Beach House Vol.4.2

CD 1 is very laid-back. Perfect for lounging around the pool. Stand out tracks were Kaskade's "It's You, It's Me." This track makes its first appearance ever on this CD, and there's Lacy Grace's remake of the Bee-Gees "How Deep is your Love". However, my absolute favorite track on CD 1 and possibly on the entire CD has to be Solu Music feat. Kimblee's "Fade". "Fade" is deep, mellow house at its most sublime. Things start to speed up a bit on towards the end of CD 1 with Nick Holder's "Summer Daze" (another fave track) and X-Press 2's hilarious track "Lazy". What better way to spend time on the beach than to be "Lazy". However, Hed Kandi could have done without the last track by Bent, "Always". "Always" is a good example of overkill in electronic dance music. This track has been overplayed to exhaustion. I just yawned and skipped back to the beginning of CD 1 when I heard this track yet again.

On the mostly uptempo CD 2, Miguel Migs with "Brand New Day" and Malena's "Con Migo" grab my attention, but the real jewel of CD 2 is "Black Water" by Octave One. This is a real dancefloor mover with an infectuous Afro-groove and heavenly vocals and chorus.

Hed Kandi is still one of the best house labels out there. I love the stylish artwork of their CDs, but the music lives up to the packaging. It's really nice that Hed Kandi makes unmixed and full-length versions of house tracks more accessible to the club-music listening public. Getting these track individually in a DJ music shop is difficult and expensive. No longer am I losing my mind because I'm trying to find the full version of a track I heard only a snippet of on a mixed compilation CD or in a club. This is why I'm not lowering my rating of this CD due to the track "Always". As much as this track now bores me, it's good that others who like it can get the full version with more ease. Whatever your taste in electronic dance music, you can't go wrong with Hed Kandi.

And?
Good concept and all, but where’s the sand? Most of the material locks the Latin percussion away for romantic nighttime tunes (Miguel Migs “Brand new Day,” Julius Papp “A Thousand Years”) certainly not aimed for friendly loafing on an afternoon. That leaves Malena, DJ Chus, an aptly named Holder classic “Summer Daze,” and the vibrant Ibadan mix of rain-on-my-parade queen Beth Orton’s “Central Reservation” to carry the concept – tunes that have traveled everywhere for three years now.

But?
There’s still some delectable cuts here. Ashley Beedle of X-press 2 fame irons out the jilting tempo of Bent’s original “Always” for a piano-led anthem floating a beguiling old-record vocal. Which makes up for his cack “Lazy.” Meanwhile Lazy Grace cover a song correctly, as the Bee Gees’ “How Deep is Your Love” receives the dancing queen treatment to wondrous effect. Jon Cutler’s relaxed “You Groove Me” has the hook you’ll remember most when it’s all done, while Octave One’s “Blackwater” is indeed, the strings-techno uplifting jewel worthy of the 2002 buzz.

Like all the rest of Hed Kandi’s releases, there’s a handful of must-haves, some duds, and a large middle range of pleasant-enough goodies. Beach House may not meet its intended concept, but the music carries this through for a worthy release.

No doubt about it - this compilation is excellent in its own right. Took this and World Series 1 to a beach party recently - OK it was 29 degrees, lots of bikinis etc, you get the picture - and it went down a storm. I had loads of people of all ages come up and ask me what this stuff was - surely no higher recommendation.

Can't really pick out outstanding tracks as they're all good, but as an afficianado of Bent, I love the remix of 'Always' - reminds me of a boys' week I had on a mate's boat in Majorca last year, and the track epitomises was this album's all about - kicking back with some friends in the sun with a cold beer.

Fantastic stuff.