- Good to see a new direction from Slip ‘n’ Slide, branching into modern jazz and contemporary soul with the occasional reference to their house blueprint.
Although the track planning comes across as a bit slapdash, the range of styles is refreshingly wide, from the classic bassline that opens Lonnie Liston Smith’s ‘Expansions’ to the subtle funk of Intuit’s ‘Peace Of Mind’. In between fall a mixture of hits and misses. One for collectors is Shirley Bassey covering ‘Light My Fire’, remixed by Kenny Dope – a novelty item that’s every bit as belting as you’d expect. Byron Stingily makes a welcome appearance with the richly soulful ‘Bitter’, a reminder of one of dance music’s truly great vocalists.
As with Kickin’ compilations there are a couple of Blaze tracks, the Restless Soul mix of ‘I Think Of You’ and ‘One World’ – both good, but erring on the syrupy side. No such trouble for Pepe Deluxe, whose superb ‘Cruel Youth’ tells a story crackling with atmosphere. Also here are Linus Loves, Amp Fiddler, and Incognito, who cover the Doobie Brothers classic ‘Listen To The Music’ and get away with it – just.
All of which gives us a compilation well worth exploring, adding a new dimension to Kickin’s output and introducing some oddities and rarities to impress your mates with.