- It is hard to deny Curtis Alan Jones' status of pioneer of the early nineties Chicago house scene. After all, either as Cajmere or Green Velvet (his main two aliases), he helped chronicle both the sheer exuberance and exhilaration of the soon-to-be-commercially-viable dance scene AND its darker, hmm, consequences and undertones (namely hardcore partying burning brain cells up and high-on-gak losers causing interminable line-ups in big discos' bathrooms). Touring like crazy the entire world's techno clubs and delivering storming live performances as that-little-black-man-with-funny-green-hair only helped solidifying his unique position over the last decade. Funny, then, how one of the American techno and house scenes' most instantly recognizable voice and idiosyncratic figure could end up sounding so generic and bland on mixing duties.
I personally have nothing against commercial vocal house, and I've been known in certain circles to do the dance-as-driving routine to 'Call on Me', 'Dance I Said' or 'The World is Mine' a few times, but I do hold a grudge against DJs who seem unable to vary pitches, moods, and BPMs. Somehow, Jones's recently released mixed album for Ministry of Sound's famous 'Sessions' series can't seem to find any pace equilibrium. Live DJ sets and commercially-available DJ mixes are obeying two different sets of rules, obviously, but judging from this double CD set, you wouldn't know Cajmere nor Green Velvet positively understand the difference. Consequentially, all the tracks end up sounding like they all had to go through the mould of Cajmere's own 'Say You Will' (CD 1's opening track) - and it just doesn't stop from then on for three hours. Even more refined numbers such as the James Holden remix of Andre Kraml's 'Safari' or (slightly over-played) 'Erotic Discourse' by Paul Woolford have to bow their heads down in front of pitiless tribal tracks like Cajmere's 'I Need U', Chab's overtly melodramatic 'Closer to Me', or Jerome Baker's jacking but painful 'I Need'.
Sure, Green Velvet knows his shit - who am I to posit the opposite, really? - and the second CD is more enjoyable and diverse in form and content: Soulwax, Fedde Le Grand (an unlikely British charts hit if there was ever one), and Armand Van Helden's classic remix of 'Spin Spin Sugar' all gladly pop up. But it's too little too late. In a world where M.A.N.D.Y., Sven Vath, James Holden and Tiefschwarz all released refined, varied, and appealing double mixed CD compilations over the last twelve months, who really has time for another trip down 'La La Landï' Seriously, listening to generic, tribal-lite techno and happy vocal house feels like wasting your time in some slowed-down-by-losers-on-gak bathroom line-up: in the end, you know this is not where the real party is happening.