Soma Records: 20 Years

(Soma)

As ‘the UK’s longest-running dance label’, so they tell us and we’re inclined to believe, Soma (the releasing arm of production duo Slam, the guys who pitch that pointy blue tent at T in the Park every year) continue to occupy a place somewhere between huge respect and outright reverence in the heart of Glasgow’s clubbing community. And now they’ve been at it for twenty years, so they’re almost as old as modern dance music itself – for those who haven’t been with them all the way, this three CD celebration pack offers all the Soma you need to get you started.

In fact, the first disc of the three offers all the Soma you really, really need. It’s the ‘Soma Classics’ greatest hits affair, and it resurrects some truly sublime tracks from the deeper side of house. ‘Mothership Reconnection’ (Daft Punk remix) by Scott Grooves feat. Parliament/Funkadelic is the most groovesome thing on here, a lithe and dancefloor-shaking opener, while Silicone Soul’s ‘Right On’ and Slam’s epic ‘Positive Education’ are the stone classics of the bunch alongside tracks by The Black Dog and Funk D’Void, and the ravey flashback of Slam’s ‘Eterna’. Discs two and three dig further into the label’s catalogue with DJ mixes from Slam and Silicone Soul, a bumper package which won’t be too rich for this label’s many devotees.