- The duo of DJ statesmen Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton are something like the hippocampus of dance music: endlessly processing phenomena for storage in long-term memory. In addition to books like the indispensable Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, the two have in recent years gone digital, turning their DJ History website into a lively archive of mixes, reissues, interviews and forums. The site bills itself as "dance music's basement," a sort of informal digital-era rec room where insider information is traded with gusto and bonhomie. Part of the appeal of the DJ History lies in Bill and Frank's playful and inventive attitude towards cataloguing dance music, something clearly on display in their latest comp, in which they've cajoled a handful of big-namers into each parting with a "secret weapon."
It's a great concept for compilation for several reasons. The broadest might be its simple egalitarianism. A "secret weapon" can come from anywhere: Maybe it's the latest banger that you got leaked pre-release, an eye-opener slipped to you by a close friend or maybe you accidentally came across it in a dusty thrift-store bin—all that matters is that it works every time, no matter the venue, the crowd or the hour. When so much about DJing is about context, knowing how to sequence a set, a secret weapon is more about total utility—it's always the right tune to play. The tunes gathered here aren't necessarily the most obscure, or the most cutting-edge for today's sound, they form rather the results of an informal research project, handed over as battle-tested equipment.
But not only does this compilation serve as a bit of arms dealing, passing the anti-aircraft missiles and bunker busters of the dance floor on to you, it's a revealing peak into the gig bags of DJs like Prins Thomas, Gerd Janson and Brewster himself, and the results run the gamut from weirdo disco to sandy jazz house. Things open with a double punch of sizzling Italo, bursting with energy and half-nonsense English. Brewster's own offering, the strutting, head-nodding "Rusha" is worth the price of entry alone, and it's neatly complemented by "Carmel," an offering from Moonboots that injects moody, Kate Bush-style production with disco flair.
Often a track seems quite indicative of its selector, not unlike a similarity between pet and owner. Submitted by Prins Thomas, "Zen and the Art of Deadlines," for example, features a properly tightly-wound groove that already sounds like it's gone through the man's edits ringer. And while the comp is bolstered by a number of revealing housier tracks, like the sublime "Tripping Among the Stars," it's arguably at its best in slightly WTF brilliance like the dance-punk oddity "We Are All Animals"—which sounds something like The Pop Group's "We Are All Prostitutes" reconfigured for Sesame Street. The problem with releasing this compilation at all, however, is that this only makes these weapons not-so-secret anymore—it only makes you wonder about those that still remain all-too-classified.
Tracklist 01. Jesse Rae – Rusha (chosen by Bill Brewster)
02. Carmel – Sapho (chosen by Moonboots)
03. Boxsaga – Zen & The Art Of Deadlines (chosen by Prins Thomas)
04. Anneli Drecker – Sexy Love (Röyksopp Mix) (chosen by Chris Duckenfield)
05. Suede – Determination (chosen by Kelvin Andrews)
06. Red Hook Dreams – Your Love (Kenny Dope Remix) (chosen by Gerd Janson)
07. Diagram Brothers – We Are All Animals (chosen by Rhythm Doctor)
08. Derrick Carter’s Sound Patrol Orchestra – Tripping Among The Stars (chosen by Luke Solomon)
09. Mr. Gone – Mosquito Coast (Down To The Bone Club Mix) (chosen by Jon Marsh)
10. Nubian Mindz – Samba 909 (chosen by Frank Tope)
11. Bullet Train – Bang Bang (chosen by Psychemagik)
12. Skylite – Boogie Butt (chosen by Lexx)