One of Holland's most inventive DJ's brings us the second installment of his highly acclaimed compilation series, following up to the first edition which was released more than two years ago. This time around, mister V supplies us with two discs, one called 'Backroom' and one called 'Mainroom'... Click in for a full review.

Combi:Nations I was quite the classy product with its foldable sleeve, amazing artwork and of course the three CD's filled with the music Marco digged in the period. Disc 1 reflected the sound of his In Charge radioshow, while 2 and 3 concentrated on the earlier and later parts of club nights, respectively.
For Combi:Nations II, a similar approach has been used. This time around though, we're treated with two discs. Number one contains the sound that Marco would bring out in smaller, more intimate clubs at an earlier part of the night, while number two encompasses the tunes he'd spin when standing in a bigger room, ala the 'Mainroom' title.

Disc.01 - Backroom
Marco's sound is ever evolving. There's no possible way to describe his unique style of DJ'ing and producing using just a few words, mainly thanks to the multitude of styles he always combines to a meaningful whole. This is, of course, exactly the case again on this new mix compilation. Most of the tunes included can't be traced back to just one style, fitting in perfectly with what Marco V stands for. The start of this first disc exemplifies this argument greatly: 'Superstar' by Coburn & Robbie Riviera is a raw, electro-ish tune, filled with deep housey basslines, infectious vox and sturdy bits and bleeps here and there. Blending in seamlessly with the very funky builder 'Strike Me Down' by Lopez, Amesz and Gelderblom and Dada Life's massive floorfiller 'Big Time', a right-on wicked vibe is being created straight from the first few beats. The mixing is, as expected, spot-on. It enables a very constant flow to be brought forward, being an essential element of a good compilation. Splitter's 'All Alone' is one of Marco's favourite tunes at the moment, and I can surely see why. It combines wonderful vocals with a superb groove, adding a special something to the overall mix.

From here on, a slightly rawer, electro-ish vibe comes forward. Both 'The Snake' and 'Coincidance' rely heavily on very crunchy sounds, intricate uses of FX and a great deal of funk. While John Cafone's Vocal Mix of Peace Division's 'Club Therapy' kind of seems like a filler tune to me, this is made up for by bringing in Marco's own mix of the megahit 'Rockin'. The V-twist that has been given to the track works out quite nicely, only including that riff we all know so well during the break, then to burst out into more minimal frenzy. The next highlight on this disc is Benjamin Bates' fantastic new single. It's called 'Backtracking' and it's one of the most astonishing combinations of styles I've heard until now. A totally massive bastard of a bassline rumbles through the tune, with housey percussion and techno-ish piano riffs doing their job flawlessly. The contrast with the next tune, Radanka's interpretation of 'Nova Heart', is great; this one's actually very poppy, including nice vocals and subtle guitar riffs to create a welcome diversification from what we've heard up until now. Both 'Lieb Gewonnen' and 'You're My Kind' are of the more minimal type: weird yet wicked bits and bleeps and crunchy percs are the main ingredients here, giving another cool twist to the mix. A very slight trancy feel comes forward through Jody Wisternoff's great 'Nostalgia' (out on Marco's own In Charge label soon) and Oxia's techno/trance mashup 'Domino' which has some really hypnotizing melodies coming with it. This first disc is closed by Technasa and Joris Voorn's funky techno'er '88', serving as a nice and flowing introduction to the more upfront beats that were going to get to hear on disc number two.

Disc.02 - Mainroom
No subtleties here, it seems like we've had enough of that on the Backroom CD. 'Liar Face' starts off with a bang, bringing a warm, intoxicating bassline backed with a swift drive to get things going right from the start. Marco's own reconstruction of Robbie Riviera's 'The Shout' is a tribally influenced miscellany of genres, with a really odd yet greatly working structure topped off with a really mad vocal line. Things are really being toughened up here! Phatzoo brings a very driving affair with a long, delicate breakdown which bursts out into frenzy in a really cool way. 'In Your Face' and 'Color Me Blind' are both of the more coarse type, bringing mixtures of excentric basslines and cool climatic interferences. Again, it's superb how Marco has combined and mixed all this without sounding odd in any way. A cool example of this is 'Work It' by Christian Smith and John Selway, which is actually a tune with a lot of influences from the techno genre, yet it does fit in with everything like a charm somehow. Of course, Combi:Nations II wouldn't be complete with one of Marco V's own tracks. 'Any Better, Or?' has been causing havoc all over the world already, being an unimitable track in that sound we known mister V so well for. It has massive dancefloor capabilities, mainly because of the great drive and massively placed, dark sounding riffs.

After being loosened up with some more techno by Marco Bailey, it's time for some techtrance along the way. Ronald van Gelderen has made a mysterious tune which includes his own vocals, punchy beats and basslines and some good use of melodies. While M.I.D.O.R. has been producing trance for quite a while, 'As Usual' is of a totally different caliber: it's more techno oriented with its constant flow of funky, groovy beats, mounting in with the overall mix greatly. Both Hertz' mix of 'Chica Good' and Pedro Delgardo's 'Ibu Pro' lean to the slightly harder side of techno, giving the overall vibe quite the boost with them harsh beats and crunchy, streaming basslines. Eric Prydz aka Cirez D delivers an astonishing piece of work with 'Mouseville Theme', another track which just can't be put out in words. It has the most inventive structure, made up of weird yet amazingly well worked out percussional interludes and a superbly raw riff.
I just have to make another sidenote on how diverse this mix is. Literally everything in between house and techno is being covered in such a significant way, creating multiple arrays of climaxes alternating with more groovy moments. While Jus Phil's 'VIP' and Phatzoo's totally cracking tune 'Big Bash' can be typified as more climatic tunes, it is noticeable that Marco has tried (and succeeded) to build down the mix a bit while nearing the end. The 'Big Bash' tune I just talked about must be the most banging tune on the whole compilation. It literally bursts out into total frenzy a few times! The three tracks that serve as a closer for this CD build down the frenzy a bit by bringing some warmer, more comfortable beats to facilitate the listener a bit. They don't remove any of the drive that has been created so far though!

Here's the full tracklisting:

Disc.01 Backroom:

01 Coburn & Robbie Rivera - Superstar (Coburn Mix)
02 Wally Lopez, Rene Amesz & Peter Gelderblom - Strike Me Down
03 Dada Life - Big Time (Marco V Reconstruction)
04 Splitter - All Alone
05 Fred Pellichero - The Snake (Marco V Reconstruction)
06 Mathias Schaffhauser - Coincidance (Trentemoller Mix)
07 Peace Division - Club Therapy Ft. Dan Diamond (John Ciafone Vocal Mix)
08 Phunk-A-Delic - Rockin' (Marco V Booty Rockin' Mix)
09 Sebastian Leger - Hit Girl
10 2000 And One - Tropical Melons (Marco V Edit)
11 Benjamin Bates - Backtracking
12 The Spoons - Nova Heart (Redanka Plugged Mix)
13 Plato - Lieb Gewonnen (Marco V Re-Edit)
14 Elektrochemie - You're My Kind
15 Jody Wisternoff - Nostalgia (Remix)
16 Oxia - Domino
17 Technasia With Joris Voorn - '88 (No Blame No Shame)

Disc.02 Mainroom:

01 Alloy Mental - Liar Face
02 Robbie Rivera - The Shout (Marco V Reconstruction)
03 Phatzoo - Twisted Tweak
04 Filo & Peri - In Your Face
05 Beckers - Color Me Blind (Marco V Edit)
06 Christian Smith & John Selway - Work It
07 Marco V - Any Better, Or?
08 Marco Bailey - Passion Coctail
09 Ronald Van Gelderen - Realize
10 M.I.D.O.R. - As Usual
11 Ummet Ozcan - Chica Good (Hertz Remix)
12 Pedro Delgardo - Ibu Pro
13 Cirez D - Mouseville Theme
14 Jus Phil - VIP (Marco V Reconstruction)
15 Phatzoo - Big Bash (Marco V Skips The Bleeps Re-Edit)
16 Ego Stereo - Sudoku (Gas Mix)
17 Hertz - Priorities (Pratap Remix)
18 R-Line - Nobody Is Perfect (Original Mix)

Conclusion:
The overall mix is just delicacy all over: all the crossovers between styles work out like a charm, which is quite the accomplishment as the tunes are mostly very diverse. Highlights include Splitter 'All Alone', Benjamin Bates 'Backtracking' and 'Nostalgia' by Jody Wisternoff on disc 1, while 'Liar Face', 'Any Better, Or?', 'Mouseville Theme' and 'Big Bash' are a few of the peaks on the Mainroom CD. Mind though that this compilation isn't about individual tunes at all: it's about how they are being merged to become a fully fledged mix, reflecting Marco V's contemporary style perfectly. A musthave compilation which will go down in the books as one of the most diverse ones yet.