Doc Martin/Various

Doc Martin unleashes the funkiest house mix I have heard in ages. This is the kind of mix that conjures up memories of WBMX, the Paradise Garage and the earliest days of house. Every track has an energetic, soulful feel that not much house has today. Funky bass lines, congas, organ melodies and squidgy noises are featured on many of the tracks, in addition to some great vocals. Doc Martin, a Californian DJ, has been mixing it up for a long time, and it shows. His sense of vibe and his ability to switch between different styles of house music are excellent. The music is perhaps a bit slower than most of today's music, but this mix is clearly influenced by the last days of disco and early house music, as practiced by Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles, when things were slower and funkier. As such, listeners used to long, seamless, tuned computer mixes may be a bit put off, but the point here is the overall groove, not the mixes themselves. Anybody who has ever been touched by house should own this disc. As Slow Supreme's "Green Tea" says, "We're both feeling/That certain feeling/It's so appealing."