The mid-to-late 80s was an exciting time for New York’s club scene as, apart from the tremors caused by acid house, the sampler became a prime studio tool resulting in audacious Frankenstein groove monsters before the legal departments got busy. The second volume of Armand Van Helden’s musical homage to his city and the sounds which rocked it is a fearsome roller-coaster which tears through a raft of Funky Drummer-driven hiphop classics before acid house enters the fray from Chicago to spawn hiphouse. After igniting with Chill Rob G’s ‘The Power’ flowing into Strafe’s seminal electro-house anthem ‘Set It Off’, the eight-armed DJ unleashes overlooked nuggets by Kwame, King Bee, Sugar Bear, Doug Lazy, Eric B & Rakim and Roxanne Shante before Nitro Deluxe’s proto-house ‘This Brutal House’ brings in dance music’s future with seminal Windy City acid anthems by Tyree, Fast Eddie and Maurice, along with further roof-raisers from the era by Debbie Malone and Toni Scott. Both strains collide in a hiphouse rush from Queen Latifah, her British protŽgŽ Monie Love, Kool Rock Steady and the Jungle Brothers while Van Helden stamps his formidable talent on the set with his own tracks like ‘Shake That Ass’ and Nicolette-sampling ‘Ski Hard’, effortlessly gatecrashing to boost the incendiary party vibe and maintain the lineage of eternal freshness.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Kris Needs
