:: Various Artists - Kickin’ Hard – Mixed by Amen

Various Artists

It has to be said that dance music is just not my bag baby! Yet it also has to be said, it takes a great amount of talent, passion and skill to mix music like this. Respect must to paid to the DJ’s who manage to take random sounds and beats and blend, balance and harmonise them into kicking dance music and not just and intangible mess. It is a skill that takes many years to perfect, and according to a dance enthusiast friend of mine, who often comes over to show me how certain tracks make the earth pulse, the product is well worth the wait. For the most part dance music tends be solely the domain of club dwellers or those with strobe lights under their cars (no generalisations there!) But with the success of dance outfits such Groove Armada and the now defunct Madison Avenue, there has been a successful style crossover into the mainstream. Kickin’ Hard is the work of DJ Panos Liassi, a man who is no stranger to mainstream success. Mixing dance music since the age of 15, Liassi has scored a number of U.K top 10 hits, and has worked with a wide range of artists, from Ricky Martin to Coolio. Although this album contains a number of pop friendly tracks, mere hints at his previous success, Kickin’ Hard remains a less accessible form of Liassi’s style, maintaining a “bass is best” attitude throughout. The double album is sure to be popular with fans, but is definitely worth a look by anybody interested, intrigued, or otherwise, by dance music’s hypnotic trance. You never know I may become a beat junkie yet!