:: Various Artists - Vicious Cuts 2009 (mixed by Ian Carey and John Course)

Various Artists

Vicious Cuts 2009 is the dance album of this year. Mixed by industry masters John Course and Ian Carey, it is business as usual with some seriously cool songs effortlessly put together in a way that will keep you dancing all night long. Ian Carey's disc one mix is the clear winner of the two-disc dance off. His compilation is easy to listen to with an incredibly addictive mix of retro tunes and this year's hits. A real fresh line up, disc one possesses something that dance music often lacks: diversity. The tracks are seamlessly mixed together but still varied enough so you won't be confused into thinking they're all the same song. Criss Sol & J Foster's “Every You Every Me (Mic Newman Remix)” is the god of all of disc one's tracks. Placebo would definitely be proud of this very electric remix that layers a pumping dance beat over the nostalgic vocals and acoustic guitar that made this 90's hit so good in the first place. “Brave New World (Original mix)” by Bodyrox & Luciana feat. Nick Clow is also a great track. Starting off with your typical electro-funk beat it blends into a harder rock tune before exploding into another wave of fast, futuristic techno that is perfect for the dance floor.

Disc two is unfortunately not as exciting or earth shattering as disc one. Mixed by Mr Vicious himself, father of Australian dance music and Ministry of Sound poster boy, John Course it's right down the alley of your typical dance music addict. Perfect for the club, disc two isn't the sort of CD you can put on and appreciate the musical subtitles. Instead this is the soundtrack for a Saturday night cruising or dancing till sun rise. So unless you're a dance purist this compilation might put you to sleep as one track mixes into a very similar one and everything becomes just one big techno blur. But not that that's a bad thing. If you love dance, John Course's mix has some hot tracks like “Bad Boy Tune (Club Mix)” by The Potbelleez. The musical equivalent of a laser light show… psychedelic, “Bad Boy Tune (Club Mix)” has a very fresh reggae vibe complete.

Your typical dance compilation, Vicious Cuts 2009 is a testament to these two DJ's incredible talent. Homegrown heroes, John Course and Ian Carey have produced two fantastic CDs that should please any dance fan, as well as capture some who didn't even know they were into the techno beat.