‘Music For The Dancers’ N°524 – Vintage 2000s Music Videos

1 . Ying Yang Twins – Shake (w/ Pitbull)

“Shake,” the third single from the Ying Yang Twins’ 2005 album “U.S.A. (United State of Atlanta),” pitches itself as a surefire crowd-mover but lands somewhere between functional and forgettable.

Produced by Mr. Collipark, the track borrows heavily from George Kranz’s “Din Daa Daa,” recycling its percussive energy into the Twins’ crunk-heavy framework. While the duo, composed of Kaine and D-Roc, bring their trademark chaotic energy, it’s Pitbull who breathes some life into the proceedings. Even so, his verse feels more like a decorative garnish than a transformative element.

References to Kanye West’s “The New Workout Plan” and Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up” might aim for homage, but they highlight the track’s struggle to emerge from the shadows of its inspirations. The music video, directed by Life Garland, leans into the party aesthetic that dominated mid-2000s hip-hop, earning heavy rotation on BET, MTV, and VH1. Yet, even with its polished visuals, it remains more a product of the era than a standout of it.

Chart performance mirrors that middling impact: peaking at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching higher but not groundbreaking positions on the US Hot Rap Songs and Rhythmic charts. A re-recorded version for radio and TV weakens its already limited punch, sanding down the track’s edginess to adhere to content guidelines.

The official remix, featuring Elephant Man, adds international flair but suffers from the same scattershot execution as the original. Ultimately, “Shake” functions as a serviceable time capsule of mid-2000s hip-hop, a celebration of excess that, while momentarily infectious, struggles to leave a lasting impression. At its core, it’s a crowded room that never quite reaches full volume.

Featured on the 2005 album “U.S.A. (United State of Atlanta)”.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Instagram

2 . DHS – House Of God

Released in 1990, “DHS – House Of God” marks Ben Stokes’ foray into a techno landscape that thrives on repetition and stark minimalism.

The track combines elements of rave and house music with a strikingly industrial undertone, crafting a sound that is simultaneously hypnotic and ominous—the sonic equivalent of flickering strobe lights in a warehouse at 3 AM.

Ben Stokes, operating under his project DHS, or Dimensional Holofonic Sound, keeps his intent straightforward, almost ruthlessly so, omitting any excess that might interfere with the purity of its mechanical pulse.

It’s a skeletal structure that still resonates, even after more than three decades.

The various re-releases of the track, including the 2001 CD maxi-single from Germany’s Optimal Media Production and the 2002 remix by Azzido da Bass, reflect its peculiar staying power.

The latter even managed to slip into the UK Top 50, a rare feat for a track so committed to its abrasive simplicity.

Azzido da Bass injects some polish into it, but the remix holds onto the rawness that defines the original, like smudging a blueprint without erasing its core design.

For all its innovation, “House Of God” might strike some listeners as overly rigid—a monochromatic approach that risks monotony for profundity.

Yet, within this precision lies its charm; it refuses to compromise, a formula that has carved a space for it on dance floors and in the annals of electronic music history.

Stokes’ sparse biography belies the track’s impact.

“House Of God” isn’t an anthem; it’s a fixture, as unyielding and essential as the concrete walls that define the venues where it remains in rotation.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : .

3 . Giorgio Moroder vs Jam & Spoon – The Chase

“The Chase,” as remixed by Giorgio Moroder and Jam & Spoon, carries the weight of two distinct electronic eras colliding in one track. Originally produced in 1978 for the film *Midnight Express*, Giorgio Moroder’s composition not only earned him an Academy Award and Golden Globe but also left an indelible mark on electronic soundtracks with its hypnotic propulsion.

Fast-forward to 2000, and the German duo Jam & Spoon applies their polished club sensibility to Moroder’s iconic blueprint. Rolf Ellmer (Jam El Mar) and Markus Löffel (Mark Spoon) infuse “The Chase” with their signature contemporary dance aesthetic, creating a remix that ascended to number 1 on the US *Billboard* Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The result is a blend of Moroder’s cinematic pulse and Jam & Spoon’s penchant for high-energy grooves, a curious hybrid straddling disco’s legacy and rave culture’s immediacy.

The remix doesn’t merely update the original but reimagines it in a way that reduces some of its eerie, nocturnal energy while amplifying its club-ready polish. Fans of Moroder’s work on *Flashdance* or *Scarface* might miss the darker corners left unexplored here, as the track leans more toward Jam & Spoon’s optimistic, galvanizing style, which shaped earlier singles like “Stella” and “Right in the Night.”

There’s no denying the cultural significance of this collaboration. It stands as both a tribute to Moroder’s pioneering vision and as a testament to Jam & Spoon’s ability to reshape classics into chart-topping floor-fillers. That said, the track occasionally feels like it’s caught between two epochs—neither fully retro-futuristic Moroder nor wholly contemporary Jam & Spoon. Instead, it lingers somewhere in limbo, a fascinating, if not entirely cohesive, fusion of ambition and homage.

Lyrics >> More by the same : Wikipedia

4 . Fight Club – Spread Lovee (w/ Laurent Konrad)

“Fight Club – Spread Love” featuring Laurent Konrad stitches together familiar threads of electronic and disco music with calculated precision. The track incorporates samples from Daft Punk’s “The New Wave” and The Fatback Band’s “Spread Love” featuring Evelyn Thomas, creating a retro-modern blend that feels both evocative and derivative.

Laurent Konrad, a Versailles native with a background in guitar and drums, channels his transition from instrumentalist to electronic producer into the song’s layered structure. Known professionally since 2003 with his breakout single “Rock U,” Konrad’s style leans heavily into the polished, crowd-pleasing side of house and electronic music. His history of widespread licensing success—evident in the 23-country reach of “Spread Love”—hints at his ability to craft tracks with undeniable commercial appeal, even if the complexities are subsumed by their accessibility.

Whether sampled or original, the production favors clean precision over grit or experimentation. DJs like Pete Tong and Judge Jules clearly see the utility of this formula, as the track gained significant playlisting across MTV, VIVA, and M6, among others. Yet, the absence of documented chart positions or awards might suggest that “Spread Love,” while functional for the dancefloor, didn’t elevate itself into the cultural conversation beyond immediate playback settings.

Konrad’s later successes with Discobitch and the chart-topping “Ça m’énerve” underscore his knack for crafting earworms with unassuming simplicity. Under his Watermät alias, the 2014 single “Bullit” showed a spark of inventiveness missing here. “Fight Club – Spread Love,” by contrast, feels like a map carefully drawn but followed without deviation—a skilled execution lacking the surprise that defines memorable works.

Lyrics >> More by the same : Official Site

5 . Mauro Picotto & Mario Più – Arabian Pleasure

Mauro Picotto and Mario Più’s “Arabian Pleasure,” freshly remastered for its 2024 release under ZYX Music, is less a singular track and more a kaleidoscope of interpretations, each oscillating between nostalgia and reinvention.

The “ZYX Edit Remastered 2024” is a brisk 3:02 runtime designed to distill the essence of the track. Yet, in shaving down its edges for brevity, it risks feeling skeletal, more an overture than a statement. Those seeking depth might find themselves eyeing the longer formats.

The “Vocal Mix,” clocking in at 5:14, attempts to layer vocal texture over the track’s foundation. While the addition provides intrigue, vocals often seem less a centerpiece than an adornment, leaving one to wonder whether they enhance or merely elongate.

Enter the “Tuareg Mix,” a sprawling 6:51 epic, which leans into the percussive and ambient extremes of the original. Though its ambition is clear, the duration may test patience, succeeding only when one surrenders to its hypnotic loops. Its truncated counterpart, the 3:25 “Tuareg Edit Cut Mix,” trims the fat but simultaneously dulls some of the original’s mystique.

The “On Air Mix,” at 3:14, is clearly tailored for immediacy. Radio-ready, yes, but it ultimately feels like a compromise, neither fully immersive nor casual enough to be background fare. The “Ghibli Mix,” sprawling at 6:41, drums up cinematic airs, yet its swells often err on the side of indulgence rather than innovation.

Finally, the 7-minute “Karl8 & Andrea Monta Extended Rework” boldly reimagines “Arabian Pleasure,” stretching its core elements into a collaborative hodgepodge. While inventive, it occasionally feels detached, more a separate entity than an extension.

For all its permutations, “Arabian Pleasure” is a collision of ambition and nostalgia. Picotto’s long tenure in electronic music, punctuated by megahits like “Komodo” and live sets at Ibiza’s Privilege, informs this project, as does Più’s knack for co-crafting Euro house staples. Yet, one wonders whether the remastered iterations fully capture the 2000 original’s essence, which peaked at a modest 90 on the UK Singles Chart. Perhaps this release, much like Picotto’s BBC Radio 1 appearances or his celebrated Meganite nights, is best appreciated in context—as a mirror reflecting its creators’ restless evolution.

More by the same : Instagram

6 . Motiv8 – Riding On The Wings

“Riding On The Wings” lands squarely in the Motiv8 playbook: energetic, polished, and unapologetically geared for dance floors, yet more a textbook formula than a standout innovation.

Released in 2004 under the mastermind of Steve Rodway, the track carries all the hallmarks of his approach—slick production, an undeniable sense of momentum, and meticulous attention to detail. Jocelyn Brown’s commanding vocal delivery adds a layer of soulful depth, though it often feels at odds with the hyper-sheen of the surrounding arrangement. As if her voice, which has carried anthems far weightier, is flown in to elevate an otherwise standard club offering.

The various remixes, including the “Almighty Mix” and “Motiv8 Airplay Extended Mix,” seem more like subcontracted variations than bold reinterpretations. Structurally, the song delivers the requisite highs and lows, but what it lacks is risk—the kind of unpredictability that often defines dance floor classics.

Chart-wise, the single’s peak at number 44 on the UK Singles Chart (and number 38 on the UK Dance Singles Chart) reflects its identity as a competent but unremarkable entry in Rodway’s extensive discography. Its highest showing, number 6 on the UK Independent Singles Chart, feels like a small nod from a more niche audience.

Rodway’s reputation—boosted by his success with Gina G’s “Ooh Aah… Just a Little Bit” and remixes for Erasure and Pulp—sets the expectation bar almost impossibly high. Compared to some of these career milestones, “Riding On The Wings” feels less like a memorable accomplishment and more like a footnote.

For all its professional construction, what’s missing here is an element of discovery—something to push the envelope beyond recycled grooves and reliable beats. It soars, but only within the limits of its predictable flight path.

Lyrics >> More by the same : Official Site

7 . Dannii Minogue vs Flower Power – You Won’t Forget About Me

“You Won’t Forget About Me,” released in October 2004, is the curious offspring of a clubland instrumental named “Flower Power” and Dannii Minogue’s polished dance-pop ethos.

The track wears its Ibiza origins unapologetically, channeling its roots through relentless drum patterns and sweeping synth strings that pulse with a kind of calculated euphoria.

Minogue, along with Pete Hammond and Bruce Elliott-Smith, pens lyrics that conjure the aftermath of a fleeting summer romance, coupling bittersweet nostalgia with the insistence that such memories are indelible.

At its core, the song is an exercise in dancefloor melancholy, cloaked in rhythmic optimism.

Peaking at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart and residing there for 7 weeks, it showcases Minogue’s knack for producing radio-ready earworms impactful enough to straddle both mainstream pop and club culture.

The inclusion of the track in her “The Hits & Beyond” compilation and later on “Club Disco” suggests a conscious effort to thread her career’s narrative through the prism of electronic music’s evolution.

Visually, the accompanying music video aligns itself with the mundane glam of Minogue’s character returning home, engaging in low-key bonding with friends, and romanticized daydreams, creating a juxtaposition of intimacy and escapism.

Yet for all its polish, the track can feel more like a calculated extension of its instrumental foundation than a fully realized song in its own right.

As much as it speaks to the enduring appeal of Minogue’s brand—one marked by her 13 consecutive UK Dance Chart number ones and upward of seven million global record sales—it walks a fine line between being a standout and simply another highlight reel entry.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Official Site

8 . Kamasutra – Where Is The Love

“Where Is The Love,” released by Kamasutra in 1999, positions itself firmly within the Euro House ethos that defined a significant portion of late-90s electronic music culture.

This track, shared across formats like 12″ vinyl and CD maxi-single, revels in its adherence to the high-energy, four-on-the-floor pulse that dominated the genre, steering clear of subtlety in favor of unabashed dancefloor utility.

Without venturing far from its contemporaries, it offers a familiar mix of glossy production and saccharine melodic tropes—a formula both comforting and somewhat predictable.

Airplay Records, handling the French release under catalogue number “561 351-1,” ensures the single is packaged with multiple versions, catering to varying tastes within the club circuit.

Yet beneath this surface, the track struggles to deliver an emotional center as compelling as its titular question implies.

The production, while competent, feels locked in a time capsule of late-90s conventions, with its laser-guided focus on punchy synths and looped vocal refrains.

If anything, “Where Is The Love” epitomizes a moment in the genre’s arc when exuberance often eclipsed depth, and danceability was prioritized over sonic innovation.

For the Euro House enthusiast, it likely hits the marks it aspires to, but for those seeking resonance beyond the confines of the club, it leaves the titular love tantalizingly out of reach.

More by the same : .

9 . Chicane – Saltwater

“Saltwater,” released in May 1999 as part of Chicane’s “Behind the Sun” album, serves as a bridging point between electronic music’s late-century trance ambitions and Máire Brennan’s ethereal Celtic influence.

Nick Bracegirdle, the producer, builds the track around a re-recording of Brennan’s vocals from Clannad’s “Theme from Harry’s Game,” achieving an uncanny synthesis of club-oriented drive and atmospheric fragility.

The song reached the UK Singles Chart’s No. 6 spot but found its true dominance atop all five major UK dance charts—more a reflection of its genre specificity than its ubiquity across mainstream pop.

While the production effectively contrasts ambient textures with assertive beats, its emotional resonance depends largely on Brennan’s voice, which feels plucked from another realm yet somehow tailored for trance.

Chart placement aside, its impact proved adaptable, lending itself as the soundtrack to Ireland’s national tourism campaign in 2003 and Belfast City Council’s promotional efforts—a testament less to its artistic innovation and more to its evocative but non-intrusive functionality.

The 1999 music video alternates between tranquil surfing shots from Woolacombe, North Devon, and Gatecrasher One nightclub footage from Sheffield, as if debating between serenity and sensory overload.

At 25 years old, “Saltwater” stays alive in the electronic music conversation, not as a revelation in sound but as a reminder of trance’s knack for marrying human voice with mechanistic pulse, here with varying success.

Featured on the 2000 album “Behind the Sun”.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Official Site

10 . Nu Circles – What You Need [Tonight] (w/ Emma B)

“What You Need (Tonight)” by Nu Circles featuring Emma B lands in the crowded terrain of early-2000s club music with a certain understated confidence, offering neither radical reinvention nor egregious misstep.

Released in 2003 as a vinyl, the track partners the vocal talent of Emma B with Nu Circles’ production, which situates itself comfortably within the syntax of its era—glossy yet unambitious.

The central hook is carried by Emma B’s vocals, which manage to stand out without overpowering, striking a tone that feels appropriately atmospheric for late-night dance floors, but perhaps too predictable to linger long in memory.

The original version seems designed for the function it serves, but the structure invites reinterpretation—reflected in remixes by DJs like Ghostchild & dFly, who attempt to inject fresh layers into a track that otherwise risks being typecast as background noise in a crowded club lineup.

Without documented chart success, accolades, or notable live renditions, this release operates in a vacuum, defined primarily by its potential for remixes rather than a standalone impact.

Nu Circles remains elusive as a project, its broader catalog offering limited context for the track.

“What You Need (Tonight)” feels less like a statement and more like a placeholder, a sonic shrug where each component does its part adequately but without distinction or verve.

More by the same : Wikipedia

11 . Partyboys – Build Me Up Buttercup

The Partyboys’ 2003 rendition of “Build Me Up Buttercup” injects electronic flair into The Foundations’ iconic 1968 pop melody, reconfiguring its soulful charm for early 2000s dance floors.

Released on September 29, 2003, the track aligns itself with the dance-pop genre, rooted firmly in contemporary electronic production aesthetics.

The original’s playful frustration and buoyant hooks remain intact, but here they’re cloaked in polished beats and synth embellishments that simultaneously modernize and sterilize the long-standing appeal of the song.

In straddling eras, this version loses something of the raw effervescence that made the classic so magnetic, trading emotional immediacy for sonic sheen.

Commercially, it reached a modest peak, securing the #44 spot on the UK Singles Chart—not a remarkable feat, but enough to signify its resonance within its intended niche.

Critics in dance music circles embraced its effervescent rhythm, though its limited broader appeal suggests that the delicate balance between nostalgia and reinvention leans precariously toward the latter here.

“Build Me Up Buttercup,” in this iteration, acts more as a curio of early-2000s production trends rather than a transformative or provocative reimagination of a beloved classic.

More by the same : .

12 . Reel Big Fish – Monkey Man

Reel Big Fish’s cover of “Monkey Man,” originally crafted by Toots Hibbert and released by Toots and the Maytals in 1969, strands itself between homage and reinvention.

First appearing on the 2002 “The Wild Thornberrys Movie” soundtrack before its single release in 2005, the song’s modest impact—peaking at number 86 on the UK Singles Chart and number 16 on the UK Independent Singles Chart—reflects a niche appeal rather than widespread agreement with its reinterpretation.

While faithful to their ska punk identity, Reel Big Fish leans too predictably into familiar rhythms and horn flourishes, emphasizing energy over nuance. Their discography, punctuated with numerous cover tracks and informed by their 1992 formation, often toes the line between inspired adaptation and surface-level mimicry. “Monkey Man” feels emblematic, perhaps unintentionally so; its brassy, upbeat delivery is unmistakably Reel Big Fish, yet the soul of Hibbert’s original 1969 version proves more elusive in their rendition.

Not included in their 2009 all-covers album “Fame, Fortune and Fornication,” the band instead buries “Monkey Man” within their timeline as neither a transformative standout nor an outright misstep. Known for closing live shows with covers like a-ha’s “Take On Me,” the band’s reliance on other artists’ work occasionally reads more as stylistic consistency than any statement of purpose. “Monkey Man,” in this context, is neither triumph nor misfire—it simply exists, a reflection of Reel Big Fish’s enduring but uneven groove. As covers go, it honors more than it innovates.

Lyrics >> More by the same : Official Site