And then Secretsundaze was no more. But we do have this Essentia Mix from 2022 to enjoy.

Giles Smith and James Priestly have lived the dream that many of us into house music have had – they wanted to throw parties and ended up throwing really good parties, making a 20+ year career out of it.

Not only that, they could both be DJs and producers too. Those of us who have tried both routes, will appreciate just how difficult it is to create that secret sauce for a good party, or to get a name as a DJ/producer – they’ve done both. I managed neither (though had a lot of fun!).

When I first heard about Secretsundaze in the 2000’s, I thought that the idea of daytime clubbing was crazy. Well, now it is all I would consider, though my aging body keeps me in restaurants and pubs instead nowadays – but my spirit is in daytime parties. And some of the most friendly parties I went to in London were Secretsundaze parties.

Anyway, the mix. It starts quite slow, a little jazzy, a little funky, but it is a house music mix before too long.

It has some quality tracks in there, but kind of typical nothing stands out too individually – it is more about the whole. Tracks from Two Armadillos (Giles Smith and the sadly-departed Martin Dawson who was a total legend), Blaze, Bushwacka! and Voices might give you a sign of quality but also some diversity in sound.

The mix slows down again towards the end, becomes funkier and more end of the night, sorry, day kind of music – or maybe even end of an era?

Enjoyment rating of 7.60.