< Junior Vasquez: Twilo, Volume 1 - PopMatters Music Review PopMatters

Junior Vasquez
Twilo, Volume 1
(Virgin)
by Tony Peregrin

"Wake me Up, Junior! Wake me up", cheered the early morning crowd at the now-legendary New York club, Twilo. It was my first time hearing Junior spin live, and I remember watching the spin-master survey the mass of writhing bodies below him -- a half-smile etched upon his scruffy face -- as he kicked out one of the most rousing tribal house sets I've ever experienced.

In the ever-evolving world of dance music, one thing remains the same: Junior knows how to wake up a dance floor.

On his newest CD, Twilo, Volume 1, the superstar DJ serves up a 24 track, double disc set which was recorded directly from DAT tapes of actual Twilo sets. This means that, unlike previous Junior comps, this collection beams its listeners directly onto Junior's dance floor, allowing them to experience all the tricks and special effects of the master directly from the DJ booth.

The glow-in-the-dark thread that connects the tracks on CD 1 is Junior's trademark, thumping tribal beat sound, especially on "Indo" and "Floating Higher", the first two tracks on the CD. Look for an especially tweaky sounding track called "Swallow It Down", which features a computerized male voice urging listeners to, well, swallow. Fast-forward over the Donna De Lory "On and On" where the singer sounds too much like a speed-ed up Dolly Parton, and not in a good way. Rank 1's "Airwaves", is the most user-friendly track on the first CD. Complete with more computerized voice-overs and lots of '80s synth sounds, the track seems tailor-made for those middle-of-the-road dance floors where the boys keep their clothes on.

Disc 2 is the Diva CD. Look for a fabulous remix of Shannon's "Let the Music Play", which manages to retain all the musical and vocal integrity of the original song, but with a decidedly contemporary twist. Charlotte (of Soul II Soul fame) makes a worthwhile appearance on this CD with " Don't Be Afraid of the Dark", as does Jocelyn Brown ("Believe"), Kelis featuring Terrar ("Good Stuff") and Vernessa Mitchell with her club smash "Higher".

It's appropriate that the inaugural CD in the Twilo series is from Junior Vasquez (born Donald Mattern), not only because his sound represents New York-style dance music in its purest form, but because he has been holding court at Twilo since 1997. In fact, he devotes so much time to the club-where his marathon dance sets can run upwards of 14 continuous hours-that his DJ booth comes equipped with a kitchenette.

If you are a Junior fan, Twilo, Volume 1 will make a satisfying addition to your dance collection. If, however, you don't have an ongoing love affair with that continuous tribal beat sound, then look elsewhere, gentle reader. No, this collection doesn't break any new ground, and, no, it probably doesn't have the lasting power of more experimental offerings from, say, DJ Sasha or Paul Oakenfold. Nevertheless, Twilo, Volume 1, with its blend of hardhouse, epic and, yes, tribal beats, is guaranteed to "wake up" even the most jaded club music fan.

Just ask the kids at Twilo.

TODAY ON POPMATTERS
Columns | recent
Rabble Without a Cause: I’ll Swap You Two Wydens for a Biden
The Screener: Women Without Men
Events | recent | archive
:. Dave Matthews Band + Ingrid Michaelson — 10.September.08: New York, NY

RECENT MUSIC
In bold are PopMatters Picks, the best in new music.
CD REVIEWS
Abe Duque
be your own PET
Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys
The Bottle Rockets
The Brand New Heavies
Camille
Johnny Cash
Slaid Cleaves
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint
Cut Chemist
Dabrye
Miles Davis
Daedelus
Dinosaur Jr.
Dr. Octagon
Alejandro Escovedo
Fatboy Slim
Four Tet
The Handsome Family
Matthew Herbert
India.Arie
Ise Lyfe
Jefferson Airplane
Kaada
Keane
Lord Jamar
Mission of Burma
Mr. Lif
Mojave 3
Allison Moorer
Paul Oakenfold
Oneida
Grant-Lee Phillips
Priestess
The Procussions
Corinne Bailey Rae
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
Rhymefest
Julie Roberts
Diana Ross
7L & Esoteric
Alice Smith
Snow Patrol
Sonic Youth
Soul Asylum
Sound Team
Regina Spektor
Sufjan Stevens
Matthew Sweet
Vetiver
Rhonda Vincent
Wa-Zimba
Thom Yorke

EVENT REVIEWS
Baby Dayliner
The BellRays
Brookville
Cat Power
The Clientele + Great Lakes
The Coup + T-Kash
Mike Doughty Band
Download Festival 2006
Fiery Furnaces + Man Man
The Futureheads
The Handsome Family
High Sierra Music Festival
Billy Idol
Joi
Bettye Lavette
Love Parade
Nine Inch Nails + Bauhaus
Pretenders
Sonic Youth
Splendour in the Grass 2006
The Streets
Sunset Rubdown

 
advertising | about | contributors | submissions
© 1999-2008 PopMatters.com. All rights reserved.
PopMatters.com™ and PopMatters™ are trademarks of PopMatters Media, Inc. and PopMatters Magazine.