Live & Remastered (subtitled 20th Anniversary Box Set) is a box set released by the record label of British nightclub Ministry of Sound in September 2011. It was released to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Ministry of Sound, as part of their 20:20 Project campaign, following the Ministry of Sound's foundation in 1991.[1] Focusing on the early years of the club, the box set contains five discs, each an iconic DJ set performed live at the Ministry of Sound from 1991 to 1994. The DJ sets are mixed by New York DJ veterans Larry Levan, David Morales, Todd Terry, Kenny Carpenter and the club's British co-founder Justin Berkmann, each delivering their own house style. Between them, genres explored include deep house and garage house. The packaging for the set resembles a "flightcase" box, with all the CDs themselves in "record sleeves", whilst the discs themselves are made to look like actual vinyl LPs.[1]
In promotion of the album, a "megamix" of songs from the album was uploaded onto by YouTube by Ministry of Sound,[2] whilst Factmag ran a competition in which free copies were given away.[3] The album was critically well received, who applauded the album's coverage of both the club's early years and the work of the DJs themselves. Time Out New York said the music was "great, both as time capsules and as collections of beautiful dance music."[4] The album peaked at number 50 on the UK Compilation Chart.[5]
Background
London superclubMinistry of Sound celebrated its 20th anniversary in September 2011. In celebration, the club announced the 20:20 Project, which started in March with a multi-media exhibition about the nightclub.[6] Further events include a three-day party in September, an international tour and the release of several commemorative DJ mixcompilation albums aimed at different parts of the club's audience.[6] They would release XX: Twenty Years, a four CD compilation of digitally mixed material, each disc covering at a different club night or compilation strand from the club's history, in November 2011,[7] before a sequel album, XX Volume Two, was released in 2012.[8]
Although the XX compilations were aimed at fans throughout their era, their other 20:20 Project anniversary release, Live & Remastered, was aimed more so at earlier goers to the club in its early days. With one reviewer calling it among the club's only releases "aimed at true heads in years,"[9] the club sought to create a compilation featuring live mixes of DJs playing at the club from its early days. Many of the club's DJs recorded their sets onto Digital Audio Tape (DAT), and soon enough, the club had extensive recording archive.[6] The club chose to cull several of classic, early DAT-recorded live mixes and remaster them for a new box set.[6] It was decided the set would five different mixes over five discs, therefore being longer than either of the XX compilations, and also the club's previous three-disc anniversary mix albums, One Half of a Whole Decade (1996)[10] and Fifteen Years (2006).[11] Abi Long, Alaine Wingrove, Alex Sparks, Alice Schofield, Gavin Fraser and Sarah Ioannou are credited as the set's "co-ordinators" in the "this album was brought to you by..." section in the liner notes.[12]
Content
Ministry of Sound, pictured in 2008.
The set features five different, "iconic"[1]DJ mix sets recorded live at the Ministry of Sound in the early 1990s; each mix by a different DJ, namely New York DJs Larry Levan, David Morales, Todd Terry, Kenny Carpenter and the club's British co-founder Justin Berkman, respectively.[13] One reviewer noted the mixes date from 1991,[6] whilst Fact Mag said the mixes date from 1990–1994, although the 1990 starting point is a mistake, the club having not opened until 1991.[14] They had not been released before, and were only licensed and remastered for the box.[15] All were recorded on DAT and culled from the club’s extensive recording archive.[6] Bruce Tantum said the mixes were "lovingly restored", and called the set "something of a DJ-festishist's dream, as these sets—from the time when house was morphing from an underground cult genre to the sound of the dance floor—haven't been publicly aired since the time of their creation."[13] Ministry of Sound tracked down the original license owners to the music on the album, described as "no mean feat in itself".[16]
Dance music veteran Larry Levan's mix, recorded in 1991[17] and comprising fourteen different tracks, was one of the most sought after recordings from the venue,[17] and is said to showcase Levan's aesthetic perfectly: "heaps of soulful vocals and melodic chords proving the strong bond between soul, R&B, gospel and house in his sets."[6] Colin Chapman of Planet Notion said that the mix "includes literally some of the fabric of house music’s defining sound."[17] Among the material on the disc highlighted by reviewers are the piano house of the "Dub of Doom Mix" of "Love Me Forever or Love Me Not" by Trilogy, made up of members of C+C Music Factory,[6] which is followed by two tracks from Italian house producers Soft House Company.[6] After an extended breakdown, "I'll Be Your Friend" by Robert Owens "picks up the groove".[6] Gary Hines' vocal and instrumental ensemble the Sounds of Blackness feature thereafter with "The Pressure".[6]
David Morales’ mix, recorded in the "most productive and most celebrated time" of his career,[17] was noted by one critic for sharing similarities with Levan’s mix.[18] Levan was one of the first to recognize Morales’ talents and the two played together regularly. However, Morales chooses tracks with a "tougher, more percussive edge" than on Levan's mix.[18] Examples of tracks in the mix in this style include Black Sheep’s "Strobelight Honey" and Linden C.'s "Deep Beats Vol. 1".[18] Those two tracks were pointed out by Patrice Knap of Laptop Rockers as examples of obscure tracks, who also noted "there are plenty of classics in the mix as well", naming the vocal-less version of Lil' Louis' "Club Lonely" and Inner City's "Pennies from Heaven" as examples.[18] The end of mix include a "great choice of melodic cuts"; Degrees of Motions' "Do You Want It Right Now" and Chez Damier's "Can You Feel It".[18]
Terry's mix, as is his style to this day, leans heavily on his own productions.[13] Among his own tracks included are "When You Hold Me" and "Hear the Music", the latter credited under the pseudonym Gypsyemen.[13] Carpenter's mix is in a different style, opting for deep house music, including MK's "You Brought Me Love" and Underground Solution's "Luv Dancin'" in the mix, "with time out for a disco break via "Let's Start a Dance" from Bohannon."[13] Berkmann's mix was said to feature "absolutely classic songs", including Earth People's "Reach Up to Mars", Murk's "thumping little mix" of Deee-Lite's "Pussycat Meow", Bobby Konders, and Coco Steel and Lovebomb.[13]
Release
The packaging features a disc jockey motif, including imagery such as a DJ turntable like the one pictured.
The packaging is unusual, in that the box itself containing the discs resembles a "flightcase" box that a DJ would carry vinyl records in, with all the CDs themselves in miniature "record sleeves".[1] Completing this theme, the discs themselves are also made to look like actual vinyl LPs,[1] and as such, they are coloured black with printed grooves.[12] PopularUK created the "album cover" design and Eskimo Square are credited for the record box illustration,[12] whilst the packaging concept was by Andy Pelger.[12] The album packaging uses the club's original logo used from 1991–2002.[19] A 52-page booklet, featuring the design of a Ministry of Sound turntable on the front, is included in the set, featuring original liner notes by Bill Brewster and "post-1994" liner notes by Gareth Cooke.[12] On certain copies, a slight mastering error occurs with the last track on disc five, the "My Soul Mix" of House Culture's "N-My Soul", where 1:46 into the track, the track number splits from track number 14 to track number 15, carrying the remaining length of the song (over four minutes) onto that track number instead.[12]
The set was released on 19 September 2011 by Ministry of Sound's self-titled record label,[14] two days before the club's 20th anniversary, and several months ahead of the club's other twentieth-anniversary compilations.[6] A week earlier on 13 September, a "megamix" of music from the album was uploaded onto by YouTube by Ministry of Sound.[2] A day afterwards on 14 September, Factmag ran a competition in which five free copies of the set were given away.[3] For some music critics, Ministry of Sound distributed a two-disc promotional version for them to review that only featured Levan and Morales' mixes.[17][18]
The album was critically acclaimed. Bruce Tantum of Time Out New York rated the album four stars out of five, saying "how the club managed to license all these beloved numbers is anyone's guess—such is the reach of the modern-day Ministry, we suppose. But the world's nightlife historians, nostalgia freaks, dance-floor denizens and plain old music lovers will be extremely glad that it did."[13] He said the mixes were "great, both as time capsules and as collections of beautiful dance music."[13] Colin Chapman of Planet Notion was very positive in his review, saying that "if you’re piecing together a collection, or simply seeking an understanding of the music called house and especially what its story in London has been, then this double disc release will give you an insight into the heady days of early 90s house in London, before the time when dance music was fragmented into a 1,000 subgenres."[17] He called the album "a memento and an education", saying that Ministry of Sound "was always the loveable rogue of London nightclubs, a scary-looking bull terrier with a heart of gold, and yet somehow this club with the most heavily enforced drug policy in London hosted many of the most debauched nights of all-night dancing to quality house music the city is ever likely to see."[17]
Ben Hogwood of DMC World Magazine rated the album five stars out of five, saying that "this is a set that house heads cannot afford to miss out on. Especially as it's only 20 quid!"[20] Stefan Niederwieser of The Gap rated the album seven out of ten.[15] Patrice Knap of Laptop Rockers published a positive review, saying that "Live & Remastered is a fascinating time capsule to a special time in musical history when club culture was the growing force in youth culture. It surely will bring fond memories to those who, like me, used to dance the night away at the time!"[18] Marting Hewitt of Plain and Simple said the album was "digging up the past to dish out one of the brand’s only releases aimed at true heads in years."[9] He said that "perhaps what’s most engrossing is the quality of the sets at hand, which two decades on would put many a technologically advanced DJ to shame."[9] Hogwood favoured Morales' mix over Levan's, saying "although it may have slightly sloppier mixing at times, the choice of tracks makes the difference."[18]
Although the album was not television advertised like the club's usual compilations, the album debuted and peaked at number 50 on the UK Compilation Chart.[5] In its second and final week, it fell to number 99.[21] This unusual success followed in the path of the club's previous anniversary compilation unadvertised on television, Fifteen Years (2006), which reached number 36.[22] The more "commercial" alternative to Live & Remastered, the highly promoted XX: Twenty Years, was naturally more of a success, peaking at number 2 in its sixth week of charting.[23]
Track listing
Disc one (Larry Levan)
Pleasure Pump – Fantasize Me (Dub Mix)
Jus' Friends – As One
Ceybil – Love So Special
Trilogy – Love Me Forever or Love Me Not (The Dub Of Doom Mix)
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Julius O'Riordan, better known by his stage name Judge Jules, is a British dance music DJ, record producer and entertainment lawyer. Known for his DJ activities, music production and popular radio show which achieved global success. He was voted best DJ in the world by DJ Mag in the year 1995.
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Larry Levan was an American DJ best known for his decade-long residency at the New York City night club Paradise Garage, which has been described as the prototype of the modern dance club. He developed a cult following who referred to his sets as "Saturday Mass". Influential post-disco DJ François Kevorkian credits Levan with introducing the dub aesthetic into dance music. Along with Kevorkian, Levan experimented with drum machines and synthesizers in his productions and live sets, ushering in an electronic, post-disco sound that presaged the ascendence of house music. He DJ'd at Club Zanzibar in the 1980s as well, home to the Jersey Sound brand of deep house or garage house.
Francis Warren Nicholls, Jr., better known as Frankie Knuckles, was an American DJ, record producer and remixer. He played an important role in developing and popularizing house music in Chicago during the 1980s, when the genre was in its infancy. In 1997, Knuckles won the Grammy Award for Remixer of the Year, Non-Classical. Due to his importance in the development of the genre, Knuckles was often called "The Godfather of House Music".
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Justin Berkmann, is a DJ and nightclub owner. He is the second son of Joseph Berkmann and his second wife, Jean Berkmann and younger brother of Marcus Berkmann, an author. They were both educated at Highgate School in North London.
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