Andy Smith's Northern Soul CD - Import

Performers include Dottie & Millie, Danny Monday, Roscoe Robinson, Ike & Tina Turner, S.O.U.L., Lee Moses, Curtis Lee, Shirelles.

Best known as the touring DJ with trip-hop pioneers Portishead, Andy Smith's previous compilation CDs proved him a mixologist of uncommon skill and taste, dexterous and batsh*t-crazy enough to weave Kate Bush,Ultramagnetic MC's and Three Dog Night into a seamless whole. With the self-explanatory Andy Smith's Northern Soul, he also proves himself a crate-digger par excellence -- born of his regular Northern sets at London's Jazz Café, this 26-cut mix bypasses traditional crowd-pleasers to plunge fully into the realm of vintage soul obscurities rarely, if ever, resurrected in the digital era. But Northern purists should also be forewarned that Smith mixes his tracks together in contemporary DJ style -- "I for one would buy a CD of a night at the Casino or the Twisted Wheel and would have marveled at the DJ's selections and announcements," he argues in his liner notes, and assuming the disc is indeed representative of a typical Jazz Café set, it's hard to argue with his logic. Highlights include Curtis Lee's "Is She in Your Town?," Bob & Earl's "My Little Girl" and the Charmels' "As Long as I've Got You." ~ Jason Ankeny

This is a brand new 26 track mix compilation by Andy Smith, late of Portishead, compiler of the massive-selling "Document" series. Andy explores his love of Northern Soul, highlighting here many records that have been storming dancefloors at his night "AMojo (Publisher) (p.110) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[A]n album that traces the history of the idiom with popular spins from the landmark venues..."