Various Artists:

The Back To Mine series of mix-albums, first started in 1999, offers dance music for after-hours sips rather than for in-the-zone hips; these are the tunes you listen to at the end of the night, the idea being this would be the ‘private mix’ from the DJ you just heard. Bands, producers, solo artists are given the platform to play you the songs from an imaginary hang at their place.

Superstar DJ Fatboy Slim is the guest selector for this latest offering. And the funk-soul brother really delights with plenty of fine slices from both of those genres. A little reggae splash too with the “heavy, heavy monster sound” Dave& Ansel Collins’ Monkey Spanner getting the album off to a start.

Things very quickly go the way of a great Tarantino soundtrack compilation with Betty Chung’s cover of Bang Bang and the Alan Tew Orchestra’s romp through The Pink Panther Theme. And that’s the vibe for the most part from there. This would be a great sunny-day soundtrack as much as it’s for after-hours wind-down.

There’s some deep cuts and little breadcrumbs are offered too – like Camille Yarbrough’s Take Yo Praise: ie – the source of the Praise You sample.

Some uplifting feel-good light funk is the ticket too – Donal Leace’s Today Won’t Come Again is a soft-shoed banger.

The Go! Team is a perfect reminder of Fatboy Slim’s 90s/00s updating of the in-crowd mod-madness 60s-scene feelgood vibe, their Feelgood By Numbers here is a bridge after the disco-tinged funk climb from Manu Dibango (Big Blow) ahead of Wind’s Groovin’ With Mr. Bloe and Googie Rene Combo’s soul-jazz delight, Smokey Joe’s La-La.

Fatboy Slim is in there himself, with Roland Clark, for a little spoken-word trance-pulse (Sunset 303) and then the great closer, Yum Yum Head Food’s The Voice of Experience which drifts and wafts like mid-period Moby. You’ll be hitting the, er, ‘play’ button again and again. I anticipate this mix as one of the great summer-chillin’ comps for our holiday. It might work well for you too.
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