- Dave Seaman's Audio Therapy label is one of the last outposts of straight-up progressive house, a genre that started losing steam about five years and ten Global Undergrounds ago. Perhaps presaging a dim future, Seaman's kept his approach lean and mean, foregoing pricy vinyl pressings and releasing Audio Therapy comps strictly on CD. So far there have been two discs in the 'Across Borders' series, a strange name as each stayed strictly within borders of one particular nation, focusing on producers from Greece and The Netherlands. Season-specific comps sprung up last April with 'Spring/Summer 2006' and now 'Autumn/Winter 2006' is the next logical plod along.
There are ten tracks in all here, from the likes of Audio Therapy heavies Oliver Moldan and Habersham along with returning 'Across Borders' Greeks Nick & John Dalagelis and Stelios Vassiloudis. Rookie Shlomi Aber is up first, contributing the 'Twisted Dub' of his 'Tel Aviv Garden' track. This is 'safe' prog house to the utmost, which in 2007 means it's a lot snoozier than it has any right to be (especially as the comp's fishhook lead-in). MK Ultra Project's 'Gamma Radio (16 Bit Lolita's Remix)' fares better, a track heavy on keyboard slams but mercifully not reeking of vintage 1995 house limburger. Lewis Day's 'Striptease' is a moodier version of Lifelike & Chris Menace's 'Discopolis'; it's quite good for the first couple spins, but the synths get whinier and the bass more obnoxious with each repeat play.
Oliver Moldan has been Audio Therapy's golden boy up till now, pushing out a massive remix of Phil K & Habersham's 'Cloudbrake' in 2005 and dealing up the devastating 'Phat Laces' last year under his needless Prawler guise. Prawler returns on 'Autumn/Winter 2006' with 'Fred's Kiss', which boasts a great name but sounds anything but; all filler no killer. Habersham, however, has yet to slip up on production duties ' 'Where's My Dub' might be another sad little glitch-along, but it's a compelling listen nonetheless with a tremendous bass drop to boot.
Nick & John Dalagelis' 'R2 Units Gone Wild (G-Pal's RR Mix)' takes a nicely twisted route as the comp rounds home, ending up on Sean Quinn's complicated 'Relentless'. Things aren't quite normal to begin with, as prog house's typically head-bashing 4/4 is eschewed for a slightly more broken beat. Getting more and more syncopated, it enters electro territory for a little while before letting in a serious acid spinal drip. Then comes a full-on breakbeat knob-jobbed with some trademark Melbourne EFX wizardry and BAM! ' A truly great track start-to-finish.
Too bad they can't all be like that. If vinyl were still a viable medium for prog house in its death throes, you could pick and choose a couple of this comp's gems and leave the rest for the birds. As it stands, however, 'Autumn/Winter 2006' is like a variety pack of mini cereal boxes: once all the good ones are eaten you're left with ordinary old corn flakes.
Tracklist1 Shlomi Aber - Tel Aviv (Shlomi's Twisted Dub)
2 MK Ultra Project - Gamma Radio (16 Bit Lolita's Remix)
3 Lewie Day - Striptease
4 Swain & Paris - Tykes Groove (Mindaugelis & Andrius Alien Remix)
5 Oliver Moldan Presents Prawler - Fred's Kiss
6 Habersham - Where's My Dub?
7 Pole Folder - Over
8 Nick & John Dalagelis - R2 Units Gone Wild (G-Pal's RR Mix)
9 Stelios Vassiloudis - Teething
10 Sean Quinn - Relentless