Around The World 01- Miss Nine

Sometimes you wonder why there’s only one woman DJ on the DJMag Top100, and sometimes you don’t. At the risk of being sexist, there’s very few that go beyond a pretty face.

Miss Nine is someone with the potential to go beyond being that pretty face. With 925 Digital, she’s seeking to bring out a smoother brand of house that works pretty well on the dancefloor. And with her compilation, Around the World,  she brings out 13 of her label and her own work into one fairly enjoyable—and rather light compendium.

Kicking off with two similarly deep progressive tracks in Gesiete – Solar Vibes and Proluctors – Rain of Roses (Miss Nine remix) the set starts with a midtempo, high-on-melody tone with typical Anjunadeep and Jaytech-esque sounds. You’re not really moving at this point, just slowly grooving, a step or two at a time. With Mplay – M-Theory she keeps the melodic nature of the opening tracks alive with a slightly edgier riff on the bassline, a little pace-y on the BPM counter as well, as you feel the set pick up a tad. Trademark synth stabs meet a really fresh, mystical tribal vocal clipping momentarily and boy—does it come alive.

The 8th Note vs. Willian Clark – To Be (Miss Nine remix) comes in with the first sign of vocals and even though the vocals are cheesy, the lyrics insipid and totally unnecessary—the track by itself would be a charmer in a dub mix. Such an infectious tribal-drum on the bassline with bouncy drops makes it great to inject some power on the set.

Giese & Mike Kelly – My Brain (Miss Nine remix) and Eddie M – Midnight Blue (Miss Nine remix) bring a sort of regression to the set with similar sounding trouse sounds, and even though Midnight Blue has a scintillating lead synth—the rather drab bassline doesn’t do this segment any justice.

The mood suddenly changes with Bitrocka feat. Sushi – Give me the Love (Miss Nine remix) with 80s-style vocals that brings a pop-house feel but a thick kickdrum and thicker bassline make this very sing-able. Sushi is also quite mellifluous.

Eddy5 – Rush In brings in a techy/synthpop edge to the bassline which is very different from the entire set, though perfect placement again sparkles and brings a nice trough to set. The trough moves higher with Miss Nine – Nevertheless ((Miss Nine 2011 remix) which is the highlight of the set. A classic driving bassline, big—really big—you may think you’ve heard it before—but it just works.

A bigroom number in Dalysovich – Alice in Houseland comes in and keeps the energy going. It even has a funny Dirty Dutch/Chuckie kind of flanger that makes you wonder what it’s doing at that BPM. High Rollers feat. Keylas – Now or Never (Hy2rogen remix) brings in a funky side of her trouse sound that is now pervading the fag end of this set and David Puentez – Harmonia (Miss Nine remix) has a nice off-beat bassline that kind of cuts through the shades of monotony that fill in around this segment.

The set ends with Guitro—Daybreak and it’s a silky track that has a slower BPM but makes up for it with lots of interesting layers going on the sidechained bassline. Cools the set down ably and completes the entire 1+ hour soiree with Miss Nine’s sound.

It defines her succinctly and you can be assured of typifying a light, progressive house array with enough melody to keep you interested for more than one hearing.

Around The World releases on the 28th of December 2011. All major online retailers will stock CDs + digital copies of the compilation.