Quickies
DJ Abel was absolutely on fire and tore it up at Hydrate for the Inferno: BOUND party on May 9. OMG, what a fun night! I greatly encourage you to support gay-owned businesses such as Borderline Music (3333 N. Broadway). They are incredibly knowledgeable and carry the music, including the following reviewed CDs, that you want in your collection.

Musical Round-up
First up is Depeche Mode and their new album Sounds of the Universe. Still going strong as they approach their 30th anniversary, they have produced an impressively strong CD from beginning to end. The first single "Wrong" has been a big radio hit and the dance remixes by the likes of Thin White Duke, Frankie Knuckles, Peter Rauhofer have raced up the charts. Everything's right with "Wrong."

Keep your eyes and ears open for Thriving Ivory, a group that's kinda emo, kinda adult contemporary, and kinda good. Actually they are a whole lotta good and their single "Angels on the Moon" has been garnering plenty of attention: over 7 million plays on their MySpace page; more than 2 million views for the video on YouTube; and frequent appearances on VH1 and LOGO. Their growing popularity is no fluke and will make all the more sense when you hear their self-titled debut album.

Utada is the Japanese pop superstar who first burst onto the American dance scene in 2004 and she's back to conquer a wider swath of the musical landscape with This Is The One, her second English-language album. Far from a cookie cutter pop album and indelibly stamped with her unique sense of songcraft, this new album presents a more mature and confident Utada. Western stardom for Utada may not equal what she has in Japan, but it could be significant and well-deserved.

Finally, on May 26 Centaur will release POPular Vol. 2, the dance music CD mixed by DJ Phil DaBeatz, winner of the Chicago "Be The Next POPular DJ Contest" held earlier this spring and sponsored by BOI and MTM Chicago. Filled with many of the tracks found recently on playlists of countless radio and video stations as well as millions of iPods - i.e. "Single Ladies," "I Hate This Part," "Right Round" and "Circus" - this energetic continuous mix will not only delight Phil's many Windy City fans but is sure to garner him much warranted national exposure. Kudos to Phil on a job well-done!