Bhangra compilations. I can't remember the last time I reviewed a quality one, and when Dhol Cutz 3 arrived on my desk I was preying for a surprise. I didn't get it from first impressions as the cover is exactly the almost the same as Dhol Cutz 1, even using the same girl in the same top - she could have at least changed for the new CD. And anyway, playing the dhol is a very masculine thing to do. It fits, but she ain't.

'Aaja Nachle' is the opener, with female vocals from Maninder Bawa riding over typical Kam Frantic production. It's straight up desi, dancey, with Frantic keys and Frantic b-lines and not much more. The singer has been put through an encoder, but I'm not sure she needed to be, as she seems to have a decent voice. It's not bad, but it's not spectacular.

Kam gets his flutes out for track two, 'Tumkeh Te Tumka', which sees Manjit Roopawalia singing. It's a very similar groove to the first track, incessant tumbi and good dhol beats and again, a decent-ish singer has been given a vox encoder unnecessarily, but it lacks that spark.

It's a little more urban on track three, a 'Boliyan' from Daler Punjabi. This is my favourite track so far, with harmonious flutes supplied by Kam, and Daler's vocals sound beautifully like a drunken uncle at a wedding. That's no diss; I love it!!! The engineering and mastering is good too.

The first recognised vocalist steps on for 'Dil Dhe Dhe', track four. The great Sabar Koti has previously featured on Dhol Cutz albums and now we see a good vocal torn apart by Project Asia on the console. They've put together an 'I wish I was MJ Cole' garage beat and Sabar is far too desi for one of these lame attempts, which falls off the table into a sorry mess when the beat switches for a traditional 8 bar phase. The MC'ing is also well off, and this is one of the reasons why so many people hate Asian producers trying to make soulful garage. Oddly it's the exact same vocal that was used on PJD's 'Another Way Of Life' - now I wonder if they discount for doing a bit of recycling?

Mr Frantic returns for 'Lok Tath', which has Feroz Khan on vocals. The music is all right, but I'm not sure this vocal is ideal for it. The held high notes don't cut against the street beats, even though the traditional elements are good. Love the Bee Gees-esque strings as well Kam, very retro…

'Teri Photo' is next in line, with more Frantic beats. The chord sequences on this are too repetitive, and take a lot away from D. Ary's respectable vocal and there's a great guitar melody in there which would have brought much more to the track had it been given a bit of a stage. Again, good engineering and mastering, but the crux of the track is what let it down.

Harvey Sahota offers a reggae vibe as track seven, which slows the pace down a bit. 'Tu Banjah Sharab' features Master Saleem who sings a very easy vocal and despite this he is still put through an encoder. Very..errr…peaceful.

On looking down the track list at the final song I was very apprehensive. 'Takna Vi Naye' has music by 'Danny', and vocals from MC Boys. Annoying intro ('do you wanna dance?' - no, this sounds crap), old skool 1980s rhythms, and a talented less singer mean the best thing to do with this is press stop before it gets too much for you.

Compilation albums out of Soho Road have been routinely average for years now, and Dhol Cutz 3 is best categorised here; nothing fresh or exceptional on offer this time around either. One thing I struggle to understand: why is it that Kam Frantic's music that he is taking credit for is never as good as the stuff he does for others? I guess a winning success is for another artist unda da influence of Kam. Average, mediocre, ordinary, middle-of-the-Soho-Road…the list goes on. It gets 5 out of 10; do something creative next time.