Ministry of Sound Sessions - Green Velvet vs Cajmere

MINISTRY OF SOUND

Published: 7-11-2006
Words: Mihai Dumitrescu

Disc One – Cajmere

I have to say from the beginning that the first track of the album is clearly one of may favorite 2006 house pieces, the Cajmere feat. Dajae genius song called Say U Will. Blending in fabulous electrified samples, all in simplistic, pure style, as Cajmere used us to past the years, this one starts perfectly what is announcing to be a blast of an album. Easily in the mix comes in Old Man Groan with Jovonn, the Keyz Remix, a very housey song, bringing back that old school flavor back to our ears. Soon to follow a track which i didn't expect to sound the way it does judging by the names that are singing it. I'm talking about André Kraml Feat. Schad Privat - Safari (James Holden Remix). Quite minimal, but yet not so out there. House is style predominant and this one makes its way very nicely in the course of the mix. Cajmere Feat. Dajae come strong with another funkyfied production, Brighter Days (Underground Goodie Mix), giving pace and melody to the set. Anyway, a vocal album so far, but i don't mean that in a bad sense. Copyright Feat. Song Williamson - He Is (Ferrer & Sydenham Inc Vox Mix) continues the rhythm created by the previous track, uplifting funky vocals giving a summer feel to the whole sound. I would have expected something more progressive from Ferrer & Sydenham, but funk will do for this mix-CD. Moving on, Trouble Men's Crowd Control eases things down just to bring them banging up again. Ibiza-like samples, very Balearic, very simplistic, sounds just like house did 7 years ago when Ministry of Sound really released only quality stuff. Cajmere comes in once again with I Need U (Mark Grant Remix), and once again feat. Dajae, but this one sounds like the past tracks suspiciously much. I'm sorry to say that only Say U Will has something really special to it, the other productions being more common. We go on with Africanism Feat. Jeff Kellner - Ju Ju Beat, this being one of my favourite names in house today. And I’m not disappointed; the tune sounds great and feels even greater, it's a massive prog-like song, with a whole bunch of samples to satisfy various tastes for different styles of house music. After this it all stops for me and we move on to the only song that makes the difference in sound and starts another part of the mix. Mixed a bit pourly, it's the quality of this song that brings it all together. Kind of old, yet never out of fashion, it's the one and only Chab and his monster of a track Closer to me, featuring vocals from JD Davis, who’s been so great this year. Oh yeah, this is house music for me, simply wonderful this song flows in through your senses instantly. It's a true "eyes shut" melody. After this we can sense an obvious rise of beat and pace in the mix, with Dj Gregory's S2, a driving tune, very progressive, very rough. Soon it's followed by Green Velvet Feat. Walter Phillips - Shake & Pop, a song that's so out of place here that i just want to skip to the next one. Beside being a weak production all in all, it sounds awful after the last two tunes which really gave sense to the whole mix. Sorry, Mr. Jones, this one sucks in my book. Playgroup Feat. KC Flightt - Front 2 Back- Remixes (Switch Remix) continues the note with bleepy sounds, minimalist house at its max, and it kind of ruins it for this first disc. However, the next one, again coming from Cajmere, feat. Walter Phillips, called Midnight, is seriously better, and rises up again the already ill pace coming from the past tow songs. Mark Grant Feat. Russoul - There For Me (Soul Bounce Vocal) is the next track, a very sensitive one, soulful and discreet, "the message" of the disc, if you may. Vocals to the maximum, just like in the last piece, Green Velvet Feat. Jamie Principle - Choice, a surprisingly good tune which sounds very nice, it's a progressive track, that ends the disc in a lively manner, weeping out the poor choice of songs from 20 minutes ago. And now, we're getting ready for the second disc...

Catalog No: MOSCD130
Release Date: November 6 2006
Rating: 6/10
More Info: www.ministryofsound.com

Disc Two - Green Velvet

Cd 2 is clearly the more driving one, it starts with DJ Pierre & Green Velvet - AcidTraxx 2, a quirky hard track, which sets the pace for the soon to come production from Green Velvet again, Flash, with its choked bass line and weird vocals, which gives a haunting feel to the sound. Following in, the third piece, by Soulwax, called Accidents & Compliments, a great song, very decisive, very uplifting, electro nevertheless, but so melodic. Sneaker Pimps - Spin Spin Sugar (Armand Van Helden Mix) follows up, bringing vocals back. Sounds great, feels great, a dancing track for sure, keeping the beats up there.
Green Velvet - War On The Saints comes in with a pretty hardcore intro, a bit too hard if you'd ask me, but this is the harder mix of the two. Techno at its max, this track and the following, Jerome Baker - I Need. Hard techno in my book, sounds kind of dusty and kind of annoying, but to each one it's own. anyway, the pace is too hard, feels out of place. these two tracks and the next, by Hugo Moya, called Move, seem all the same. Hard, hardcore even techno-house, they fall in one over another perfectly mixed, but their sound is nasty and wicked, and would have fitted better in a Mayday compilation :) next we have Cajmere - House Work (Green Velvet Mix), again keeping techno two thumbs up, hardening a packed mix, filled with powerful sounds to its very core, just like James Hammer - Three Is One. The artist name says it all, it's hammering through the set, uplifting again and again. The definition of this disc is all included in Fedde Le Grand's massive Put Your Hands Up For Detroit, one of the year's definitive tunes in electro-techno. Sounds fantastic, although it has been abused by some many djs in their live sets. A young hope of the dance scene comes in, Paul Woolford, who Presents Bobby Peru in Erotic Discourse, a track that changes a bit the sound, easing it up, electrifying it even more. The really weird samples on this one make it sound so special, and although it's not in my area of enjoyment, I have to clap my hands for this one. Moving on, the beat rises up once again with Alex Marqx & Olivier Giacomotto - First Second, a hard piece of sound to blast the speakers once more. Over this track the samples from Woolford's tune blend in fantastically. Two productions from Green Velvet, the all-too-played La La Land and Electricity come in to showcase the Green Velvet 2006 sound. La La Land, at least for me, lost all its charm, and it sounded so much better in 2001/2002 period. But I guess this remix would do, for the way music sounds today. Electricity sounds suspiciously close to Fedde le Grand, and is so plain and common it's surprisingly how Green Velvet didn't manage to make much of it. In closure of the mix, X2 - Zeta 1, a tune which is very "worked-on", very technological, and keeps up the pace that has banged my ears for the whole duration of the mix. The end.

So, this album wasn't clearly what I expected. Not the kind of house music that lies in my court. If the first disc has a bit of melody and harmony, the second one lacks it totally, and we're receiving more and more of that today unfortunately. I have to give it for some tracks, for the mixing, although it's not something to die for. All in all, this is a piece I didn't enjoy listening to, especially the second part.

  Reviews on Ministry of Sound:
› One + One mixed by James Zabiela and Nic F..
› Ministry of Sound Sessions 12 - Mark Knigh..
› Ministry Of Sound Sessions 11 – Fedde Le G..
› Ministry of Sound - Fifteen Years

  More about Ministry of Sound