Grammy Schmammy...
When the nominations for the Grammy Awards are announced in December, there will be a new category: Best Electronic/Dance Album. While two dance oriented categories were introduced in 1997 - Best Dance Recording and Best Remixed Recording, many have felt that they have been used by Grammy voters to reward commercial pop sensations. This is not to say that Chicago's own Maurice Joshua, who was the winning 2003 remixer for Beyonce's "Crazy In Love," was not deserving, but this new category will hopefully truly reward excellence in electronica that is not necessarily attached to more familiar pop names. With the winner announced at the February ceremonies, expect names like Paul van Dyk, the Crystal Method, Junkie XL, Masters At Work, Basement Jaxx, and BT to vie for the first trophy.

 

Music Reviews

Top Shelf Dance Vol. 1 mixed by DJ Geoffe (Koch Records) Demonstrating a desire to present a high quality product, the folks at Koch make a decent attempt with this commercial dance music mix. While the mixing leaves a lot to be desired, DJ Geoffe has done a good programming job with the selection of some solid tracks. The highlights are "Rocking Music" by Martin Solveig, "Steppin Out" by Chicago's own Kaskade, and "It Just Won't Do" by Tim Deluxe featuring Sam Obernik, with the jewel of the mix being the fantastic "Be Mine" by Gioia. This compilation, with its several tasty musical morsels, will fit well into the library of anyone who enjoys and appreciates the mainstream aspects of electronic dance music.

Want Two Rufus Wainwright (Dreamworks) All you Rufus fans will surely want to add this new CD/DVD double pack to your collection. The man that Elton John called an "as-yet unheralded American treasure" has just release the fourth CD of his career. Continuing with the themes he explored in 2003's Want One, Wainwright presents 12 tracks on this new Want Two CD and includes a extensive 22-track DVD feature, making for a tremendous package. The DVD includes performances filmed live in concert at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium with songs from both Want One and Want Two.

Destiny Fulfilled Destiny's Child (Sony) It's been three years since we last heard from these women as a collective, but trust me, they have not forgotten how to make quality music. Their solo outings in the intervening years have only made them a stronger trio as this new CD demonstrates. This CD is also a bit of a return to their R&B roots, not quite postured to be an ode to the commercial pop world as was their previous CD. In my opinion that's a very good thing artistically. It's also testament to Destiny Child's proven track record and the emergence and success of the nu-soul/R&B genre. There's a sexy, but classy, feel to Destiny Fulfilled, a CD with very strong production values backing the soaring vocals. While much of the CD is subdued with ballads and lounge groovers, the first single, "Lose My Breath" is a rump-shaking funk-fest with terrific percussive backing from marching band snare drum line that adds liveliness and energy. Rumors has it that this will be the last full-length effort coming from the group. If so, they've ended their run on a high note.

MILWAUKEE DISPATCH

90 miles and 90 minutes north of our great city lies another Lake Michigan burgh ­ Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A recent weekend trip by a group of friends and me found us discovering certain aspects of Milwaukee's Saturday nightlife. The first stop was at Moct (pronounced "most") in the entertainment district of the Third Ward. This gorgeous looking restaurant-bar space, was more hetero than homo, was way cool with great music (provided by DJ John Murges), and was a perfect beginning to the evening. Next we hopped over to the Room/Boom complex in Milwaukee's Boystown equivalent area on 2nd Street near National Avenue. Room is a lively, well-lit attractive bar with a good looking crowd of various types of men and a few women (think Cocktail here in Chicago). Right next door, Boom is less well-lit bar with a rougher edge to it (think North End, maybe Little Jim's). The final stop was the popular danceteria Cage and its way cozy basement lounge called Etc. (as in etcetera). Our group was somewhat stunned by the playing of remixes of that "San Francisco" song by Mama Cass Elliott and George Benson's "Give Me The Night," but the Cage dance floor was packed and full of energy. We had fun up in Milwaukee and found plenty to keep us engaged and entertained, but the sight of the Chicago skyline on our return trip home was a relief.