24th St. Sounds
Santa Cruz product Miguel Migs gently but firmly tears the roof off with24th St Sounds, his latest example of the sunny, uptempo chill music known as "deep" house. As practiced by Migs,Ben Watt, King Britt and others, the style takes the raunch of classic house and replaces it with a polished cocktail vibe, creating a hybrid your parents might even enjoy. Not to say that it doesn't kick;24th St Soundsis a smooth ride, but it's also a relentless--and fantastic--dance record. Migs knows how to blend, and his positive energy would sound just as good in a grimy New York basement club as it would at a Riviera beach bash. He starts hot, leaving the soft melodies in the background on floor stompers like "Waiting." After a slight lull, he picks up again for the luminous "You Can't Stop," and backs off with the spare, borderline electro of Trevor Lovey's "The Bounce." The second disc, culled from Migs's studio catalog, sounds more thrown together and lacks disc 1's drive and cohesion. But really, it's hard to get too much of24th St Sounds, as long as you're in a good mood (or won't mind being put into one). --Matthew Cooke