Search - Various Artists :: Bargrooves - Citrus

Sweet and Sour

Mark Eremite | Seoul, South Korea | 03/09/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This volume of Bargrooves, a series that promises to offer nothing more than a soundtrack for flirtin' and sippin', starts off excellently with Couch's ambiently funky "Across the World." The rest of disc one is a line-up of adequately groovy house ("Esplendor" and "Hold On" being the stand-outs), some wily electric jazz ("Cuban Blues"), and even a little techno-tinted electronica ("Body Resonance" and "Insomnia"). Everything is undergirded by the standard four-time beat, the swollen spine of forward-moving bass.



The set regresses in the last third or so, however, when it relies on several cheesy R&B numbers that are mixed with only a hint of the house-groove found on the rest of the records. Don't get me wrong; there's nothing wrong with R&B when it's done well. However, much of whats found here is just goofy. Consider "Rockstone" (with its nutty chorus), "Runaway Love" (a diva ditty that's so poppy and gangly it sticks out in this line-up like a pickle in a bowl of ice cream), and "Change the World" (a ridiculous anthem about how "one man can't change the world" -- I guess Dennis Ferrer has never heard of Martin Luther King, Jr., or Gahndi, or Jesus -- that's far too self-righteous for its shoddy and predictable harmonies).



While these later segments end up pushing away the idea of ambience (or even grooviness) the rest of the record works valiantly to make up for it. It's not a complete success, but it does well enough. A little surgery and some artful stitching, and this would be a stellar album."