CHOICE CUT
I:Cube / M Megamix
CD
Versatile Records / Released May 2012
In the words of many other people- this is how we do it. One of the most esteemed men in European house music unveils his fifth artist album, and decides to forget about everything other than the dancefloor (whether that’s the one in front of your couch or within that subterranean basement).
M Megamix is a mix then, and not an album in the way said format is usually recognised. It’s more comparable with recorded DJ sets such as Brothers Gonna Work It Out by those Chemical Brothers, albeit it sounds nothing like it. But there’s a comparable ethic throughout both, one driven by a desire to get back to the basics of this music we widely categorise as dance, and actually concentrate on the bewildering, often disorientating nature of presenting tunes in a way that really makes feet move and retains the listener’s attention.
As such we’re given 24 tracks in a well-executed, sometimes cut and paste, sometimes melded fashion. Beats drop unexpectedly but without any abrasive edges (such as the transition from the plodding beats and sparse twinkles of Your Brain into Transparent Sea Creatures and its huge, broken kicks and warm, bleeped hook-melody), and all manner of avenues are explored within the techno and house realm. Less of a journey, and more a series of snapshots from a variety of sub-canons- like some visual map of the four four world- it’s nothing if not engaging, though thankfully we can also add ‘hugely enjoyable’ too.
After all, it’s unlikely anyone won’t benefit from hearing In Alpha‘s introductory, lackadaisical strained guitar chords erupting into the melodic, 80s electro-pop affair it becomes (complete with glittering keyboards and plenty of snare). Similarly, but on a very different tip, the submerged, dubby yet rousing dark tech of Jah Menta is also something to be savoured. An exemplary lesson in short and sweet then, with almost every track on here lasting for three minutes or less, M Megamix may well be the best marketing idea ever conceived in the history of DJing, despite the fact it’s actually a production album, as it’s impossible not to be left wondering when and where you can catch him in the flesh next, whilst hoping things will be equally enthralling.