Compilations that reflect succesful club-nights are these days an inevitability. London's Scratch night - held at The Scala in Kings Cross - has provided a funky shelter for the capital's b-boys and b-girls for the last five years so in many ways a collection of tracks that represent the vibe of the place is almost overdue.
The difference between this and other club-based collections is that the tracks here cannot be found on a million other compilations. On the contrary, the tracklisting has been very thoughtfully selected to enable true hip hop fans to get hold of a bunch of cuts that are almost impossible to find anywhere.
Starting off with Main Source's inimitable 'Snake Eyes', we move through a selection of tracks which are all undeniable classics in their own right, and which have been road-tested a million times at Scratch itself. Dope delivery, fly rhymes and hot beats abound on cuts like Original Flavour's 'Can I G et Open', Mastermind's 'Bring It Back', Freestyle Fellowship's 'Hot Potato', KMD's 'Popcorn', Diamond D's 'Best Kept Secret' and Souls Of Mischief's deep classic '93 Til Infinity'.
And that's just the first half! Mixing up the new school (check J Live's amazing 'Them That's Not') with the old school (try Love Bug Starski and The Harlem World Crew's 'Positive Life') and the true school (who could argue with the Tumbling Dice mix of Tribe Called Quest's 'Lyrics To Go'?), this is one hip hop compilation that you simply must have in your collection.
