- It sounds as if Derrick Carter was in awe of the company he was about to keep when deciding on his tracklisting for the latest in Azuli's premier 'Choice' series. He talks in the booklet of waiting for clearance for dozens of tracks, finally whittling them down to the 24 included and mixing them in his own music room. Unlike previous 'Choices' from Danny Tenaglia and Tony Humphries, this one is mixed and sounds all the better for it.
It's an audacious start, too, with the jerky rhythms of Savage Progress' 'Heart Begins To Beat' a kind of trip to Chicago for Siouxsie Sioux. There are clear signs of an early house music style developing in The Staple Singers' 'Slippery People', the seriously funky 'I Love It' from Trussel and a rare mix of Kid Creole and the Coconuts tune 'Yolanda', turned on its head. Lil Louis appears again, as on so many of these influential compilations, with his 'Nyce & Slo' proving way ahead of its time with arcade style bleeps - and there's classic funk from Rick James, who was certainly born to funk and roll in the 'Big Time'. A favourite of mine on this disc though was the euphoric layered vocals of Patrick Cowley's 'Get A Little', written in 1981 no less.
CD2 continues the high quality trend. Frankie Knuckles' classic 'Baby Wants To Ride', with Jamie Principle, is included in the House of Trix version, and the appealing 'Problemes D'amour' from Alexander Robotnick is deadpan, funky and cheeky - listen to the subtle synth touches round the edges. Easy to say where Jacques Lu Cont gets his style from! Jean-Paul Gaultier (yes, him!) is included with 'How To Do That', and the Crooklyn mix of Buzzin Cuzzins' 'Let Me Show You Love' is another rarity, Romanthony on vocals.
Most importantly though this Choice collection helps us understand Derrick Carter's current style - disco, funk and house all twisted together, and shows that while this may not be a selection of his complete favourites (thanks to licensing) that he can plan and execute his DJ mixes to perfection.