Dimitri From Paris After The Playboy Mansion CD

Keeping the Playboy Mansion concept rolling, Dimitri returns with a 2 CD set featuring his trademark blend of cool retro grooves, laidback house beats and rare & unreleased gems. (Astralwerks)

This is a continuous in-the-mix CD compiled and mixed by Dimitri From Paris.
Personnel: Marc Woolford (vocals, keyboards); Nicole Graham, Eric D. Clark (vocals); Nelson Veras (acoustic guitar); Denis Guivarch, Larry Rawson (saxophone); Jean-Pierre Ramirez (trumpet); Peter Black (piano); Adrien Chicot (Fender Rhodes piano); Troy Patterson, Joe Smooth (keyboards, programming); Next Evidence (keyboards, drum programming); Wang, Mark Smith , Peter Daon, Peter Daou (keyboards); Michael Tordjman, Carneihro (percussion); Emma Law, Christelle Adams (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Joe Claussell; Dimitri from Paris; Kevin Hedge; Jephté Guillaume; Jon Cutler; Josh Milan; Larry Levan; Tim Latham; Tom Moulton; Tony Humphries.
Audio Remixers: Danny Tenaglia; Levant Canseven; Frankie Beverly; Ed Funk; Markus Enochson; Sir Piers; Steve "Silk" Hurley; Tiefschwarz; Blaze.
Recording information: P10 Studios, The Basic Playground; Studio Le Manoir, Leon-France.
Editors: Danny Tenaglia; Louie Balo.
Photographer: Pompeo Posar.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Next Evidence; Paul Murphy .
Arrangers: Ed Funk; Jephté Guillaume; Lil' Louis; Marc Woolford; Norman Harris; Paul Murphy ; Steve Jolley; Thelonious Monk; Tony Swain.
Dimitri from Paris, increasingly the ultimate insider's disco DJ (enough so to receive the blessing of Hugh Hefner, the Sultan of Sensual himself), followed on from 2000's A Night at the Playboy Mansion with After the Playboy Mansion, a two-hour collection of house/disco nuggets from the late '70s to the present. The double-disc set is divided into "A Laidback Selection" for the first disc and "An Uplifting Selection" for the second -- the two are also available (separately) on LP. Laid-back is right on target for the first, which begins with Tony Humphries' languorous, eight-minute mix of "Nyce & Slo" by Lil' Louis, then deliberately winds its way through some seriously obscure, seriously sensual midtempo house. As on previous mixes, Dimitri shows off his deep, deep crates and knack for colliding the old school of underground garage (Maze, Gwen Guthrie, T.S. Monk, Tata Vega, Linda Clifford) with the new (Jephté Guillaume, Llorca, Boris Dlugosch, Alexkid). Of course, there simply aren't as many undiscovered disco/house chestnuts left, and the result is a selection tending toward the bland side of house, with a nearly endless parade of solid house chestnuts resulting in a lack of peaks (or valleys). Still, those with amorous intentions surely won't be paying attention to all the obscure selections on tap. ~ John Bush
Despite emerging from the same fertile late-'90s Paris dance scene that spawned Mirwais, Air, and Daft Punk, Turkish-born Dimitri From Paris's influence can be traced to the late-'70s heyday of house music pioneer Larry Levan. AFTER THE PLAYBOY MANSION affirms this fact, its two CDs packed with a continuous stream of remade classics and vintage nuggets remixed by a who's who of dance music producers. Even though Dimitri tagged one CD "Laidback" and the other "Uplifting," both labels are misleading as all these cuts are packed with solid grooves that grab the listener up regardless of tempo.
Among the far-flung cuts featured on "Uplifting" are De La Soul's breezy, Iberian-flavored "(It Ain't) All Good" featuring Chaka Khan, the jazz flavors of Next Evidence's "The Body Theme," and Alexkid's chugging, Ibiza-flecked space-techno shuffle "Bienvenida." Other notable tracks include Dimitri's re-edit of the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes classic "Don't Leave Me This Way" and Linda Clifford's high steppin' Shelter Club anthem "Changin'." The "Laidback" disc is equally compelling thanks to stellar remixes of Lil Louis, Maze, Les Nubians, and a classic Levan production of Gwen Guthrie's sweeping classic "PRolling Stone (2/28/02, p.61) - "...A suitably debauched party platter..."
Q (3/02, p.130) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...The first CD crafts a mix of fluid NY house....CD2 features classic disco..."