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It's been two years since his departure from
Underworld and, far from taking it easy, Darren
Emerson has been hard at work, running the success
story that is the Subliminal/Underwater night in
Ibiza with Eric Morillo and cultivating his own
record label, Underwater, the fruits of which can be
heard on this double CD. Not only that, it appears
he's spawned this summer's biggest house/pop crossover
record.
Tech-House has a reputation for being a bit of a
non-starter. It's house without the feel-good factor,
techno without the futuristic driving rhythms.
However, on this compilation, Darren Emerson
and Tim Deluxe fuse the two genres seamlessly,
effortlessly gliding from deep throbbing analogue
techno bass to funky Latin syncopation.
The first CD
takes the form of a party set that descends into deep
druggy techno. The second CD expands on this idea,
going deeper without getting boring and even flirting
with nu-school breaks. The first track, �Yerself' by
Mutiny, is a perfect example of where the genre
is going, a descending electro-bass line underlying
the singalong vocal and tough (but not too tough)
percussion.
The standout track by far is Tim Deluxe's
own It Just Won't Do, which reached no. 14 in the singles chart and has been the
song of this summer's festivals. A total Summer
Tune, it fuses a just-the-right-side-of-annoying
three-note trumpet riff with a huge housey bass line
and Sam Obernick's Latin-tinged vocals.
Tim
Deluxe knows how to write a commercial yet
credible tune (he was behind the Speed Garage anthem
RIP Groove as one half of Double 99) and he's
sure to taste more success. Unbelievably he eschewed
vast sums of money (a reported �500,000) offered to
him for this track and instead decided to stay with
Underwater. It's clear where this boy's loyalties lie
and he obviously has a lot of faith in the label.
As an advertisement for Underwater, this
compilation is perfect, showcasing as it does its
sheer diversity. The marriage of squelchy acid lines
and Samba rhythms, of soaring house vocals and
metallic percussion give it a kind of universal
appeal.
It's the sound of a glammed-up night at Pacha
in Ibiza and a dark, smoky underground club in West
London all at the same time. It's the sound that made
the Subliminal/Underwater sessions in Ibiza so
popular. There's no hint of a sell out and that will
ensure the success of Underwater for a long time to
come.
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