Customer Reviews

Choice: Louie Vega, limited edition, Unmixed Dj Format

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Choice series are getting well-established in the field of dance music. Similar in concept to the Grass Roots series by the Strut label, Azuli's Choice has really grown during the past year (counting 3 releases since last July and one more from Jeff Mills is coming in June). And the cd booklet is always very informative, including a short biography and the DJ's comments on individual tracks.

Louie's set starts with a light disco track by Dr Buzzard. Not really my cup of tea, but this track gets very interesting towards the end and is mixed into the smooth "Standing Right Here". Both are very relaxing disco songs. Vega brings the tempo up a bit with "Stand On The Word", a track that clearly was an inspiration to the MAW sound. The track that follows is a real classic... "Going Back To My Roots" is pure bliss and it was even included in Danny Krivit's Grass Roots! Things turn slightly jazzy with D'Angelo's "Spanish Joint". Very smooth track. A funkier song comes up next, "Atmosphere Strut", also appeared in Tenaglia's Choice. "Don't Go Away" is another winner here, with sweet female vocals, which is mixed with the excellent "Melting Pot". It is evident that the mix has progressed to become a lot better towards the end. Whoever is familiar with MAW's work (Louie Vega and Kenny Gonzalez), have great respect for songs such as "You Can Do It (Baby)" featuring the jazz guitar master George Benson. 4 stars

The second disc is slightly better in my opinion and more dancefloor-oriented. I first heard "Bostich" in Disco (Not Disco) 2 by Joey Negro and Sean P, and I was instantly impressed by its vibe. The vocals are very nice, catchy and... fast. "Get On The Funk Train", as the title suggests, is a very funky tune. Moving on to the incredible "It's Good For The Soul" by Salsoul Orchestra, a very uplifting and melodic track. At this moment in the mix, Louie throws a very engaging and danceable track, Gino Soccio's "Dancer". "I Wanna Rock You" is another song with very nice vocals and melodic transitions. "No Way Back" is amazingly mixed with "Din Daa Daa" and both are pumping early house tracks. The melody in ESP's "It's You" is fantastic and the following track "Rich In Paradise" has a great bass line. Vega's Choice finishes off with a punk-vocal, yet very vibrant and dubby track by The Clash. All in all, I don't think that there is a single average track in this disc, thus 5 stars

Lastly I would like to bring some attention to the mixing, which is of course seamless (and I didn't expect anything less from Louie Vega), and has been performed live at his house! I'll give this compilation 4.5 stars, simply because Danny Tenaglia put together a more glorious collection of classics earlier in the series, still unsurpassed.

Mr. Vega you have given me my fountain of youth. This is the type of music one can feel in order to get in touch of the music, in order to feel the music and let the music take control. That mix of Chocolate/Eddy Grant/Adonis brings tears to my eyes; Melting Pot is off the hook and the Clash PRIMO STUFF! Definate party. I have friends that have spoken of a lot of these tracks over the last 20 yrs and only you have put them all together on one disc. Bravo. You win my vote

Damn, after reading 'Locotek's' review, he made change my mind about this album. He is right on! Dr. Vega did leave us wanting more on certain mixes. (how bout cutting Booker T's 'Melting Pot' right before it hits it's disco glory!? No!!!) That being said, it's still a great album and I still feel this 'Choice' is the best of the series. I can listen to it again and again, there's so many great tracks on here! Props for including tracks like Mos Def's 'Umi Says', which is a much newer selection, yet holds up in its own class, and how bout that Clash, gotta love it!

Disc 2 is definitely hotter, and if you listen closely, the tracks speak to each other lyrically.

Sick Mr. Vega, sick!

I bought this for the inclusion of the 12" promo mix of The Hollies' "Draggin' My Heels", a great underground dance club track, that finally gets a legitimate release. Other good tracks on here, too.

Man I love this collection but the mixing renders this CD basically useless for a true collector. There is no excuse to cut a song to 1:22 minutes for the sake of blending. I'ts That East Street Beat is one of those rare songs that has never been released on CD. I was so happy to have this on CD but... Louie mutilated this fantastic track and cut it less than 2 minutes. On top of that he mixed it with the vocal version of Time Warp followed by the vocal version of no way back. Now if you hung out back in the Garage days you know that Larry only played the instrumental version. Also, the intro to Get On The Funk Train was cut. The hottest part of this track is the introduction. It starts with a whistle and builds into a fierce base coupled with the flawless vocals of the Birds of Paris sue, Stephanie, Sunny, Vicki and Joanne commanding you to "Get On the Funk Train" but again this was chopped by Mr. Vega. I gave this CD a 4 for content and a 2 for mixing. Still, some of these cuts are really hard to find in their full glory and so a mutilated version is better than none.

Mr. Vega has a definite ear for Spanish inflected dance music and this album dishes it out in spades. Among the numerous highlights there's "Without You" by Touch (a tough NYC house classic), "Din Daa Daa" by George Kranz, one of the earthiest mixes of Cymande's "Bra" that I have ever heard and a whole host of other tight tracks on the two discs included in this package....