jo’s mix takes in the vocal hits, whilst Reche gets tougher and a bit more techy.
First up the vocal mix, a bit of a crowd pleaser. It would be difficult to trump the opening trio of tracks – Groove Armada’s ‘Easy’, M Factor’s Roger Sanchez sound-alike ‘Come Together’ and ‘My Time’, with Crystal Waters lacing the vocals, well and truly back to form. Then after the much played ‘Shout’ from E-Funk, the mix loses its way a bit, rescued in time by the outstanding Tania Vulkano cut ‘Come On’, funky as you like, and the closing Sessomatto belter ‘I Need Somebody’.
Reche is much less commercial, preferring dark sounds from Timo Maas (‘Unite’), Pete Heller’s dub of Ralph Falcon’s ‘That Sound’ and a few more quality Scumfrog productions in ‘Music Revolution’ and his remix of Double Dee’s ‘Shining’. Also worth hearing are Bini & Martini’s ‘Say Yes’ and Outta Limits ‘Mission Control’, although it’s fair to say this mix isn’t as immediate as Smokin’ Jo’s and suffers from some messy links.
This is however worth getting on the strength of Jo’s mix, which illustrates perfectly why Space will be big once again this year.