Andy Smith 'The Document II' Out This Week

Cast your mind back to 1998. . . Clubland had fragmented into a myriad of closed scenes - each DJ playing their own micro-genres and nothing but - and the only mix-CD worthowning was Coldcut's 'Journeys By DJ'. Into this monochrome world arrived a kaleidoscopic timebomb bearing the unassuming name of 'The Document'.

Compiled by Andy Smith, 'The Document' proved hugely influential, reminding clubbers of things called 'songs', not just 'tracks' and selling over 100,000 copies in the process.

Where else could you hear the orchestral funk of Tom Jones' 'Looking Out My Window' next to Clockwork Voodoo Freaks 'Deaf Mick's Throwdown' mash-up, or Flash's famed 'Wheels Of Steel' snuggling up to Peggy Lee's big band take on 'Dock Of The Bay'- Before 'The Document' you couldn't: afterwards you could barely move for opportunist celeb compilers claiming there'd always been a northern soul/ kitsch/ funk/ hip hop element to their music. The upshot was a stream of compilation CDs, supplying a soundtrack you could swing and sing to when the raving was done.

Of course, as the tour DJ and unofficial crate-digger for Portishead, Andy Smith has long been acquainted with the good grooves of yesteryear as well as the booming beats of today. He supplied his friend Geoff Barrow with the samples that underpinned many a Portishead classic and, while others have been catching up with 'The Document', he's been moving on with his own Dynamo Productions -his partnership with Scott Hendy of Boca 45 - and readying 'The Document II', the long awaited follow up due to be released on September 15 on Illicit Recordings.

Click here for TranZfusions review
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