For fans of In The House they’ll know this is the 26th Edition and although Gilles Peterson In The House will probably be our favourite forever, as popular as The Shapeshifters are, they have really got busy on the mix here and come up with the goods.

The Shapeshifters classic ‘Lola’s Theme’ that’s so beloved of Best Of compilations gets a timely re-edit, their old mate and former Bournemouth resident ATFC edits the Jungle Brother’s classic ‘I’ll House You’ and his own ‘Bad Habit’ and one of our favourite’s from last year, Wahoo’s ‘Make Em Shake It’ turns up as a Claude Monnet & Toree remix version.

The Marijn Ten Velden remix of The Shapeshifter’s latest single ‘Chime’ (the old Orbital classic) starts CD2 (along with a bit of the original version) but I think CD1 is my current favourite as it is (slightly) more relaxed. Starting off by putting DJ Spen & Knee Deep together with a Funk D’Void mix and it just builds with house heavyweights like Kerri Chandler, Grant Nelson, X-Press 2 and the more minimal techy house of Mike Monday. Monday’s ‘I Dream Of Ducks’ was on his Smorgasbord album of a couple of years ago but try and check his latest 12”, ‘Zum Zum’ on Great Stuff Recordings. And then, Daniel Bovie and Roy Rox steal the show with ‘Stop Playing With My Mind’ mixed into ‘Spellbound’ by Grant Nelson.

No house music compilation would be complete without an appearance by Robert Owen and they’ve picked ‘Tears’ for CD3; their “influences” collection. I don’t suppose I should be surprised by the inclusion of tracks by Hall & Oates or Tears For Fears but you can’t fault anything from Patrice Rushen or the chart classic ‘Killer’ by Adamski or another compilation favourite and all time monster, Man Parrish’s ‘Hip Hop Bee Bop’.

Rich house pickings on the compilation front at the moment with A Boy’s Own Odyssey (Volume II) coming out soon and this In The House gets you right in the mood for it.

Reviewed: Various - The Shapeshifters In The House Cat. No. ITH26CD Release date: 25th August 2008
Tracklisting
CD1
1. Blocked In/Gotta Have House [Funk D’Void mix/Spenappella] - Skylark/Knee Deep & DJ Spen
2. Sound Is Yours [Kerri Chandler mix] - Risk Sound System
3. Bounce - John Julius Knight
4. I Dream Of Ducks - Mike Monday
5. Twilight [Chris Barratt Mix] - Adam K & Soha
6. iPanik - Skylark
7. Wizeman - Copyright & Imaani
8. Stop Playing With My Mind [Club Mix] - Daniel Bovie & Roy Rox
9. Spellbound - Grant Nelson
10. Reach [Vanjee mix] - Lil’ Mo’ Yin Yang
11. One - Peter Luts & Barbara Tucker
12. Muzik Xpress [Skylark mix] - X-Press 2
13. Strike [Michael Gray mix] - Danism & Haze
14. Believe En Me [LCG believe en West Mix] - Alexander East
15. Pacific - Freemasons
CD2
1. Chime [Martijn Ten Velden mix] - Shapeshifters
2. Chime - Shapeshifters
3. Pyramid [Dirty South mix] - John Dahlback
4. Bad Habit [2008 club mix] - ATFC
5. Hideaway [Cedric Gervais mix] - De’Lacy
6. What Would We Do - Hagenaar & Albrecht
7. Mixdown/Maestros Of House/I Feel For You [original version/a cappella/a cappella] - Grand High Priest/Soul Creation/Bob Sinclar
8. Creeps (You’re Giving Me)/I Can’t Stop/Planet Rock [Vandalism mix/a cappella/a cappella] - Freaks (The)/Sandy Rivera/Powers That Be & Roland Clark
9. Wack Ass/At Night [original version/a cappella] - Hagenaar & Haggstrom/Lindberg/Shakedown
10. Let It Go [Chocolate Puma dub] - Dirty South
11. Make ‘Em Shake It [Claude Monnet & Torre main mix] - Wahoo
12. My Joy [Harry Choo Choo Romero mix] - Quentin Harris & Margaret Grace
13. Lola’s Theme [re-edit] - Shapeshifters
14. Wonderful World/You Give Good Love [instrumental/a cappella] - Axwell & Bob Sinclar/Ron Carroll/Kathy Brown
15. Three Minutes To Explain - Fedde Le Grand & Funkerman
16. Get Down [Shapeshifters nocturnal dub] - Todd Terry All Stars
17. What The Fuck [original club mix] - Funkagenda
18. I’ll House You [ATFC edit] - Jungle Brothers
19. Treadstone - Shapeshifters
20. Touch Me - Bingo Players & Chocolate Puma
CD3
1. Look What You’ve Done To Me - Al Green
2. Haven’t You Heard - Patrice Rushen
3. Head Over Heels - Tears For Fears
4. Killer - Adamski
5. Hip Hop Bee Bop - Man Parrish
6. Club Lonely - Lil’ Louis
7. Acid Eiffel - Choice
8. Last Rhythm - Last Rhythm
9. Let The Beat Hit ‘Em - Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam
10. Here I Come - Barrington Levy
11. Sara Smile - Hall & Oates
12. Tears [classic vocal mix] - Frankie Knuckles & Satoshi Tomiie feat. Robert Owens

Links
www.myspace.com/theshapeshifters
www.defected.com