The Fifth Nine

It may well have been Mr. Spring, AKA Tim Hannigan, who first turned me on to Irish dance music. I say may well be because although I can remember the record, ‘Ready To Flow’ by Nicholai, (I think), and I know it was a Red Records release, I can’t remember if it was a record that Tim Hannigan produced. But even if he didn’t, he did co-found Red Records and that’s good enough for me. Of course, I gave the record away to a visiting UK DJ some time later, as you do, and you can’t get it now for love. Or a very great deal of money.

The same is true of a lot of Mr Spring/Tim Hannigan releases, so thank God for The Fifth Nine. This brings together 18 tracks spanning his career from its beginnings to his current status as probably Ireland’s most credible commercial dance DJ, including all those white label vinyl releases that people like me only discovered when they’d been deleted. Hey, fuck the purists, I may not be the coolest ice-cube in the tray, but I know what I like. Eventually.

This is quite simply the best Irish dance album I’ve ever heard. Spring’s talent lies in ensuring that even tracks you’ve never heard before are as immediately engaging as the old favourites, each one so ultra-polished in the production stage that if this sound was visible you’d have to look at it through smoked glass.

On CD 1,‘Voyager 2.3’ out-Timo’s Timo Mass, ‘Let’s Skate Again’ would be cheekier only if there were more vowels in that adjective while ‘Mr Spring Sings The Blues’ makes use of the coolest Latin-vocal sample and to stunning effect. Less is often more.

CD 2 kicks off with ‘Trust Me…(I’m Captain Superman)’ and wastes no time before we’re offered that Fatboy fave ‘Blaxxtraxx 1’. ‘Synch Or Swim’ is teasingly epic and the beautifully titled ‘Sound Of The Gardai’ (“Get Yo’ Hands Up!”) should ensure that Mr Springs gigs should remain bust-free for the forseeable future.

So it’s flawless? Well, yes and no. For those of us who’ve given up on headache tablets that cost eight quid each, some tracks lack a certain subtlety. So I really wish he’d released it about this time last year. Still worth the wait though, in gold.