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As regular readers know, we don’t follow the sentiments of the tradition written press unless they happen to get it spot on but fair play to IDJ magazine who said of this compilation, “Pure dance floor techno with a rocket up it’s ar*e”. I’m certainly not going to argue with the rocket sentiments as the only issue here is whether you can take the ‘science’. The 2 CD set is split into a whoppin’ 24 track mix CD of hot club bangers by loads of folks I’ve never heard of except the mighty UMEK remix of the Oliver Koletzki & Roland Clark monster ‘Yes We Can’; the only proper vocal on the CD (for full review of the original release, see HERE).

UMEK is from Slovenia which may account for the novel selections (to us at least save for a Dandi & Ugo remix) but that just makes the whole CD that much the better and I can tell you, this is hard stuff. Not only that, you need some stamina as it’s the best part of an hour and a quarter long; even if it’s a bit of a slow start (but not for long) you’re soon into the sounds of the under world synths, ping pong/water torture, passing through the Stargate and bangin’ beats. The highlights for me is the Steve Mac and Paul Harris track ‘Dizzy Heights’ and the scary ‘Is There Anybody There’ remix before Fergie finishes it off with the suitably entitled ‘Exit People’.

UMEK and his friends were responsible for putting on the first large scale parties in Slovenia developing the dance music scene in the country which resulted in Umek being Slovenia’s most famous techno DJ, and a prolific producer.

UMEK’s own tacks that he’s slipped into the mix (‘16th Century Japan’, ‘You Might Hear Nothing’) are a little introduction to what you can expect from the other CD as this is a collection of 12 exclusive and unreleased tracks by UMEK himself (recorded between 1998-2005). This is where he shows off what makes CD1 ‘rock’ and/or how ahead of the game he is/was. He seems to cover so many different sub-styles (from funky to goth to playground!) but mostly with the urgency of a pumpin’ train throb.

So it’s a bit different from recent Hell Yeah! releases (like Florian Meindl’s ‘8 Bit Romance’ or Blatta & Inesha’s ‘Revolution’) and well worth the variation if you ask me. I don’t know if UMEK has played Fabric or even some dodgy converted railway arch in Vauxhall? Watch out for when he does as it’s going to be huge; don’t resist.

The artwork, by Hell Yeah’s Rocco “The Boghe” Neverending is superb as it really captures somewhere down below where they play techno non-stop; get this set and prepare yourself for an eternity of Hell Yeah!

V/A - UMEK? Hell Yeah! (Hell Yeah! Recordings) Cat. No. HYR7041D Release date: 17th August 2009
TRACKLIST CD1 - Compiled and mixed by Umek
1) Federico Milani - Green (Alex Di Stefano Remix)
2) Aneuria - Koya Si Ti (Tomy DeClerque Remix)
3) Andrea Mattioli & Gabriel C - Twister (Dandi & Ugo Remix)
4) Marshall & Libex - Turin Quality Clubbing (Piatto Remix)
5) Spartaque - Fobia (Piatto Remix)
6) Marco Brugattu & Paul Cart - Billie’s Mascotte (Nihad, Lasse & Nima Remix)
7) Oliver Koletzki & Roland Clark - Yes We Can (Umek Remix)
8) Joy Kitikonti - Voiceover (Kiko rmx)
9) Olivier Giacomotto & Dj Tonio - Rex The Club
10) Lollo - Microminitech (Gennaro Mastrantonio Remix)
11) Umek - You Might Hear Nothing
12) Mowree - Special Wine
13) Steve Mac & Paul Harris - Dizzy Heights
14) Alex D’Elia & Da Lukas - Didascalia (Piatto Remix)
15) Namtrack - This Is What U Need (Amir Remix)
16) Koen Groeneveld - Wake Turbulence (Spektre Remix)
17) Maxime Dangles - John Conrad
18) Umek - 16th Century Japan
19) Dyno & Alex Di Stefano - Sutura
20) Sinisa Lukic - Frka Frka
21) Joseph Capriati - C’est La Vie (Umek Remix)
22) Tomy DeClerque - Loki
23) Quivver - Is There Anybody There (Boz Boz Cut)
24) Fergie - Exit People
Tracklist CD2 (NOT AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL) UMEK 1998-2005 Unreleased exclusive tracks
1) Always Avoided
2) Generation Roots
3) Luda Koka
4) Mild Fun
5) Monoton Falling
6) My Fellow Captives
7) Satisfying Place
8) Seems Artificial
9) Signs Speak
10) Sladoledar Iz Tomacevga
11) Sneaking Sequence
12) The Final Piece

Links:
www.umek.si
www.myspace.com/djumek
www.hellyeahrec.com
www.boghe.net