In the history of the Lab, Red Astaire is probably somewhere in the top 20 of total amount of 12"s sold. That's pretty impressive for someone who has only released 8 or so 12"s. It's easy to tell why his records do so well: they combine quality downtempo and nujazz with party break aesthetics. If you don't want to douse the crowd with the commercial stuff, your next best bet is to go with Red, he keeps the party vibe intact. This is Red's first compilation, and it collects many of the his "famous" tracks plus several unreleased tracks. If you need an introduction, check "Follow Me(1)," that infamous D'Angelo remix that set things off back in 03 (shout to Jamie at Stones Throw for originally putting us on to this back then). In total, you get 12 tracks, spanning his import Gamm releases and his stateside Homegrown releases. Double vinyl, recommended.

reviewed by the mgmnt