Try it, you just may like it??

I truly believe house music is only truly understood when you are in the middle of a packed & sweaty dancefloor letting the music take you away. However, the next best way to understand it is by listening to it. So click on the link and download my latest house mix while you read below. The link will work for 7 days so get it while you can.

http://s39.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1HRW1W74JN7DH36GR24VLMXGSH

Tracklisting:

1. Musiq Soulchild – “Give More Love” – Sivad Remix (White) - 8:02
2. Maxwell – “Fortunate” (White) - 5:48
3. Jody Watley – “Saturday Night Experience” – Ron Trent Vocal (Giant Step) - 6:51
4. John Legend – “Ordinary People” – 83 West Remix (White) - 5:47
5. Jamiroquai – “Emergency On Planet Earth” – Planetary Club Mix (Columbia) - 7:24
6. Jill Scott – “Not Like Crazy” – Kenny Dope Crazy Woo Mix (Dopewax) - 7:16
7. Nina Simone – “See Line Woman” – Masters At Work Remix (Verve) - 5:24
8. Amel Larrieux – “4 Real” – Cayo Summer Remix (White) - 5:50
9. Goapele – “Closer” – DJ Spinna Remix (Loveslap) - 6:59
10. Donnie – “Rocketship” – Quentin Harris Shelter Mix (Giant Step) - 7:57
11. Roy Davis Jr. ft. Peven Everett – “Watch Them Come” (Bombay) - 8:34

So, this is my attempt to convert the people into liking house who normally say, “I don’t listen to that shit!” This is my most recent ‘intro to house’ CD that I share with people that think they don’t like house music, don’t quite understand it, or simply refuse to give it a listen.

I admit, by giving people songs they're familiar with, it is a commercial attempt into tricking people into liking house. But this same 'trick' is used by house DJ's all over when playing to an crowd uneducated about the genre. Most people I've shared these types of CD's with become believers or at least develop an appreciation for the genre.

The link is to a 70MB zip file that has the entire 70 minute CD contents as individual tracks. The mix was done live with vinyl so there are some level issues I know, but some of that has to do with the varying qualities of the white labels I used.

Here is a track by track breakdown:

1. Musiq Soulchild – “Give More Love” – A really great record I picked up last week and would’ve put it back if I hadn’t listened to the whole thing. It starts off simple enough, a little groove, nothing special, then a flute solo drops around the 2 minute mark to make it a little interesting, then finally at the 4:30 mark, here come Musiq’s vocals. To me, this is a solid house record, builds slowly into something you didn’t expect it too.

2. Maxwell – “Fortunate” – One for the ladies. Cool enough groove to keep the guys heads nodding, maxwell’s distinctive voice grabs the ladies right away. When the breakdown comes and Max hits the high notes, watch the ladies cream.

3. Jody Watley – “Saturday Night Experience” – I’ll continue to push Jody’s highly underrated last album “Midnight Lounge”. Dark sexy groove to be played with blue and green lights on. Nothing spectacular about the track, just a groove that stays in the cut and lets Jody's sexy ass just be sexy. There are better remixes, but this one seemed to fit the vibe and flow of this mix a little better than others.

4. John Legend – “Ordinary People” – So many mixes of this floating around lately, this one is my favorite as it the simplest… It adds a punchier bassline, stays pretty true to the original and is easy for non househeads to digest.

5. Jamiroquai – “Emergency On Planet Earth” – Remix from 1992 by Danny Tenaglia. This one is timeless to me not only because of its lyrics, but it just has that classic New York House sound people expect from house and at this point, with your head already grooving from the John Legend track, it makes a perfect time to educate a little by giving a little history. I love the first breakdown around the 1:30 mark of this mix and the piano solo at the end just seals the deal.

6. Jill Scott – “Not Like Crazy” – Yes, there are way too many Jill Scott house remixes out right now. (although that recent Quentin Harris one is FIRE) Seems like every house producer has done one, but THIS one !! It works for so many reasons, the way it grabs you from the beginning, the breakdown where Jill Woo-Woos you and dares you not to close your eyes and smile.. good stuff right here.

7. Nina Simone – “See Line Woman” – Only Masters At Work could pull this off and indeed, you feel the pain in Nina’s voice and the drums are true to the original, with a little extra kick added on the snare. This is grown folks house.

8. Amel Larrieux – “4 Real” – It’s about time someone remix Amel!! Sheesh, what has everyone been waiting for?? The problem with remixing slow songs is how to handle the tempo of the vocals, which is why so many Sade remixes suck. And the other remixes on this one are pretty mediocre. Despite the rather shitty quality of the recording, I had to include this one.

9. Goapele – “Closer” – Ahh, DJ Spinna gives Goapele the dancefloor treatment.. lots of drums but with a real mellow moody feel to go with them.. Then you have the bassline right in the middle keeping your ass shaking. This is a great remix.

10. Donnie – “Rocketship” – Big time dancefloor shaker. This was intended to be the last song of the mix, but after playing this, I just had to keep going and play at least one more. Donnie’s “Cloud 9” was the track most house DJ’s were playing last year, but this one IMO is so much better. Gives Donnie plenty of room to sing his ass off and a banging keyboard solo to boot. Clocking in at almost 8 minutes, you still wish it went on for another 3-4..

11. Roy Davis Jr. ft. Peven Everett – “Watch Them Come” – This is the whole 8+ minute version of the house classic. You know it, it's that one that goes “Bah-bah-be-daaaaay-ooooh” This is one of the records that if you’re going to be into house you can’t look stupid asking “Who is this?” when you hear it. Because you’ll hear it, trust me, and house heads will still go nuts unlike “Follow me” which will get a house DJ kicked out of the club these days.

Let me know what you think after you listen to it.

~C

CD of the moment: World Psychadelic Classics 3 - The Funky, Fuzzy Sounds of West Africa