ALBUM Pig & Dan - Then & Now

A 22-track epic of 'dark house and high-energy techno', in the words of the hype sheet, with 'Then' featuring 11 tracks culled from Pig & Dan's ten-year history of making music together, while 'Now' features 11 all-new P&D tracks, including collaborations, including Underworld collab 'Geeza'. It's not a difficult concept, is it?

But while it might not be a difficult concept, it IS absolutely rocking! I've long been a fan of Pig & Dan's muscular, house-ified take on techno (which is how I'd describe their sound overall) and 'Then & Now' doesn't disappoint… had it on in the headphones while I was at the day job today* and I was bouncing around in my seat like a loon.

The highlights come thick and fast on both discs, but special mention has to made of P&D's Moog Remix of House Music by Eddie Amador (one of only two non-P&D originals featured, the other being their rub of Quivver's Funktribe), which has never been released before and is pretty much worth buying the album for on its own. I'd like to go into more detail but all I've got is the mixed (and non-trackmarked) promo, so working out what track is which is a bit tricky!

But yeah, if it's a 2.5 hours of dancefloor-oriented, funk-fuelled energy you're after, step right this way.

Out: This week, with both mixed and unmixed versions available.

About: This comes on the legendary Yoshitoshi, who've been one of Pig & Dan's regular haunts over the years (alongside Cocoon and their own Submission label). Their website's currently getting an overhaul but you can also find them on the usual suspects - Facebook, MySpace and Soundcloud.

*(writing annotations for an article on the new Martian lander Curiosity, if you must know, so if you need to know anything about ChemCam, just ask)