Various Artists--Back To Love

Spanning two CDs, 24 tracks, and over two hours, Back To Love is a blockbuster of soul infused house beats. Artists such as Basement Jaxx, The Bucketheads, Barbara Tucker, and De’lacy all show off their techno talents here. Songs like Barbara Tucker’s "Beautiful People" put soul-filled vocals with a pulsing house bass beat for an interesting infusion of genres. Happy Clappers’ "I Believe" pushed the envelope even farther, introducing piano-dominated instrumentals that still could still get people moving on the dance floor. Basement Jaxx make an interesting contribution with "Bingo Bango" where mambo is wrapped around a core house beat, twisting the two genres around each other effortlessly. Mr Fingers kicks off the second half with "Can You Feel It," a metallic mainstream techno track, moving into N-Joi’s "Anthem" that throws electronic beeps and fizzles alongside a killer beat and gospel-like vocals. Funky Green Dogs edge towards VNV Nation instrumental territory with their "Fired Up!," a pop-piece that has some of the best vocals found on the compilation. Grace is given the closing word, and delivers one of the most energetic tracks on the album with a non-stop beat combed over with wonderfully pulsed vocals. While the sheer weight of similar soul-techno pieces may grow repetitive, Back to Love features enough diversity and interesting mixes to keep the party going, and is a great choice for the dance floor.

(Published at UKMusic.com)