Funky Latino vibes & soulful vocals on summer set
Richard Diaz | 03/24/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Joeski & Onionz have an incredibly deep production catalog, their blend of funky, dubbed out Latino vibes landing on perhaps more DJ mixes than any other house hit-makers of the past two years - except for some of their fellow-minded mates Hipp-e & Halo (H-Foundation) Dano, DJ Chus, and crew. With a string of singles releases on label NRK, the duo's turn came up for the next installment of the Nite Life series, one of the best house series running today. Joeski drops some seriously deep grooves, grabbing from the get-go with the heady bass and live flute of Black Box Technology "Caterpillar." Some sexy pieces work in, with S.W.'s techy "Move it" sneaking in a menacing b-line partway through, and his own collaboration "Te Quiero" topping that. Deft overlapping ties it all together, while inspired beat fests such as "The First Tribal Feeling" and "African Jive" sustain the energy. Only complaint? Metal Dogs "All Rise" plods along. Onionz set counterpoints both his partner's and his earlier (excellent) 2001 release Future Acoustics, laying soulful, sexy vocals over Latino-tribal beats. Occasionally full-throated (Taka Boom "Taka's Groove") he still maintains a fine balance between sticky-sweet and garage-powered singers. Most of all, his hour has that sense of disco wonder, that rare feeling when just the right vocal anthem drops. Pete Moss's "R U Serious" has it in spades, Kick Affiliates "Don't Wanna Stop" does as well, a great singer with exquisite backing that would make a fabulous dub. Intricate back to roots drum programming on "Tengo Sed" and a heavy Latin close-out ("Agole") neatly sum things up.Bottom line, house fans should get this immediately; it'll be hard to beat as the soundtrack for summer. If you like this, try: H-Foundation "Nite Life v2", DJ Onionz "Future Acoustics" Murray Richardson "House of Ill-Repute""
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1