Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac returns on the 8th of October with
compilation album Annie Mac Presents 2012.
2 CDs full of different genres such as house, electro and hip-hop - just to
name a few - AMP is a mix of
"all the tunes Annie has been playing out at clubs, parties and
festivals."
CD 1 opens with Knife Party's Sleaze.
This song, although it has a build up, is relatively quick in getting to the
'drop'. And when it does drop, Sleaze
grabs a hold of you and doesn't let go. After the huge electro synth of Knife
Party, this compilation suddenly changes direction and goes in to hip-hop mode.
As I'm immersed in huge 808 beats over the course of a few tracks, the track I
had been waiting for starts - Azealia Banks - 212. As the track leads in to its amazing chorus, I sabotage my
lead in F1 2012, crashing and gaining a 10 second penalty, out of pure
excitement. I only fear that no part of this compilation will live up to my
favourite track of it. But, to my pleasant surprise it does. With chart hits
like Redlight - Get Out My Head and
Madeon - Icarus; hip-hop tracks such
as Nas - The Don and remixes galore,
Annie Mac has managed to highlight similarities in very different songs to make
a wonderfully mixed first CD that actually works and flows really well.
The second CD begins. And it's very different. The differences are
apparent in the first few tracks. This part of the compilation isn't very
varied at all. For 8 tracks I'm bombarded by stabbing electro synth. Now, I
like electro, in small doses. But if I had still been playing F1, I would have
crashed again, this time falling asleep at the wheel. For 8 tracks there seemed
to be a build up to something that was never going to happen. I realise this is
music made to be played to dancefloors full of happy drunks. It's a pity I
don't drink, or dance, and that I'm sitting in PJs with a laptop on. Luckily a
sudden change of pace keeps me listening. Big, soulful vocals take centre stage
in Switch and Andrea Martin's I Still
Love You as a minimalist drum beat keeps the theme and managed to put all
the focus on the vocals.
Luckily, the end of CD 2 saves the day. With a more garage and r'n'b
sound, songs by the likes of AlunaGeorge, Drake and A$AP Rocky are very
refreshing, and almost take us full circle to the start of CD 1. The last few
tracks are very chilled out. And, unlike the electro of the start that seem to
build up but go nowhere, these tracks are very much made to be the chill out
section: MMOTHS, Frank Ocean and Kindness end things rather relaxingly, and
somewhat beautifully.
Annie Mac Presents 2012 is
out on October 8th via Island Records.
Annie Mac will also be
touring between November 7th and December 1st throughout the UK.
JL
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