So, as long as I can remember, music of different sorts has been with me. I love all kinds of music, but in the middle fo the 90s I was subjected to the world of house music while visiting the awesome club British Clubbers de Mallorca in 1996, thats BCM for short. Lovely experience. Anyway. To me, classic house music is defined by the very characteristic sound of house music during mainly the first 2 thirds of the 90s, as towards the end the tune “Flowers” by Armand Van Helden initiated the shift towards the sound of the future. Obviously House music has a little bit more of a history.

Some of the first tunes I took a liking in, as it has turned out, were released by the classic label AM:PM. And some of the tunes I brought home that summer, the summer of 96, were “Let your soul be your pilot” (A&G Great Divide Remix) by Sting, “What you want” (Marc!s Epic Vocal) by Future force, “The bomb” by The bucketheads and “I need you you” (Nush Remix) by Nikita Warren. Two of those tunes were release on the AM:PM label. Later on that same year I would hear an epic piece called “Give me luv” by DJ Dimming (although I have never found this release), “Fly life” by the incredible Basement Jaxx and this awesome tune “The word is love” by Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley being played on Evosonic satellite radio. The latter was played in a Mousse T version. House music has been a part of my life ever since, and Mouse T – Mustafa Gündoğdu – played a big part of it from my beginning, from my house music year zero, 1996.

Mousse Ts biggest contributions to house music and from that time are, in my humble opinion, “Witness” (Mousse T’s Funk 2000 Mix) by Ann Nesby, “The word is love” (Mousse T’s Kinda Deep Mix), by Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley and “Everybody be somebody” (Mousse T’s Back In The Days Mix) by Ruffneck. Not to forget “Horny” by Mousse T vs Hot ‘n’ Juicy that went viral. I like the ‘Boris Gets Horny Extended Mix’, all 9’11” of it.

At the time of writing, the distinguished record label Defected run by Simon Dunmore, just about released the “House Masters – Mousse T” compilation. It features a collection of Mousse T’s productions through the years. His remix of Ruffneck is missing, which I think could easily replace his version of “Cola” by Camelphat and Elderbrook. However, in case you missed one of his latest gems “Rock the mic” you can find it on the compilation too.

In any case, the compilation showcases his massive contribution to the house music scene, which was huge in the 90s, and continues to toda. I can only recommend you to order your copy at the Defected online store. The digital release can be found on e.g. Traxsource.

Ohh, almost forgot. In the beginning of this article I mentioned how I got into House music and the record label AM:PM. As it turns out, Simon Dunmore used to work for AM:PM. I find that very interesting.