Music Zone

Party 2000 — Various Artists (Sony Music)««««

THE celebrations for the next millennium have started already. Well, musically at least. The latest dance compilation album by Sony Music is called Party 2000 and is this a blast or what? A selection of eighteen of the biggest dance anthems in current party circuit, from Lauryn Hill’s Everything is Everything and Donna Summers’ I Will Go with You to the throbbing bmps of Fat Boy Slim’s Right Here, Right Now. There’s also Cher with her mega hit Believe, Jamiroqual with Canned Heat. Night Crawlers with Never Knew Love, B«Witched with the fun-filled Rollercoaster and Joey Mclntyre with Stay The Same. Other essential tracks to celebrate with include If You Could Read My Mind by Stars On 54 (featuring Ultra Nate, Amber, Jocelyn Enriquez), Stella 1999-1992(How Stella Got Her Groove back) by Jam & Spoon, Saltwater by Chicane (featuring Marie Brennan of Clannad) and Insane In The Brain by Jason Nevins vs. Cypress Hill. Include this in your New Year gear.

Eric Benet — A day in the life (Warner Music)«««

Eric’s 1996 debut, True To Myself brought about a breath of fresh air to the R&B and soul music. But somewhere Eric sounded a little held back. But now with his second album A Day In The Life, Eric shows his real self, backed up with a team of lyricists and a bunch of collaborations with eminent musical personalities. Said to be based on Eric’s real life experiences, the album is rich with unusual inventive soulful touches. Wyclef Jean leads with Loving Your Best Friend. The opener That’s Just My Way is an intimate confession of sexual and spiritual love. Spend My Life (Featuring Jamia) talks about eternal devotion. Eric does a ravishing job on Georgy Porgy (a remake of the Toto hit) featuring guest vocals by Faith Evans. Comes As You Are is perhaps the most emotional track of the album. Lamentation offers stunning guitars by Eddie "Spanky" Alford. A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Muhammed adds some effective acoustic jazz and Spanish rhythms lyricists James Poyser, Vikter DuPlaix (Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill) and Brian Morgan (SVW) also contribute, with Me’shell N’degeocello and Roy Ayers making guest cameos.

Lit — A Place In The Sun (BMG Crescendo)««

Lit’s influence run the gamut from Iron maiden to Elvis Costello, from 1960’s Las Vegas to 1980’s MTV. The group’s debut album Tripping The Light Fantastic won an overwhelming response from almost every college airplay across America and will be re-released on the band’s own label Dirty Martini. Although it is the winning hybrid of styles that marks the band’s musical turf, there are the incredible live performances, vintage Cadillacs, late night poker games and frequent excursions to Las Vegas that combined complete A Place In The Sun. The album features a collection of memorable tracks: My Own Worst Enemy, Down explore what makes a relationship between a man and his Cadillac so special, Happy, and pop influenced tracks Quicksand and four. Other popular tracks include Zip-Lock, The Best Is Yet To Come Undone and the title track A Place In The Sun. Worth giving a try.

Edtv — Music From The Motion Picture
(Warner Music)««

The major selling point for this soundtrack is the first new Bon Jovi song in four years called Real Life, a comfy rock song. Ron Howard’s Edtv is a cable-TV satire featuring Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Hurley and Matthew McConaughey. It is a story about instant fame and overnight success. The soundtrack is a collection of both brand new songs and old classics. The album features a remix of fine adult pop Call & Answer, a new version of Thank You (Falletin Me Be Mice Elt Again) by Barry White, proving that he can still cause the sap to rise as he rides through the sly & The Family Stone track, Meredith Brooks’ Careful What You Wish For and Cornershop’s Sleep On The Left Side. However, the best of these songs are the oldest: from James Brown, Al Green and Otis Redding.

Album of the month

Barbra Streisand — A Love Like Ours (Sony Music)

This is Barbra’s first all-new studio recording since 1997’s multi-platinum Higher Ground. Here she’s doing what, arguably, she does best: dishing out lessons in faith and love. Along the way she’s accompanied by poignant orchestral arrangements. The album is a romantic journey, offering a hand-picked selection of personal love songs. Throughout her past career, Barbra has collaborated with some of the greatest lyricists, producers and arrangers in the world — including Tony Brown, David Foster, Arif Mardin and Waher Afanasieff.

And this album is a result of her strong and successful relationship with the music industry. Guest artists on the album include saxophonist Kenny G on the tracks The Music That Makes Me Dance and The Island and country singer Vince Gill on a duet If You Ever leave Me penned by Richard Marx. Co-produced by Barbra herself, the album’s first single I’ve Dreamed Of You is a beautiful expression of love.

Tracks worth listening to include George and Ira Gershwin’s It’s A Pity, If I Never Met You, Wait, A Love Like Ours, The Music That Makes Me Dance (originally written for ‘Funky Girl’ by Jule Styne and Bob Merill) and It Must Be You. A concise and sophisticated album.

— Saurabh & Gaurav