Now after last weekend, I think it’s again now safe not to write off the Germans. And if you were at the Secretsundaze party last weekend with guest Tobi Neumann and residents Giles Smith and James Priestley, you’ll have been talking all week about their next CD compilation coming out this Monday.

You’ll recall Smith and Priestley brought us one of the most exciting/best tech/house compilations last year, Secretsundaze : Volume 1. Now the temptation must have been to do something similar for ‘Vol.2’ but that type of repetitiveness is not what Secretsundaze is about; it’s just not in their nature.

So if you’re going to trust your second mix compilation release to someone else, you better make sure it’s someone who knows what they are doing. Tobi Neumann knows what he’s doing alright. He made his name as producer of jingles and movie soundtracks after getting the electronic music bug at the 1995 Love Parade. Since then he’s been a resident DJ at Munich’s Flokati House Club and part of Sven Väth’s Cocoon team and with his own productions, he’s one of the driving forces on the German scene.

Now if you’re still a little confused about world music’s influence on dance/club culture, this is an album to open your ears. From the opening track of Osunlade’s ‘My Reflection’ to ‘Le Cercle Peul’ by Mr. Raoul K and the (non-reggae) drums of Minilogue’s ‘Jamaica’, this album is jam packed with treats.

Also included is a track from Kerri Chander’s Computer Games album that’s suitably Detroit with big strings and talking of the U.S.A., Billy Dalessandro is a Chicago based DJ and producer and his ‘Nitrogen Bass’ is a bit of a ping-pong electro bouncer; I love this stuff. Also check out the tasty ‘Radar’ siren and the dubby vocal mix of ‘Derrick’s Chase’ by Nathan Hawks.

If you’ve got the lastest Slices (Issue 2-08) there’s a feature on Oslo Records and their hot guy of the moment, Johnny D. Tobi’s gone for the Johnny D. Remix of ‘Pox Box’ which might not be the best of this set, but it has some serious squechy bits and sets up the exclusive and unreleased ‘Viola Tricolor’ (this is a great ‘experimental’ track, more of this please).

The album ends where it started with a couple of some jazzy/world influenced stompers and it’s exactly this quality and variety why Giles and James picked Tobi as his track selection as impressive as his mixing skills. Get this album and you can have your own Secretsundaze session any day you like, now that’s got to be a good idea.

Secretsundaze will be at The Lovebox Weekender on 19th July, London www.lovebox.net

Reviewed: Various - Secretsundaze Presents Tobi Neumann (Secretsundaze) Cat. No. SSPCD001 Release date: 7th July 2008
Tracklisting:
1 Osunlade - My Reflection
2 Sascha Dive - Bdown Variation 7
3 Move D - Quit Quitting
4 Vera & Federico Molinari - It Ain’t Music
5 Soni - Here To Stay
6 Mr. Raoul K - Le Cercle Peul
7 Minilogue - Jamaica
8 Kerri Chandler - Pong
9 Nathan Hawks - Derrick’s Chase (Vox Mix)
10 Rhythm & Sound - Ruff Way (Bootleg Version)
11 Billy Dalessandro - Nitrogen Bass
12 Stimming, H.O.S.H. & Solomun - Radar
13 Ralph Sliwinski - Pox Box (Johnny D. Remix)
14 Sensitiva - Viola Tricolor
15 Jus Ed - Kick It Up (Part 4)
16 Guillaume - Les Gans

Links:
www.myspace.com/tobineumann
www.secretsundaze.net
www.myspace.com/secretsundaze
www.myspace.com/gilessmithmusic
www.myspace.com/jamespriestley
www.eb-slices.net