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Artist: Compilation: Dance Planet
Album: various artists
CD Review: From the down under label of Music Mosaic comes another compilation of World meets Dance music, expressly written for the cultured club folks who rather tire of Western pop repetition and LONG for something with a little substance, bite and thinking man’s artistry. Yes, it IS possible to dance And have some class at the same time.

Let’s meet the players and the played:

Earth Dance Dreamtime – Mystic Rhythms
The Pleasure Zone – Urbane Harmonix
Watsi Watsi – Don Peyote
Timbasa – Sin Palabras
Shakuhaji Tales – Kamal
Native Rituals – Karunesh
Luna Piena – Gypsy Moon
Mirror – Chillum
Phrygian – Yantra de Vilder & Zia Moreau

Mostly instrumental, this Dance Planet is 54 minutes and 9 tracks worth of spirit and survivalist beat that proves that the World is a good place to live and dance in.

Still, I don’t honestly think the 2nd track fits in with the rest of the album. ‘The Pleasure Zone’ has a Donna Summer kinda vocal feel and doesn’t really do much to promote the Planet part of the Dance. But it’s memorable, if only because it stands out so much.

For myself, I’ll take the 7 minutes of the liquid synth that is ‘Shakuhaji Tales’ coming from the programming skills of Kamal alone. Lovely minimalist music that slowly creeps up into maximus, with that upbeat world he creates with the help of synthed wooden flute and other special, laid back oddities. Would love to hear an entire cd from this artist.

Of the compilations from this label I’ve heard before, Dance Planet is probably the Most accessible to minds of a wholly traditional club culture. The alternative genre (i.e. world) isn’t dominating, but gives a distinct flavor to the surrounding rhythms, which is the real reason for the disc in the first place. It’s an hour well-spent.

www.music-mosaic.com