REVIEWS – Jay Dobie – Progressive House Classics Buried Treasure – Zone Magazine Issue 048

PHC Buried Treasure
Super busy over at PHC. We’re still crate digging although sometimes there is just to much to go through! Its all about selected listening and recommendations of classic, obscure, rare, esoteric productions & remixes that may just have slipped under your radar. Put your battle helmets on and lets get digging! 4 recommendations from the Progressive House Classics vinyl vaults.

Selector – Move Your Body – ZYX – 1991

First up a track that many of us were playing before the prog sound really took hold. A gorgeous slice of Italo House. Chunky bassline, a sampled rap from ‘Show’m the Bass’ by Miker G and of course the mandatory piano break. Think peak time northern clubbing and you won’t be far off with this.

Boy George – Same Thing In Reverse – Evolution Mix – Virgin – 1995

Fancy a bit of Evolution that’s not prog or trance, well this is worth hunting down if you like a bit of soulful house. Barry Jamieson and Jon Sutton (Evolution) turned out a couple of decent house tracks/mixes in the nineties. This particular version is a soulful garage take on the Boy George solo track produced at a time when record companies saw the value of a remix package to cater for various dance floors. Alongside this its also worth looking out for the Clubzone 303 mix which was aimed squarely at the tougher venues and the more proggy DJs. This particular production comes from Mike Koglin who went on to produce The Silence on Multiply.

Pizzaman – Gottaman – Distant Drum Mix – Loaded/Cowboy – 1997

Pizzaman is another alias for a Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim) project. The Distant Drum mix is the one to head for here. A slice of funky polished prog house that would tear the dance floor apart when dropped at the right time. Distant Drum gave us a couple of really cool releases back in the late nineties and this particular moniker was another alias for Mike Monday of Beat Foundation fame. Listen to this and you definitely get Skinny Malinky vibes.

Natious – Amber – Amato – 1999

This was one of Amato Internationals biggest releases. A cool prog trancer with a punchy bassline. The Silk mix became a staple in Sasha’s sets and ended up being featured on his Global Underground – Ibiza album. The mix came along after a demo copy of the original was sent to Amato who decided it needed a bit of punch. Anthony Mein from Origin who appeared on the Steelyard label was drafted in and Silk mix was born. Alongside the GU album the track saw licencing from Pete Tong’s Essential Selection, Trance Nation and Gatecrasher.