Rating:
Genre:
Electronica
Release Date: 11/25/2003
Following his
Hip-Hop Forever and
Disco Heat mixes for
BBE,
In the House is a similarly generous set from
Kenny Dope that entails a whopping 40 cuts of tried and true and more-recent
house tracks spread across three discs. From start to finish, the veteran DJ walks the fine line that divides steadfast
house heads from more casual listeners, with everyone taken into consideration. Though some cuts, like the
Joey Negro mix of
Erro's
"Change for Me," have been pounded into the ground by DJs the world over,
Dope's time-tested skills as a DJ and selector keep it all fresh. Starting off with his own drastic remixing/mashing of three dancefloor classics (
George Kranz'
"Din Da Da," Martin Circus'
"Disco Circus," Yello's
"Bostich"), and then seguing into a mix of
the Jungle Brothers'
"I'll House You," Dope seems to have his sights set on the distant past. However, from that point on, most everything else is from the past three years, with plenty of
MAW tracks making appearances. Two discs of nearly flawless mixing are capped off in grand style by
Peven Everett's tireless
"I Can't Believe I Loved Her," where the multi-instrumentalist displays almost all of his talents (point of order: this version of the track doesn't seem nearly ornamented enough to be the "
Calypso Remix," as credited in the track listing). The bonus third disc is a handy track-in-whole compilation of
MAW remixes and productions, including the 12" mixes of
Nuyorican Soul's
"It's Alright, I Feel It," Neneh Cherry's
"Buddy X," and
BeBe Winans'
"Thank You." Slaying every other deep-
house mix released in 2003 with considerable ease, this is a valuable set for graying fans and
deep house newcomers alike. If
house is truly dead, as it has been argued constantly ever since, well,
house started, then somebody neglected to inform all of the people responsible for making these tracks, not to mention the DJ who strung them all together.
~Andy Kellman, All Music Guide