VA - Kinky Beats (1999)

Wotta great compilation. In an age where the deluge of dance mixes has become an unstoppable torrent of blandness, this highly danceable compilation sticks up a thick middle finger at all that and tells the marketing men to shove it where the sun don't shine.

I got introduced to this by way of a friend who had it on cd. Being disillsusioned with most purely electronic music, I was receptive to a compilation that combined both recent releases and tracks from the 60s/70s that displayed the same swagger and attitude. My desire to get this comp for my own use was increased by a visit to the Blow Up night (www.blow-up.co.uk) at the now defunct Wag Club (Wardour St, London) which amongst other nights in the UK championed this sort of sound.

Jean Jacques Perrey's 'E.V.A.' has been sampled countless times by Gangstarr amongst others and still sounds fresh and exciting today despite being over 30 years old. Most people will be familiar with 'Apache', again a heavily sampled track from the 60s but a new legion of producers are well represented with Jacknife Lee and Sunny Face, the latter with his latin-esque breakbeat track.

What's good about this compilation is the way it can re-invigorate a party when even the seamless mixing of the dj can get a bit monotonous. There is also a sequel comp called "More Kinky Beats" which also has some excellent tracks on it, plus check out the Blow-Up comp as well, if only for Andy Stewart's "House of Bamboo" track!