- Vicious Grooves is a label associated with releasing quality Australian music with an emphasis on the funky, groovy and more disco oriented side of house. A Night Out With Vicious Grooves is the latest mix CD from the label, mixed none other than by label founder John Course and it features a catalogue of 11 tracks from Vicious Grooves and it's associated labels Cosmetic and Bamboo.
Master & Hess get things underway with their cover of Karen Ramirez's Troubled Girl. Using the most cliche of Spanish guitar sounds and percussive beats, this one is a definite floor filler and features the vocals of The Empress AKA Diane Charlemagne who turned Goldie's Inner City Life into a drum'n'bass classic.
Butch le Butch introduces the sound of Cosmetic with the deep disco house track, Why R We Makin Music which brings the mix to a slight chill thanks to it's deep bass line, subtle beats and percussion. Cosmetic feature again with DJeep's What's Come Over Me on a more uplifting vibe thanks to the male vocals and a sweet sax line. John Course makes the most out of the 12" by mixing in the Stephano Gamma version along with snippets of the dub, which I think is the deep tribal house used as an interlude.
mrTimothy's Keep Rockin brings some 80's funk into the mix and should have no problems in getting people on the dancefloor and Danica Thornton offers up vocals with a memorable hook in the chorus easy enough for listeners to associate with when getting their respective grooves on.
You Give Me Everything by Mark John features the keyboard stylings of Simon Grey and the powerful vocals of one Abey Joyce and has resulted in a tune that pays tribute to the classic house sound, but what really stands out in the mix, is the interlude where Mark pulls out the breakbeats. It's nothing new in house music, but there are only some that can pull it off and this is one.
Sgt. Slick pulls out the big guns for this release and Don't Touch is one of those massive tunes which appeared on the Slick Cuts vinyl only release earlier this year. A pumping disco house tune featuring a big bassline, synth stabs and some quirky beatbox samples, this tune has gained massive praise from the likes of Ashley Beedle. Dancefloor fodder! Slick doesn't stop there either going in the direction of vocal house with Lost In Love with Lurine Cato gracing the track with her sweet vocal talents.
Bamboo music round off the mix with their signature tribal house sound. Nick Dem Q's Beginning brings the mix down to a dark/sinister groove thanks to it's junglistic drums, mirky stabs and Darth Vader-like vocal samples. Hess completes Bamboo contribution and finishes the mix off with Sinister Drums getting more percussive and a lot less darker than the serious sounds of Beginning. For those who want their tribal house with a little more funk may want to check out Mobin Master's Tribal Funk vol.2 featuring the likes of B Line and The Knock - both wicked!
This compilation could be labelled as "batty house" which I personally don't see as being a bad thing, especially when you consider the vibe given off by the crowd during a set like this. A Night Out With Vicious Grooves brings out the best in Australian house music and proves to us locals that we have talented producers in the local dance scene. If you're down with funky house whether it be the uplifting vocal sound, the latin vibes or a deeper, percussive sound, A Night Out may just be your thing. Very enjoyable.