Various Artists

As is often the case with dance music, what sounds so great on Saturday night when pumped through a megawatt sound system, surrounded by dancing lights and throbbing bodies, can get a little dull on Tuesday evening in your living room. Repetitious samples, gradual buildups, and wordless mixes don't translate...

By John Anderson

November 20, 2003

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As is often the case with dance music, what sounds so great on Saturday night when pumped through a megawatt sound system, surrounded by dancing lights and throbbing bodies, can get a little dull on Tuesday evening in your living room. Repetitious samples, gradual buildups, and wordless mixes don't translate well to the home stereo.

But Miami on Vinyl, a recent release by local house label SFP, pulses with vivid, interesting touches. It's sort of a greatest hits collecting the imprint's releases from the last half-year, its tracks having been originally released on vinyl for the international DJ market. You can practically smell Ibiza in tracks like "Rock Me Lady" by Jack in Da Box, with its phat bass line and steamy French-accented dialogue between a man and a woman. But the real gem of the album is the dubby trance number "True House," a ten-minute journey by C&M Productions that's subtle but never boring. Miami on Vinyl is an encouraging sign that there's more engaging dance music found in our city than the rehashed pabulum heard too often in South Beach clubs.

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