John Course - Vicious Cuts 3
(2006)

Review by Cara Cortesian

John Course has quickly risen the ranks of the Australian club scene over the past few years, becoming one of the most recogniseable DJs in a long time. It's a rare situation that a man who mixes other people's songs actually gains more recognition than the artists themselves - but he's good at what he does - and many of those artist owe their popularity to him giving them the exposure (he was giving Flaunt It a good spin long before it became Fox FM/Austereo network fodder).

A leading DJ and figure in Australian dance music for nearly two decades, John is currently resident at Australia’s leading house club “One Love” in Melbourne on Saturday nights, playing guest spots all around Australia as well as internationally. He has also mixed a host of compilations including 'A Night Out with John Course and Andy Van', 'A Night Out with Vicious Grooves', 'One Love Volume 1', the Ministry Sessions Vol 1, 2 & 3 and The 2004, 2005 and 2006 Ministry Of Sound Annuals.

But is a DJ only as good as the material they have to work with? I've seen Course work the tables many times, and he usually brings the house down, but there have been a few occasions which have been a bit of a letdown. I recall a rather long night at ROOM in Hawthorn, Melbourne - in which Course came on after a brilliant set from the DJ prior. Everything that Course should have played, had already been heard - leaving him with a rather lacklustre track list.

Luckily, this third instalment of the 'Vicious Cuts' compilation has a few tracks that are bound to keep your ass shakin' until the early hours of the morn. It's become his niche - those familiar with his and Grant Smillie's weekend mixes on the Melbourne radio station NOVA 100 will already be aware of his ability to get you pumped up for a night out.

Showcasing some brilliant new talent, this compilation once again features some of the hottest tracks in clubland and on radio today, including Dirty South Spank, Kortezman My Love, Princess Superstar Perfect, Mind Electric Dirty Cash, Vandalism Twisted, JCA Some Day, Sander Kleinenberg This Is Miami and a superbly funky mix of Mr Timothy's 4 Ever.

Of the better inclusions on this latest release is the Mousse T vs Dandy Warhols Horny As A Dandy mix (which is usually annoying, but done well here), and a track I've been after for some time - Banquet (Boys Noize Remix) by Bloc Party. I've always been a sucker for rock songs that have been given a re-work (Blur's Girls and Boys mix always seems to go down a treat at 3am) so these are welcome mixes for mine.

But what's gonna get your booty shaking the most? There's some fantastic beats on offer, but for pure pace and danceable mainstream tunes, you can hardly go past Jean Claude Ades Some Day (Stephen Gori Mix) - it's wiggle worthy.

A fantastic compilation with some great mixing, but as with most compilations - get it quick before it goes stale and the next batch of dance anthems make their way into your head. 

We don't want another "Hottest Hits of '92" on our hands!

RATING: 4 out of 5