DJ Hell's been around for years: as a kid he went to '70s New York's Paradise Garage club and didn't even realise it was gay. The music was that intense.
Since then he's had his eyes open to a myriad of electronic sounds, belonging to not least the infamous Fisherspooner.
Right now he's "the godfather of electroclash" but "Electronicbody-housemusic" should liberate him from that pigeon hole. It's a double CD compilation, his first since his anthem-packed Fuse marathon, and it goes all over the shop.
Most accessible is 'CD1: House', though Hell barely sticks just to house. It meanders all over the shop, starting with Underground Resistance's anthem "Inspiration" before flicking into the inspirational anthem 'Miura' by Metro Area.
Mount Sims' 'You Know How We Do' brings a block party tip to the mix. Jeff Mills goes deep and dreamy. Smith n Hack get into some very quirky jacking. As does Recloose, whose track bearing little resemblance to the album version.
Maybe it's because Hell mixed these CDs with Native Instrument's Tracktor DJ software, but you soon find yourself wondering where tracks start and stop. Wondering if sounds were put there by Hell or the artist. It's a wonderful confusion, one that begins to justify the use of software in DJ compilations.
Switch to the 'Electro' CD and you'll find a distinct lack of classic 808 mayhem and 'Planet Rock' riffs. Hell's got something in mind, something hinted by the 'Electronic Body Music' title.
Lots of the cuts here are the usual hardness you might find in a techno club anywhere in the world right now, DJ Rok or Terence Fixmer for example.
But segued between these slabs of rock are industrial oddities like Nitzer Ebb, Front 242 and Liasons Dangereuses. Sometimes - like Bigod 20's 'The Bog' - they're shouty and downright scary, but together they make a truly distinctive mix.
No one's gonna release a compilation quite like this again in 2002. Which is all the more reason you should hear this one.
