Hooj - one of the few real independents left, presents 'Nu-Progressive Era' a must hear, must have double CD compilation of the finest - and deepest - BIG ROOM MASH UP grooves.
From the self-deprecating sleevenotes onwards it's clear that establishing any clear definition of the genre is going to be impossible and listening doesn't tame it either. CD1 delivers with alarming regularity, seducing with Silvio Ecomo's 'Standing' a tribal percussive middle eastern vocal mash-up that will have you stomping from the highest podium you can find.
Then Adam Beyer's growling sub-bass heavy 'Remaining III' is a techno terror from the darkside that causes an eclipse with its sprawling, wobbling, fat fuck-off bottom end. Nor can one ignore the free-falling derring do and romanticism of Sander Kleinenberg's now classic 'My Lexicon'.
Freshly signed to Hooj, KC Flight's tough tribal 'Voices' beats a path to your psyche in opening the show on CD2. But it's not just about the beats, since Hipp-E's jazzy 'Down On Me' and Plantastik's 'Mr Moon' are easy daytime strollers, Ogenki Clinic's 'Kirei' burbles with boiling, viscous oil and Timo Maas' steel reinforced mix of Sourmash's teeth-grinding 'Pilgrimage To Paradise' is your dentist's wet dream.
From the slow burn intro of Datar's B you're drawn into a 2CD, two hour plus world of sexily sequenced music. Throw words like ethereal and expansive at it and you'd only be trying to capture the stars with a sieve. Depending on your state, this becomes mood music for rainy nights in Georgia or tedious train journeys home; foot-fodder for the f.u.b.a.r masses and brain food when losing yourself in it all.
Moreover- 8 out of 10 of the world's leading DJ's know that their crowds prefer it when they rock the house with the house that's housed within. So buy a copy, get on a train to nowhere particular and enjoy every minute of the journey. Like Soul Mekkanik say - money's one thing but soul is another...
