Kerri Chandler
Essential Mix (9/3/06)

★★★

The BBC series of essential mixes have remained somewhat of a constant in my life for the past four to five years. They provide a pretty substantial amount of content within their couple hour long mixes; providing a look into the material the artist focuses on or how they've changed or adapted over the years.

2006 was late in Chandler's career, which has been popular from the early to mid 1990s. You can tell that he is bringing a more modern and popular sound in this mix, but by no real means does that lessen his work. I've always thought that the best house DJ's shouldn't have to worry about creating music, more providing the material or the basis for people to express themselves further. And that vibe is quite apparent here; this isn't for the heady or introverted, but more for the current popular house clubs of the modern day.

That being said, I'm not a huge fan of some parts of this mix. A lot of it feels very repetitive and even annoying with some of the vocals. This thing is caked with R&B vocals and tracks in front of a basic 4/4 beat for the majority of it. I can't knock the mixing though, it's no surprise how fluid and coherent it feels. There's obviously the remains of older disco music or something that sounds straight out of Paradise Garage. 

The New York scene of house is interesting, while I don't think it reigns over Detroit and Chicago, Chandler is a good example of it. But to sort of take back what I said earlier; I would NOT start with this if you want to explore Chandler's style. Like most evolving DJs go chronologically. 

Favorite Song: It's a mix

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