Live & Remastered - 20th Anniversary

2011 is a significant milestone in Ministry of Sound’s continuing evolution marking the 20th anniversary of the South London venue opening its doors as an alcohol-free nightclub dedicated to house music on 21st September 1991. To celebrate 20 years at the forefront of modern youth culture, Ministry of Sound has announced the 20:20 Project, an extensive range of activity throughout 2011 which included a free month-long multi-media exhibition in March, a 3 day party celebrating the birthday at the London venue in September, a 20 date international tour and much more. As you’d expect from the label that sparked the DJ mix album revolution (and today’s leading compilation provider), Ministry of Sound are celebrating their 20th anniversary with a number of album releases. The first of which is ‘Live & Remastered’. What you have before you is not just a deliciously put together compilation; ‘Live & Remastered’ is a time capsule. For in the early days, the men and women at Ministry of Sound hit the record button on their DAT machine each week and captured what were not just great sets by the era’s finest DJs, but also a slice of dance music history, too. The sets you are about to load on your desktop or place on your CD player are not recreated from archaeologists’ dust or polycarbonate moulding, but actual live recordings of five DJs at the peak of their game: Larry Levan, David Morales, Kenny Carpenter, Todd Terry and resident and co-founder, Justin Berkmann. Ministry of Sound have taken the recordings and digitally re-mastered them for modern perfection. They tracked down the original license owners (no mean feat in itself), and licensed the tracks so the sets could be heard for the first time in nearly two decades. The results speak for themselves. It is, after all, 20 years since the Ministry Of Sound opened and this is a fitting way to celebrate. We think you’ll agree they got it right.