Ultra Fabulous
Thank god for Ultra Naté, a singer who is unapologetic about being a dance music artist and who never whines or complains about wanting to cross-over. A long-time dance music diva, Ultra and I share an important life event: we both got turned onto clubbing and introduced to the magic of house music when we first went to the legendary Baltimore nightclub O'dell's in the mid-1980s. Much like you hear about Paradise Garage in NYC, Zanazibar in Newark, and Warehouse in Chicago, Odell's was an important house music outpost in the mid-Atlantic region, and the fact that it helped inspire the career of the one and only Ultra Naté further burnishes its legendary status.

But enough about East Coast clubs of the past, what's up with Ultra today. Well, she's just released Alchemy: G.S.T. Reloaded (Tommy Boy), an ambitious 2-CD set that is sure to excite Ultra Naté fans, old and new alike. CD1- The Remixes contains brand new previously unreleased remixes from her Grime, Silk & Thunder album, including the Morgan Page remix of "Love's The Only Drug," a Stonebridge remix of "Freak On," and a Craig C. remix of "Getaway" featuring Dajae.

Interestingly, CD2 - The Sugar Sessions is Ultra's first ever commercially released DJ continuous mix compilation and quite frankly it ROCKS! Proving she knows her way around the DJ booth, Ultra throws down a mean track-y deep house set of her own records, including the Kenny Dope mix of "Twisted," a Quentin Harris treatment of "It's Over Now," and Ron Carroll's BMC Mix of "Feel Love." And showing love to her Baltimore home boys, there are several slamming remixes by the likes of DJ Oji, DJ Spen, and Thommy Davis & The Muthafunkaz. I told you Alchemy: G.S.T. Reloaded was an ambitious project and it's one you need to add to your collection.

Precious Stone
When I first started writing this Groove Line column several years ago, one of the first musical artist I wrote about was Jem, the Welsh born singer who made a splash in 2004 with her debut album Finally Woken and the hit single "They," which appeared on the television show The O.C. Well, she's back with her sophomore effort Down To Earth and I'm glad to report that my initial enthusiasm for Jem four years ago has been renewed with this 12-track effort that's filled with ethereal vocals, hip-shaking beats, bright melodies, and introspective lyrics. Her first single from the album, "It's Amazing," was featured on the soundtrack for the Sex & The City movie this past summer, while "Aciiid!" is a lively dance-pop track that should appeal to electronica fans who find favor with the likes of The Prodigy. A well-crafted album, Down To Earth is a wide-ranging album that ably demonstrates Jem's wide-ranging style and proof that she's just at the beginning of what is sure to be a long and fruitful career.

Where's Archie?
The much praised The Veronicas are back with their second album, Hook Me Up (Sire Records), and boy do they have a winner on their hands. The Veronicas are actually twin sisters from Australia - neither of whom is named Veronica, but Lisa and Jessica Origliasso - and they've produced a 12-track collection of dance-friendly electro-rock that starts out really strong with "Untouched," the first single that debuted at #10 on MTV's TRL Top 10 Countdown. The rest of the album has some great material on it, including the title track, "Popular," and "I Can't Stay Away," and it's already been certified double-platinum in The Veronicas native land of Australia. I expect their Down Under success to carry over stateside and lead to lots of radio air time and downloads here.