Link: The Other Side: London
The Inside Pulse:
Like its sister releases The Other Side: Paris (see review) and The Other Side: New York, this package is a fold out map and travel guide noting the best of local culture and depravity, along with a DualDisc — one piece of plastic that serves as both a DVD travelogue and a CD format musical introduction to the local scene. The music for this edition features tracks picked and mixed by local master DJ and label founder, Damian Lazarus. It’s a solid 76 minutes of music, but other than a tasty curry-flavored jam by Out Hud and the Anglo Saxon-rooted tune from the Magic Numbers, there isn’t anything here that feels as “uniquely British” as the liner notes promise.
There are two reasons for this. First, this is a subjective guide to London and rather than focus on bringing London to the world, Lazarus used the “subjective” clause to create a mix that matches his sensibilities. The result is a mix that defines good music as seen by one Londoner rather than his idea of what music makes London London. Second, as Britain’s first cousin, we in the US may be too close to note the uniqueness of the London scene. Fairly, Yazoo’s “In My Room” reminds me not of the London scene from whence it sprang, but the movie adaptation of “The Chocolate War,” while the house and electronica tracks remind me of the New York, Chicago and Detroit house music that preceded London’s.
That said, there is a lot to like here and if you are the kind of person who gets into compilations for the exposure to new music, choosing to forgive the clunkers and the lack of cohesion that seeps into nearly every compilation effort, there is a solid contingent of very good tracks here that you may not find without paying import prices.
Positives:
Stand out tracks from Boom Bip, Ty, Out Hud, Ada, the Paradise Motel and the Magic Numbers (whose debut was reviewed here when released and has since landed US distribution — “try before you buy” in my opinion, but this track is a winner)
An interesting mix of different dance/electronica styles
The DVD and print guides, which cover the territory missed by the CD — giving you a feel for the city whose name is on the cover
Negatives:
Compilations often suffer from a few tracks that are easy to skip, and this is no exception
This collection is caught in an uneasy middle ground between a singular, linear statement by an artist (the DJ) and an overview. In the end it is neither. It feels like Lazarus threw in a few tracks to appease someone who told him it needed to be broader.
In the case of the Paris disk, electronica was a nice proxy for the feel of that city. Here, it feels like poor casting to have a DJ/electronica label head represent the city.
Cross-breed:
Your 2nd favorite dance music sampler and the chill out mix your college roommate made.
Reason to buy:
You think a compilation CD is a success if half of the tracks are solid and you can’t find most of them elsewhere.
