One of the pleasures of finding the living Strictly Rhythm site was discovering the availability of Tony Humphries Strictly Rhythm Mix Vol. 2 for purchase from the Defected Store. This was one of the earlier DJ mix CDs I ever bought and it still sounds great to this day.
I’ve got a lot of mixes of Strictly Rhythm tracks, but this might be the most enduring of them. The key is that it doesn’t overdose on the high profile Strictly Rhythm hits. Humphries’ mix is mainly a lot of solid mid-level tracks that most house DJs would know, but wouldn’t call classic. River Ocean’s Love & Happiness might qualify but after that, you’ve just got good old thumping tracks. I’ve got a particular fond spot for M & M’s So Deep, So Good, the Banji Boys Love Thang, and R. B. M.’s Latin Flavor.
The mix is also illustrative of the peak of Strictly Rhythm’s “Wild Pitch” era, ala D. J. Pierre. Lots of hard beats, not nearly as austere as acid house, but having many of the same synth lines. Trancey but with a lot of danceable energy. Plus a lot of Latin flavor.
Good stuff, and it’s been kickin’ in my iPod Touch recently.