Doc Martin

Finally, Doc Martin puts to rest his well-dated 1996 Moonshine mix Unlock Your Mind and replaces it with a far more mature and contemporary chapter in the house music life he has led since the '80s. Released on Chicago house music legend Derrick Carter's Classic Recordings, Sounds You Can Feel has all of the bompty-bomp that is Carter's signature, but with a mellower West Coast vibe that is Martin's own. Right from the opener, "Just for Fun," the jolting rhythm is finely honed against a slower tempo and delicate piano loops. Slow Supreme's hotter-than-thou "Green Tea" introduces vocals into play, a theme continued through the R&B belting of "Days Like This," and even the robots get a chance to speak on Blakkat's "Deeper." Then Martin gets into the computer music, slowly becoming more and more mechanical with each selection until the trance-tech of "Pablo Soul" transforms into Aaron Carl's electro-fellatio anthem, "Down." Astonishingly, even these gritty motorized grooves maintain a house-y vibe under Martin's watch, allowing him to cover an amazing amount of stylistic ground without ever jolting the listener from one mood to another. Doc even ties all of the threads together with a final selection that makes use of disco beats, robo voices, synth arpeggios, and soaring rave analog sirens all in one cut, a slight reminder of the hands-in-the-air rave DJ who put out the last Doc Martin mix CD some seven years ago. ~ Joshua Glazer, All Music Guide