- ‘Porterhouse Vol. 2’ is the quintessential American house mix: loud, obnoxious and painfully earnest. Steve Porter manages to cram 57 tracks into two-and-a-half hours’ time, making it a Val-U-Pak for thrifty dance fans wishing to get the most bang for their buck. But for all its faults, ‘Porterhouse Vol. 2’ is still a begrudgingly good time for even the snobbiest dance fan. It’s refreshingly unpretentious, for one, and has the blue-collar backbone of good old-fashioned hard work – two attributes sorely lacking in many a mix compilation. ‘Porterhouse Vol. 2’ might just make Steve the workingman’s hero of the DJ world.
In true American tradition, Porter starts both discs with intros equivalent to thick slices of cheddar cheese. Disc one fades into the din of Anydiner, U.S.A., as a waitress reads off the daily specials, which includes – surprise, surprise! – “a delicious Porterhouse steak.” While you’re still cringing or rolling on the floor, the clatter of forks and knives fades nicely into the Roger Lee remix of Gaz Nevada’s ‘Secret Agent Man’, a smooth beginning but otherwise unremarkable. From there, Porter navigates through house’s copious subgenre catacombs, with mixed results: Chris Micali’s ‘Kinshasha’ is a cool keyboard funker, Sucker DJs’ ‘Banrock (Paul Rogers Remix)’ is an agreeable prog thumper, while Tribalicious’ ‘Dirty Mind’ sounds about five years too late to the tribal house beach party.
As consolation, few tracks stretch past two-and-a-half minutes and thus never outstay their welcome, until either heading into a new corner of house or getting blindsided by breaks. Aaryn Blain’s ‘Raging Elephant’ works great with that kind of transition, but most of Porter’s breaks choices are blunt, obvious choices, with Slyde’s ‘Space Bass Rock’ and Plump DJs ‘Blackjack’ smelling past their expiration date. Meanwhile, the mighty D. Ramirez remix of Katcha’s ‘Touched By God’ and the dub of Rogue Element’s filthy take on ‘Sukdat’ by Soul of Man, still sound like solid gold. Disc one withers out with some super-commercial house tracks (Matt 303 & Josh Love – ‘This Is Love (Marco G's Funkatouch Mix’, Judge Jules & BK – ‘I Don’t Know’) before flaming back up with the drinks-down/hands-up ‘House Nation (Max Graham Remix)’ by the hilariously named Housemaster Boyz, a track the enjoyment of which might depend on how much you’ve had to drink.
Disc two’s intro opts for the ambience of a classier restaurant, but with the same choice of food and fade-in. The breaks come in a little earlier with the funky Superstyle Deluxe take on Strider’s ‘Tiger Uppercut’ leading into Porter’s ‘Tazmaniac’. That title sounds awful till you remember it in the context of the track itself: rooted in the broken beat house sound of early-90s (same time as that lamentable Looney Tunes tattoo trend), littered with some great era-centric samples. It’s tops among Steve’s own tracks on ‘Porterhouse Vol. 2’, a tough call since all nine of them range from above-average to outstanding. Other artists’ tracks suffer in comparison, actually, and disc two is where Porter’s flow amongst them really wanes. Rogue Element’s arena breaks on ‘Dead Drummers’ feel woefully out-of-place, sandwiched between handfuls of emotive house tracks. Porter finishes disc two on a darker, more progressive tip before the big finish – his own genuinely uplifting, albeit extremely cheesy ‘Momento Pacifico’.
Cramming nearly thirty tracks in under 80 minutes for two mixes is no small feat, and Porter deserves a hearty pat on the back for getting his hands dirty on ‘Porterhouse Vol. 2’. But with the “git ‘er dun” approach he took to mixing, his comp has a hard time rising above being a mere curiosity. The relentless 4/4 rhythm compounded by constant transitioning between tracks makes it a pretty taxing listen, all the worse due to an execrable mastering job. I’m not sure if it was because I got a promo, but nowhere did it say it was an unmastered press copy. Music notwithstanding, ‘Porterhouse Vol. 2’ sounds truly terrible – the highs are all distorted and the lows razor-thin. Audiophiles had better shy away, but undiscerning listeners might find something they like. It’s no “delicious Porterhouse steak”, but it is a perfectly satisfying cheeseburger n’ French fries as far as house mixes go.
TracklistDISC 1
1. Secret Agent Man - Gaz Nevada (Roger Lee Mix)
2. Turn It Up - Nixon (Phunky Toast Dub)
3. Kinshasa - Chris Micali
4. Banrock - Sucker DJs (Paul Rogers Mix)
5. Buster - Island 9
6. Dirty Mind - Tribalicious (Original Ass Shaker Mix)
7. Raging Elephant - Aaryn Blain
8. Space Bass Rock - Slyde
9. Rollerblade Disco
10. 7-10 Split - Bobcat & Legz
11. Feel For You - Chris Micali (Micali`s Kares 25 Mix)
12. Lobec Mapic - Cpm (Matt Rowan & Jaytech Mix)
13. Pixy Stix
14. Apollo - Way Out West (General Midi Mix)
15. BlackJack - Plump DJ`s
16. Re-Dan - Agent 001
17. Touched By God - Katcha (D. Ramierez Mix)
18. Beau`s Jam
19. This Is Love - Matt 303 & Josh Love (Marco G`s Funkatouch Mix)
20. Ghetto Girl - EMJAE
21. Automatic - Richard F. (Drum Mix)
22. She`s Cool
23. I Don`t Know - Judge Jules & BK
24. House Nation - Master DJ`s Vs. Housemaster Boyz (Max Graham Mix)
25. Disconnection - No Love (Bassbin Twins Edit)
26. Jealousy - EMJAE
27. Goggles - Monkz
28. Holding On - Matt Rowan & Jaytech
DISC 2
1. Discover - Roger Lee
2. Ride (A Little Bit) - Slim Fat Reducer/Khan (Instrumental Mix)
3. Tiger Uppercut - Strider (Superstyle Deluxe Remix)
4. Tazmaniac
5. In A Groove - Joey Mazzola & Mike Balance
6. Equator - Roger Lee
7. Fender Bender - Island 9
8. Vice - Shiloh (Luke Chable Mix)
9. Duele El Amor - Homeaffairs (Raul Rincon Mix)
10. Arena - Mojado
11. Juicy Froot - Agent 001
12. Dead Drummers - The Rogue Element
13. Her Strength - Matt Rowan
14. Sweat Box - EMJAE