Search - Roger Sanchez :: First Contact

First Contact high

Jennifer Warner | Raves.com, CA United States | 08/03/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One whiff of this baby will put your head in the clouds and keep you dancing all night long. From the moment the door opens on electronic "Computer Bank" through the smash disco house hit "Another Chance" and the destined to be a timeless classic "You Can't Change Me" (the lyrics are written by Roger, are every DJs mantra) this is a entrancing excurision into a few of the facets of Roger Sanchez's estimable talent. Roger has been talking about the making of his artist album for many years, and talked to me about it recently for dancemusic.about.com: "Initially when I started the concept of my album I wanted to make it more of a timeline, a story of my life, but what ended up happening was I wound up pulling a lot of the tracks that represented hip hop phase off of it. Instead, it became a little more personal in the sense of where I'm at, getting to know me as a person in terms of what's in my heart and in my head. So I decided to call the album First Contact. It's the first time a lot of people get the chance to get that close, to really see the different sides to me, there is a lot of emotional songs and music on the album." The time was well spent - First Contact is first on my list for favorite albums of the year."

Excellent Dance Music

Ian Creamer | Dublin,Ireland | 10/22/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"One of the most heralded D.J.'s has finally launched his debut album,after years of mixing and producing for the most famous names in all types of dance music.The wait has certainly been worth it for this is one of the best dance albums you'll hear this year.It encompasses all types of dance music from hard house to techno,from popular stuff to trance and also a bit of ambience for good measure.The stand out track is of course the Ibiza anthem of the summer Another Chance.Using a sample from Toto's 'I Won't Hold You Back'-this 7 minutes of dance heaven is sensational.Yet this album does not just have a one hit wonder mark stamped on it.The opening track 'Computabank' is an excellent techno romp,which certainly uses the music of Kraftwerk as an obvious influence. There are also some excellent guest vocal appearances from the likes of Sharleen Spiteri of Texas fame.Her collabortion sounds quite like Texas doing a dance track-and I'd say fans of that group will like this song.N'Dea Davenport of Brand New Heavies fame also guests on a track which amazingly also features fellow d.j. maestro Armand Van Helden.This song is quite innovative as it's hard house colliding with acid-jazz.Song 5 has an amazing latino feel to it-especially with it's bass and use of horns.This track is so aptly titled 'The Partee'!One of the best Ibiza type tracks is the next one 'Ventura'-with it's repetitive,pulsating rhythm you can see this one also being huge in most clubs.Track 7 features Cooly's Hot Box on vocals.The strings and disco overtures make this funky little number sound quite like Jamiroquai-has the pottential to be another major club hit.The final guest vocals are also my favourite and these are done by Angela Johnson on the final track.This one has a beautiful ambient feel to it-what with cello and lilting guitars giving this track a real chillout feel. There may only be nine tracks on the c.d.,but each one is well over 5 minutes long and there are absolutely no 'fillers' or duds on the c.d.For those of you who enjoy the Ibiza and Cafe Del Mar sound then I'd certainly recommend you check out this c.d."

Almost 5 stars

Christopher Catto | italy/uk | 08/08/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"this is a short review because it's my dinner time. this is one of my best house cds (i also have bob sinclair, daft punk, basement jaxx, ian pooley, cassius, santos, st. germain, etienne de crecy, les rithmes digitales...). best songs are Contact (just listen to the bass in this instrumental track), You can't change me (classic vocal house a la armand van helden - you don't even know me), The partee (latin american. ever heard of the heartists - belo horizonti (author claudio coccoluto, remix by basement jaxx)? this is sort of similar), I never knew. the others are pretty good so there's no reason for not buying this"