LOUIE DEVITO
NYC Underground Party Volume 5 (Musicrama)
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes


Welcome to 130 beats-per-minute heaven.

Louie DeVito is back in his element with his fifth offering of New York City Underground, the highest selling mix CD series ever produced. It's a double CD this time and like all of Louie's work it just takes the top off your head, leaving your body free to dance with abandon.

Lest we be confused, this is club music, the high octane stuff that Louie spins in the top clubs of New York, the ultimate cutting edge dance material. It's very keyboard driven, usually with monster synthbass lines, but most all the cuts feature first-rate vocals with real lyrics too. You'll bounce on your heels, hell, you could exercise to this stuff. The beat is always driving, steady and seamless, yet the keyboards and singing keep the overall feel interesting and dynamic.

The songs are all powerful enough to stand on their own, starting with Luz Devina's "In Your Eyes" (not to be confused with the Peter Gabriel track). Wide Life's "I Don't Want You" is a standout and Perpetuous Dreamer's "The Sound Of Goodbye" adds drama with a break in the beat. Disc One even shows a sense of humor with Eddie Amador's "Psycho X Girlfriend," one of the few tracks with spoken word and no singing.

Disc 2 starts off with a much different approach in DJ Serge's "L'Italiano." (What someone of Italian descent is involved on this CD?) It has Italian lyrics but it's still keyboard driven and danceable. There's a nice update by Madhouse of Madonna's "Like A Prayer," that would sound at home on Ray Of Light, but like Disc One all the tracks here just shine.

It's not overly repetitive, a major flaw with most mix CD's. The tracks flow perfectly, never wasting too much time on a segue. As a DJ myself I'm in total awe of Louie's ability to pick the primo tracks and mix them so that an hour goes by and you're still dancing.

This is not hip hop, this is not rap, there is no scratch. It does however owe a lot to the worlds of techno, funk and disco. It's a true mix CD and one to measure all the others against.

Tracks Disc One:
Luz Devina - In Your Eyes * Reina - No One's Gonna Change You * Wide Life - I Don't Want You * Narcotic Thrust - Safe From Harm * iiO - At The End * Perpetuous Dreamer - The Sound Of Goodbye * The Psychedelic Waltons - Wonderland * Amtr@k Jrny - Alright Strobelight * Oscar G & Ralph Falcon - Dark Beat * Rhythm Gangsta - The Crowd Song * TRS - Aftermath * Jonathan Peters - Goin' Thru It * Eddie Amador - Psycho X Girlfriend

Tracks Disc Two:
DJ Serge - L'Italiano * Lasco - Alone * Marc Et Claude - Tremble * 4 Strings, Take Me Away * DJ Encore - Walking In The Sky * Madhouse - Like A Prayer * Dris Jay & Delsena - Trippin * Who Dr. Funk - Shiny Disco Balls * Robbie Rivera - Funk-a-tron * Tim Deluxe - It Just Won't Go * Puretone - Addicted To Bass * Amber - Anyway (Men Are From Mars)

[Pick this up at amazon.com.]

© 2002 - Rusty Pipes