This could well be the mix album that gives Luke Solomon the recognition he deserves as a purveyor of some seriously high quality dance music. ‘Cutting Edge’ proves to be just that, perfectly paced and executed, with a number of vocal tracks that get right to the core emotionally. These include Crooked Man’s ‘This Machine (Kills Me)’, with its striking falsetto, and the yearning Roberto Rodriguez remix of Scope feat. Terry Grant in ‘Seven Reasons’. Solomon pays close attention to the joins between tracks – which sounds like an obvious point to make but it’s something not many DJs do with the quality on show here. When he ramps up the tension with Kris Wadsworth’s ‘Lime & Pink’, and then again with the steely bass of Iz & Diz and Trademarq the results are genuinely thrilling, and the subtle twists of funk these tracks have help to turn an extremely solid house release in to an extremely desirable one. This is probably Solomon’s best release yet – and is right up there as one of the best house mixes of the year to date.
5 out of 5
(Ben Hogwood)
