VARIOUS (ARMAND VAN HELDEN)

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Armand Van Helden's forthcoming mix album for Southern Fried sees him leaving house behind. Well, mostly...

Check out Armand Van Helden's new mix album 'New York: A Mix Odyssey' and you're in for a bit of a surprise. Gone are the tuff, jacking beats, filtered disco loops and soulful vocals ? and in come electro-pop and heavy rock.

Incredibly only the second Van Helden mix ever put out, the album's apparently a reflection of a very specific NYC party scene. "It's not even like a particular set of clubs or DJs," says Armand, "It's more like, I'll get back to New York and phone my homie and say yo, where's hot tonight? And he'll say there's a party at this club or that club. There's this real downtown party scene that really you have to be in New York to know about, and that's what this album is all about."

The soundtrack to these parties, judging by the mix Van Helden's put together, is an eclectic mix of cutting-edge electro, rock-tinged house and vintage party faves, with recent cuts by the likes of Klonhertz, Felix Da Housecat and Aloud sitting alongside '80s pop hits like Soft Cell's 'Tainted Love' and Yazoo's 'Don't Go', and even rock classics like Ram Jam's 'Black Betty' and 'Owner Of A Lonely Heart' by Yes.

"When Southern Fried first talked to me about doing a mix album," Armand explains, "I just wanted to do something different, something that wouldn't just sit there on the shelves alongside all the other hundreds of DJ mixes. House has gotten kinda boring for me - this is where I'm at right now."