We Mix You Dance Vol. 2 is the second installment of the Purple Sneakers DJs mix albums. A 2-disc collection of indie-dance hits of the past year, this album offers very little in the realm of technically skilled or awe inspiring mixing.
However, this is Purple Sneakers DJs we’re talking about. This is not what Australian festivals and clubs have come to love them for. Rather, it is their unique ability to successfully blend Cloud Control, Washington and Mumford and Sons with The Chemical Brothers, Art Vs. Science and Sleigh Bells in a manner that raises zero questions as to what they were thinking.
This sophomore release is a far cry from anything that would ever be played in a club (other than Purple Sneakers obviously) but it lends itself to the tamer side of parties and BBQ backing soundtracks. An easy going, uplifting yet relaxing mix in songs that encompasses a not only wide but quality variety in artists and songs.
Broken up into two discs, Can Dance and Can’t Dance, it is very clear that Purple Sneakers DJs aimed to broaden the horizon of the mix album into something you can actually just sit and listen to.
Disc one, Can Dance, is mixed by M.I.T. and BenLucid and kicks off with a seamless flow of local Australian artists for nine of the first ten tracks. Can Dance sounds exactly like a great night at Purple Sneakers minus the sweat and hipsters detracting from the quality tunes presented. While that may be understood as a good thing to some, a bad thing to others, or totally missed out on by the rest as you wouldn’t even dream of stepping foot in Purple Sneakers, I will make clear that I say that with two big thumbs up.
Disc two, Can’t Dance is the solo effort of PhDj, is exactly what it claims to be. The part of the album that you can’t dance to but has a lounge/café feel to it. This isn’t to say that you should be upset by disc two, as it is equally enjoyable but with a more adventurous feel to it as PhDj drops a number of artists that you would never expect to see on even a Purple Sneakers DJs mix.
Overall, We Mix You Dance Vol. 2 offers listeners a different take on the mix album, something that has the potential to grow if people give it a chance, which they should. With 46 songs spanning the two mixes, this is a collection of your favourite songs that (for the most part) didn’t have their place in the Hottest 100 but deserve to be heard by a larger collective of people. To anyone looking for new music or to broaden their horizons, Purple Sneakers DJs are here to help. There are plenty of tracks that you know and plenty of tracks that you probably don’t.
This is no “As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2” and definitely won’t go down in history as “that fucking amazing Purple Sneakers mix” but it is well worth adding to your collection as an album of great songs mixed into two flowing pieces of music.
