Rating:
Genre:
Electronica
Release Date: 02/21/2006
This three-disc compilation (priced at a budget-friendly $15.98) provides an excellent overview of the first ten years of San Francisco's
Om Records, an industry leader in forward-looking
dance music, particularly of the
house and
downtempo varieties. And those subgenres are exactly what these three discs focus on: the first consists of
house anthems, the second of
downtempo grooves, and the third is a nicely varied program of "classic" tracks from across the label's stylistic spectrum. What becomes immediately apparent is what a good job
Om has done at eliciting the best from its impressive roster of artists; the
house disc in particular is unusually impressive, featuring top-notch songs (not just thudding, interminable
dance grooves) from such A-list names as
Marques Wyatt (
"Come Together, Love Better") and
Colette (
"What Will She Do for Love (Kaskade's Mo Love Mix)"), as well as some slightly less stellar material from
Fred Everything and
Iz & Diz (whose
"Magnificent" is little more than by-the-numbers bedroom smarm). The
downtempo disc keeps the quality level very high, with brilliantly funky contributions from the likes of
Rithma (whose texturally complex and irresistibly tuneful
"Still Waiting" is one of the finest songs on the collection) and
J Boogie. The third disc is a bit more hit-and-miss, but also provides some deeply booty-shaking moments, particularly in the form of contributions from
Ming + FS (whose turntablist extravaganza
"Madhattan Bound" features some of the oldest samples known to
hip-hop) and
Blue Boy (whose bluesy
big beat anthem
"Remember Me" is another candidate for strongest track on the program). This is one of the most satisfying
dance music compilations of 2005.
~Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
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