Artist: Andy Jarrod & Mark DiCristo
Title: Vapourised Volume Three
Label: Vapour Recordings
By: Simon Jones  | 5 June 2002
Tracklist:
  1. Moonwatcher - This Is...
  2. Giovani & Mosler - Trouble
  3. Kwirky - Sweat
  4. Shuffle Inc - Remember New York (Lexicon Avenue's For The Househeads Mix)
  5. Mara - Coming Down (Medway Dub)
  6. Madoka - Cabaret (Hudson & Herbet Private Mix)
  7. Little Green Men - Need (Satoshi's Main Path)
  8. Yann Fontaine - Open Your Eyes (Little Green Dub)
  9. Deepswing - Into The Music (Funkagenic Dub)
  10. Seconds Out - Twisted Logic
  11. Blackwatch & Greed - Gentle Rain
  12. Trigger - Bring It Back (Black Dove Mix)

Andy Jarrod & Mark DiCristo "Vapourised Volume Three"

Out Now on Vapour Recordings

Vapour Recordings is one of Australia's most respected and consistent in terms of quality, with releases having come from some of the finest talent Australia has to offer, such as Highland, Ocean Wave and Vance Musgrove, to name but a few, and in order to compete in CD market, with the Vapourised series, previous volumes having been put together by Sean Quinn and Vapour Recordings head honcho, Kasey Taylor. Now the third volume in the series has landed, with the UK's Andy Jarrod taking the reigns of the first CD, leaving Highland's Mark Dicristo to follow on proceedings on the second disc.


Andy is no stranger to the music scene, being a well-travelled DJ all over the world, and also as a producer under the guises Blakstone and Jarrod Vs Freeloader. He also finds the time to run the very successful 3Beat Label Management company which oversees the distribution, promotion and manufacture of some of the world's top labels, such as Zero Tolerance, Sunkissed, Teknology, and also Vapour, with the Swiss label SOG being a recent addition to the list. Andy really does make an effort to push the scene forward, and he has been honoured to join the thriving Australian scene by mixing this first disc of Vapourised 3.


Starting with the deep groove of Moonwatcher's This Is, we soon move forward into subtle house grooves and powerful vocals, as Shuffle Inc remind us that what we are hearing is just house music, and nothing more. Mara take us off on a deeper tip, as Medway reworks Coming Down in fine style, leading into a new offering from the currently on fire producer Mark Venneri, better known as Madoka, who's Cabaret track shows that there is still room for melody in progressive music, going against the dark tired sounds that everyone is so quickly becoming bored of.


From here the funk, the soul, the power dribbles in the mix as the massive Satoshi Tomiie mix of Little Green Men's Need blasts through the speakers, followed in quick succession by the Little Green Dub of Yann Fontaine's Open Your Eyes which really takes the pace to the next level, Deep Swing reminding us quickly that we are well and truly into the musical soundscape being laid down for our listening pleasure, before probably one of the standout tracks of the disc, bringing the mighty Blackwatch together with SOG's Tobi Wurz and Lesley for the beautiful, harmonious vocals of Gentle Rain, letting the thought progressive groove of Trigger's Bring Its Back bring the disc to a dramatic conclusion as captivating vocals rain upon the bassline, subtly closing the disc on a high.


Now, it’s down to Mark Dicristo to follow it up. Being one of Australia's up and coming DJs and as part of the much vaunted Highland, who's production and live shows speak for themselves, having remixed artists like Ocean Wave and Jan Johnston and had very successful shows at the massive Australian festival Two Tribes, Mark now aims to add to this impressive resume by mixing the second disc.


Starting off with Hamel and Blackwatch's Discotek, the mix straight away starts pumping, telling you to turn that volume dial up a notch or two, as Yum Yum's Andy Chatterly dons his Reflektive guise and the deep synth line and breathy vocal sample of Breathe Life builds the mood slowly, before the diva vocal of Adele Holness, powered by the beats being laid down by the Don, Danny Tenaglia and prog jesters Cass and Slide, with the track Fever Rising takes the mix upward and onward, the cinematic strings and machine gun snares of the D Note's Shed My Skin lead into the deep groove of Way Out West's Stealth, with Quivver reworking Kirsty Hawkshaw's vocal around a dark, progressive stab that echoes loudly, giving a real feeling of depth.


Following on from this, we are treated to an extended rework of Tilt's Headstrong, merging the twisted Parks and Wilson Scalpel Mix with the full vocal mix, featuring the relentless evocative vocals of Maria Nayler, who's subtle tones give way to the gorgeous vocals of Highland's classic No Way Out, twisted and turned into a tough direction by part time Brother of Rhythm Loafer, who teams up with 4/4 breaks jinxsters The Light to turn the track into a dark and sinister sounding journey into the unknown, as the deep groove of Way Out West's Mindcircus enters our subconscious as the far eastern sounding vocal of Assassin's Slipping In And Out Of Our Consciousness, sounds a 21st century James Bond theme, the slickly crafted breakbeat bassline weaving in and out of the vocal with ease, making sure you are kept interested right up to the end as the last beat fades to silence, not bad for a track originally created in the mid 90s which still manages to sound fresh even to this day.


Once again Vapour show that you don't need to have the current top names in progressive music to mix your CD for it to be any good, and what you have here is a showcase of the old, the new, and the upcoming, and proves that not only are both these guys excellent DJs, but there is so much good music coming out of all four corners of the globe these days.

Search:
Music Reviews -more-
browse