" .. but I don't want to stop dancing!" Boy did I get my "dance on" over Memorial Day weekend. The weekend was a nonstop blur and my feet are crying foul for putting constant pressure on them. But the rest of my body and soul are rejoicing. I didn't go hog wild as I have in the past (one year I hit seven parties throughout this weekend on top of two days of Leather Mart cruising .. I mean shopping), and hit just one party each night this year. On Saturday night, Circuit was back to its old form with a handsome and rousing crowd ­ all night long ­ and DJ Hugo throwing down beats like his life depended on it. He was fantastic! And many folks who hadn't been back to Circuit since it's re-opening were very pleasantly surprised and impressed with what they saw and heard.

On Sunday it was downtown to Ontourage (my first time at this nightclub and I was definitely liking the space) for the Hearts Foundation's Hot Tea with DJ Paulo. Despite a few sound system issues, Paulo's tribal attack was flawless as he proved to be the perfect choice for this annual event. Finally, on Monday night at the Black & Blue Ball at Excalibur Nightclub, DJ Matthew Harvat (aka Circuit MOM) put a very nice bow on the weekend with an 8-hour set that was uplifting and energetic. It was a great way to end a long weekend of dancing and partying!

New Kids on the Sunday Night Block
Sunday nights continues to undergo radical change in Chicago for those looking to dance to the very end of the weekend. Crobar's weekly GLEE Club offering has been gone for a while now and upstarts such as downtown's Y (with DJ Luis M) and Boystown's Cocktail (with DJ Tom McBride) are finding and carving out their own Sunday niches. With DJ Chris Eterno now at Hydrate on Sundays, competition on Halsted Street will get a bit more intense. And let's not forget about the two newest Sunday night groove options: Spin's "Sunday Night Hustle" featuring DJ Doug Brandt and "Flawless" out in Wicker Park's at Four with a rotation of DJs. Groove Line will be doing some extensive Sunday night reconnaissance work and will report back later this summer with the in-depth 4-1-1.

 

Music Reviews

Africanism: Volume 3 ­ mixed by Bob Sinclair (Tommy Boy)
If you desire dance music heavy on bass beats and funky rhythms, then legendary French DJ/producer Bob Sinclair is your man and Africanism 3 is the CD for you. Sinclair has combined his passion for African music with his contemporary knowledge of the global dance music scene to present a creative mix if 16 tracks, all but one of which were produced expressly for this album. While there have been recent echoes from many quarters that dance music is in trouble, fresh, innovative and captivating music such as that found on this CD tell a different story.

Hypnotized ­ Colette (Om Records)
Colette is a house music DJ with a residency at Smart Bar who often sings live while she DJs. Hypnotized is her debut artist album - with 13 songs ranging in styles from ballads to uptempo dance tracks - and it's "the goods" and proves that her singing from the booth isn't just some marketing gimmick: she can flat out sing! (her take on Cherrelle's "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On" is quite impressive). She's already had success with the lead single, "Feeling Hypnotized" which was featured in a Motorola ad campaign last year (and received a 2004 DanceStar Award for "Best Song in a Commercial"), and may need to prepare herself for the accolades that will surely come as a result of this execllent CD.

 

Superstars #1 Hits Remixed ­ Various Artists (Sony BMG)
This may be the "best value buy" I've ever written about as it is chock full of some of the biggest hits ­ 19 to be exact - of the past few years, many of which are by the reigning Diva Class: Mariah Carey's "Dreamlover," Whitney Houston's "It's Not Right But It's Okay," Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful," Kelis' "Milkshake," Toni Braxton's "Un-break My Heart," Dido's "White Flag'" and Britney Spear's "Toxic." And then they are remixed for your dancing pleasure by the biggest names in the game, including Victor Calderone, Peter Rauhofer, Hex Hector, Junior Vasquez, Scumfrog, Jason Nevins, and David Morales. Note that most of the versions of the songs are the shorter radio edits and quickly get to the vocals so you don't have to wait too long to throw your hands in the air. This is the perfect CD for the summer beach season and is guaranteed to keep all within earshot happy.

 

DJ Plez is the Music Editor of ChicagoPride.com. He DJs throughout the Midwest and has a residency at PUMP! in Milwaukee, WI.