Lee Burridge - GU 24:7

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  • In today’s global economy, times are tough in regards to dance music and the club industry in general. To stay out of the red, many record labels, DJ’s, and clubs have been forced to find new ways of reinventing themselves to keep the public interested in the modern day where people are a lot more careful with how they spend their money. U.K. based label Global Underground is no exception. Always maintaining their place on the cutting edge of global dance music, the GU crew has recently re-emerged as a front runner in the compilation market with their brand spank’ in new “24:7" releases – a series of two disc sets that highlight both the warm-up tracks that get a night out at the club under way, as well as a peak time disc for those hands-in-the-air moments. Danny Howells kicked off the series with what many claimed to be the best GU release in years. Next up, Lee Burridge – one half of the legendary Tyrant duo – steps to the decks and delivers the second round of the 24 hour clubbing experience with his 24:7 debut. Disc one, as with the Howells’ release, is the “Day” mix. Unlike Danny’s mix – which featured minimal stylings of ambient melodies…sometimes abandoning a bass kick altogether – Lee focuses on break beats and laid back house, thus creating a mood for those at the bar before it’s time to properly get down on the dance floor. Justus Kohncke’s “2 After 909” highlights the minimal German sound growing in popularity on a daily basis. Whoop Whoop’s “Marsupial Ten Dances” follows, a signature Burridge track combining funky, jazzed up drums with a booty shaking bass line. Steve Bug makes an appearance with the bleepy “That Kid” from his latest album on Poker Flat. Next up is arguably one of the most bizarre tracks to ever appear on a Global Underground release…Philemon’s “Phil’s Science” – and that’s a good thing. The track features opera-esque voices over a drugged out background. Jazzy horns fade in and out on a track that’s been catching clubber’s attention every time it’s dropped. The “Day” session comes to a close with Rabbit in the Moon’s “Deeper” – completing a mix that, while much different from the opening disc of Howell’s 24:7, is equally good. While the second disc is entitled the “Night” mix, it might be more appropriately called the “Early Morning” mix. It’s the sound of Fabric at 4 a.m., as vibrant melodies echo throughout the club, where lights create living, breathing images and the music transports the listener onto his or her own personal planet of electronic ecstasy. Tech house, techno, dubby house, and sexed up vocals – it’s all there on disc two. From the spooky spoken word vocal on Ricardo Villalobos’s “What You Say is More Than I Can Say” to the blipped out minimalism of Nectar’s “Mercurial Drums” – this mix is about getting down to business on the floor, and it does so quite well. Toward the end of the disc Burridge dabs into techno with Mateo Murphy’s killer track “Spectrum”, and then ends things with the excellent Alter Ego remix of Spektrum’s “Freakbox”. Although there are some tracks on the second disc that tend to delve into monotony, there’s no doubting that Burridge is in his prime. If nothing else, catch him on tour and you will see that the man can work wonders in a club on any given day of the week. The 24:7 series has breathed new life into the Global Underground series, and given listeners something fresh and new to look forward to with each forthcoming release. Lee Burridge knows how to rock out a room full of clubbers, as well as make a proper compilation – I offer his latest effort for the 24:7 series as Exhibit A. 8.5/10 (rounded to 9)
RA