Summer is officially here, nearly, and hot on its heels it is one of the most eagerly anticipated Hed Kandi titles of the year, Beach House. Hed Kandi’s Beach House encapsulates the feel of its spiritual home, Ibiza, and flies the flag for sexy, mid-tempo house with grooving Balearic basslines and sultry soulful vocals. The next offering however, falls on the milestone catalogue number HEDK100 so naturally, something extra special is in store. An ideal candidate for the 100th release, Beach House has a back catalogue littered with stunning material, so the inclusion of a third, mixed, classics CD is very exciting indeed.

The album kicks off with the sunrise disc and dives straight into upfront material from Strictly Rhythm stars; Daniel Bovie and Roy Rox with their remix of South Street Player’s (who?) Keeps Changing Your Mind. In a nod to the record’s crossover success, the remix looses none of the original lyrical power but the atmosphere is upped with brand new strings and keys. Man of the hour Dennis Ferrer features with a track from his 2009 catalogue, but Afterlife pitch it up slightly and bring it right down onto the beach with their reworking, switching the minimal melody line of the original with a much bouncier hook and of course, sundrenched percussion. Joris Voorn features with remix of Nalin and Kane’s Beachball, a track that has had its fair share of hysteria surrounding it this year and the godfather of House, Frankie Knuckles, teams up with main room junkies, The Shapeshifters, resulting in ‘The Ones You Love’, an infectious beach anthem headed straight for the biggest clubs.

Now the sunshine offering as CD2 assumes its status with a selection of Beach House classics, expertly mixed together and ready to serve! This CD features the quintessential tracks from Beach House history plus a few that just couldn’t be overlooked. Kandi favourites Fred Falke, Miguel Migs, Julien Jabre (with the unforgettable ‘Swimming Places’), Wez Clarke and Louis Vega all feature plus stunning material from Masters At Work, Moloko and the immortal Octave One with their hypnotic ‘Black Water’. So often, especially in the House sphere, the addition of a third disc can signify overindulgence, but not in this case. With an astounding amount of material to choose from, everything on this classics collection is carefully considered, with just the right amount of what’s recognisable interlaced with undisputed gems at their grooving best, this is the perfect set to start a party!

CD3 takes on the persona of the sunset disc and touches on a whole host of material from artists making their Hed Kandi debut. This is disc is nothing if not exciting and is testament to Hed Kandi’s shrewd ear fixed firmly on the global dancefloor. From Brooklyn to Berlin, the scene is rich with a deeper sound and these records are firmly rooted in soulful ancestry, transporting them effortlessly onto Beach House. First up, Crazy P transform Reboot’s ‘Enjoy Music’ into and effortlessly cool party number with the addition of an awesome breakbeat and Lisa Shaw provides stunning vocals on ‘Can You See Him’. Zev Eisenburg and Gadi Mizrahi from the eponymous Wolf and Lamb label both feature material. Zev’s track features the rejoiceful and powerful vocals of Beckford whilst Gadi’s track delivers striking piano progression and a vocal sample worthy of the gospel hall of fame. Hed Kandi’s very own Dean Rigg recycles Jamie Jones’ 2009 WMC bomb ‘Summertime’ with fantastic results, injecting momentum and reams of beach attitude with sundrenched marimba percussion. No Regular Play’s Smiling Faces features another unforgettable vocal with Soul Clap on the edit and the London based jozif works two tracks onto the compilation, first the carnival laced ‘Tiger Tiger’ and then Matt Playford’s mix of the hauntingly good Chicago. While this is further into the obscure than Hed Kandi have ventured recently, it definitely serves as a snapshot of Hed Kandi at its thought-provoking best!

LABEL: HED KANDI
RELEASE DATE: 1st June 2010
CAT. NO: HEDK100
FORMAT: 3CD / DOWNLOAD