Reviewed by Dave Drodge

S'dANCE, which is apparently pronounced 'stance', although the "popular variant of S Dance is acceptable", are a three piece dance band, which pilgrims to last year's Cross Rhythms amenities will no doubt be aware of. For this self-produced private recording has been in the making for nearly a year and promises to bring together various singers and dance music elements in order to make a quality hour long dance/worship-type album. Further info on the group can be read elsewhere in this issue. The first thing that is striking is the professional quality of the artwork and sound itself. I know that a lot of money has been spent on getting the mastering just right, and it's paid off. Once you get into the songs for a while, they work well and are of a very high quality, although I can't help thinking that a dedicated producer could have smoothed out the occasional rough edge. Buffs can have fun identifying the various speakers sampled, there is Brennan Manning (who also appeared on the recent DC Talk outing), Tony Campolo and regular Cross Rhythms' contributor John Smith. Throughout the strong jungle rhythms and breakbeat/house/downtempo flavour is an affecting experience while the Munkees Lightening Club Remix of "Sing Song" - the most clubby cut on the album and uncredited on the sleeve (it's song 14) is a dancefloor monster. This track alone is worth the price of this album. Picky dance fans should proceed with care (a couple of the vocals are somewhat cheesy while others are great). Everyone else, get your cheques off pronto and support this great debut project.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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