Review Paradise 25 years Vinyl Compilation

Twenty-five years ago, the Pacha Ibiza vibe was brought to Belgium by Patrick Soks. Derrick May, Derrick Carter, Stacey Pullen, Todd Terry, Pete Tong, Dimitri, Marcello, Doc Martin, Laurent Garnier, Sven Väth, Bob Sinclar, Luciano… they all played their first Belgian DJ set at these legendary Paradise parties at Café d’Anvers. To celebrate the anniversary, “Paradise 25 years” was released on CD & vinyl.

Eleven tracks, moving from major standards of house music like Virgo “Four-In a Vision”, to the more raw deep acid moods and strings environment of Laurent Garniers masterpiece “Acid Eiffel” (full version!).

This album includes 3 LP’s and is definitely designed for vinyl-lovers, house-music lovers, collectors and for DJ’s. All tracks are full length versions which I really appreciate. Nothing annoys me more than compilations with badly cut-off track versions.

On the first LP you will find on side A: That Kid Chris- “Keep On”, a melodic groove composition, originally released in 1992 and as mentioned before Virgo Four-“ In a Vision”. On the B-side there is “Antares” by Omniverse and Mr. Marvins “Hammond Groove”, Italians finest deep house.

The second LP covers my favorite “Acid Eiffel”, full length version on the D-side and on the C-side “I Believe” (Carl Craig B-Dub Mix) by Kevin Saunderson & “Banana Resort” by Different Noodles.
Acid Eiffel was released in 1993. If you want the original on vinyl check out www.discogs.com. Price ranges from €40.00 to €110 without shippingcost. In 2009 Acid Eiffel was also released on Fifteen Years Fuse 1/4. For the moment its price range on Discogs is between €34 and €145.

Anyway, turn the world off, hit play, and let Master Laurent remove you from this world for over 13 minutes of beauty, pain, hope & joy.

(Laurent Garnier Live @ Elysee Montmartre, Paris, France)

Out of the trip & back to LP 2, side C: “Banana Resort” is a Belgian production by Dimitri de Wever & Raoul Belmans (Swirl People), released in 2001 on Wally’s Groove World. It has a classic uplifting sound enriched by a subtle vocal loop. Nice to know: 25 years of Paradise is compiled by Koen van Immerssel, better known as Koenie, a Belgian (ex-)DJ, (ex-)producer, (ex-)record label manager and owner of the Wally’s Groove World record shop in Antwerp.
In 1997 he started the Wally’s Groove World record label, borrowing the name of his record shop. The label was known for its distinctive house sound.

The third LP side E, contains “Flame” by Crustation, an insanely deep & smooth house track, and “Lose Control” by Night Communication, low bass and warm deep Italian house music, originally released in 1992.

On Side F of the third LP there is “Only For The Headstrong”, a timeless masterpiece from 1990 by Psychotropic.
I totally forgot about this tune (shame on me), but now I fell in love with it all over again. In this track they used a lot of warped samples, and the acapella Music’s hypnotizin’,…which is the acapella intro to the Disco/Funk classic “Do It to the Music” by Raw Silk on West End Records released in 1982:

Last but not least the second track on side F: another old school tune “Let’s get Jazzy” by KC Flight.

To be honest, originally I wanted to buy this compilation because of Acid Eiffel, I really wanted this one to be part of my record collection. But after taking a closer look, it turns out that this compilation offers me a lot more. They didn’t choose the most obvious tracks, but that makes it even more surprising.

You will love it, whether you like to listen to it at home or on the dancefloor and as a DJ, if you are into warm laid-back funky house classics, this will definitely spice up your mix.

Note: There is no digital download link included which really would be a nice bonus.

*************

Available at www.decks.de for €28.99 incl. German VAT (19%) and excl. shipping costs

and www.phonicarecords.com for £27.98 incl. VAT excl. shipping cost

or go to your local recordshop and check it out.

sources:
http://www.koenvanimmerseel.com/record-labels/
www.discogs.com

*************

25 Years Paradise

Label: 541records (N.E.W.S)

Format:
3 × Vinyl, LP, Compilation

Country:
Belgium

Released:
Apr 2016

Tracklist

LP1:
A1 That Kid Chris – Keep On (Pressin On) (Rhythmix)
A2 Virgo Four – In A Vision
B1 Omniverse – Antares
B2 Mr. Marvin-Hammond Groove

LP2:
C1 Kevin Saunderson Pres. The Reese Project – I Believe (Carl Craig B-Dub Mix)
C2 Different Noodles – Banana Resort
D Choice – Acid Eiffel

LP3:
E1 Crustation – Flame (Mood II Swing Dub)
E2 Night Communication – Lose Control (In Dub We Trust Mix)
F1 Psychotropic – Only For The Headstrong
F2 KC Flightt – Let’s Get Jazzy (Dope Mix)

Credits:
25 Years Paradise compiled By – Koen Van Immersel*