Various Artists: Adam Freeland – Mexico City GU032

Adam Freeland scores it big with his entry in the Global Underground mix series. Not that I’ve been trolling the mix CDs over the past few months, but this is the first one I’ve seen to include Carl Craig’s epic mix of Faze Action “In the Trees”. The track’s been written about already, and Freeland gives it to us in full glory — the very first song on the double CD. Freeland’s not only got that scoop as a couple tracks from KIM (half of the Presets), whose album was a super-exclusive Japan only affair, contribute to the first CD’s electro banging feel. From the obligatory Ed Banger contributions (Justice, Mr. Oizo) to Spank Rock’s “Bump (Switch Remix)” to Brit Justice wannabes Does It Offend You, Yeah? , the disc plays like an indie dance party in the Lower East Side. The second CD takes things into a more cerebral place, though its middle section detours into straight dance-rock, with Silversun Pickups and Fujiya & Miyagi. As with recent party mixes from JDH & Dave P and Fabriclive entries from Spank Rock and Rub’n’Tug, the emphasis throughout is on the party vibe, rather than the smoothness of the mix. You get the sense that now, in this iPod age, there’s a bigger market for songs people who read blogs will recognize rather than mood-sustaining exercises in mood creation. No matter, when you’ve got 120 Days’ now recognisable “Come Out” and Tom Vek’s “Nothing But Green Lights” you’re too busy enjoying yourself to think much about it.