Bargrooves: Metropolitan CD - Import

Yet another Bargrooves release, one among many. Like the others, Bargrooves: Metropolitan is comprised of fashionable packaging and two discs of laid-back house music mixed by Ben Sowton and a guest DJ, in this particular case the Soul Avengerz. If you're into this sort of house music (perhaps most comparable to the Naked Music series of mixes -- or if you really want to narrow it down and tag it, West Coast house), there's plenty to enjoy here. The mixing is unobtrusive and the tracks are smooth without exception, with some sexy vocal numbers coming in every so often. The thing is, it's hard to keep count of these Bargrooves mixes. You'd think Sowton and company were churning them out on an assembly line, given the frequency of release and the similarity of one to the next. While none of these are poor per se, none are exceptional, either. Heard one, heard them all for the most part. Still, a nice series overall for folks who can't get enough of this sort of music. ~ Jason Birchmeier

Following on from the Mimosa collection, bargrooves continues with the `taste and tastemakers' quartet, to bring you Metropolitan, the perfect soundtrack to the early evenings of winter. This time, bargrooves resident DJ, Ben Sowton, has invited the Soul Avengerz to guest mix CD2. Ben turns in a beautifully melodic mix, with highlight tracks and mixes from Atjazz, Physics and Soldiers of Twilight while The Soul Avengerz up the tempo a little with a mix that fits right in with the bargrooves vibe. Their mix includes some of their own exclusive material and remixes, as well as tracks from Wave, Soulfuric, Defected and Susu. The Bargrooves series is world-respected for its international cocktail of style and sophistication. Metropolitan follows in that tradition with a double disc set of deep sexy grooves. Seamless.

DJs: Ben Sowton; The Soul Avengerz.