Sidestepper More Grip CD

Richard Blair's debut full-length attempt to merge Latin music with the futuristic sounds of post-20th century electronic dance music comes across as a noble and welcomed effort. Seemingly trapped within its syncopated thumps and bumps, U.K. dance music has long needed an infusion of such rhythmically complex percussion while still retaining the tech-savvy gloss so favored in the dance scene. So in terms of merging the two, Blair succeeds, and does it remarkably well. On the dancefloor, these tracks should inspire plenty of enthusiasm. Unfortunately, Blair's sounds don't come across nearly as well in a home-listening situation, where a feeling of continuity and underlying concept make full-length album listening a more pleasant experience. This album doesn't have much of either, instead sounding like a collection of dance tracks compiled onto an album. Sure, most full-length dance albums share this characteristic, but in this case, it's just too blatant, given the fact that Blair is still working out the kinks in his sound, trying to find a truly signatures sound rather than just an effective template. ~ Jason Birchmeier

Recorded at Audiovision, Bogota, Colombia.

Personnel: Sergio Arias (vocals, rap vocals); Andrea Echeverri (vocals, background vocals); Juan de Luque, Janio Coronado, Dario Castro, Johana Marin, Iván Benavides (vocals); Roberto Cuao (guitar, guiro, timbales, percussion); Tico Arnedo (flute); Mick Ball (trumpet); Luis Pacheco (congas, percussion, bells); Héctor Buitrago (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Richard Blair.

Recording information: Estudio Audiovision, Bogota, Colombia; Sudiovision, Nogata.

Photographer: Adrian Boot.

Personnel includes: Orbe Ortiz (vocals, tiple); Ivan Benavides, Andrea Echeverri, Janio Coronado, Johanna Marin, Ronald Infante, Juan De Luque (vocals); Sergio Arias (rap vocals); Tete Ocampo (guitar); Joaquin Pelaez, Alexander Lozano (violin); Tico Arnedo (flute); Jorge "Cooper" Bermudez (baritone saxophone); Mick Ball, Hugo Fernandez (trumpet); Gustavo Garcia (trombone); Juan Carlos Rivas (bass); Roberto Cuao (timbales, guiro, percussion); Luis Pacheco (congas, campana).

Spin (12/00, p.221) - "...It mixes Colombian salsa, Cuban 'charanga', and 'Nuevo York' boogaloo with crisp breakbeats and dubby production..."
Q (10/00, p.128) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...The material is strong: good songs dominated by vivid call and response singing...and some gritty, breakneck rapping."
CMJ (1/08/01, p.42) - Included in CMJ's "N Essential 5 From 2000".
CMJ (9/18/00, p.28) - "...A glimpse at the future of Latin dance music..."