Thomas Hamman & Gerd Janson – Live at Robert Johnson Volume 4 review

Artist: Thomas Hamman & Gerd Janson
Title: Live at Robert Johnson Volume 4
Label: Live At Robert Johnson Germany
Genre: Disco/Nu-Disco
Format: CD
Buy From: Juno Records

The powerhouse duo, behind the Liquid club nights at Frankfurt’s Robert Johnson, Thomas Hamman and Running Back label honcho Gerd Janson, are the latest to take the reigns on the club’s fourth release. With its impressive selection and solid mixing, it’s like being on a journey through the 90s.

The first few tracks provide a nice starter to warm up the ears, taking us out deeper into space with Lontano’s sublime “Lovebass”. It’s where the fourth track “W.B.W.U.” kicks in, where it would really whip hips on the dance floor. It is just sequenced so beautifully, from the infectious kicks and snares, build-ups, the abrupt pause, and the drop. Amazing. One of my favorite moments in a DJ’s mix, is when you’re thinking it’s peaking, it just gets better and better. The hypnotic ‘Moroder-esque’, “Big Bang Theory” does just that. The momentum pulls back a few notches for air with Azymuth, then bounces back harder with Chez Damier’s “Take it Away A and B2”, and followed effortlessly by one of my favorite anthems: Kenny Dope’s mix of “Red Hook Dreams”. The rest of the mix includes more gems by Soundstream, DJ Duke and Radioslave, while the cheeky Superpitcher remix of DNTEL’s “(This Is) The Dream Of Evan And Chan” rounds out the mix with its lyric, “he played every song from 1993”.
With the exception of a few relatively new tracks, none of them feel dated at all. They sound just as fresh as they do now as they did back then, standing tall even amongst the latest house productions out now. This mix CD isn’t just a great listen outside of the club, but would definitely please those house lovers in it.

Review: Shingo Shimizu