Editorial Reviews

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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