Dave Seaman Renaissance: The Masters Series Vol. 7 CD

Having achieved significant success with his first contribution to the Renaissance label's Masters series (Desire), U.K. house DJ Dave Seaman returns with another shot, Renaissance: The Masters Series, Vol. 7, a two-disc mix album that offers a generous program of modern house sounds. There won't be any surprises here for Seaman's fans, but he does demonstrate that there's still plenty of interest to be mined from his signature trippy and dubby brand of house music. He also shows that he's willing to go off the reservation when the spirit moves; in fact, the album's opening number (a Sasha remix of Charlie May's "Seal Clubbing") starts the album off in a crispy breaks mode before things settle into a more typical house-with-dub-effects style. The highlight of the first disc is Thievery Corporation's fun and pop-smart "Heart's a Lonely Hunter," which features vocals by ex-Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. Seaman's own mix of Gabriel & Dresden's "Tracking Treasure Down" is another fine song, featuring vocalist Molly Bancroft. In between there's lots of groovy housecraft, which only very occasionally (as on "For the Time Being" by Phonique) bogs down into by the numbers thumpa-thumpa. Unfortunately, this happens a bit more frequently on disc two, though that disc does offer another surprisingly funky track from Luke Dzierzek & Liousias Present Fling ("Randoms"). Overall, this is a satisfying house mix that won't necessarily win the genre any new converts, but is sure to delight true believers. ~ Rick Anderson