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Mr. Lava's Trash Music Compendium - All Compendium Reviews (Beta Vrs.)
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Artist/Song (click this heading to sort) |
Year (click this heading to sort) |
Audio sample | Review | Link to Compendium Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mauro Picotto - Like This Like That | 2001 | ♪ | The ace that made it hands-down/up my favorite song of 2001: a warm analog synth bit eventually gives way to a spectacular keyboard run. | Link to full review |
| Rimini Project featuring Scandinavia - Sounds Good | 2000 | ♪ | Another one of those upbeat Eurodance numbers with cheery female vocals. It is also another perfect representative of the "la-da-di" lyrics trend in Eurodance. | Link to full review |
| Martay - Gimme All Your Lovin' 2000 | 1999 | ♪ | A chunk of ZZ Top's "Gimme All Your Lovin'" is dropped on top of a female UK rapper; cannot fail. | Link to full review |
| Kim Lucas - All I Really Want (Eiffel 65 Mix) | 1999 | ♪ | A shimmering piece of Europop delight with the requisite pretty Eiffel 65ish piano melody floating around Kim Lucas's vocals. | Link to full review |
| Alice DeeJay - The Lonely One | 2000 | ♪ | Epic trance chords and just two lines of much repeated upbeat lyrics deliver everything the Eurotrasher could possibly desire. | Link to full review |
| System F - Exhale | 2001 | ♪ | An epic trance monster to die for, with soaring chords and relentless energy. | Link to full review |
| Astroline - I Close My Eyes | 2001 | ♪ | Astroline's cheery "I Close My Eyes" features upbeat female vocals and more dum-dee-dum style wordless filler. | Link to full review |
| Kaci - Paradise (Motiv 8 Celestial Club Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | Many good remixes on this Euro-release of an American teen singer's cover of, strangely enough, a song sung originally by Phoebe Cates in a forgotten movie. But Motiv-8's takes the prize. | Link to full review |
| Planet Funk (Planetfunk) - Chase the Sun (Extended Club Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | Planet Funk's "Chase the Sun" is a sunsplashed, ethereal dance tune with a girl who sings in such a high voice that only dogs can understand it. | Link to full review |
| Liza da Costa - Banana Coco | 2000 | ♪ | Tympani-fueled swing beats make this a good companion piece to Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5" (the likely source of inspiration for this effort from the former Captain Jack sidekick). | Link to full review |
| Mono Culture - Light of My Life (Fragma Mix) | 2000 | ♪ | One of the finest pop trance tunes of the era, with Fragma's take being the superior version. | Link to full review |
| Sash! - Together Again | 2000 | ♪ | Tugs at the heartstrings, what with its lovely chords and passionate female vocals. | Link to full review |
| Safri Duo - Played Alive (The Bongo Song) | 2000 - 2001 | ♪ | A huge hit, Safri Duo's magnificent "Played Alive (The Bongo Song)" boasted frantic live rhythms atop a trance beat, courtesy of a couple of classically trained percussionists. | Link to full review |
| Captain Jack - Iko Iko | 2001 | ♪ | Captain Jack was something today's Euro music scene sorely misses: a real character. This is a serviceable cover of the familiar tune. | Link to full review |
| Scooter - We Bring the Noise | 2001 | ♪ | Scooter's "We Bring the Noise" is used by demolitionists to take down buildings. The swirling electric guitar sample cuts cleanly through struts, the bassline contains the collapsing structure to minimize damage to its surroundings, and the shouted motivational vocals herd people out of harm's way. | Link to full review |
| Tomcraft - Bipap Song | 2001 | ♪ | Goofy fun with a bizarre vocal sample (where is it from, anyway?) supported by Tomcraft's distinctive production polish. | Link to full review |
| Angelic - It's My Turn (Original 12" Mix) | 2000 | ♪ | One of the most beautiful dance anthems of the last few years, it originated from a rejected DJ Judge Jules remix for Sunscreem. | Link to full review |
| John Davies - I Promised Myself | 2000 | ♪ | Hammy beyond belief, but awash in Euro-glossy perfection. If you lip-synch to it, don't forget to include sweeping arm gestures. | Link to full review |
| Cassandra - Rien ne va plus (rouge mix) | 2000 - 2001 | ♪ | Italian songstress Cassandra sings the bouncy "Rien ne va plus." Her voice is weak, but the music is catchy as hell. | Link to full review |
| Paffendorf - Where Are You? | 1999 | ♪ | A stupid-voiced guy in Paffendorf asks "Where Are You?" then flushes you out onto the dance floor with the best two-note melody I have ever heard. | Link to full review |
| Dominica - Gotta Let You Go | 1995 (original) - 2000 (re - release with new mixes) | ♪ | This pop house track enjoyed a 2000 re-release with requisite remixes, but the original versions are still the best (with DJ Tonka's mixes coming in second). | Link to full review |
| Shaft - Mucho Mambo (Sway) | 1999 | ♪ | Tropical sounds married to pounding electronic beats = mambo music that you don't have to know the mambo to dance to. | Link to full review |
| Lou Bega - Mambo No. 5 | 1999 | ♪ | A cornerstone in the history of successful Eurodance tunes that enjoyed large success on both sides of the ocean. | Link to full review |
| N-Trance - Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? | 1997 | ♪ | "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" transformed it into something meatier and beatier. | Link to full review |
| Chyp-notic (Chypnotic) - I Can't Get Enough of Your Love | 1991 | ♪ | Ably demonstrates this German boy band's appeal as you do that slow, soulful electric slide in your living room. | Link to full review |
| Manhattan / Cellular - Impulsion (Large Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | Contains one of the most breathtaking keyboard progressions ever featured in a trance song. | Link to full review |
| Baccara 2000 featuring Michael Yuniversal - Yes Sir, I Can Boogie '99 | 1999 | ♪ | 1970s Eurodisco legends Baccara return with a 1999 revamping of "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie," which comes complete with a rapper (Michael Yuniversal) who assures us that Baccara is "new and improved," presumably because of his own presence. | Link to full review |
| Blümchen (Bluemchen) - Bicycle Race | 1996 | ♪ | "Bicycle Race" is an astonishing happy hardcore cover of the Queen song, from the darling of that genre. | Link to full review |
| Gigi D'Agostino - La Passion (Melody With Rectangle) | 1999 | ♪ | Gigi D'Agostino's "La Passion (melody with "Rectangle" by Jacno)" is another Gigi-fied cover, this time of a French new wave artist whose "Rectangle" was originally released in 1979. | Link to full review |
| Sting - Desert Rose (Melodic Club Mix) | 1999 | ♪ | Sting's biggest dancefloor triumph; in many European countries this version was played on the radio more than the original one. | Link to full review |
| Carolina Marquez - Ritmo | 2001 | ♪ | Carolina Marquez's "Ritmo" starts off like an Irish jig, then lays down that distinctive sproingy-sproingy Italo beat. | Link to full review |
| Pablo 'n' Cezanne - Rain Dance | 2000 | ♪ | A catchy, if not remarkable piece of dance music. Complimented by "Sun Dance." | Link to full review |
| Daddy DJ - The Girl in Red | 2001 | ♪ | This is my favorite tune from French Europoppers Daddy DJ, thanks to a nice litle synth bit arranged in a different key from that of the rest of the song. | Link to full review |
| Rollergirl - Luv U More (12" Brock Mix) | 1999 | ♪ | Cover of the Sunscreem classic delivered by a platinum blonde German girl famous for performing on roller-skates. Only in the land of "Eurotrash or Eurotreasure?" | Link to full review |
| SMS feat. Rehb - La Vie C'est Fantastique | 2001 | ♪ | Another pure-blooded Euro track featuring a bossy woman chanting in French atop a powerful sproingy-sproingy beat. | Link to full review |
| Storm - Stormanimal | 2000 | ♪ | Trio Bulgarka voices add a pinch of the exotic to this screwy hard dance number. | Link to full review |
| T42 featuring S#arp (Sharp) - Find Time (Fargetta Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | One of the best Nu-Italo singles from the Y2K era, with uplifting female vocals and big hooks. | Link to full review |
| Prezioso featuring Marvin - Let's Talk About a Man | 2001 | ♪ | Nu-Italo pop tune of the Eiffel 65ish vein with a certain spooky quality to it (though the lyrics don't seem to make any sense at all). | Link to full review |
| Funkstar De Luxe (Funkstar Deluxe) - White Horse | 2000 | ♪ | Funkstar De Luxe gives electro legends Laid Back his own unique brand of remixery in "White Horse," perhaps best known as the one with that "if you wanna be rich you've got to be a bitch" line. | Link to full review |
| Noelia - Candela | 2001 | ♪ | Some catchy Latin swing delivered in the U.S. on an unlikely label for this sort of stuff: Radikal. | Link to full review |
| Diana Fox - Running on Empty | 2000 | ♪ | Yer basic Y2K Eurodance, but with an interestingly plaintive quality to it. | Link to full review |
| Stone Phazers - John Wayne (Radio Disco Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | Tru-trash dancefloor number filled with penis-centric double entendres. Radio Disco mix is the best, and was created by DJ Ross, who has his own hits later on. | Link to full review |
| Oli P feat. Jan Van Der Toorn - Girl You Know It's True | 2001 | ♪ | Oli P and Jan Van Der Toorn revamp Milli Vanilli's classic 1980's tune and add a sexy German rap. Smooth, baby. | Link to full review |
| Kai Tracid - Too Many Times (Energy Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | An ode to sobriety, surprisingly downbeat and spooky (if ever a trance song seemed determined to give someone a bad acid trip, this is it). | Link to full review |
| Eiffel 65 - Back in Time | 2001 | ♪ | Catchy first single from Eiffel 65's sophomore album, propelled by hooky synth sections, though a bit marred by the irritating vocodered vocals. | Link to full review |
| Blank & Jones (Blank and Jones) - DJ's Fans and Freaks (Radio Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | The tidy little radio mix is all you really need, since the cool bits in it are inexplicably left out of the "full-length" version. | Link to full review |
| Antique - Opa Opa | 1999 | ♪ | Antique hailed from Sweden, sang in Greek, and rocked all of Europe. "Opa Opa" was their brightest moment, a techno-fied retooling of a Greek folk classic. | Link to full review |
| Ferris MC - Flash for Ferris MC | 2001 | ♪ | A rinterpretation of Billy Idol's "Flesh for Fantasy," with industrial noise and gunshots, from a tough German rapper. | Link to full review |
| Bomfunk MC's - B Boys and Fly Girls | 2000 | ♪ | The usual rock/rap/dance hybrid, with the added charm of slightly awkward English lyrics: "Funky fresh with the most finest!" | Link to full review |
| ATC (A Touch of Class) - Why Oh Why | 2000 | ♪ | ATC's "Why Oh Why" is, to many a 12 year-old, the mysterious ATC song, vested with mood, a whispered section, and spooky synths. But to those of us who know better, this is just another dumb ATC song. | Link to full review |
| DJ Cyglas - Read My Heart (The Watergate Hymn) | 2001 | ♪ | One of those pretty little trance ditties that makes you turn your head and look out the window and sort of smile at the cow that's looking back at you. | Link to full review |
| Erika - Save My Heart | 2001 | ♪ | A terrific nu-Italo dance tune sung by the sister of a bloke from Magic Box that is gloriously pop and clubby at once. | Link to full review |
| Roberto Molinaro - Euro 2000 (Euro Cut) | ~2000 | ♪ | The lyrics to this frantic rap/funk/techno fushion fest are impossible to untangle, but in a way that makes the tune even more fun. The bridge melody was also used by Molinaro's label mate Gabry Ponte in the latter's "Time To Rock." | Link to full review |
| Schiller - Das Glockenspiel (Humate Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | An eerie trance instrumental that indeed prominently features a glockenspiel. The Humate mix is my preferred version, with a finish that reminds me a bit of Underworld at their best. | Link to full review |
| Ransom/Funk Einsatz - My Dance (Ferry Corsten Remix) | 2001 | ♪ | An instrumental psychedelic stunner, chatty and engaging, not quite trance, not quite electro, essentially non pigeon-hole-able, much like a lot Corsten's other stuff. | Link to full review |
| Keith 'n' Shane - Girl You Know It's True (K+S) | 2000 | ♪ | Britishers know Keith and Shane as the least-talented two out of the boy group Boyzone. They deliver a jokey cover of the Milli Vanilli song with some added (and genuinely amusing) lyrics about boy band life. | Link to full review |
| Blaze featuring Palmer Brown - My Beat (Jan Driver Remix) | 2001 | ♪ | Jan Driver puts "My Beat" into turbo with his thundering remix. Sounds like hipster coffee house poetry performed in the middle of a herd of stampeding elephants. | Link to full review |
| Shakira - Ojos Asi | 1998 (with several rereleases afterward) | ♪ | As far as I know, international star Shakira drew musical inspiration from her Lebanese side only one time, and the result, this tune, remains her finest moment all these years later. | Link to full review |
| DJ Visage - Rock That Sound | 2001 | ♪ | Any song featuring a sample of Guns N' Roses's "Sweet Child O' Mine" will rock the house. | Link to full review |
| Gigi D'Agostino - I'll Fly With You (Bla Bla Bla Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | As far as I can tell, a bootleg, and an easy one at that, since "Bla Bla Bla" has some a cappella moments in it easily overlapped with this odd duet between what sounds like an opera tenor and an electronically-feminized male voice. | Link to full review |
| Georgina Verbaan - Yo Quiero Bailar | 2001 | ♪ | Tropi-dum-dum trash performed by the star of the Dutch TV series "Costa!" (which featured lots of bikinis, chiseled chests, soap opera melodrama, and dance routines). | Link to full review |
| Mystique - Don't Stop Me Now | 2000 | ♪ | Resurrects the ghost of Freddie Mercury who, for some reason, sounds perfectly comfortable ensconced between two pounding slabs of trance. | Link to full review |
| No Angels - There Must Be An Angel | 2001 | ♪ | Cover of the Eurythmics' "There Must Be an Angel" given some additional production oomph, performed by a German girl group. | Link to full review |
| Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Take Me Home (A Girl Like Me) | 2001 | ♪ | A cover of a little-known 1970s disco song performed then by Cher, elevated by Ellis-Bextor's sexy growl and the wonderful production. | Link to full review |
| Oral Beat - Turn Around | 2001 | ♪ | Catchy, if disposable, nu-Italo effort. Female vocalist makes repeated references to her heart going "pitter-pat," which is quite charming actually. | Link to full review |
| Iio - Rapture (Riva Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | Singer Nadia Ali came to fame for being the voice of iio, and particularly for this mesmerizing, goose-bump generating tune. | Link to full review |
| Doctor V feat. Axina - The Pill | 1999 | ♪ | A novelty song homage to Viagra that's actually pretty funny. | Link to full review |
| Mandy Moore - Candy (Hex Hector Mix) | 2000 | ♪ | Hex Hector transforms the slow-groovin' original into a proper house/trance hybrid. | Link to full review |
| Kabouter Plop - Kabuterdans (The Groovy Dance Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | Kabouter Plop are like live-action Dutch Smurfs who perform for a kiddie audience. This song boasts a fife. | Link to full review |
| Scooter - Aiii Shot the DJ | 2001 | ♪ | The first four Scooter songs you hear will likely be your favorite ones; I think that's what happened here for me. | Link to full review |
| Jennifer Brown - Alive (Bleachin' Club Mix) | 1999 | ♪ | The pop tune is given a kicking breakbeat and burbling keyboards in this remix, transforming it into something appealing enough to catch the ear of Paul Van Dyk, who later revamped it into his own (inferior) hit. | Link to full review |
| Barcode Brothers - It's a Fine Day | 2000 | ♪ | Most covers of this Opus 3 tune give a little less than the fantastic original; the Bros. give a little more with a nice original bridge. | Link to full review |
| Tiesto (Tiësto) - Flight 643 | 2001 | ♪ | More a study in atmosphere than melody, but appealingly cinematic. | Link to full review |
| Estrella - La Playa del Sol | 2001 | ♪ | Bouncy trouncy flouncy pouncy fun-fun-fun-fun-fun Spanglish tropi-trash. | Link to full review |
| Fragma - You Are Alive | 2001 | ♪ | Probably not the most popular, but arguably the best of Fragma's pop trance output. | Link to full review |
| Valeria Rossi - Tre Parole (Dance Remix) | 2001 | ♪ | Serviceable dance mix of Italian pop singer's catchy first single. | Link to full review |
| Wackside - What's On Your Mind | 2000 | ♪ | A Fatboy Slimmish tune. | Link to full review |
| Magic Box - 4 Your Love | 2001 | ♪ | Another sappily romantic, vocoder-voiced nu-Italo dance song--and that’s just the way we like them. | Link to full review |
| Volta - To the Beat | 1994 | ♪ | An especially frisky classic Eurodance tune. | Link to full review |
| 2 Eivissa - I Wanna Be Your Toy | 1999 | ♪ | This sassy Eurodance hit seems to owe a lot to the classic 1891 can-can number "Ta-Ra-Ra Boom-De-Ay!" | Link to full review |
| DJ Centaury and Wavetraxx - Dark Angel | 2001 | ♪ | Whispered intonations of "Dark Angel" make for a silly start, but then one of the best epic trance melodies of the era kicks in and the song really flies. | Link to full review |
| Balloon - Monstersound | 2000 | ♪ | Samples ska legends Madness and delivers a farty keyboard interpretation of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in what may be one of the most jaw-droppingly awful Eurodance songs ever. Which is sort of a compliment. | Link to full review |
| S.O.A.P. (SOAP) - S.O.A.P. is in the Air (Club Mix) | 2000 | ♪ | A superb remix of a silly pop song delivered by Barcode Brothers (their name wound up in the fine print), which mentions going "from here to Ibiza" with "a Coke and pizza." | Link to full review |
| Trance Allstars - The First Rebirth (Talla 2XLC Club Mix) | 1999 | ♪ | The song was originally produced by Jones & Stephenson back in 1994; here ATB, DJ Mellow-D, Schiller, Sunbeam, Talla 2XLC, and Taucher all have a hand in the pie. | Link to full review |
| Missyna - Das Leben | 2001 | ♪ | Ex-Basis singer Missyna's "Das Leben" served as theme music for the second season of the "Popstars" reality/music TV series in Germany. Jackhammer breakbeats of the "Freestyler" variety dominate the catchy tune. | Link to full review |
| French Affair - My Heart Goes Boom (La Di Da Da) | 1999 | ♪ | A Eurodance classic with a sexy spoken-French bridge to go along with the English lyrics. | Link to full review |
| AB Logic - AB Logic | 1992 | ♪ | A typical Eurodance group (i.e., male rapper, diva singer) offers their catchy theme song. | Link to full review |
| Ace of Base - Life is a Flower | 1999 | ♪ | A pretty pop song that reminds those of us who do that "We live in the free world." | Link to full review |
| Dito - Shadows | 2001 | ♪ | A good dream dance-like pop-trance tune. Little tickly notes here, big keyboard blasts there. It works. | Link to full review |
| E-Type - Life | 2001 | ♪ | Eiffel 65-ish vocodered male vocals dominate the verses and a soaring female voice carries its anthemic chorus. | Link to full review |
| Barthezz - Infected | 2001 | ♪ | Bouncy trash techno. | Link to full review |
| Millane Fernandez - Dam Dubi Dam (I Miss You) | 2001 | ♪ | Fernandez was Trilby to Dieter Bohlen's Svengali. Sugary pop song sounds like what a middle-aged man would think teenage girls like, but in that alternative universe it is a catchy and appealing little thing. | Link to full review |
| Gabry Ponte - Got to Get (Don Don) Tekno Mix | 2001 | ♪ | Fun song that delivers more aggression than Gabry's Eiffel 65 work. | Link to full review |
| Mellow Trax vs. Shaft - Sway (Mucho Mambo) | 2001 | ♪ | Mellow Trax vs. Shaft's "(Mucho Mambo) Sway" updates the original Shaft classic by giving that song a pounding trance flourish. | Link to full review |
| Bad Boys Blue - Megamix | Unknown, but I heard it in 2001 | ♪ | If you're interested in sampling the wares of boy/man synth-pop group Bad Boys Blue, just track down one of their many "Megamixes." It's all the BBB you'll ever need. | Link to full review |
| Hermes House Band - Country Roads | 2001 | ♪ | John Denver's country classic successfully made into a Eurodance one. | Link to full review |
| Charly Lownoise and Mental Theo - Wonderfull Days [Wonderful Days] | 1994 | ♪ | Today, Charly Lownoise and Mental Theo's loveable "Wonderfull Days" [sic] is better known than the Tony Ronaldo song it pilfered from. Maybe the most famous happy hardcore song after anything by Blümchen. | Link to full review |
| M-System - Let Me Feel the Groove | 1996 | ♪ | Dream dance tune with tinkling pianos and trance beats, elevated above the competition by a stirring bridge. More pretty than beautiful, but edgier than much of this genre's fare. | Link to full review |
| Gina G - Ooh Ahh...Just a Little Bit More (Motiv 8 Vintage Honey Mix) | 1996 | ♪ | Original version of song was the eighth-place finisher in the 1996 Eurovision competition. I prefer this remix, which does away with the "ooh ahh" part and turns the song into something very pretty. | Link to full review |
| Neja - Time Flies (Original Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | Possesseses an admirable madness, with wild pitch shifts and walls of looped sound. Well crafted; certainly the least conventional thing Neja has lent her voice to. | Link to full review |
| Me & My (Me and My) - Sleeping My Days Away | 2001 | ♪ | Danish rock band anthem effectively Eurotrashed (which angered some of the rock group's humorless fans). | Link to full review |
| Hampenberg - Ducktoy (Vocal Club Mix) | 2001 - 2002 | ♪ | The best song ever to feature a squeaking duck toy. | Link to full review |
| AA Project - Jump | 2001 | ♪ | Van Halen's keyboard bits are sampled in this Euro-fromage spin on the 80s pop metal classic, featuring requisite motivational rapper imploring the listener to "JUMP! JUMP!" | Link to full review |
| Lili & Sussie - Oh Mamma | 2000 | ♪ | 1987 Swedish classic "Oh Mamma" gets a 2000 remix which sounds like ABBA and Anita Ward on crack jamming in a wind tunnel. | Link to full review |
| Alcazar - Crying at the Discoteque | 2000 - 2001 | ♪ | This wildly popular Eurotrash classic makes a catchy new song out of Sheila B. Devotion's legendary "Spacer." | Link to full review |
| Ratty - Sunrise (Here I Am) (Club Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | Contains an utterly incongruous chunk of Tim Buckley's/This Mortal Coil's "Song to the Siren" followed by a fierce keyboard bit. But it works. | Link to full review |
| Mo'hawk - Previous Years | 2001 | ♪ | Creepy instrumental trance tune. | Link to full review |
| Sash! - Encore un Fois | 1996 | ♪ | A classic, with spooky, where big room epic trance backs a French-speaking woman. | Link to full review |
| DJ Sammy and Yanou - Heaven | 2002 | ♪ | DJ Sammy and Yanou cover Bryan Adams's "Heaven." It is a success. DJ Sammy releases a full-length album many months later called "Heaven." Now you're pushin' it, Sammy. | Link to full review |
| Crystal Waters - Come On Down | 2001 | ♪ | Samples the theme music from "The Price is Right" (as had Paul Johnson the year before) and extends it to Iron Butterfly epic proportions, but without any variation. | Link to full review |
| No Angels and Donovan - Atlantis 2002 | 2002 | ♪ | A charming, if bizarre pairing of a German girl group with 60s banana-peel smoker Donovan. | Link to full review |
| Qu-Zar - Music Planet | 2001 | ♪ | A booming nu-Italo dance number featuring a chick chanting, "Music. Planet. Played Played Sound." | Link to full review |
| Scooter - Ramp (The Logical Song) | 2001 | ♪ | Scooter present a touching cover of Supertramp's "Logical Song" as interpreted by chipmunks and sandwiched between travel advertisements for Siberia. They call it "Ramp," and then, anticipating the legal issues I'm sure, add, parenthetically, "(The Logical Song)." | Link to full review |
| ATC (A Touch of Class) - Around the World | 2000 | ♪ | One of the biggest Eurodance hits from Europe (which began life as a Ruki Vverh song in Russia). | Link to full review |
| Tomcraft - Overdose (Killa Vocal Mix) | 2002 | ♪ | Tomcraft once again shows his talent for combining great dance music production with catchy hooks in this appealingly smirky warning about the perils of overdosing. | Link to full review |
| Da Hool - Meet Her at the Love Parade (Airwave Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | Of the many, many mixes of this instrumental classic, this thunderous take is my favorite. | Link to full review |
| Mark Picchiotti presents Basstoy feat. Dana - Runnin' | 2001 | ♪ | Began life as an instrumental (pre-Dana), and then got a vocal (post-Dana). The vocal mix, buoyed by the singer's sassy delivery and some creatively cut-up vocal bits, is superb. | Link to full review |
| Noemi - In My Dreams (Clan DJ Team Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | "Mope trance," where a woman complains about the state of her love life, that is then elevated by a banging synth bit. | Link to full review |
| Riva feat. Dannii Minogue - Who Do You Love Now? (Stringer) | 2001 | ♪ | Dannii Minogue sings karaoke to Riva's "Stringer" and berates some guy for being a jackass in "Who Do You Love Now?" | Link to full review |
| Pablo 'n' Cezanne - Sun Dance | 2001 - 2002 | ♪ | Pablo n' Cezanne's jolly tribal trance number "Sun Dance," is a compliment to their "Rain Dance"—and is the better of those two. | Link to full review |
| Atomic Kitten - Right Now | 1999 | ♪ | Bouncy, high-energy tune that, in retrospect, the group never topped afterward--unless you like ballads. | Link to full review |
| Masterboy - Show Me Colours (Goodfriends Mix) | 1996 | ♪ | Another textbook example of a Eurodance song, and my favorite Masterboy track (if you can't find the Goodfriends mix, the "Maxi Mix" is also terrific). | Link to full review |
| Kai Tracid - Life is Too Short | 2001 | ♪ | Kai Tracid has a weakness for preachiness in his trance songs; here we get a motivational speaker telling us to live life to the fullest. Thanks, man, I needed that. | Link to full review |
| Aqua - Cartoon Heroes | 1999 | ♪ | Cinematic tune would make an appropriate closing number for the popular "Barbie Girl" group's career. | Link to full review |
| Safri Duo - Baya Baya | 2001 | ♪ | Percussionists Safri Duo take a chill. Good for umbrella drinks by the beach. | Link to full review |
| Infinite Mass - Enter the Dragon | 2001 | ♪ | Infinite Mass were a Swedish rap group that combined qualities of every white American rap outfit. As "Enter the Dragon" opens, we wonder: Is that Kid Rock? And later: Is that the Beastie Boys? Fortunately, the band has also injected a live dirty bassline interpretation of The KLF's "What Time is Love." | Link to full review |
| Paula - Als Es Passierte (Radio Edit) | 2000 | ♪ | Elke Brauweiler's vocals somehow manage to sound both fragile and strong at once, and the combination of electronic sounds and live instruments makes for a perfect pop blend. | Link to full review |
| Levy 9 - I'm Not Scared (Hard Tunes Mix) | 1998 | ♪ | Obscure, sleep-inducing 80s pop song gets a right good walloping from the "so bad it's good" team at S.A.I.F.A.M. records. | Link to full review |
| Janardana - I.O.U. | 2001 | ♪ | Listening to this bizarre vocoder number is like watching middle schoolers doing a bad comedy routine at a talent show—you just have to stop and stare. | Link to full review |
| Maskara - Dansez (Pironyx Hit Radio) | 2001 | ♪ | Features a French dominatrix cracking a whip at a rave. "On Pierre! . . . On Antoinette! . . . On Jean-Claude!" | Link to full review |
| ATB - You're Not Alone | 2002 | ♪ | 99% of the credit goes to Olive, who wrote the 1997 original and are so heavily sampled here that it's still effectively their song. But ATB adds some appreciated boom-boom to the tune. | Link to full review |
| Le Click - Call Me (Euro Radio Mix) (Rap) | 1997 | ♪ | Catchiest of the Le Click tunes, and one of the better Eurodance staples. | Link to full review |
| DJ Piccolo - If You Really Love Me | 2002 | ♪ | The prettiest song ever sung by a Dr. Who droid. Can you dance with a hanky in your hand? | Link to full review |
| System One - Talk About Your Life | 2002 | ♪ | Darude-inspired acid sounds and a warm analog synth deliver the oomph to this Mike Oldfield cover (which effectively was a mostly instrumental reprise of his better-known "To France"). | Link to full review |
| Dirt Devils - The Drill (Lisa Pin-Up Mix) | 2001 - 2002 | ♪ | Dirt Devils put a pot over your head and bang it repeatedly as part of "The Drill (Lisa Pin-Up Mix)." "Biggest baddest mutha" Lisa is part of the UK hardhouse scene, whose records are characterized by this sort of relentless clobbering. Headache-inducing, yet empowering. | Link to full review |
| Brisk & Trixxy - Eye Opener (Brisk 99 Remix) | 1999 | ♪ | The wonderfully-named Brisk and Trixxy serve up tasty happy hardcore goods. Never has the sentiment of pointing something at your temple with the intent to kill sounded so wonderful. | Link to full review |
| Rednex - Old Pop in an Oak | 1994 | ♪ | More bluegrass Eurodance from the gang that delivered "Cotton Eye Joe." | Link to full review |
| De Deurzakkers - Pizzahaha 2002 | 2002 | ♪ | Girl Scout standard (based upon the Moroccan children's tune "Ram Sam Sam") transformed into a Dutch hit. | Link to full review |
| Paula - Als Es Passierte (Andreas Dorau Remix) | 2000 | ♪ | Sparse, spooky, and certain to deliver goosebumps when the haunting refrain drifts back in. | Link to full review |
| Nu NRG - Dreamland | 2001 - 2002 | ♪ | A good, instrumental trancer. | Link to full review |
| Timo Maas - To Get Down | 2001 - 2002 | ♪ | Big-Beaty tune would make a good dancefloor companion piece to most of the Sweet's recorded output. | Link to full review |
| JT and the Big Family - I Kick You in a Ditch | 1992 - 1995 | ♪ | Expresses frustration over the modern dating scene in this mid-tempo polemic. "Ditch," it turns out, rhymes with "bitch," as JT and his family gleefully remind us. | Link to full review |
| JCA - I Begin to Wonder | 2002 | ♪ | Catchy tune was essentially an Italy-only hit; it was later made more famous when Dannii Minogue covered it. | Link to full review |
| T-Seven - Passion | 2001 | ♪ | Song opens with a heavy synth riff and is then carried onward by a strong female vocal, before a chanting pleasure droid blunders into the tune. | Link to full review |
| Lilu - Little Girl (Eiffel 65 Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | Lilu racks up cute points by singing about the challenges one faces being a "leedle" girl. Eiffel 65 weigh in with their trademark piano melodies. | Link to full review |
| Plaything - Into Space (Public Domain Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | Plaything's "Into Space (Public Domain Mix)" snags a chunk of Sheila B. Devotion's disco-epic "Spacer" and transforms it into a wacked-out techno stomper. | Link to full review |
| Wavetraxx - Freedom | 2001 | ♪ | Highlight of this epic trancer is the bit where it sounds like we're levitating into the belly of a massive space ship, followed by a sudden ejaculation over a mixed metaphor. | Link to full review |
| Caater - Free My Body (K-System Remix) | 2001 | ♪ | How do you free a body, exactly? The answer to this incomprehensible question is undoubtedly contained within this walloping dancefloor destroyer. | Link to full review |
| DJ Paul Elstak - Rainbow in the Sky (K & A's Radio/Extended Blast) | 1995 | ♪ | Happy hardcore classic with a soaring vocal melody. | Link to full review |
| Steven Z - Equinox | 2001 | ♪ | Opera aria trashed up, with fine results. | Link to full review |
| Asia Gang - You're the One That I Want | 1998 | ♪ | Asia Gang takes the best song from the musical "Grease" and transforms it into something...else! | Link to full review |
| P-Control - The Clown Song | 2002 | ♪ | Techno meets circus sounds in this novelty comedy track. | Link to full review |
| Infinite Mass - She's a Freak | 2001 | ♪ | Ostensibly, a heartfelt tribute to club girls, but it also comes across as wildly sexist and even pedophilic. A masterpiece. | Link to full review |
| Gigi D'Agostino - Amorelettronico | 2000 | ♪ | Beautiful, wistful, mid-tempo tune from the Italo dance master. | Link to full review |
| Spiller - Cry Baby | 2001 | ♪ | Slinky, sleazy, sexy tune featuring what sounds like a warbling droid. | Link to full review |
| Lady Bouncer - Dirty Mary | 2002 | ♪ | A typically loopy Italo number, scored by dial tones, memorable (dirty) lyrics, and a kick-ass synth riff that serves as the chorus. | Link to full review |
| Kabiria - Ordinary People | 2001 - 2002 | ♪ | Another catchy song from the nu-Italo dance machine. | Link to full review |
| Rhythm Gangstar (Rhythm Gangsta) - The Crowd Song (Original English Extended Version) | 2002 | ♪ | Mega boom-boom Italian dance tune, wherein narrator informs us of her dazzling night out in the clubs surrounded by "millions of people" (they have big clubs in Italy). | Link to full review |
| Scooter - Nessaja | 2002 | ♪ | Peter Maffay gave us the original, sleepy, sentimental tune, which is here shoved violently into the Scooter blender and pulverized by pounding beats and shouts of "3 AM!!!!!!!!!" | Link to full review |
| Voodoo and Serano (Voodoo & Serano) - Blood is Pumpin' (Original Club Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | Demonstrates that the TB 303 still has plenty to offer. An acid/trance hybrid that troubled dancefloors all over Europe. | Link to full review |
| Marc Van Linden - Clubbiemus | 2001 | ♪ | Transforms Adiemus's popular eponymously-titled ambient ethno tune into something more dancefloor appropriate. | Link to full review |
| Creamy - HELP! I'm a Fish! | 2000 | ♪ | Bubble-gum kiddie pop wherein our singer/narrator explains how she was transformed into the animal in the title. It happens. | Link to full review |
| Red and White Crowd - Put Your Hands Up for Pierre | 2002 | ♪ | A cheeky reworking of the Black and White Brothers' legendary "Put Your Hands Up in the Air" dedicated to Pierre van Hooijdonk, a soccer player from the Netherlands. | Link to full review |
| Zuma - Joy in the City | 2002 | ♪ | Catchy disco-pop tune written for a Norwegian TV mini-series called "Lekestue." | Link to full review |
| Datura - Will Be One (Todo en Todos Radio Edit) | 2002 | ♪ | A trance lullaby sung by a sweet-voiced woman to the cute little clubbing kids. | Link to full review |
| Vertice - Come Back | 2001 | ♪ | Sounds like a Broadway trance song, i.e., something like ABBA but with thicker accents and bigger beats. Sweeping arm gestures encouraged. | Link to full review |
| Rhythm Gangsta - Crowd Song (Original Italian Extended Version) | 2002 | ♪ | The Italian-language version of the tune reviewed elswhere on this table. | Link to full review |
| Phil Fuldner - Miami Pop (Extension Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | One of the sunniest dance tunes you'll likely encounter, with female vocals repeatedly and therapeutically telling you that you're "number one" to a backdrop of cheerful keyboard noises. | Link to full review |
| Baby Marcelo - Trabajame (Frank'o Moiraghi Ibiza La Troya Mix) | 2002 | ♪ | Tribal song with mysterious vocal samples makes for a good soundtrack during your next drive through the rain forest. | Link to full review |
| Jazmine - Makes Me Go (Mmm) (Radio Edit) | ~2002 | ♪ | The sweetest Eurosugar you will ever taste. | Link to full review |
| Swift - Feel Good | 1998 | ♪ | Swinging horns, cheery girls chanting "Feel! Gooood!" and happy house beats; a little trash masterpiece. | Link to full review |
| Byron Stingily - U Turn Me (Michael T. Diamond Remix Turn Club Mix) | 2000 | ♪ | Frantic, pounding remix of the house legend's tune. | Link to full review |
| Marie N - I Wanna | 2002 | ♪ | 2002 Eurovision song contest winner from Latvia is a pleasing Latin-esque tune. | Link to full review |
| Tomcraft - Bang Bang | 2002 | ♪ | A sample of Jermaine Dupri and Nate Dogg forms the basis of yet another catchy Tomcraft tune. | Link to full review |
| Jinny - Wanna Be With You | 1995 | ♪ | A big, booming diva voice and fat-sounding synths make for an instant Eurodance classic. | Link to full review |
| Safri Duo feat. Michael McDonald - Sweet Freedom | 2002 | ♪ | An odd choice for an 80s revamp, but surprisingly successful, as the Danish percussion duo pound away atop the theme music to an obscure Billy Crystal/Gregory Hines movie. | Link to full review |
| Gigi D'Agostino - Souvenir | 2000 | ♪ | My favorite of Gigi's songs; a dancefloor pumper that is also quite gorgeous. | Link to full review |
| Kosmonova - Dance Avec Moi! | 2000 | ♪ | Passable dancefloor number with a French speaker crying out the title repeatedly thoughout (thus, superficially reminiscent of Sash!'s much cooler "Encore une fois"). | Link to full review |
| Laut Sprecher feat. Katie Skate - Omnibus | 2001 | ♪ | Another of the Darude-inspired tunes (i.e., that "Sandstorm" acid sound), but with a massive hook thrown in and charming samples of chanted German. | Link to full review |
| DJ Sammy feat. Carisma - Sunlight | 2002 | ♪ | Pretty Europop tune garnished with lush swooshes of sound. | Link to full review |
| Millane Fernandez - Boom Boom | 2001 | ♪ | Another sugar-pop tune from the Dieter Bohlen protégé. Understandably, Fernandez later ditched this stuff to dabble in R&B instead. | Link to full review |
| Trancemission - Run To Me | 2002 | ♪ | Bee Gees tune turned into Broadway trance trash number. | Link to full review |
| 2raumwohnung - Ich und Elaine | 2002 | ♪ | A beaty pop ditty from Germany's coolest duo. | Link to full review |
| Andy J - 2 Sides | 2002 | ♪ | An updating of a 1998 song by Circuit Boy featuring Alan T ("The Door"), which had an acapella mix (a gesture which no doubt encouraged Andy J). Features a no-nonsense gay commander in chief of the, uhh, sides, who calls out confusing dance steps while insulting the listener. | Link to full review |
| In Grid - Tu Es Foutu | 2001 - 2002 | ♪ | A timeless classi with accordion and terrific French language vocals; strikes a perfect balance between dumb fun and real sophistication. | Link to full review |
| The Supermen Lovers - Diamonds for Her | 2002 | ♪ | Appealing, glossy French disco. | Link to full review |
| E-Rotic - Help Me Dr. Dick | 1996 | ♪ | Another smirky double-entendre song from the Eurodance sex-addicts. | Link to full review |
| La Bouche - Be My Lover | 1995 | ♪ | One of the biggest Eurodance classics of all time. | Link to full review |
| Alizée - Moi...Lolita (Illicit Vocal Mix) | 2002 (for this remix) | ♪ | Alizee's first and biggest hit. This is perhaps the "house-iest" version of that tune. | Link to full review |
| Tim Deluxe feat. Sam Obernik - It Just Won't Do | 2002 | ♪ | Sassy female vocals from the talented Ms. Obernik, a dash of Latin spice, and house beats coagulate. | Link to full review |
| Rank 1 - Cosmomatic (Unknown Mix) | 2002 | ♪ | This storming instrumental trancer was later slightly re-adjusted to become another catchy Rank 1 tune, the vocal-trance "Up to You." | Link to full review |
| Peran Van Dijk - Good Time | 2001 | ♪ | Peran took some quotes from the movie "Wild Angels" to form the basis of two different 12" dance tunes, and both were triumphs. | Link to full review |
| Gino M - Mama | 2002 | ♪ | A touching song about Gino's mama. Soaring operatic vocals, pounding techno beats—why, it's the very definition of tru-trash! | Link to full review |
| Touch and Go - Tango in Harlem | 1999 | ♪ | Mellow clarinet, Spanish guitar, and slinky beats score an odd, spoken-word tale. Essential for any Europub. | Link to full review |
| Captain Jack - Yellow Submarine | 2001 | ♪ | Boisterous Euro-dum-dum take on the Beatles' classic. | Link to full review |
| ABBA - The Visitors | 1981 | ♪ | One of the greatest of the 2nd tier ABBA tunes, with goosebump-good lyrics and haunting, atmospheric keyboard work that is a long ways from "Waterloo." | Link to full review |
| MJ Lan - Generate Bodies | 2000 | ♪ | Finds a strangely perfect balance between electro, rock, funk, vocoders, xylophone, stylophone, and a dozen other things. | Link to full review |
| Alcazar - Don't You Want Me | 2002 | ♪ | Alcazar reach back to the 80s with their faithful interpretation of the Human League's classic "Don't You Want Me." | Link to full review |
| Perpetuous Dreamer - Future Funland | 1999 - 2000 | ♪ | Early Armin Van Buuren output from a time when his tunes were toothier and more unhinged (i.e., better). | Link to full review |
| Libra - Take Me With Your Love | 1998 | ♪ | Another catchy tune from Italy's wantonly trashy S.A.I.F.A.M. label. | Link to full review |
| Abel Ramos - One More (Pulsedriver vs. Rocco Mix) | 2002 | ♪ | The original song was good to start with, but Pulsedriver and Rocco transform it into something unstoppable. | Link to full review |
| Ketama - Agustito (Euro 2000 mix) | 2000 | ♪ | A booty grinder for all you hot Latinos and Latinas and wannabes out there, i.e., everybody. | Link to full review |
| Danich - Take Your Time | 2002 | ♪ | A sweetly warbled piece of uplifting dance music. | Link to full review |
| Beam vs. Cyrus - All Over the World (Radio Edit) | 2002 | ♪ | Thumps along quite well, with unrelenting beats and vocodered harmonies, before unleashing a particularly jolly synth riff. | Link to full review |
| Mary Kiani - I Imagine (Motiv-8 Club Mix) | 1995 | ♪ | Motiv-8 was an unstoppable force in the 90s; even UK hipsters like Saint Etienne agreed that they needed a remix from the guy. Here is another fine example of his magic touch. | Link to full review |
| Motiv-8 - Rockin' for Myself (Original Radio Edit) | 1992 - 1994 | ♪ | Features joyful pounding pianos and a joyful woman shouting her joyful lyrics joyfully. | Link to full review |
| Peaches - Skateboard | 2001 | ♪ | Not the electro auteur, but rather two Swedish girls singing about a skateboard at an extremely high BPM, plus Beach Boy wails. | Link to full review |
| DJ Quicksilver pres. Base Unique - Always On My Mind | 2002 | ♪ | The Elvis/Willie Nelson standard well-Eurotrashed. | Link to full review |
| Mauro Picotto - Back to Cali (Short Cut) | 2002 | ♪ | Unusually strong melodic elements in this instrumental trancer from Mr. Picotto. | Link to full review |
| 2raumwohnung - Mit Viel Gluck (We Love it Mix by f. or. m) | 2002 | ♪ | A mesmerizing smattering of creepy keyboard burps and burbles, sporadic female vocals, and a powerful bassline. | Link to full review |
| 2 People - Holiday Ride (Piparos Main Vein) | 2002 | ♪ | Catchy little nu-Italo disco thing; slight, but charming, perhaps accidentally assisted by the thick accents. | Link to full review |
| Alizee - L'alize (Tonka's Sunny Season Mix) | 2002 | ♪ | Song gets a smooth remix from DJ Tonka that lives up to its remix name. | Link to full review |
| E-Fable - My Carillon (Troublej Remix) | 2002 | ♪ | Another perfect representative of the Italo dance sound, packed with much tunefulness. | Link to full review |
| Klubbingman - Open Your Mind (Charly Lownoise Remix) | 2002 | ♪ | Sproingy trash tune with a woman intoning the usual "open your mind" dance music cliché. | Link to full review |
| Mad'House - Like a Prayer | 2002 | ♪ | Appealing cover of the Madonna classic that uses the same beats sampled in Black Legend's "You See the Trouble With Me." May usurp Madonna's original as the definitive version in Europe. | Link to full review |
| Me and My (Me & My) - Dub-I-Dub | 1995 | ♪ | Another era-defining Europop classic. | Link to full review |
| 770 - Freed from Desire 2002 | 2002 | ♪ | My favorite version of the 1996 Gala tune, thanks in part to some subtle musical adjustments alongside some not-so-subtle dancefloor thunder. | Link to full review |
| Driftwood - Freeloader (Original Mix) | 2002 | ♪ | A perky, instrumental dance track. | Link to full review |
| Alex C feat. Yasmin K. - Rhythm of the Night | 2002 | ♪ | Reinterpretation of Corona's Eurodance classic doesn't take many chances, but it's a decent updating. | Link to full review |
| Mark'Oh - Let This Party Never End (Radio Mix) | 2002 | ♪ | Perhaps the purest, rawest Eurotrash you'll ever find, what with its shouted motivational chants; sped up vocals; and big, warm synth chords to wrap it all in. | Link to full review |
| Sub Ace & Aura - My Dreams | 1998 | ♪ | An especially sweet happy hardcore tune | Link to full review |
| Rodd-Y-Ler - Lifesigns | 1998 | ♪ | Pleasant trance tune punctuated by acidy burbles and a really nice synth run. | Link to full review |
| Bomfunk MC's featuring Jessica Folcker - (Crack It) There's Something Going On | 2002 | ♪ | Classic 80s song gets the usual Eurotrashing, wherein verses are discarded for generic, high attitude rapping, serving as the bread around the meat of the matter: Jessica Folcker's interpretation of the original chorus. It works. | Link to full review |
| Ladytron - Playgirl | 2000 | ♪ | Synthpop masterpiece from the talented British group. | Link to full review |
| Tomcraft - Loneliness | 2002 | ♪ | After over a year of producing consistently solid dancefloor material, it was inevitable Tomcraft would break through. This is the song that did it for him. | Link to full review |
| Milky - Just the Way You Are | 2002 | ♪ | Strummed guitars, chunky house beats, and an infectious, "da-da-da" refrain for the chorus. Think sexy girls in belly shirts and sarongs walking down dusty roads while the scent of olive trees hangs in the air. | Link to full review |
| Smiling People - See Everybody Dance | 2002 | ♪ | Piano-driven, Aretha Franklinesque house tune. | Link to full review |
| Las Ketchup - Asereje (The Ketchup Dance) | 2002 | ♪ | A catchy Latin pop song with a dance to go with it; it was the first "Macarena" of the 21st century, and probably not the last. | Link to full review |
| Master Blaster - Hypnotic Tango (Klubbingman Club Mix) | 2002 | ♪ | Sped-up, pounding cover of My Mine's 1983 Italo disco classic with shrill vocals. | Link to full review |
| Panjabi MC - Mundian To Back Ke | 2002 | ♪ | Blends Bhangra sounds with, well, that's the fuckin' theme from "Knight Rider," isn't it? | Link to full review |
| Sugababes - Round Round | 2002 | ♪ | A weird blend of R&B, dancehall beats, and a crazily original key change from the verses into the choruses. | Link to full review |
| Jurgen Vreis - The Theme | 2002 | ♪ | Would make a good soundtrack for a TV commercial touting the comfort and convenience of the TGV. | Link to full review |
| 4 Strings - Diving (Cosmic Gate remix) | 2002 | ♪ | That mournful Sarah McLachlanesque vocal either hurts or helps it, depending upon your opinion of mournful female trance vocals. But fortunately the Cosmic Gate boys don't let her mope too much. | Link to full review |
| Tatu - Nas ne dogonyat | 2001 - but made most impact in 2002 | ♪ | Tatu were easily Russia's greatest pop triumph during the first decade of the 21st century, and this tune delivered the galloping dancefloor beats that the operatic epic "All the Things She Said" didn't. | Link to full review |
| Sound of Overdose - City to City (DJ Scot Project Remix) | 2002 | ♪ | Chanted homage to international locations given a hard trance remix from Mr. Scot. | Link to full review |
| Bang! - Break of Dawn | 1998 | ♪ | Showcases the appealing baroque quality of happy hardcore music. | Link to full review |
| Paffendorf - Crazy, Sexy, Marvelous | 2002 | ♪ | Paffendorf returning to courageously stupid form. | Link to full review |
| 2PM - Sonata | 2001 | ♪ | Brings Mozart onto the dancefloor much as Walter Murphy's did to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. | Link to full review |
| Blacklight feat. Technoir - Love Like Blood (The Joker Remix) | 2002 | ♪ | Killing Joke song dragged out onto the dancefloor--surprisingly good. | Link to full review |
| The Tamperer (featuring Maya) - Feel It | 1998 | ♪ | Jackson 5-sampling Eurodance classic from one of Italian DJ Farolfi's projects. | Link to full review |
| Atomic Kitten - The Tide is High/Get the Feeling | 2002 | ♪ | A performance mash-up between those two catchy songs, which can't go wrong. | Link to full review |
| Jason Nevins vs. Eric B & Rakim - I Know You Got Soul | 2002 | ♪ | Takes Eric B and Rakim's funky 1987 hit "I Know You Got Soul" and transforms it into a dancefloor monster. | Link to full review |
| Håkan Lidbo - Bad Girls Go to Hell (Fast and Furious Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | So manic, so wild, so "fast and furious," as the mix title informs us. Sounds like a computer having a nervous breakdown. | Link to full review |
| Zucchero - Baila Morena (or Baila [Sexy Thing]) | 2001 | ♪ | A sexy grind of a tune, with anthemic, sing-a-long aspects; the perfect song to end a night on. | Link to full review |
| Kate Ryan - Désenchantée (Club Mix) | 2002 | ♪ | Pop trance cover of a song originally written and performed by France's Mylène Farmer that may have usurped the original in popularity. | Link to full review |
| DJ Valium feat. Michael Zager - Let's All Chant (2002) | 2002 | ♪ | Brings a 70's dancefloor classic kicking and screaming into the 21st century. This is the perfect embodiment of Euro-stupido dance music. | Link to full review |
| Secret Tunes - House of the Rising Sun | 2002 | ♪ | Are they really doing a cover of the classic tune, or are they just playing a broken record with the bass turned up? Regardless, it works. | Link to full review |
| Farolfi - Sun's Rising on the USA | 2002 | ♪ | Much-maligned rock outfit Genesis finds redemption in the hands of Farolfi as "Turn it On Again" becomes the backbone for this fantasic Italo dance tune. | Link to full review |
| Black Legend - You See the Trouble With Me | 2000 | ♪ | Catchy tune that originally sampled Barry White, then had to settle for a sound-alike version when they couldn't snag official permission. | Link to full review |
| Scooter - How Much is the Fish? (Live Version) | 2002 | ♪ | Highlight of the immensely enjoyable 2002 live album "Encore!" | Link to full review |
| M.I.K.E. presents Plastic Boy - Silver Bath | 2001 | ♪ | Another beautiful trance instrumental. | Link to full review |
| Novaspace - Dancing With Tears in My Eyes | 2002 | ♪ | Novaspace are rifling through Europe's top forty charts from the 1980s, and have produced another winning cover. | Link to full review |
| Dr. Alban - It's My Life | 1992 | ♪ | Perhaps the crowning achievement in Dr. Alban's career in Eurodance. | Link to full review |
| Steps - Tragedy | 2000 | ♪ | Stellar take on the Bee Gees classic. | Link to full review |
| Jeanette - Rock My Life | 2003 | ♪ | Sounds almost EXACTLY like Roxette's "You Got the Look." | Link to full review |
| Freyia - Mist | 2003 | ♪ | A prime slice of nu-Italo house, thick with lush keyboard sounds and strumming guitars. "We must take (???) the most of our time. I neadda yearn!" the singer tells us. | Link to full review |
| Syke 'n' Sugarstarr - Release Your Mind (Beep-Bob-Mix) | 2002 | ♪ | Slinky offering that joins the long list of dance tunes imploring you to release, or free, or open your mind. | Link to full review |
| Mad'House - Borderline | 2002 | ♪ | Another Mad'House Madonna cover, from a whole album's worth of these. | Link to full review |
| Dallas Superstars - Helium | 2002 | ♪ | Another adrenalized, pounding track from the Finnish Eurotrashers extraordinaire. | Link to full review |
| DT8 feat. Roxanna Wilde - Destination | 2002 | ♪ | Vocal trance, with a vocal courtesy of Kim Wilde's sister. Effective, ethereal stuff. | Link to full review |
| Rednex - Cotton Eye Joe (2002) | 2002 | ♪ | Rednex update their legendary bluegrass/techno hybrid. | Link to full review |
| Galleon - One Sign | 2002 | ♪ | A great piece of feel-good French house. | Link to full review |
| Mark'Oh - I Surrender | 2003 | ♪ | Strikes that perfect balance between Euro-cheese and Euro-fromage. Wait a minute! Our editor informs us that "fromage" is actually a French word for "cheese"! | Link to full review |
| Elgar - Sweetie Pie | 2002 | ♪ | A strange one. Apparently Billie Holiday is alive and well and sings in a Martian voice. | Link to full review |
| Roxette - The Look | 1988 | ♪ | A great moment in the history of Europop from a group that would go on to become one of Europe's most endearing (and enduring) pop projects. | Link to full review |
| Earth and Fire - Weekend | 1979 | ♪ | Like England's punks, Dutch prog rockers Earth & Fire discovered reggae around 1979, and the result was the (refreshingly) non-prog "Weekend." | Link to full review |
| Kasia Klich - Lepszy Model (Yaro Remix) | 2002 | ♪ | Polish R&B song that is so slinky, it will have you whispering Polish into your pillow at night. | Link to full review |
| Mighty 44 - Push It | 2003 | ♪ | Mighty 44 worked with the Bomfunk MC's. This cover of the Salt-N-Pepa classic ably demonstrates the sonic connection. | Link to full review |
| Andrea Doria - Bucci Bag | 2002 - 2003 | ♪ | Dino Lenny delivers this amusing novelty hit about a woman extolling the virtues of her Bucci bag. | Link to full review |
| Kid Q - This Feeling (Acrylite's Hard Remix) | 2002 - 2003 | ♪ | A dancefloor monster that relies on a sample of Earth & Fire's "Weekend" to deliver the goods. | Link to full review |
| A-ha - You Wanted More | 2002 | ♪ | The profoundly simple lyrical sentiments of "You Wanted More" deliver a rush of goosebumps. | Link to full review |
| Samantha Mumba - Always Come Back to Your Love | 2001 | ♪ | Charming R&B tune from an Irish singer. | Link to full review |
| Atomic Kitten - Be With You (Groove Brother Remix) | 2002 | ♪ | Another pop house tune carefully designed to transform the 13 year olds of today into the club divas of tomorrow. | Link to full review |
| Flutlicht - The Fall (Original Mix) | 2002 | ♪ | A gorgeous trance anthem with a wonderful spoken word telling of the fall of Icarus tossed into the middle. | Link to full review |
| Arome - Hands Up! (DJ Scot Project Remix) | 2002 | ♪ | The melody strongly resembles that of System F's "Exhale," but whereas "Exhale" sounds like a stormy opium dream, "Hands Up!" goes straight for the crack. Perhaps I could rephrase that. | Link to full review |
| Melody Club - Palace Station | 2002 | ♪ | Swedish synth/glam/pop group's superb debut single. | Link to full review |
| Ace of Base - Beautiful Morning | 2002 | ♪ | A perfect cure for the blues, but, not an appropriate soundtrack for morning hang-overs. | Link to full review |
| Robin Cook - I Won't Let the Sun Go Down | 1996 | ♪ | A Nik Kershaw cover that is about as authentically reggae as anything by Ace of Bass. | Link to full review |
| Camilla - Il Mio Fuoco | 1999 | ♪ | A funky Italian-language cover of Diana Ross's "Upside Down." | Link to full review |
| Gouryella - Ligaya (Radio Vocal Mix) | 2002 | ♪ | Gorgeous vocal trance done right (not surprising since one of the men behind the curtains is the talented Ferry Corsten). | Link to full review |
| Sinema feat. Sandra - You Keep Me Hangin' On | 2002 - 2003 | ♪ | How can you turn down an electroclash version of the Supremes' (or, if you prefer, Kim Wilde's) "You Keep Me Hangin' On"? These guys bet you can't. | Link to full review |
| DJ S.P.U.D. - DJ Wimpy Does Britney | 2003 | ♪ | Somewhat annoying, somewhat amazing. | Link to full review |
| Paul Johnson - Get Get Down (Radio Edit) | 1999 | ♪ | Mr. Johnson brags that it took him only 15 minutes to write it, and one cannot disagree. Super simple, but super fun. Sounds like he lifted the idea from "Down and Out" from the Bugsy Malone soundtrack. | Link to full review |
| One T - Music is the One-T ODC (Giuseppi D NYC Odyssey Mix) | 2002 | ♪ | "The Magic Key" enjoyed greater success, but I prefer dancefloor monster, with its swinging horns, pounding beats, and a fun vocal line relating the story of Mr. One-T. | Link to full review |
| The Rumbar - El Timbal | 2003 | ♪ | Another Latin/Tribal tune that draws inspiration from the Safri Duo palette, demonstrates this admirably. | Link to full review |
| Gus Gus - David | 2003 | ♪ | I'd nearly forgotten all about Iceland's Gus Gus, but then, bang, they put out one of the best singles of the year: "David." Female vocals meet huge synth hooks--it's a scintillatingly seductive (and sexually suggestive) song. Ssss. Ss. Sss!!! SSsss. S! | Link to full review |
| Robbie Williams - Feel | 2003 | ♪ | Seems increasingly to be Robbie's last hurrah; later output, though commercially successful, never reached the anthemic heights of this pop masterpiece. | Link to full review |
| Solid HarmoniE - I Want You to Want Me | 1998 | ♪ | Forgotten girl group's sugary pick-me-up tune. | Link to full review |
| Safeway - I'm in Love | 2002 | ♪ | Catchy male vocals; a nice, pumping beat; and handclaps--you can't go wrong with that. | Link to full review |
| New Tone-Estero [credited on most compilation CDs as just New Tone; should this be New Tone feat. Esthero?—ed.]- Waiting for Your Love | 2002 | ♪ | The neo-disco "Waiting for Your Love" finds a woman crooning alongside what sound like mewing kittens. | Link to full review |
| S-Club - Do It 'Till We Drop | 2002 | ♪ | There ain't no party like an S-Club party. | Link to full review |
| Atomic Kitten and Planet Funk - Chase the Sun Right Now | ~2003 | ♪ | Whose idea was it to combine Planet Funk's "Chase the Sun" with Atomic Kitten's "Right Now" in order to create "Chase the Sun Right Now"? We may never know, but I would like to buy him a beer. | Link to full review |
| Chicane - Love on the Run (Rob Searle Force Five Remix) | 2003 | ♪ | The original version was OK to start with, but Mr. Searle gave it some additional meat about four minutes in, in the form of a mighty, martial-sounding keyboard riff. | Link to full review |
| Kronos - Magica Europa | 2003 | ♪ | Some Euro-optimism from the days when the EU had such confidence. | Link to full review |
| Sinead Quinn - I Can't Break Down | 2003 | ♪ | Decent pop tune from UK "Fame Academy" runnner up. | Link to full review |
| Sugababes - Freak Like Me | 2002 | ♪ | Maybe the greatest Sugababes track, a weird and awesome thing, thanks largely to Richard X's inspired production and sampling. | Link to full review |
| Girls Aloud - Sound of the Underground | 2002 | ♪ | Pulp Fiction surf guitar meets pounding breakbeats; a gritty start for the enormously succcessful "Popstars: The Rivals" girl group. | Link to full review |
| Anne Clark - Sleeper in Metropolis | 2003 | ♪ | Anne Clark converts performance art into dance floor pandemonium with this turbo-charged updating of a 1984 song of hers (that has seen a few other remixes over the years). Like going to a poetry slam at a rave. | Link to full review |
| Era - Ameno (Dance Radio Edit) | 1997 | ♪ | Like a meatier, beatier Enigma. | Link to full review |
| Dune - Dark Side of the Moon (Radio Mix) | 1999 | ♪ | Sounds a lot like O.T. Quartet's 1994 tune "Hold That Sucker Down," but a fun effort. | Link to full review |
| DJ Milano feat. Samantha Fox - Santa Maria | 1997 | ♪ | A fun bit of throwaway trash as 80s singer Samantha Fox attempts to reinvent herself. | Link to full review |
| Eiffel 65 - Move Your Body | 1999 | ♪ | Second single from Eiffel 65, with a bit more oomph than their even more succesful "Blue (Da Ba De)." | Link to full review |
| S-Club Juniors - One Step Closer | 2002 | ♪ | Ultimately, S-Club Juniors were a failed effort to reboot the franchise started with the S-Club 7, this time with a group of kids. But "One Step Closer" has an appealing quality to it. | Link to full review |
| Robyn - Don't Stop the Music | 2002 | ♪ | Irresistibly catchy pop offering from the everlasting Robyn. | Link to full review |
| Texas - Inner Smile | 2000 | ♪ | The best thing Texas ever recorded, a song that perfectly captures what joy is. | Link to full review |
| Clock - Oh What a Night (December '63) | 1996 | ♪ | Updates the Four Seasons classic as a mid-tempo Eurodance number, mainly by throwing in an endearingly bad rapper. | Link to full review |
| Superboy - It's Not Over Yet | 2003 | ♪ | Lush, trippy Italian dance tune, though a bit repetitive. | Link to full review |
| Alexia - Dommi Come (Live Version from San Remo) | 2002 | ♪ | A sassy, punchy song performed at the San Remo song contest that conclusively puts Alexia's Eurodance past behind her. | Link to full review |
| S-Club 7 - S-Club Party | 1999 | ♪ | For a TV series, S-Club served up an astonishing string of catchy songs, including this classic. | Link to full review |
| Tom Jones - Black Betty | 2002 | ♪ | Tom Jones is back with a Leadbelly cover!!!! Sounds like TJ singing over one of Moby's Play tracks. | Link to full review |
| Full Intention - America (I Love America) (Full Length 12" Mix) | 1996 | ♪ | A way-goovy house updating of Patrick Juvet's disco-dancing classic "I Love America." | Link to full review |
| Live Element - Be Free (Radio Edit) | 2001 | ♪ | Not much here; basically a loop of Belinda Carlisle cycling around ad nauseum. Thus, the 2:15 radio edit is commendable in its brevity. | Link to full review |
| Atomic Kitten - Turn Me On | 2000 | ♪ | Atomic Kitten released far too many ballads as singles, while disco-dazzlers like this one stayed on their full-lengths. An extended mix of this would have been quite handy. | Link to full review |
| Bellini - Samba de Janeiro (Club Mix) | 1997 | ♪ | Bellini's "Samba de Janeiro (Club Mix)" is perhaps the definitive example of what I like to call Tropi-trash, and has become something of a Eurodance classic. | Link to full review |
| Simone Jay - Wanna B Like a Man (Devotional Radio Mix) | 1997 | ♪ | A beautiful piece of Eurodance bouyed by uplifting keyboard riffs and a terrific vocal performance. | Link to full review |
| Fredrik Kempe - Vincero (Original Version) | 2002 | ♪ | Another entry in the continuing Italian tradition of sampling opera arias and making them into floor filling fodder for DJ's without any taste (me). The source material: Puccini's "Nessun dorma," from Turandot. | Link to full review |
| Les Gafettes - Mon Petit Bikini (Radio Edit) | 2003 | ♪ | French parody of Las Ketchup's "Ketchup Dance (Asereje)." | Link to full review |
| Benny Benassi - Satisfaction | 2002 | ♪ | A classic that needs no review. | Link to full review |
| Condor - On My Own (Les Voix Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | Condor's "On My Own (Les Voix Mix)" is a good slab of Y2K-era Eurotrance. | Link to full review |
| Sonique - Sky | 2000 | ♪ | Breaks, techno, and R&B intersect to create a Eurodance classic. Similar "Feels So Good" from the same artist is also worth checking out. | Link to full review |
| Marianne Rosenberg - Er gehört zu mir | 1975 | ♪ | Remains one of Germany's best-known, best-loved, and oft-played classics. | Link to full review |
| Suncollectors - Freak of Paradise | 2002 | ♪ | A perfect soundtrack for lying on a tropical beach. | Link to full review |
| Atomic Kitten - Strangers | 2000 | ♪ | A surprisingly poignant tune from the Kittens. | Link to full review |
| Junior Senior - Move Your Feet | 2002 - 2003 | ♪ | Dopey (in a good way) dance hit from the talented Danish duo. | Link to full review |
| Bhangra Knights vs. Husan - Husan (Original Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | After Panjabi MC's success, bhangra enjoyed a minor Eurodance Renaissance. Here is another example of that. Cheery girl intoning "So you like me, huh?" is a nice touch. | Link to full review |
| Loona - Bailando (Spanish Energia Radio Mix) | 1998 | ♪ | "Bailando (Spanish Energia Radio Mix)" is some beach-appropriate tropi-trash, and was a hit for DJ Sammy and Carisma, then united under the Loona moniker. | Link to full review |
| Costanzo - Azzurro | 2000 | ♪ | Costanzo camps up a classic Italian song, the original of which was crooned by Adriano Celentano, and is often sung today by the Italian national soccer team. | Link to full review |
| OMC - How Bizarre | 1995 - 1996 | ♪ | The perfect thing to play while taking a lazy twirl with some pretty girls at that patio party by the sea. | Link to full review |
| Erlend Øye - Prego Amore | 2003 | ♪ | Sounds like a charismatic but obviously drunk guy rambling on and on and sounding a lot more interesting than he really ought to considering he just stole your drink. | Link to full review |
| Lorie - A 20 Ans | 2003 | ♪ | Lorie's "A 20 Ans" is the pop tune that's making all the heads bob in the Parisian cafes. | Link to full review |
| Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Get Over You | 2002 | ♪ | At least as good as the sassy Ellis-Bextor's previous hit singles and with even more energy. | Link to full review |
| Plummet - Damaged | 2003 | ♪ | Sounds sort of like a more vulnerable take on Snap's "Rhythm is a Dancer." | Link to full review |
| The Boogie Pimps - Salt Shaker (Somebody to Love) | 2003 | ♪ | Some lines from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas tossed alongside Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love." | Link to full review |
| Hardy Hard - Silver Surfer | 1999 | ♪ | This catchy instrumental tune would make good circa 1994 Sonic the Hedgehog music. | Link to full review |
| Newton - Sky High (Hiza Kite Mix) | 1994 | ♪ | Takes the 1975 Jigsaw classic "Sky High (Hiza Kite Mix)" and turns it into a foot-stomping strobe lights and platform shoes number that will have people lifting their hands in the air and singing along like they're in Club 54. | Link to full review |
| DJ Tandu - Velvet | 1999 | ♪ | JABTS (just another beautiful trance song). | Link to full review |
| The Horrorist - One Night in NYC | 2000 | ♪ | Spoken-word horror tale atop thumping beats which concludes with a rather startling dénouement . | Link to full review |
| Unknown Source - Nadjanema | 2003 | ♪ | Another beautiful trance instrumental. | Link to full review |
| Gareth Gates feat. Special Guests the Kumars - Spirit in the Sky | 2003 | ♪ | Cover of the classic rock tune was a fun concept, but the Kumars, who are rumored to be talented comedians, were given the impossible task of making something funny out of this, and they failed. | Link to full review |
| Exch Pop True - Discoteca | 2003 | ♪ | A masterpiece of Italian dance wherein a woman describes an endless week visiting the discothèque. | Link to full review |
| Run DMC - It's Tricky 2003 (Master Mix feat. Jacknife Lee) | 2003 | ♪ | Many will moan that it has nothing on the original, how sad that Run DMC embraced dance music, etc. Well, then! You can just go across the street to THAT party while I play this remix at THIS one. | Link to full review |
| M.A.D.R.A.S. - Touch and Take My Body | 2003 | ♪ | A bouncing ball of undiluted joy. Boasts the requisite Italo sproingy-sproingy beats and folk-music-inspired synth lines. | Link to full review |
| Erika - I Don't Know | 2003 | ♪ | The last I heard from Italian singer Erika was this plaintive dance tune. | Link to full review |
| The Vinylistic - I'm Confessin' That I Love You | 2003 | ♪ | Appropriate fodder for that swingin' Venetian bachelor pad—circa 1953. | Link to full review |
| 7th Heaven - One Day | 2003 | ♪ | 7th Heaven snag a few ideas (and sounds) from David Bowie's "Heroes" and create a shimmery, summery Italo anthem. | Link to full review |
| DJ BoBo - Chihuahua | 2003 | ♪ | BoBo is at his best when covering songs as goofy as he is, so here you go. | Link to full review |
| Special D - Come With Me (Groove Coverage Mix) | 2002 - 2003 | ♪ | Nena's "Nur getraumt" supplied the melody to this cheery piece of dum-dum boom-boom. | Link to full review |
| Flawless - Shining | 2003 | ♪ | Flawless's "Shining" is a fierce little stomper with some zingy synth riffs. | Link to full review |
| Rising Star - Touch Me | 1999 - 2002 | ♪ | A masterpiece; one of the finest tunes from the Gatecrasher era of epic trance. | Link to full review |
| Sarina Paris - Look at Us | 1999 - 2002 | ♪ | Sounds exactly like Sonny and Cher's "Groovy Kind of Love" on helium, doesn't it? | Link to full review |
| S-Club 7 - I'll Be There | 2000 | ♪ | One of the rare Tina-led songs. It's like a kiss on a breezy summer day. | Link to full review |
| Latin Lovers - Dos Gardenias (Para Ti) | 2003 | ♪ | Buena Vista Social Club tune gets an inevitable trash face-lift. | Link to full review |
| Beth - Dime | 2003 | ♪ | Beth is an abundantly attractive "Operación Triunfo" finalist (a music/reality TV series and competition) who represented Spain in the 2003 Eurovision song contest with this song. It finished in 8th. | Link to full review |
| Fancy - Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye | 2001 | ♪ | Cover of Steam's hit features, in addition to Fancy's smooth vocals, a motivational rapper who encourages the audience to get down "to the Fancy beat." | Link to full review |
| DJ Bouncer - Brainstorm | 2003 | ♪ | Peculiarly annoying and entertaining at once. | Link to full review |
| Moguai - Get:On (Original) | 2003 | ♪ | Moguai is a specialist in tough/cool tunes. This is my favorite of those. | Link to full review |
| Master Blaster - Another Life | 2003 | ♪ | Kano's Italo disco classic updated by Master Blaster (from MB's full-length album of Italo disco covers). Leaving out the original tune's synth flourishes seems like a missed opportunity, but it's still pretty fun. | Link to full review |
| Kosmonova vs. Fiocco - Celebrate | 1998 | ♪ | Cinematic dance tune. | Link to full review |
| Acapulco - Caliente Tambores | 2002 | ♪ | Creates a strong desire to bounce around a beach bonfire shaking a spear. | Link to full review |
| Snap! vs. Motivo - The Power (of Bhangra) | 2003 | ♪ | Snap!'s classic given a quick 'n' dirty bhangra treatment to capitalize on Panjabi MC's massive success. | Link to full review |
| Safeway - Fallin' | 2003 | ♪ | Second Safeway single improves upon the already appealing original formula of "I'm in Love." | Link to full review |
| Magic Box - If You (Disco Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | Another solid nu-Italo disco serenade. | Link to full review |
| Yeats - Feels Like Seventeen | 2003 | ♪ | Appealing song with full-on divo vocals and thumping beats, from an Italian DJ. | Link to full review |
| Italian Boys - Inno Di Mameli | 2003 | ♪ | Italian national anthem trashed up. | Link to full review |
| Kate Ryan - Libertine | 2002 - 2003 | ♪ | One could write, "Just another great Kate Ryan song," and her second Mylène Farmer song. | Link to full review |
| Crazy Leo - More Than I Can Say | 1995 | ♪ | If you need a headache, any of the five mixes of this cover of Bobby Vee's "More Than I Can Say" will give you one. | Link to full review |
| Danijay feat. Hellen - Il gioco dell'amore (Extended Smat Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | One of the most spectacular boom-boom Italo songs of the year, with female vocals--some of which run backwards--and cries of "Amore!" | Link to full review |
| Master Blaster - Get Closer | 2003 | ♪ | This cover of Valerie Dore's 80s Italian classic "Get Closer" doesn't do justice to the lush original, but for today’s hyper-caffienated generation it rocks. | Link to full review |
| Darude - Feel the Beat | 2000 | ♪ | A lesser version of Darude's famous "Sandstorm," but it does offer a chick's vocal, and there's a cool half-tempo bit. | Link to full review |
| Hampenberg - Grab That Thing | 1999 | ♪ | I love any dance group with an affinity for cartoon sound effects, so Hampenberg rank high on my list. Catchy tune contains sensible carpe diem dating advice. | Link to full review |
| Richard X feat. Kelis - Finest Dreams | 2003 | ♪ | A funky, electro, R&B hybrid that is really quite sexy. | Link to full review |
| Las Ketchup - Kusha las Playas | 2002 - 2003 | ♪ | Admirably bold follow-up single to the group's "Ketchup Dance," but inevitably doomed to failure since it could not possibly have lived up to that previous single's success. | Link to full review |
| Paola & Chiara - Vamos a Bailar (Esta Vida Nueva) (Pool K remix) | 2001 | ♪ | A thumpy, Latin-esque number, as smooth and sexy as Paola's and Chiara's long legs. | Link to full review |
| Foggy - Come...(Into My Dream) | 2003 | ♪ | Almost bland, but the melody is pretty and the lushness is appealing. | Link to full review |
| Laura Turner - Soul Deep (Signum Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | Trance version of an excellent tune which sounds a bit by-the-numbers and could have done without the key change towards the end. Still, it's a catchy thing. | Link to full review |
| DJ Ross - Smile (Luna Radio Edit) | 2003 | ♪ | Perky dance-pop tune with a melody that curiously resembles that of the Cure's "Boys Don't Cry." | Link to full review |
| Boney M - Sunny | 1976 | ♪ | "Sunny" has been covered many times, but Boney M's interpretation may be the definitive one. | Link to full review |
| Milky - Non so Perché (Be My World) | 2003 | ♪ | Worthy follow-up single to "Just the Way You Are" that somehow failed to match that earlier tune's success. | Link to full review |
| KCPK (aka "Various Artists") - We Will Rock You | 2003 | ♪ | Cover of the Queen classic features the dubious vocal talents of a handful of 8 to 12 year old kids, in what is probably the best novelty hit of 2003. | Link to full review |
| Agoria - Sky is Clear | 2002 | ♪ | Agoria's creepy "Sky is Clear" will have you dreaming of phantom kangaroos and backwards-talking Cheshire cats. | Link to full review |
| Alizee (Alizée) - Gourmandises | 2001 | ♪ | Alizee's catchy "Gourmandises" offers a thumping beat, thundering piano chords, and an overall frantic quality. The remix CD, fairly tough to track down, contains spectacular remixes. | Link to full review |
| Quiki feat. Lisa - Together | 2003 | ♪ | Seductive nu-Italo tune boosted by mysterious keyboard melodies. | Link to full review |
| Deepest Blue - Deepest Blue | 2003 | ♪ | Smooth house meets smooth male vocals overtop a smooth melody that enjoyed much smooth success on the Top of the Pops charts smooth. | Link to full review |
| Kurtis Mantronik presents Chamonix - How Did You Know? | 2003 | ♪ | A disco strings thumper with a passionate vocal performance. | Link to full review |
| Layo & Bushwacka! - It's Up to You (Shining Through) (Lee Cabrera Remix) | 2003 | ♪ | A commendably nutso remix treatment from Lee Cabrera. | Link to full review |
| Despina Vandi - Gia | 2003 | ♪ | Despina Vandi's "Gia" throws some Greek bits into the Eurodance blender to good effect. | Link to full review |
| Kate Ryan - Mon Coeur Resiste Encore | 2002 | ♪ | Kate Ryan had a formidable array of terrific dancefloor anthems; here is another one. | Link to full review |
| United - Go Baby Go (2000 Mix) | 2000 | ♪ | A stomping Polish Eurodance tune with a great bit where they digitally mess around with a female vocal. | Link to full review |
| DuMonde - Human (Original Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | Superb monster trance song with goosebump-good melodies. | Link to full review |
| Monika Kruse - Latin Lovers (Voodooamt Remix) | 2003 | ♪ | A loopy, airy piece of Latin house sure to please the hot-blooded freaks on the Eurodancefloor. | Link to full review |
| Fabio Ferraro - Volare 2003 | 2003 | ♪ | The necessary dancefloor updating of the Italian Eurovision classic. | Link to full review |
| Jason Nevins presents UKNY feat. Holly James - I'm in Heaven (Club Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | A sample of Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" serves as the foundation for a whole new song. | Link to full review |
| ABBA - On and On and On | 1980 | ♪ | "On and On and On" is arguably the catchiest ABBA song never to be released as a single. | Link to full review |
| Alizee - J'ai pas vingt ans (Sfaction Club Remix) | 2003 | ♪ | A remix triumph. Sinister electro sounds clash brilliantly with the song's prettier qualities. | Link to full review |
| Sugar.m - Ready 4 Yo' Kiss | 2002 | ♪ | A blatant rip-off of Alexia's Eurodance classic "Me and You." | Link to full review |
| Anna Lesko - Hypnotic | 2003 | ♪ | Seductive Romanian woman jamming on top of electro production. | Link to full review |
| Kirenia - Baby Love | 2003 | ♪ | The Supremes song turned into a Latin fiesta, sung by a Belgian cutey. | Link to full review |
| Lee Cabrera feat. Alex Cartana - Shake It (Extended Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | An above-average Latin house tune with thundering percussion and a terrific vocal (added later, after the original, instrumental release). A rare example of a song that is best appreciated in its full-length version. A fave from this era. | Link to full review |
| DJ Bum Bum - Believe (Euro Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | Brings sensitive strummed guitars, thoughtful synth lines, a vocodered chick's inspiring voice, and a boom-boom beat together. | Link to full review |
| Amen! UK - Passion | 1997 | ♪ | Appealing, bouncy Eurodance classic. | Link to full review |
| Sistem - O Noua Zi | 2003 | ♪ | Catchy Latin stomper from percussion-happy Romanian group. | Link to full review |
| Buddy vs. DJ The Wave - Ab in den Süden | 2003 | ♪ | You got yer drum & bass kick, guitar, rowdy German language vocals, and a tip of the hat to "Land of a Thousand Dances." | Link to full review |
| Sakis Rouvas - Disco Girl | 2001 - 2002 | ♪ | Greek pop singer serenades a disco girl. | Link to full review |
| Mambana - Libre (Axwell Mixes) | 2003 | ♪ | Full of tropical sunshine, but recorded in Stockholm. Boasts hypnotic cycling notes that are quite appealing. | Link to full review |
| Martillo Vago - Por que no? (Plazmatek Club Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | Take a huge scoop of Sash! and add another huge scoop of ATB, stir, and the result would sound EXACTLY like this marvelous tune. | Link to full review |
| The Cheeky Girls - Get the Party On | 2003 | ♪ | The embarrassment of Cluj-Napoca, Romania; identical twin Romanian women in hot pants who achieved notoriety on the British singing competition "Popstars: The Rivals." However, this tune is not so awful, since it's sung to the melody of the AM rock classic "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep." | Link to full review |
| Excellence - Last to Know | 2002 | ♪ | Pop group assembled on Swedish version of "Popstars"; song is a piece of bubblegum pop submitted to the Melodifestivalen competition in 2002. | Link to full review |
| Sebastian - Toccata (Club Mix) | 1999 | ♪ | Brings Bach's eerie organ tune to the dancefloor. Deeply dumb, but effective. | Link to full review |
| Alina Sorescu - Te Iubesc . . . Tu Stii | 2002 | ♪ | Heart tugging vocals and boom-boom Eurodance beats from the attractive Romanian pop singer. | Link to full review |
| Prezioso - Voglio Vederti Danzare | 2003 | ♪ | A typical offering from the nu-Italo disco legends. | Link to full review |
| Sensi - Da, Da, Di (Club Mix) | ~2003 | ♪ | A slinky little Romanian pop tune. | Link to full review |
| DJ Tatana - Moments (DJ Tatana Sirup Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | Trance tune came with a vocal mix, but I prefer this instrumental, which holds its own quite nicely. | Link to full review |
| Lasgo - I Wonder | 2002 | ♪ | One of the better Lasgo songs, with good play between the vocals and the spikey keyboards. | Link to full review |
| WestBam - Right On | 2002 | ♪ | Brings back some of the spirit of old school techno (specifically, Bizarre Incorporated's "Playing With Knives [Quadrant Mix]"). More of a stomper than a pumper. | Link to full review |
| Cappella - U Got 2 Let the Music | 1993 | ♪ | Another effective, if by-the-numbers, Eurodance classic. | Link to full review |
| E-Craig - Drum Beats | 2003 | ♪ | Brings back the fierce fighting spirit of old school rave. | Link to full review |
| Rocco - Generation of Love | 2003 | ♪ | Cheery, hands-in-the-air dancefloor pumper. | Link to full review |
| Ferry Corsten - Rock Your Body, Rock (Original Extended Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | One of the best rock songs by a trance DJ. You will be doing air guitar to this one. | Link to full review |
| Safri Duo - Fallin' High | 2003 | ♪ | Sounding more and more like a real band, the Danish percussionists lay the sounds on thick in this pleasant tune. | Link to full review |
| Alizee - JBG | 2000 | ♪ | Alizee's debut album was filled with potential singles; this is one that was never released but certainly could have been. | Link to full review |
| Hi-Q - La, La, La (I Will Survive) | 2003 | ♪ | Stunning, hora-fied version of "I Will Survive"; an inspired reworking from the Romanian pop geniuses. | Link to full review |
| Adam Freeland - We Want Your Soul | 2003 | ♪ | It is good to hear that Bill Hicks is alive and well and living (dis)contentedly in this tune. | Link to full review |
| Jonathan Jay - Ready (Promise Land Radio Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | Another one of those delightfully non-sensical Italo anthems that I like so very fucking much. | Link to full review |
| Dallas Superstars - Fast Driving | 2003 | ♪ | Finnish group ode to living dangerously has all the subtlety of a car crash. Which reminds me; you also get to hear a car crash in this tune. | Link to full review |
| Electric Six - Dance Commander (Benny Benassi Satisfaction Remix) | 2003 | ♪ | Another Benassi remix that captures most of the best qualities of the original song while bearing his signature buzzing electro fingerprints. Miss my favorite line from the original, though: "I went to the store to get more...FIRE! To start the war!" | Link to full review |
| Alex Effe feat. Nikole - Musica Electronica | 2003 | ♪ | A bouncy boom-boom beat, electro flavorings, and chanted Italian lyrics. | Link to full review |
| Goldfrapp - Strict Machine | 2003 | ♪ | Finds our heroine extolling the virtues of a sadomasochistic robot vibrator. Please, Ms. Goldfrapp, get help, before I have to cover every square inch of your body with burning kisses you hot bitch in cyber-heat you. | Link to full review |
| Tomcraft - Brainwashed (Call You) | 2003 | ♪ | Another great Tomcraft song, although it failed to scale the heights chartwise of his earlier "Loneliness." | Link to full review |
| Aurora feat. Naimee Colemann - Sleeping Satellite | 2003 | ♪ | A driving cover of Tasmin Archer's original that performs its dancefloor duties admirably. | Link to full review |
| Martin Solveig vs. Salif Keita - Madan | 2003 | ♪ | Brings African pop music into the house mix, with catchy results. | Link to full review |
| Sweet Coffee - Don't Need You | 2003 | ♪ | That dancefloor diva's gonna wash that man right outta her hair. | Link to full review |
| Ultra Nate - Brass in Pocket (C Dock Style mix) | 2003 | ♪ | Pretenders song gets housed-up and twisted beyond all recognition, which is a good thing, because what is the point of rolling out a soundalike version of a song that was good enough to begin with? | Link to full review |
| Laze - Steppin' Out | 2003 | ♪ | Riverdancey take on the Safri Duo thing, where the former's dancing feet take the place of the latter's bongos. | Link to full review |
| Fast Food Rockers - Say Cheese! (Smile Please) | 2003 | ♪ | A decent piece of uplifting UK fluff. It won't change the world, but it is a pleasant enough diversion from it. | Link to full review |
| DJ Red 5 - Da Beat Goes - Reanimated (DJ Red 5 Meets Dany Wild mix) | 2003 | ♪ | Successful updating of the tune enlists some additional boom-boom oomph. | Link to full review |
| Frederik Schickowski - Mein Kleines Pony | 1999 | ♪ | A wee little MOD tune (in other words, it sounds like a 1983 Atari game) that evokes images of a pony springing about adorably in a field. | Link to full review |
| Tocotronic vs. Console - Freiburg V3.0 (Radio Europe) | 2000 | ♪ | A quirky fave, wherein a shy computer warbles about being all alone, although it thinks it's "even cool." Tocotronic's original was a dark, dirge-like rock song; this sprightlier electronic take tosses in the theme music from "Suspiria" just for kicks. | Link to full review |
| Benny Benassi - Love is Gonna Save Us | 2003 | ♪ | The first sign of emotional stirrings in the digital soul of "Satisfaction" composer Benny Benassi can be heard in this terrific tune. | Link to full review |
| No Angels - Feelgood Lies | 2003 | ♪ | German girl group's catchy R&B tune, made uncomfortably ironic by the later revelation that one of the group's members failed to disclose her AIDS diagnosis to her past lovers. | Link to full review |
| Sugababes - Whatever Makes You Happy | 2003 | ♪ | Sounds almost exactly like Sly Fox's "Let's Go All the Way" with a dash of Roxette. | Link to full review |
| Panjabi MC - Jogi | 2003 | ♪ | Bhangra dance tune number two from Panjabi MC, and in some ways more melodic than his first effort. Male and female vocals groove alongside a guy who shouts "C'MON!" | Link to full review |
| 911 - More Than a Woman | 1998 | ♪ | In Amsterdam I paid 1,00 € for a double CD of Top of the Pops hits from 1998, and it was certainly worth it. How else would an American like me have ever been made aware of 911's cover of the Bee Gee's legendary "More Than a Woman"? | Link to full review |
| Bus Stop - Kung Fu Fighting | 1998 | ♪ | Your typical Eurodumdum 80s pop song revamp, with the sounds of the original chorus sandwiched between new (not so) original rapping. | Link to full review |
| Junior Jack - E Samba | 2003 | ♪ | Latin house fiesta. | Link to full review |
| Paul Van Dyk - Nothing But You | 2003 | ♪ | A beautiful bit of trance kissed by a breathy wordless vocal. | Link to full review |
| Ultrabeat - Pretty Green Eyes | 2003 | ♪ | Just a weird, true story, but at the time this song was charting in the UK the only official "Ultrabeat" site belonged to a dance music producer who made songs with "phat" beats "that praise and worship the Lord Jesus Christ." He shut down his guestbook in part because he was tired of getting e-mails about the band that produced the song mentioned here. | Link to full review |
| Lichtenfels - Sounds Like a Melody | 2003 | ♪ | Drags the catchy Alphaville original into manic techno territory. | Link to full review |
| M.C. SAR and the Real McCoy - Run Away (Progressive Mix) | 1994 | ♪ | A by-the-numbers, but appealing Eurodance classic. | Link to full review |
| Laidback Luke - We Can Not Get Enough | 2003 | ♪ | Successfully continues the recent dancefloor trend of rock 'n' roll trance. | Link to full review |
| Sham Rock - Tell Me Ma | 1998 | ♪ | The Irish tavern song equivalent to the Rednex's "Cotton Eye Joe." | Link to full review |
| Ana Flora feat. B-Fonic - Cores (Alex Natale and Fluid Deluxe Remix) | 2004 | ♪ | One part Latin swing, two parts tribal, and three parts Portuguese capybara speaking in tongues. | Link to full review |
| David Guetta - Just a Little More Love (Wally Lopez Remix) | 2003 | ♪ | Lopez's mix transforms the housy original into something chunkier and trancier. | Link to full review |
| DJs from Mars - Non dormo piu (DJ Ventafridda Extended Dub) | 2003 - 2004 | ♪ | Proof once again that a female speaking Italian coupled with massive synth blasts cannot go wrong. | Link to full review |
| Bad Boyz DJ Team - For Your Love | 2003 | ♪ | Albert One Italo disco classic updated with booming Culture Beat quality and filtered sampled choruses. | Link to full review |
| Alma - La Trompeta | 2003 | ♪ | Picture a coked-up Spanish motivational speaker shouting on top of a mariachi band and you've pretty much got the idea. | Link to full review |
| Moony - Dove (I'll Be Loving You) | 2002 | ♪ | One of the best summery pop house tunes of this era thanks to that rare combination: a great hook and a terrific singer. | Link to full review |
| O-Zone - Dragostea din tei | 2003 - 2004 | ♪ | The "Numa numa" song, so famous it hardly can be reviewed, except to say that it may have opened the gates a crack for the influx of Romanian dance tunes that invaded Europe's discos in 2010. | Link to full review |
| Belushi - Put Your Hands in the Air (Uhh Ohh!) | 2003 | ♪ | Another effective tribal trash/chant tune. | Link to full review |
| Kid-Q - Save Me (Original Mix) | 2003 - 2004 | ♪ | This Blondie-ish tune is one for platform shoes, sweeping arm gestures, and shiney disco balls. | Link to full review |
| Kai Tracid - Conscious | 2003 - 2004 | ♪ | Another excellent, if typically preachy, stormy trance tune from Kai Tracid. | Link to full review |
| Divine Inspiration - The Way | 2002 | ♪ | By-the-numbers uplifting dance-pop tune. | Link to full review |
| Jean-Jacques Goldman - C'est pas vrai | 2001 | ♪ | Long time French pop legend releases perky dance tune which humorously compiles lists of lies people tell one another (title means "That's not true." | Link to full review |
| Star Academy 3 - Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (Live Version) | 2003 | ♪ | Also from France comes Star Academy 3, i.e., the third season of their version of "Idol." This is a serviceable group sing-along updating of the Elton John classic. | Link to full review |
| Magic D - Till We Meet Again (Lance Inc. Remix) | 2004 | ♪ | A nice combination of guitars and happy trance. | Link to full review |
| Lady Ragga - Come and Get It (Ern Y Edit) | 2004 | ♪ | An Italo ragga grinder. | Link to full review |
| Vanilla Ninja - Tough Enough | 2003 - 2004 | ♪ | Estonian girl group sings something that sounds a bit like "Rock Me Amadeus," but with added appeal of a cool "aaahhaaahhaaahh" vocal sample. | Link to full review |
| House of Glass - Freakin' | 2003 | ♪ | An astonishing (and fun) marriage between Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" and Gwen Guthrie's "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But the Rent." | Link to full review |
| Maryland - Body and Soul | 2003 | ♪ | Funky beats, a slinky female vocal, and eerie synth wails. Get ready for sexy! | Link to full review |
| Shapeshifters/Shape:UK - Lola's Theme (Main Mix) | 2003 - 2004 | ♪ | "I'm a different person / turn my world around" is the lyric. Filtered disco strings accentuated by punches of brass whirl round and round your head. You're lookin' good in that polyester, boy. | Link to full review |
| Surama - Donne Moi l'Amour | 2003 | ♪ | Likeable French song from an Italian woman. | Link to full review |
| Armand Van Helden - Hear My Name | 2003 | ♪ | A catchy little ditty with subtle charms. | Link to full review |
| Royal Gigolos - California Dreaming | 2004 | ♪ | Royal Gigolos are not the first trashers to take on "California Dreaming", but their "tek house" Benassi-style interpretation of the Mamas and the Papas classic is the best. | Link to full review |
| DJs from Mars - Open Sesame (Electroburger Extended) | 2004 | ♪ | Middle Eastern female vocals married to epic Italo dance production. | Link to full review |
| Nez - Sakin Ha (Techno Mix) | 2002 | ♪ | A Turkish-language cover of Raffaella Carra's classic 70's Italian disco track "A far l'amore comincia tu," but with the added appeal of pounding beats and screaming sirens. | Link to full review |
| India - Seduce Me Now (Obadam Remix) | 2003 | ♪ | The big note the talented India hits during the bridge nearly puts tears in my eyes. Banal lyrics but muy profundo delivery. | Link to full review |
| Narcotic Thrust - I Like It | 2004 | ♪ | Big room dance-pop number delivers the goods. | Link to full review |
| Raggio di Luna & Tuareg - Comanchero (The Final) (Nuturn Remix) | 2004 | ♪ | 80s Italian disco classic gets the necessary eardrum-busting boom-boom update. It's good that you can't understand the sped up vocals; this homage to Native Americans contains some truly cringe-worthy references to "teepees" "tomahawks," and "squaws." | Link to full review |
| Phixx - Love Revolution | 2004 | ♪ | Take Pet Shop Boys' "Opportunities," toss in a chunk of New Order's "True Faith," season it with some Depeche Mode, then sweeten it with a pinch of Erasure, and you'd get this. | Link to full review |
| Phats & Small - Sun Comes Out (Mutant Disc Club Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | At the five minute mark some shimmering 80's synths fall right out of the sky like summer rain. Beautiful. | Link to full review |
| Hitmatyze - The Beat | 2002 | ♪ | A U.S. west coast outfit producing Eurodance-style tracks with the requisite female vocals and male raps. | Link to full review |
| Girls Aloud - The Show (Tony Lemezma Club Mix) | 2004 | ♪ | One great song sandwiched around another great song. This particular club mix is hard to track down, but the original is excellent, too. Best thing the Girls ever did. | Link to full review |
| Bon Tino - Der Reiter (Italo Reiter Edit) | 2004 | ♪ | An adorable tune suitable for playing in the cribs of Italian infants in order to prep them for their discotheque futures. | Link to full review |
| Collettivo Soleluna vs. the Planet Funk Collective - Do D'Freak | 2003 | ♪ | Big beats, Italian rap; this is some macho dancefloor music. | Link to full review |
| Playmate - Mind Your Own Business | 2004 | ♪ | An Italo dance cover of English post-punk band Delta 5's 1979 song that flirts admirably with both glam and new wave. | Link to full review |
| Mukkaa - Neebro (Flash Brothers Mix) | 2004 | ♪ | Superior remix of a 1993 progressive house tune. Harmonicas dominate the first three minutes while sinister bass chords build underneath. Then, a gorgeous melody driven by whip cracks enters stage left. | Link to full review |
| Hilary Duff - Come Clean (Flood Mix) | 2004 | ♪ | Pounding trance remix cooked up by Chris Cox of Thunderpuss 2000 fame as Ms. Duff sheds her Disney past in a bid for more grown-up respectability. | Link to full review |
| Ele Project - Master Sexy | 2004 | ♪ | Another Benassi-sounding thing, but with its own particular charms. | Link to full review |
| Bel Amour - Bel Amour (Instrumental Mix) | 2001 | ♪ | I prefer the instrumental mix, a dreamy, sexy slice of Euro-house featuring a woman enjoying a perpetual orgasm. | Link to full review |
| B.M.C. - Fly So High (Ensaime Remix) | 2004 | ♪ | Italo artists take a sample of Kool and the Gang's classic party tune "Celebration" and toss a whole new vocal on top. | Link to full review |
| Cappella - Angel (Angel's Anthem Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | Resembles Charly Lownoise and Mental Theo's "Wonderfull [sic] Days." | Link to full review |
| Heartclub (feat. Ian Lex) - Don't Go Breaking My Heart | 1993 | ♪ | Elton John & Kiki Dee song violently dismembered by Italian dancefloor remakers/mad scientists. | Link to full review |
| Double You - Please Don't Go | 1992 | ♪ | Legendary trash updating of a KC and the Sunshine Band tune. | Link to full review |
| 2 Black - Waves of Luv (In Alto Mare) | 2004 | ♪ | Slinky R&B-ish number sung in Italian and English. | Link to full review |
| African Connection - Ami Oh | 2004 | ♪ | France's colonialist-era connections to Africa are kept alive on their top 40 charts, as this tune demonstrates. | Link to full review |
| Beenie Man - Good Ohh (Gregory Remix) | 2004 | ♪ | An effective tribal dance remix of the Beenie Man tune. | Link to full review |
| Moonlight vs. Azoto - San Salvador | 2004 | ♪ | Big house updating of 1979 Italo disco track by Azoto. | Link to full review |
| Marly - You Never Know (Morjac Radio Edit) | 2004 | ♪ | A bit like Kylie Minogue backed by crashing piano chords. | Link to full review |
| Farolfi vs. Gambafreaks - Subtravel (Gambafreaks Vs Fedo Club mix) | 2004 | ♪ | Cheery melody sampled from obscure 80s group Eighth Wonder's "Use Me" looped atop appealing, martial sounds. | Link to full review |
| Astroboys - A Not Satisfied | 2004 | ♪ | Italo freaks Astroboys have done their own take on a 1980s cult classic from Devine ("Native Love") and called it "A Not Satisfied," which adds a chanting Italian chick to the mix. | Link to full review |
| Danzel - Pump It Up | 2003 - 2004 | ♪ | "Pride of Belgium" Danzel tune heavily rocking Europe's dancefloords. | Link to full review |
| Rank 1 - It's Up to You (Symsonic) | 2003 - 2004 | ♪ | Vocals and an extra chord are added to "Cosmomatic"; results = successful. | Link to full review |
| Dynamic/Outfly - La Marche de la Lune (Extended Edit) | 2003 | ♪ | Epic, cinematic pop trance songs from a band with two names. | Link to full review |
| Element Four - Big Brother UK Theme | 2000 | ♪ | One of Paul Oakenfold's (and Andy Gray's) better efforts. Huge hooks and an inventive melody too interesting for a show like "Big Brother." Song was released in Australia under the name "Tast-E" | Link to full review |
| Yoji Biomehanika - Look @ The Heaven 2000 | 2000 | ♪ | The jolliest happy-trance-ish song you could ever hope to find, this 9 minute+ ode to joy comes by way of a flamboyant Japanese DJ. | Link to full review |
| Steps - 5, 6, 7, 8 | 1998 | ♪ | Rode the coattails of the (vastly superior) Rednex, but as the years go by (this is from 1998) it has become an increasingly interesting representative of the classic UK trash sound. However, considered by many to be one of the worst songs of all time. | Link to full review |
| Eiffel 65 - Voglia da dance (all night) | 2004 | ♪ | A sentimental homage to dancefloor inspiration, with inspired final minutes which are as strangely moving as they are goofy. | Link to full review |
| John Williams - Bugler's Dream and Olympic Fanfare Melody | 1996 | ♪ | I think Mr. Williams drew inspiration from the many generations of great athletes who have come to define the Olympic spirit, and his own Superman: The Movie soundtrack. | Link to full review |
| Nightwish - Wish I Had an Angel | 2004 | ♪ | An excellent dose of retro 80's hair-metal. I like their emphatic delivery of the word "dust." | Link to full review |
| Sergio Mendes - Magalenha | 1994 | ♪ | Sergio Mendes is perhaps best-known as the Brazilian jazz legend whose "Girl from Ipanema" serenaded dental patients from coast to coast. But this is pure pumping Latino trash. | Link to full review |
| Cappella - U Got 2 Know | 1993 | ♪ | Another trash-techno classic. | Link to full review |
| Dyewitness - Master Plan | 1995 | ♪ | Happy hardcore tune sounds a bit like Scooter, with an MC shouting stuff before a plaintive female vocal floats into the mix to deliver the knockout chorus. | Link to full review |
| Five/5ive - Everybody Get Up | 1998 | ♪ | There are worse ideas than sampling Joan Jett and the Blackheart's "I Love Rock and Roll" and throwing a boisterous boy band on top. | Link to full review |
| Alina Sorescu - Ce frumoasa e dragostea | 2004 | ♪ | "Ce frumoasa e dragostea," or "Vocea de la radio" as it is sometimes called, is a charming pop ditty warbled by a Romanian cutie. | Link to full review |
| Dino [Lenny] - King Kong Five | 2004 | ♪ | Dino Lenny tackles a song by Mano Negra, making it beatier and 303-ier. | Link to full review |
| Fantastischen Vier - Troy | 2004 | ♪ | I like my rap goofy, and Fantastischen Vier deliver the goods auf Deutsch with the bouncy "Troy." | Link to full review |
| Haddaway - Life | 1993 | ♪ | Another essential old school Eurodance classic. | Link to full review |
| Andreea Balan - Libera din nou (house mix) | 2002 | ♪ | "Libera din nou (house mix)," is a sprightly piece of pop with a dash of the bittersweet. | Link to full review |
| M Factor - Mother (Radio Mix) | 2002 | ♪ | A house tune punctuated by joyful keyboard run after joyful keyboard run. | Link to full review |
| Soul Central - Strings of Life (Danny Krivit Re-Edit) | 2004 | ♪ | Remaking Derrick May's legendary 1987 tune "Strings of Life" risks commiting the ultimate act of music sacrilege, but this pulls off a surprise triumph. | Link to full review |
| Rammstein - Mein Teil | 2004 | ♪ | Kinda groovy in its sinister industrial metal sorta way. | Link to full review |
| Don Omar - Dale Don Dale | 2003 | ♪ | Reggaetonish sensation. | Link to full review |
| Ice MC - It's a Miracle (Bring That Beat Back) | 2004 | ♪ | The joys and travails of childbirth are celebrated in this odd Italo disco/reggae/rap fusion experiment. | Link to full review |
| David Bisbal - Camina y Ven | 2004 | ♪ | A rapture of Spanish trumpets, cascading strings, and kicking beats. | Link to full review |
| Hot Banditoz - Veo Veo | 2004 | ♪ | Sunny Euro-Latino-stupido pop song. | Link to full review |
| Haiducii - Mne S Toboy Horosho (Gabry Ponte Mix) | 2004 | ♪ | Ruki Vverh tune (they're the Russian blokes who produced the original version of "Around the World"), covered by a Romanian-born Italian singer. About as Pan-Euro as one can get. | Link to full review |
| O-Zone - Despre Tine | 2003 - 2004 | ♪ | Follow-up to their wildly successful "Dragostea din tei" is even catchier than that classic. | Link to full review |
| Dannii Minogue vs. Flower Power - You Won't Forget About Me | 2004 | ♪ | In yet another Italo dance/Dannii Minogue partnership, our heroine adds a vocal atop a tune by Flower Power to create a dreamy disco stomper. | Link to full review |
| Souvenir d'Italie - People Come On | 2004 | ♪ | Boney M's "Ma Baker" spliced with Coldcut/Lisa Stansfield's "People Hold On." Some aggressive disco synth strings, a singing diva, and a cool bit towards the end when they inexplicably slow the girl's voice down. | Link to full review |
| Eric Prydz - Call On Me | 2004 | ♪ | Takes a bit of Steve Winwood's "Valerie" and puts it on an endless loop. If that sounds appealing to you, track it down. | Link to full review |
| Space Cowboy - I Would Die 4 U | 2002 | ♪ | Superb trashification of Prince's classic. | Link to full review |
| Estopa - Pastillas de Freno | 2004 | ♪ | One of those "the party's over so let's get in a huddle and sway drunkenly together and then start jumping up and down as the music gets faster and faster" songs. | Link to full review |
| Shapeshifters/Shape:UK - Lola's Theme (Radio Edit) | 2004 | ♪ | Adding vocals to the already perfect original was a risky venture, but the results are charming in their own right. | Link to full review |
| Jentina - Bad Ass Strippa | 2004 | ♪ | This song is dumb. | Link to full review |
| Nâdiya - Et c'est parti (feat. Smartzee) | 2004 | ♪ | Effective French R&B number from the gorgeous Nadiya. | Link to full review |
| Rachel Stevens - Some Girls | 2004 | ♪ | Richard X turns the former S-Clubber into a diva fronting an industrial chorus line. And KICK and KICK and KICK! | Link to full review |
| Duran Duran - Reach Up (for the Sunrise) | 2004 | ♪ | Duran Duran regain their early-80s form with this catchy tune. | Link to full review |
| Alcazar - This is the World We Live In | 2004 | ♪ | Alcazar sing the chorus from Genesis's "Land of Confusion" atop a loop of Diana Ross's "Upside Down." | Link to full review |
| Blue Lagoon - Break My Stride | 2004 | ♪ | Summery cover of the perenniel "Break My Stride." | Link to full review |
| Hi-Q - Poveste fara nume | 2004 | ♪ | One of the sweetest pop ditties ever warbled in the Romanian language. | Link to full review |
| Inaya Day - Nasty Girl | 2004 | ♪ | By-the-numbers cover of Vanity 6's "Nasty Girl," but a necessary service. | Link to full review |
| Sistem - Departe de tine | 2004 | ♪ | Sistem are sort of the Safri Duo of Romania, offering catchy percussion-driven tunes. Here, the drums deliver the choruses. | Link to full review |
| Carolina Marquez - The Killer's Song (Club Mix) | 2004 | ♪ | Tune takes that whistling number from the "Kill Bill Vol. 1" soundtrack and turns it into nu-Italo disco magnifico stupido. | Link to full review |
| Violeta/Benassi Bros. feat. Violeta - Rumenian | 2004 | ♪ | Starts off "Benassi as usual," then takes a turn into the darkest recesses of your mind. Spooky, weirdly uplifting, then wayyyy spooky. | Link to full review |
| The House Keepers - Go Down (Master Keys & DJ Umile Extended Mix) | 2004 | ♪ | Slamming updating of Amanda Lear's 1977 disco tune "Queen of Chinatown." | Link to full review |
| A Studio feat. Polina - SOS (2004 Europa Short Mix) | 2004 | ♪ | Pounding pianos in this version of the tune make for much air-pounding-piano-playing. | Link to full review |
| Michael Gray - The Weekend | 2004 | ♪ | Good title; consider that singing solely about Saturday night commits your song to being played on just that one night. And Friday night? Think about it. THINK about it. THINK ABOUT IT. Exactly! Same problem. But Gray's genius goes beyond the title: the lyric goes "I can't wait for the weekend to begin!" so the song can also be played on weekdays in anticipation of the weekend. Not really appropriate for Sundays, though. I'll get back to you about holidays. | Link to full review |
| Daphne and Celeste - U.G.L.Y. | 2000 | ♪ | Daphne and Celeste's Y2K classic (well, in circles like ours) "U.G.L.Y." rolls a barrage of playground insults into one three and a half minute package of abuse. And there's a banjo! | Link to full review |
| Jentina/Sabres of Paradise/Renegade Soundwave/Human Resource Mashup | 2004 | ♪ | Jentina's "Bad Ass Strippa" crossed with Sabres of Paradise remix of Renegade Soundwave's "Brixton" and Human Resource's "Dominator." | Link to full review |
| Michael Colombier - Largo Winch Main Title | 2001 | ♪ | The theme music for the "Largo Winch" television series . Kinda orchestral, kinda industrial, and totally Euro. | Link to full review |
| Skool Bastards - Ca, c'est vraiment toi | 2004 | ♪ | A sinister punk rock/big-beat hybrid. | Link to full review |
| Royal Gigolos - No Milk Today | 2004 | ♪ | Another Benassi-esque/classic pop marriage, with Herman's Hermits suffering the abuse. | Link to full review |
| David Guetta - Stay | 2004 | ♪ | David Guetta's "Stay" showcases the capable Chris Willis's divo vocals to good effect. | Link to full review |
| Olav Basoski - Waterman (Original Dub Mix) | 2004 - 2005 | ♪ | Sounds an awful lot like one of those "exotic" records my father purchased back in the 1960's. Sample in fact comes from an early 80s reggae tune from Sister Nancy. | Link to full review |
| Robyn - Do You Know (What It Takes) | 1997 | ♪ | Robyn's breakthrough track, a slow, sensual R&B tune that sounds like a forerunner to Mandy Moore's "Candy." | Link to full review |
| Alcazar - Physical | 2004 | ♪ | A chunk of Londonbeat's "I've Been Thinking About You" serves as the foundation for this catchy tune. | Link to full review |
| Giaga "Robot" - Every Monday | 2004 | ♪ | This Giaga Robot has evidently been programmed to spout swear words. I can't pinpoint the source of its frustration, but it might have something to do with Mondays. | Link to full review |
| 4 Strings - All Around the World | 2004 | ♪ | Richer than 4 Strings' usual fare, with effective counter-melodies. | Link to full review |
| Naty - Toi Mon Toit | 2004 | ♪ | Awesome big room Franco-trance. | Link to full review |
| Dam Sweet - I Don't Know | 2004 | ♪ | A sample of Sweet Cream's 1977 track "I Don't Know What I'd Do (If You Ever Left Me)" put on endless repeat. | Link to full review |
| d3d4 - I Get Around (Emanuele.asti@petra.extended) | 2004 | ♪ | Another Benassi-esque/classic pop marriage, this time with the Beach Boys being taken to the cleaners. | Link to full review |
| Articolo 31 - Nato Sbagliato | 2004 | ♪ | A boisterous rock song that is just the thing to sing with your Italian mates at the bar after a football match. | Link to full review |
| WestBam - And Party | 1989 | ♪ | Put that lampshade on your head and bust some robot moves! | Link to full review |
| The Go! Team - The Power is On | 2004 | ♪ | Sounds like a cheerleading squad backed by a drumline jamming on top of NFL films music. | Link to full review |
| Boney M - Ma Baker | 1977 | ♪ | One of those story songs, it features Ma Baker herself talking in a fingernails-on-chalkboard southern twang. Endearingly dumb. | Link to full review |
| Global Deejays - The Sound of San Francisco | 2004 | ♪ | Another Benassi-esque/classic pop marriage: Scott McKenzie's "If You're Going to San Francisco" given the make-over. | Link to full review |
| Heiko & Maiko - Glücklich | 2005 | ♪ | A paean to driving on the autobahn. Something like a cross between Kraftwerk and Tiger Bay-era St. Etienne. | Link to full review |
| Porno - Music Power (KP edit) | 2004 | ♪ | One ace up this song's sleeve: an aggressive MC who says "FON-kee!" He probably says it with a scowl, too. I tossed some Duran Duran "Save a Prayer" into my version to give it an extra boost. | Link to full review |
| Club - Deep Inside | 2005 | ♪ | A partnership between Prezioso, Paps 'n' Skar, and Radio 105's "105 in da Klubb" host Francesca Faggella (a sort of nu-Italo supergroup). Ms. Faggella is wonderfully at ease switching between English and Italian. The hook is from Red Hot Chili Peppers' interpretation of "Love Rollercoaster." | Link to full review |
| Daniel Hoppe feart. Paul King - Love and Pride 2005 (Maxi Version) | 2004 - 2005 | ♪ | Successfully combines a swinging horn section with an emoting divo. | Link to full review |
| Sun Connection - Love Me Like a Flower | 2004 | ♪ | Superior original version of this song used a sample from Sheila B. Devotion's 1977 Eurodisco "Love Me Baby"; appears they didn't clear the rights, so they had to re-record the vocals for the official release. | Link to full review |
| Milk & Sugar - What Is Love? | 2005 | ♪ | A snippet of Howard Jones's "What is Love?" repeated ad nauseum through a filter. | Link to full review |
| Sunset Strippers - Falling Stars | 2005 | ♪ | Aussie group Cabin Crew conceived the original idea of sampling Boy Meets Girl's "Waiting for a Star to Fall," but failed to clear the original sample. Sunset Strippers then did precisely that, effectively ripping off and cashing in on Cabin Crew's idea. Cabin Crew had to settle for re-recorded vocals by the Boy Meets Girl vocalist. Such are the dramas associated with Eurotrash. | Link to full review |
| Angel City feat. Lara McAllen - Sunrise | 2004 | ♪ | A dance-pop number with an uplifting hook and soaring female vocals. | Link to full review |
| The Lost Brothers - Cry Little Sister (I Need U Now) | 2003 - 2005 | ♪ | A cover of the theme music from The Lost Boys ("Lost Brothers," "Lost Boys," giddit?). A children's chorus floats in—lighters in the air, everybody! | Link to full review |
| Kate Ryan - Only if I | 2003 - 2004 | ♪ | A worthy follow-up to the best tracks from Ms. Ryan's previous album. | Link to full review |
| The Go! Team - Bottle Rocket | 2004 | ♪ | Jump for joy indie rock with samples from Hannah Barbara cartoon music. | Link to full review |
| Kate Ryan - The Rain | 2004 | ♪ | A departure for Ms. Ryan; not a dancefloor pumper, but beautiful ballad. | Link to full review |
| M.I.A. - Hombre | 2005 | ♪ | Features cool vocal bits that remind me of the Trio Bulgarka. | Link to full review |
| Maria Isabel - Antes Muerta Que Sencilla | 2004 | ♪ | Maria Isabel won the Eurovision Junior contest with this beaty Latin tune. | Link to full review |
| Pure Star - Beautiful Love | 2004 | ♪ | Awkward Franglish sentimentally warbled in Daddy DJ vein. | Link to full review |
| D'Angelo - Cosmic Love | 2005 | ♪ | Grooves with the irresistible hook that dominates Simple Minds' 1982 classic "New Gold Dream (81, 82, 83, 84)," plus more cowbell. | Link to full review |
| Danielle - La Poupee | 2005 | ♪ | Danielle takes an old French pop tune called "La Poupee" (sure to produce a snicker amongst English speakers) and gives it a relatively restrained Benassi-esque treatment. | Link to full review |
| Paul Masterson presents Subway - What U Got What U Do | 2004 | ♪ | Springy, cheery keyboard chatter makes this tune smile-worthy. | Link to full review |
| Avanto - The Flute (Mike Shiver Remix) | 2004 | ♪ | Excellent trance tune. | Link to full review |
| Bucci Bag - More Lemonade (Sparkling Version) | 2004 | ♪ | Any song featuring a stern admonition that "no one has the right to touch you in your bathing suit area" is an ipso facto masterpiece. | Link to full review |
| Vitalic - My Friend Dario | 2005 | ♪ | A ridiculously fun rock guitar riff makes the tune. It's a compliment to Helium's "Fast Driving," which also graphically dramatizes the perils of, well, fast driving. | Link to full review |
| Climax 69 - Ambience (D-Light Remix) | 2003 | ♪ | Gorgeous tune demonstrates that Drizzly Records is keeping the trance spirit alive. | Link to full review |
| Qkumba Zoo - The Child (Inside) | 1996 | ♪ | A spritely piece of tribal Eurofromage bouyed by a somewhat piercing (some might say "ethereal") female vocal. | Link to full review |
| Mario Lopez - Angel Eyes | 2005 | ♪ | A cover of a 2003 song by Primadonna ("Lucky Star"), and a welcome throwback to the classic Eurodance production of a few years back. | Link to full review |
| Scooter - All I Wanna Do | 2004 | ♪ | How can you hate a group that makes a happy hardcore number out of Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do"? How can you forgive them? | Link to full review |
| U.S.U.R.A. - Open Your Mind (Chart Mix) | 1992 | ♪ | Italian Simple Minds-sampling classic that ripped up dancefloors all over Europe. | Link to full review |
| Tight Fit - Fantasy Island | 1982 | ♪ | The biggest ABBA rip-off you could ever imagine--so effective in its mimicry, in fact, that it's actually pretty good. | Link to full review |
| Kasabian - L.S.F. | 2004 | ♪ | A welcome return to the baggy days of circa 1990 UK rock. | Link to full review |
| Verbalicious - Don't Play Nice | 2005 | ♪ | Disposable pop, but pleasant, from the singer of a dozen aliases. | Link to full review |
| Jovanotti - (Tanto)3 | 2005 | ♪ | Catchy song from the clever Italian singer. | Link to full review |
| Nâdiya - Si loin de vous | 2004 | ♪ | Catchy R&B tune from the real Sporty Spice; she was the French national champion at the 800 meter run a decade before she entered the music business. | Link to full review |
| Planet Funk - Stop Me | 2005 | ♪ | With its male vocals and electro/rock stylings, it sounds a bit like Gary Numan, but includes hints of the keyboard trippiness that made their "Chase the Sun" such a classic. | Link to full review |
| Kylie Minogue - I Believe in You | 2004 - 2005 | ♪ | Lyrically, the concept seems a bit like a rip-off of "Believe" from the Run Lola Run soundtrack. Musically, it's pulsating, shimmery, electro-gloss. | Link to full review |
| Thomas Falcon - High Again | 2004 - 2005 | ♪ | A loop of the classic Chris de Burgh "High on Emotion" played ad nauseum through a filter. | Link to full review |
| Alex Gaudino and Jerma present Lil' Love - Little Love | 2005 | ♪ | A fabulously inventive updating of the 1989 Coldcut/Lisa Stansfield track "People Hold On"; better than the usual cover. | Link to full review |
| Armin van Buuren - Shivers | 2005 | ♪ | Armin van Buuren back in fine form. Goosebump-good vocal trance--and "Birth of an Angel," the instrumental take, is also excellent. | Link to full review |
| Commander Tom - Attention! (F and W Remix) | 2004 - 2005 | ♪ | Title certainly earns its exclamation point. A mad electro stormer with fat synth chords to buoy it along. | Link to full review |
| Bomfunk MC's - Live Your Life | 2002 | ♪ | Adds fat synth chords to the band's"Freestyler" formula. Song is nothing much, but it capably captures that Euro flavor. | Link to full review |
| 2 Small DJ's - I Only Wanna Be With You | 2005 | ♪ | Another Benassi-esque/classic pop marriage, with Dusty Springfield being the recipient of the dubious honors. | Link to full review |
| Infernal - Balagan (Hava Nagila) | 2004 - 2005 | ♪ | First-rate trash guaranteed to tear up any Eurodancefloor—or bar mitzvah. | Link to full review |
| Jentina - Mysterious | 2005 | ♪ | A slinky one, and an improvement over her "Bad Ass Strippa," but didn't see an official release in the UK. The Prodigy snagged a bit of this in their "Warrior's Dance." | Link to full review |
| Gorillaz - Dare | 2005 | ♪ | Electro-infused tune helped out in part by the unexpected appearance of an eerie female backing vocal that, at first, doesn't register as being human at all. Pretty cool. | Link to full review |
| Mylo - Muscle Cars | 2003 - 2004 | ♪ | An ode to the sexual energy associated with automobiles. Mylo continues to exhibit the musical qualities of Royksopp's trashier little brother. | Link to full review |
| Rachel Stevens - So Good (Aurora Radio Edit) | 2005 | ♪ | A catchy tune with some pleasurable, anthemic elements. | Link to full review |
| Potatoheadz feat. Da Rook MC - Turn It Up | 2004 | ♪ | Big boom boom tune. | Link to full review |
| Peran - We Want to Be Free | 2003 - 2004 | ♪ | The superior sequel to the good in its own right dancefloor monster "Good Time." | Link to full review |
| Flutlicht - Icarus (The Flight) | 2001 | ♪ | Like its sequel, "The Fall," this track boasts an impressive synth run and gorgeous epic qualities. | Link to full review |
| Da Buzz - Dangerous (Extended) | 2004 | ♪ | Requisite anthemic soaring choruses and a scientifically-proportioned balance of techno and pop musical elements. | Link to full review |
| DHT - Listen to Your Heart (Furious F EZ Extended) | 2005 | ♪ | Proved a big hit in the USA; this mix is the version with the boom-boom beats. | Link to full review |
| Dancing DJs vs. Roxette - Fading Like a Flower | 2005 | ♪ | A superbly unrelenting piece of UK tru-trash. | Link to full review |
| Wildman - Hear This | 1995 | ♪ | A lesser entry in the canon of Rednex inspired country-trash. | Link to full review |
| Shaft - Kiki Riri Boom | 2001 | ♪ | Shaft repeatedly visited the same well that produced their big hit "Mucho Mambo (Sway)," but what can I say? It was a good well. | Link to full review |
| The Rasmus - Ghostbusters | 1996 | ♪ | Finnish rock group's fine interpretation of the 80s hit. | Link to full review |
| Flutlicht - Icarus (The Flight) (SHOKK Remix) | 2001 | ♪ | Good remix of a good trance tune. | Link to full review |
| Tatu - All About Us | 2005 | ♪ | All the bombastic, epic qualities of "All the Things She Said" with some new ideas tossed in as well. Trash opera! | Link to full review |
| Antiloop - Only U | 2000 | ♪ | Another solid song from the Swedish dance duo. | Link to full review |
| Daddy Yankee - Gasolina | 2005 | ♪ | Reggaeton track that made "reggaeton" into a household name. | Link to full review |
| Boney M - Daddy Cool | 1976 | ♪ | One of the best tracks from the Eurodisco legends. | Link to full review |
| Strike - U Sure Do | 1994 | ♪ | House tune features happy pianos, a cheery female vocalist, a fat bassline, and requisite license plate spelling of "you" in its title. | Link to full review |
| Roger Sanchez - Another Chance | 2001 | ♪ | Toto-sampling hit with a "Galleonesque" quality to it. | Link to full review |
| Antiloop - Let Your Body Free | 2000 | ♪ | This is my favorite Antiloop song of all time; surreal and spritely at once. | Link to full review |
| Dave Armstrong and Steve Angel - Groove in You (DLG Mix) | 2005 | ♪ | The DLG mix is tops—distinguished by some surreal electro burble underneath the dark chords. | Link to full review |
| Alphaville - Forever Young (F.A.F. Remix) | 2001 | ♪ | The classic tune is resistant to spoilage, even when turned into a thumping pumping club anthem. | Link to full review |
| M.A.S.H. feat. Stacie D - I Touch Myself (Love to Infinity Club Mix) | 2005 | ♪ | The Divinyls' wink-wink pop hit "I Touch Myself" gets a tru-trash makeover. | Link to full review |
| Lasgo - Only You | 2005 | ♪ | Best of Lasgo's output, largely because it rejects the mope trance template that was all too fashionable during the early 2000s in favor of something uplifting and melodically appealing. | Link to full review |
| Da Buzz - Wanna Be With Me? | 2002 | ♪ | A chipper piece of upbeat Europop tempered with a dash of bittersweet yearning. | Link to full review |
| Rammstein - Mein Herz Brennt | 2001 | ♪ | Lumbering, ponderous metal elevated by the symphonic strings and accompanying guitar parts, which have an eerie beauty to them. | Link to full review |
| Keane - On a Day Like Today | 2004 | ♪ | Gorgeous UK indie rock tune. | Link to full review |
| Soca Gang feat. Van B. King- Chacaron (Long Version) | 2005 | ♪ | Italian group ready to cash in on that reggaeton craze. | Link to full review |
| Precious and Thomas Ferri - Cappucin (Red Version) | 2005 | ♪ | Fun electro grinder with lyrics that make no sense whatsoever. Best idea: The keyboard that sounds as if it's being detuned while it plays. | Link to full review |
| L.O.B. - Deep Inside | 2005 | ♪ | Twisted female vocal samples frolic with an array of electro sounds, resulting in a pleasingly thick Italo concoction that will go straight to your head. | Link to full review |
| Partypimpz - Holiday Rap 2005 | 2005 | ♪ | A reworking of a 1986 rap tune by MC Miker G and Deejay Seven, which in turn contained samples from (or impressions of) Madonna's "Holiday." Being early 80s rap, everybody sounds pretty stupid, and I like that. I also like how one rapper brags that he and his friends are vacationing to those two choicest summer destinations: London and New York. | Link to full review |
| The Outhere Brothers - Boom Boom Boom | 1995 | ♪ | Classic ragga-infused Eurodance, with nostalgia-inducing fat synth sounds reminiscent of "I Like to Move It." | Link to full review |
| Danzel - Put Your Hands Up (in the Air) | 2005 | ♪ | Belgian trasher Danzel returns with another Euro dum-dum delight: a surprisingly effective take on the irrepressible Black and White Brothers classic "Put Your Hands Up (in the Air)." | Link to full review |
| Carolina Marquez - Pleasure Ground (Original Pleasure Extended) | 2005 | ♪ | Eerie tune that's every bit as good as (if not superior to) Ms. Marquez's better known "Killer's Song." | Link to full review |
| Supasonic - Love Again (Lux Extended Mix) | 2005 | ♪ | Lush 1980's Italo disco synth work and a lovely female vocal, a reminder of everything good about Italo dance music past, present, and hopefully future. "Supa" indeed! | Link to full review |
| Uniting Nations - You and Me | 2005 | ♪ | Essentially, though not officially, a cover of Together's "So Much Love to Give," only they got a vocalist to sing a bunch of new (albeit disposable) lyrics on top. | Link to full review |
| Mynt feat. Kim Sozzi - Back in Love (Mixshow Edit) | 2005 | ♪ | Has some of that French House vibe to it, plus that pleasant yet stale quality American clubbers seem to like so very much. | Link to full review |
| Horizon - I Live On My Own (DJ Ross Remix) | 2005 | ♪ | Catchy Italo dance tune with an AM rock twist. | Link to full review |
| d3d4 - Sun Fun (Emanueleasti@petra Extended) | 2005 | ♪ | Cheery tune sounds like a Beach Boys-style cover, but if it is I can't identify the original. | Link to full review |
| Boney M - Gotta Go Home (Boney M 2000 Mix) | 1999 | ♪ | Boney M's "Gotta Go Home" gotta have a techno remix, ja? Original was catchy to start with, and is not hurt by the addition of pounding beats. | Link to full review |
| Banshis (formerly "Them Banshis") - Day by Day (Banshiskipedia Italian-Language Album Version) | 2006 | ♪ | This is great. A slow-building melody with a seductive array of key changes; a goosebump evoking celebration of how to really write a song. Be sure to get the longer, Italian-language version, which is superior to the shortened English one. | Link to full review |
| Musikman - The Day After Tomorrow | 2005 | ♪ | Trance adaptation of the theme from the enviro-disaster flick The Day After Tomorrow. Sure to evoke panoramic visions of melting ice caps. | Link to full review |
| Kosheen - Catch | 2000 | ♪ | Breaks-infused pop tune with some teeth; see also contemporary Sonique's work. | Link to full review |
| Sash! - Adelante | 1999 | ♪ | A functional Sash! Song. | Link to full review |
| DJ Cal vs. 091 - Girls Don't Like Electronic Music (Callea Back to Sexy Acid Mix) | 2005 | ♪ | Electro pop silliness from Italy that starts with a strong premise but gradually wears out its welcome. | Link to full review |
| Videosex - Balkan Federation | 1989 | ♪ | Everything fun about music is crammed into its four and a half minutes. "Russia's red and Greece is white!" the singer chirps, like a hyper-caffeinated kid on a playground. | Link to full review |
| Kylie Minogue - Giving You Up (Alter Ego Mix) | 2005 | ♪ | A dazzling rework with very little Kylie left in it (just some breathy sighs); aggressive electronic notes run riot. | Link to full review |
| Boogie Pimps - The Music in Me (West End Sun Remix) | 2005 | ♪ | Remix takes the so-so original to a beautifully surreal level with its strange blend of house and trance elements. | Link to full review |
| Missyna - Wem willst du traum | 2001 | ♪ | Ex-Basis member raps atop 1) a guitar riff that sounds like it might have been plucked from Led Zeppelin's "Custard Pie," 2) "We Will Rock You" stomps and claps, and 3) an AC/DC'ish guitar lick. | Link to full review |
| Daphne and Celeste - I Love Your Sushi | 2000 | ♪ | This commendably nutty celebration of Eastern culture, the highlight of which includes a sly-sounding Japanese rapper, must be heard to be believed. | Link to full review |
| Pakito - Living on Video (Original Mix) | 2005 - 2006 | ♪ | Cover of an old Euro-classic by Trans-X, brings dancefloor fist-pumping to the fore. Not much to talk about here: a simple, fat synth riff, sproingy beats, and a guy shouting, "HEYYYYYYY HUWAAAAAA!!!" It works. (Noot's Vocal Mix is an above average vocal reworking well worth checking out, too.) | Link to full review |
| I Love N.Y. - Seasons of Love (Broadway Mix) | 2005 | ♪ | Why not take the most popular song from the mega-hit musical "Rent" and turn it into a house tune? Why, I could think of a few reasons. But the result, which can be heard in I Love N.Y.'s "Seasons of Love (Broadway Mix)" [!!!!!] should please the drama geeks in your circle of friends—if you dare have such friends. | Link to full review |
| Scooter - Hello! (Good to Be Back) | 2005 | ♪ | Garry Glitter, you've been Scooter'd. Sheffield Dave shouts about taking us "by storm to the year 2G"; does that mean we're going backwards in time? | Link to full review |
| Miladojka Youneed - Living in America | 1993 | ♪ | James Brown given an unlikely industrial jazz funk spin from a Slovenian duo. Should suck, but it doesn't, thanks to the group's palpable enthusiasm, thick accents, and balls-out confidence. | Link to full review |
| Rammstein - Amerika | 2004 | ♪ | In addition to tearing any party apart, this tune makes good points about the corporate-driven Americanization of the world. There's an English language version of this song, too, but downloading that would be too ironic. | Link to full review |
| Rapination feat. Kym Mazelle - Love Me the Right Way (the Real Rapino 12") | 1992 | ♪ | Classic tune that typifies the sunny quality of vocal house in the early 1990s. | Link to full review |
| Kylie Minogue - What Do I Have to Do? | 1990 | ♪ | Maybe the cheeriest thing offered by the post-"Locomotion" Kylie (before she became a queen of cool). | Link to full review |
| Faith Hill - The Way You Love Me (Love to Infinity Remix) | 2000 | ♪ | Catchy Europe-only remix of the country star's tune. | Link to full review |
| Faith Evans - Mesmerized (Freemasons Mix) | 2005 | ♪ | Gonzo trash treatment of the R&B singer's song packs several decades of dancefloor ideas (from disco to 303s) into a few trim minutes. | Link to full review |
| Housetrap - The Way (Housetrap Mix) | 2005 | ♪ | Groovy electro dance tune with cool 303 touches. | Link to full review |
| Benassi Bros. - Feel Alive | 2005 | ♪ | The impassioned, soaring vocal in this terrific "Layla"-sampling tune nudges this track onto the "serious" side of the dance divide (something the Benassi imitators never even tried to pull off). | Link to full review |
| Alex Gaudino & Jerma present Lil' Love - Waiting for Tonight | 2006 | ♪ | Decent cover of the Jennifer Lopez song. | Link to full review |
| Purple Haze - Adrenaline (Original Mix) | 2005 | ♪ | Puts the "trance" back in trance, with a hypnotic, eerie little melody. | Link to full review |
| K90 - Cosmos (Wavetraxx Remix) | 2004 | ♪ | The original song has some good hooks to it, but Wavetraxx adds a lot more color to his take, plus some big, beautiful synth stabs that manage to make this the winning version. | Link to full review |
| Alyssa - Superstar (DJ Satomi Happy Trance Extended Mix) | 2005 | ♪ | Insufferably cute song. | Link to full review |
| Club House - Speed of Sound (Joy Kitikonti Remix) | 2005 | ♪ | Club House's "Speed of Sound (Joy Kitikonti Remix)" turns the Coldplay instant-classic into an unforgettable...something unforgettable, anyway. The lush synth sounds that follow the choruses are an inspired touch. | Link to full review |
| Madonna - Forbidden Love | 2005 | ♪ | Now that you've played the hell out of "Hung Up," turn to the second best Ameritrash song on Madonna's new album. Lush, lovely, dreamy; its only handicap is the typically vapid Madonna lyrics. | Link to full review |
| Videosex/Laibach/Germania - Across the Universe | 1988 | ♪ | This lovely production consists entirely of a harpsichord, a single droning...I don't know what sort of instrument makes that noise...and Anja Rupel's beautiful multitracked vocals. | Link to full review |
| Studio B - C'mon Get it On (Radio Edit) | 2006 | ♪ | The guy rapping the verses sounds exactly like the bloke out of Black Eyed Peas; the fellow doing the choruses sounds exactly like George Michael. Sandwiched in between are tasty slabs of keyboard melody on top of slamming beats. Without a second of breathing room, it's a triumph in relentlessness. | Link to full review |
| Ian Betts & Oceanforce - Polarise (Original Mix) | 2005 | ♪ | Fans of Y2K-era epic trance will find themselves on familiar ground, but what can I say? It's as mesmerizing a tune as any played at Gatecrasher back in the day. | Link to full review |
| Sylver - Make It | 2005 | ♪ | Every Sylver song serves as a lectern from which lead singer Silvy De Bie delivers a sermon on the miseries of her love life while Wout van Dessel backs her with dull music. "Make It" is no exception. But it's worth noting anyway for its inspired incorporation of the same wacky vocal sample that made Tomcraft's magnificent "Bipap Song," well, bipap. | Link to full review |
| C.O. (Club Oriented) - Alegria (Alegria In Da mix) | 2006 | ♪ | Improves upon the Cirque du Soleil by adding thumpy house elements that give the song the much-needed teeth lacking in the too-sugary original. | Link to full review |
| DJ BoBo - Love is All Around | 1995 | ♪ | Diva vocal, dumb BoBo rap, and huge synth hooks. | Link to full review |
| K3 - Oma's aan de top | 2001 | ♪ | Belgian kiddie group's homage to their cool grandmother. | Link to full review |
| September - La La La (Never Give It Up) (Extended Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | Particularly good tune which began Swede September's admirably long career singing big dance hits. A little borrowing from Planet Funk's classic "Chase the Sun," a dash of Kylie Minogue, and a tip in the hat to every Eurotrash song with "la la la" in its chorus. | Link to full review |
| Supermode - Tell Me Why | 2006 | ♪ | A shimmering slab of Euro-house with a wailing divo and a moody synth melody cribbed from Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy." | Link to full review |
| Big Affair - Hombre (Yo No Puedo Vivir Without You) (D-Deck vs Ale B Extended Mix) | 2006 | ♪ | "Hombre" has an especial melodic lushness lacking in most of the electro-based Italo stuff being kicked out these days, and a weirdly androgynous-sounding vocal that makes it an immediate stand-out. | Link to full review |
| Markus F - Gates of Eden (Club Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | Survives the potentially crippling blow of a cheesy goth-like female vocal by killing off the offending chick early in the tune. The resultant void makes room for an excellent keyboard riff (with some particularly inspired and aggressive flourishes), followed by lots more nice keyboard work throughout. | Link to full review |
| Saphira - Just for You (Verano Club Mix) | 2006 | ♪ | Happy trance meets the ATC la la la la sound. | Link to full review |
| Dyyni - City of Moving Water (Robert Gitelman Remix) | 2005 | ♪ | After an exhilerating opening three minutes, the song switches gears and rolls out an eerie melody that emerges from the murky depths like skyscrapers rising out of Lake Michigan. | Link to full review |
| Dickheadz - Pimp My Stereo (Single Edit) | 2005 | ♪ | The main musical element is a keyboard farting Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake." A download I-dare-you. | Link to full review |
| ABBA - La Reina del Baile | 1980 | ♪ | ABBA were shrewd about their worldwide reach, which is why they re-recorded several of their songs in Spanish, including this Spanglified "Dancing Queen." | Link to full review |
| Marianne Rosenberg - Herz aus Glas | 2004 | ♪ | An surprisingly good cover of the Blondie classic "Heart of Glass," auf Deutsch, from the disco legend. | Link to full review |
| Clarisse Muvemba & SUMO - Nini (Claude Monnet Remix) | 2006 | ♪ | Sort of an homage to Donna Summer's "I Feel Love," with disco strings alongside infectious chants (in Lingala language, which I don't speak either). | Link to full review |
| Uniting Nations - Ai No Corrida (Uniting Nations Extended Mix) | 2006 | ♪ | Quincy Jones's "Ai No Corrida" put on an endless loop with boom-boom beats. | Link to full review |
| Hot Banditoz - Shake Your Baila (1, 2, 3 Alarma) | 2005 | ♪ | I like the inclusion of the chick cheerfully shouting "eins, zwei, drei!" amidst all the Spanglish posturing. | Link to full review |
| Alexia - Me and You | 1998 | ♪ | Alexia has a big voice, and this now-classic Eurodance song contains awesome house-organs, the requisite "la la la" refrain, and a rap courtesy of Double You. | Link to full review |
| Amos - Only Saw Today/Instant Karma | 1994 | ♪ | Follows the basic Eurodance cover premise of combining original yet generic-sounding rapped (in this case reggae-style) verses followed by a singing of the original song's chorus. | Link to full review |
| DJ Adamus & Mafia Mike Pres. Wet Fingers vs. Wanda i Banda - Hi Fi Superstar | 2006 | ♪ | A souped-up techno cover of a song by 1980's Polish New Wave group Wanda i Banda. A nutty exercise in pounding beats, thick synths, and twisted vocal samples. | Link to full review |
| French Affair - L'amour | 2006 | ♪ | Revamped 90s Eurodance band's new single owes more than a little to Serge Gainsbourg's "Bonnie and Clyde." Aimee's sexy vocals an added plus. | Link to full review |
| Apoptygma Berzerk - Kathy's Song (Come Lie Next To Me) | 2000 | ♪ | Fragily beautiful song. | Link to full review |
| Duran Duran - Nice (Eric Prydz Radio Mix) | 2006 | ♪ | Superb remix of the double-D guys that outdoes the original. | Link to full review |
| Aaron McClelland - Cruel (Fonzerelli Full Vocal Club Mix) | 2006 | ♪ | Features a lyrical bitterness to temper the extreme funkiness of the music. Even tosses in some strings and a subtle melodic time signature adjustment during its bridge. | Link to full review |
| Nick Sentience and Mike Loney - Corona (Original Mix) | 2006 | ♪ | Soaring trance keyboard flourishes and a 303. It's pinwheel-eyed psychedelia that will give all but the most resilient of dance music fans a migraine. | Link to full review |
| RMB - Reality | 1996 | ♪ | The Rush-esque vocals in this high BPM tune are unfortunate ("Lava right ahead!" our Geddy Lee impersonator cries like an excited elf; and can't you just step out of the way of that anyway?). | Link to full review |
| Bangbros - Bangjoy the Music | 2006 | ♪ | Bravely addresses the misery that all top Eurotrash DJ's must repeatedly confront: hip-hop fans who are unhappy with the DJ's perkier selections. | Link to full review |
| The Knife - Heartbeats | 2004 | ♪ | A hooky, synth-pop song with a slow, slinky, sexy groove to it. | Link to full review |
| Karmah - Love and Pain | 2006 | ♪ | The accents to this Italo R&B tune are thick, but the melodies are sweet. | Link to full review |
| Rammstein - Engel | 1997 | ♪ | Another ethereal metal song from Germany's best rock band. Dig that back and forth between the male and female vocals. | Link to full review |
| All Saints - I Know Where It's At | 1997 | ♪ | This was All Saints' first big hit, and honestly, I don't think they ever topped it. | Link to full review |
| Fishing for Compliments - Teenager In Love | 1999 | ♪ | German girls do a charming "cover" of the classic song, wherein sections of the original are sandwiched between new, German-language rapping. | Link to full review |
| Souvenirs - Jeg hader Susanne | 1998 | ♪ | Danish pop group from the 1990s offer this fabulously unorthodox tune. | Link to full review |
| Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin' | 2006 | ♪ | Extremely likeable Leo Sayer-esque song from the, uh, sisters. | Link to full review |
| Holly Dolly - Dolly Song (Leva's Polka) | 2006 | ♪ | A peculiar, sped-up, techno-ized remake of a popular Finnish polka. | Link to full review |
| Tarantino - Pulp Fiction (Kill Bill Part 1 Electro Mix) | 2006 | ♪ | A mish-mash of various tunes featured in Quentin Tarantino's movies, with particular emphasis on that surf guitar thing "Miserlou." | Link to full review |
| Aaron Smith feat. Luvli - Dancin' (JJ Flores and Steven Smooth remix) | 2005 | ♪ | Sassy, fluid female vocal delivery elevates this above the usual fare. | Link to full review |
| Lens - Let the Light In (Jaytech Remix) | 2005 | ♪ | Adjectives: "trancey," "instrumental," "lush," "haunting." | Link to full review |
| Yordis - The Need (Original Mix) | 2006 | ♪ | Terrific dance tune with call and response chanted male/female vocals and scintillating electronic sounds. | Link to full review |
| Adam White and Anthony Dean - Out of Knowhere | 2006 | ♪ | Gorgeous, goosebumpy trance tune that provides the requisite spaciness demanded of the genre (including NASA transmissions and some Vangelis-like swoops in the final minutes). | Link to full review |
| Caroline Henderson - Made in Europe | 2005 | ♪ | A lush, jazz paean to the rapidly changing continent. | Link to full review |
| Robbie Williams - Lovelight | 2006 | ♪ | Cover of a song by UK soul singer Lewis Taylor, finds the pop legend dabbling in electro funk on critically-panned/guilty-pleasure album. | Link to full review |
| Eskimo Disco - 7-11 | 2006 | ♪ | Sound a bit like the new Lo-Fidelity Allstars, with catchy hooks and good gospel-style backing vocals. | Link to full review |
| Cream - Cantecul inimii | 2006 | ♪ | A bouncy slice of Latin-infused pop house. When it comes to good pop music production, the rest of the EU needs Romania's help. | Link to full review |
| Shaun Baker feat. Laidback - Bakerman (Funktune Remix) | 2006 | ♪ | The bakerman, we are informed, is a gentleman who is baking bread. There is much mention of a night train, too, which is coming. | Link to full review |
| Morgana - Never Gonna | 1998 | ♪ | Easy to imagine the chorus being lip-synched by a drag queen with a propensity for sweeping arm gestures. But darn if this sugary tune won't bring out the inner drag queen in you, too, Mr. Macho. | Link to full review |
| 2 Unlimited - Wanna Get Up (Sash! Extended Mix) | 1998 | ♪ | Late-model 2 Unlimited (featuring two new singers); a solid dancefloor stomper which exhibits the same sterling pop instincts that made the project's previous singles such big hits. The general audience didn't agree, however. | Link to full review |
| Sash! - Move Mania (feat. Shannon) | 1998 | ♪ | Catchy keyboard counter-melody demonstrates some good songwriting chops in this partnership with 80s Freestyle legend Shannon. | Link to full review |
| Bob Sinclar feat. Dollarman and Big Ali - Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now) | 2006 | ♪ | Chunks of C+C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat" bolster this effective dancefloor stomper. | Link to full review |
| Stylophonic - Baby Beat Box (Stylophonic Radio Edit) | 2005 - 2006 | ♪ | Very catchy chorus joins very annoying "Knick Knack Paddy Whack" verses. And that pesents a DJ dilemma. | Link to full review |
| Kim Sozzi - Break Up (Johnny Budz Extended Mix) | 2006 | ♪ | Someone clearly had fun writing the cleverer-than-average lyrics. | Link to full review |
| Impact - Happiest Girl | 2006 | ♪ | Sweet and cheery dance-pop song from a Romanian guy and a bosomy (and proud of it) Romanian woman. | Link to full review |
| Bananarama - Look on the Floor (Angel City Extended Remix) | 2006 | ♪ | 80s pop group Bananarama march onward, now adopting the inevitable late-career diva role. Song is a modified version of My Mine's old Italo disco hit "Hypnotic Tango." | Link to full review |
| Bit Machine feat. Daisy Dee - Somebody Real (Piano Main Mix) | 1994 | ♪ | An anthemic Eurodance pumper packed with tasty hooks; the ladies handle both the singing and rapping duties. | Link to full review |
| David West - Make U Mine (Dub Mix) | 2006 | ♪ | The former Antilooper demonstrates his chops again on his spectacular "Make U Mine (Dub Mix)." Crazy amalgamation of cut-up vocals, haunting keyboard melodies, and massive orchestral builds. With so much going on, its ten minutes fly right by. A weird, wonderful, amazing triumph. | Link to full review |
| Bubble Fish - Stars of Ibiza (Original Mix) | 2006 | ♪ | A frantic, tingling piece of instrumental trance with a hook to die for. At the 4 1/2 minute mark, when the melody bursts out of the gate like a greyhound on speed,you can expect much hair-raising on the back of your neck—especally if your neck is very hairy. | Link to full review |
| Nakatomi - Free! (DJ Hirohito Hit Mix) | 1995 | ♪ | A heavily reworked happy hardcore version of an old Deniece Williams ballad, complete with banging pianos and anthemic vocals. The guys behind it would go on to create the Vengaboys. | Link to full review |
| Michael Urgacz - I Just Won't Stop (Michael Urgacz Just Won't Stop Mix) | 2006 | ♪ | Rock 'n' roll swagger in this fun dance song. Fat synth hooks and a vocodered male vocal push it along. | Link to full review |
| Vivian feat. Ari G - Habemus DJ | 2005 | ♪ | Another "Sproingy Song Featuring Bossy Woman Chanting in Non-English Language." | Link to full review |
| C-Block - So Strung Out | 1996 | ♪ | C-Block's best tune, "So Strung Out," boasts lush synth chords and soulful female vocals sandwiched between the rapped bits. Euro-gloss perfection, even if the message is a little heavy-handed. | Link to full review |
| Creamer & K featuring Nadia Ali & Rosko - Something to Lose (Cedric Gervais Remix) | 2006 | ♪ | Lush, emotional pop trancer that may be the best thing Nadia has leant her considerable pipes to since the immortal "Rapture," by iio. Rosko's contributions are left out of this remix; sorry, dude. | Link to full review |
| Kylie Minogue - Love at First Sight | 2001 | ♪ | Catchy Galleonesque Kylie tune. | Link to full review |
| Ballermann Andy & Die Bürokaufmannsfrau - How Do You Do? (English Radio Version) | 2004 | ♪ | Dutch duo Mouth and MacNeal's 70s AM classic "How Do You Do?" retooled for a German beer hall. | Link to full review |
| Nylon Beat - Teflon Love | 1996 | ♪ | Nylon Beat was a Finnish TV-show-assembled teen girl duo. Song is not remarkable, but decently diverting. | Link to full review |
| Bürger Lars Dietrich - Ich bring Dich um | 1996 | ♪ | Bürger Lars Dietrich's "Ich bring Dich um" was a 1996 German hit from the comedian/musician. "Ich bring Dich um" has two surefire elements: 1) hand claps and 2) a sampled voice exclaiming "Dippity doo!" | Link to full review |
| Bodyrox featuring Lucinda - Yeah Yeah (D. Ramirez Radio Edit) | 2005 - 2006 | ♪ | Sounds like Lucinda did all the work; hope she got paid more than the blokes making the "tune." | Link to full review |
| Chanel - My Life (Fonzerelli Remix) | 2006 | ♪ | An above and beyond the call of duty remix, where a so-so dance song is transformed into something emotionally vulnerable and quite pretty. | Link to full review |
| Crush featuring Alexandra Ungureanu - Aprinde dragostea | 2006 | ♪ | A pleasant, sweet sounding piece of Romanian pop. | Link to full review |
| Velvet - Rock Down To (Electric Avenue) | 2005 | ♪ | A kinda-sorta Eddy Grant cover with a Swedish chick on vocals. | Link to full review |
| Motionchild featuring Armanian Sun - Godsend (Benya Remix) | 2006 | ♪ | A nice key adjustment in the middle of this psychedelic trance tune gives way to a mesmerizing melody. Spooky ambience! | Link to full review |
| Faithless - Bombs | 2006 | ♪ | Haunting anti-war tune is the best non-dancefloor oriented Faithless single, bar none. | Link to full review |
| Dario G - Ring of Fire (Stadium Edit) | 2006 | ♪ | A cover, of sorts, of the Johnny Cash classic that grafts relentless Safri Duo-style percussion with mariachi brass and chanting Carnival girls. It's actually pretty great. | Link to full review |
| Lazard - Your Heart Keeps Beating (Royal Gigolos Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | Proving that they haven't matured one bit in the three years that have elapsed since they Benassi-fied "California Dreamin'," the Gigolos turn in a delightfully looney take on Lazard's "Your Heart Keeps Beating"; which is itself a cover of an old Euro track by Blind Date. | Link to full review |
| Goldfrapp - Ride a White Horse | 2006 | ♪ | Strikes a smart balance between icy electro and warm, lush synths. I like a song that dares you to distinguish between the wail of an electric guitar and a processed human voice. Peter Frampton would agree. | Link to full review |
| September - Cry For You (Jackal remix) | 2006 | ♪ | Sounds a bit like that Bronski-beat sampling "Tell Me Why" from Supermode. Here you can really hear September's growth as a vocalist. | Link to full review |
| Hi-Q - Razna | 2006 | ♪ | Hi-Q turn in another perfect pop performance with a song celebrating Romanian crazy guys, or crazy guys wherever they may be found. | Link to full review |
| Waldo's People - U Drive Me Crazy (Radio Edit) | 1998 | ♪ | Probably the only song to steal both from Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Blur's "Song No. 2." Such tastelessness takes major balls, so I salute these Finns. The original vocals tossed on top seem to emulate the Aqua formula of females singing and funny-voiced guys chanting. They go on about how you drive them crazy. Why not go all-out and call it "U Drive Me Krayzee"? Because that would be too crazy. | Link to full review |
| Camille Jones - The Creeps (Booty Cologne's Extended Mix) | 2006 | ♪ | Camille was a jazz singer who is apparently dabbling in pop; "The Creeps" is proving a good dabble. | Link to full review |
| Teddybears feat. Malte Homberg - Different Sound | 2006 | ♪ | Funky electro-rock thing used to good effect in an Intel "Multiply" commercial and, er, a romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. You came here for da underground, right? | Link to full review |
| Scooter - Behind the Cow (Spencer and Hill remix) | 2007 | ♪ | Our good friends Scooter have completely run out of ideas, as evidenced by what must be at least the second time they have sampled The KLF's "What Time is Love?" (chucked out in this superior remix) With Scooter I'm always up for a good game of "ID this." So! Isn't that female vocal sampled from "Barbie Girl"? No? Maybe? Well, that's definitely Blue Öyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" in the background. And "Don't Fear the Reaper" is famous for its use of a cowbell—hence the title of this track? And in "Nessaja" didn't they make mention of a "painted cow"? Scoo-TUH?!?!?! Did you plan all of this ten years ago?!?!? Am I only now beginning to see the patterns?!!?!?! | Link to full review |
| Perpetuous Dreamer - Dust.wav | 2002 | ♪ | Recently I realized I was an idiot to dismiss this Armin Van Buuren song five years ago. And this got me thinking. Maybe in another five years I'll like the songs Armin Van Buuren is releasing today. | Link to full review |
| Ross Assenheim - In the Past (K90 Mix) | 2003 | ♪ | Hard house meets epic trance in this mesmerizing instrumental stomper. | Link to full review |
| Lisa Pin-Up - Let's Go Trippin' | 2003 | ♪ | Lisa Pin-Up is a legend in the tough-as-nails subgenre of dance called "hard house." She also adds welcome injections of humor into her work. This tune, for example, could score a Looney Tunes cartoon quite nicely. | Link to full review |
| Mazurka - Hardcore Vibes | 1998 | ♪ | Dune's "Hardcore Vibes" is a classic happy hardcore anthem from 1995, but I prefer Mazurka's later take. | Link to full review |
| Die Lollipops - Dankeschön (Take Me Home Country Roads) | 2003 | ♪ | Die Lollipops are a Kidz Boppish thing for Germans, and their "modified" version of "Take Me Home Country Roads," entitled "Dankeschon," owes more to the Hermes House Band's version than to John Denver's original, which, quite frankly, I would not be surprised to learn they have never even heard. | Link to full review |
| Future Breeze - Heaven Above (Flashrider Short Cut) | 2002 | ♪ | Seems to owe as much to Chicago's "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" as it does to trance. And that's...well...pretty remarkable. | Link to full review |
| Club Spice - Cutie Chaser (Morning Mix) | 2002 | ♪ | Back in the day, my favorite song on Dance Dance Revolution DDR Max was Club Spice's "Cutie Chaser," because it was catchy and easy for this uncoordinated pigeon to dance to. | Link to full review |
| Lokan - Que Idea! (High Mix Maxi) | 2006 | ♪ | A sproingy two-note keyboard riff, a catchy bassline, and women chanting in various languages add up to one of the better dance songs of the year. | Link to full review |
| MC Lan and Jeans Team - Keine Melodien | 2000 | ♪ | It grinds, it grooves, and at three minutes in length it doesn't overstay its welcome. Sexy stuff. | Link to full review |
| Adrian Eftimie and Auda - Desire (Radio Edit) | 2006 | ♪ | A fine Romanian electro pop dish flavored with a pinch of Benassi and a dash of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love." | Link to full review |
| Beat System - Fresh (Radio Mix) | 1996 | ♪ | Another one of those old disco/funk/80's tunes given the Euro make-over (it includes an original rap, a female vocalist, and a sampled chunk of the original tune's chorus—in this case Kool and the Gang's "Fresh" [kissed by Anita Ward's "bell" and a rip-off of the female vocal in Candyman's "Knockin' Boots"]). | Link to full review |
| Lilu - I Know It's Your Time | 2007 | ♪ | As with the best Italian dance music, it straddles the line between dancefloor motivator and heartbreaker. | Link to full review |
| Dero featuring Leee John - Illusion (Dero's South American Vocal Mix) | 2005 | ♪ | British soul group Imagination's classic song is wedged crudely between two slabs of banging beats. | Link to full review |
| Starting Rock feat. Diva Avari - Don't Go | 2006 | ♪ | Cover of the old Yaz(zoo) classic "Don't Go," yields decent results.But where are the cool synth riffs from the original? Features the same "HUWAA!" found in Bacon Popper's "Free." I've got my eye on you, Starting Rock... | Link to full review |
| Phil Fulnder - The Final (The Captain Future Theme) | 1998 | ♪ | Jumps from riff to riff with impressively high levels of ADD. That may be because it's derived from theme music from a German-language-dubbed Japanese anime TV series. | Link to full review |
| Clock - Holding on 4U (Visa Radio Mix) | 1996 | ♪ | Offers the piano runs, headache-inducing beats, and synth stabs you'd expect in any great classic Eurodance tune—plus an appealing melodic wistfulness to offset all that. | Link to full review |
| Millennium - Day After Day (millennium Edit) | 2006 | ♪ | If you've heard Sash!'s "Together Again" and Sylver's "Forever in Love," then you've kinda already heard this song. | Link to full review |
| Commercial Club Crew - Digger's Song (The 2 Jays Booty Remix) | 2006 | ♪ | Commercial Club Crew's "Digger's Song (The 2 Jays Booty Remix)" blends happy trance, hardcore, "Satisfaction" style vocals, and buzzing keyboards into something awesome. | Link to full review |
| DJ Sy - Connect Your Step | 2001 | ♪ | Brings a cheerfully bubbling 303 into the happy hardcore picture. | Link to full review |
| Paul Mendez and Zero 3 - Break of Dawn (Original Mix) | 2006 - 2007 | ♪ | Goes not-so-boldly where some epic trance tracks have gone before, but it pushes its own buttons along the way. | Link to full review |
| A Tension - Angels | 1996 | ♪ | Owes a small debt to N-Trance's "Set You Free," as both are piano-driven hardcorish tunes featuring a similar melody. Certainly entertains, but when it's over you'll forget all about it. Life goes on, though. | Link to full review |
| Sonic Syndicate - Soul Splinter | 2005 | ♪ | Dark Swedish metal with surreal keyboard garnishes. | Link to full review |
| Charlotte Gainsbourg - The Songs That We Sing | 2006 | ♪ | Charlotte Gainsbourg, daughter of the legendary Serge and a respected actress, released a strong solo album in the last year. A mesmerizing mix of swirling strings; melodic bells; and mournful, clever lyrics. | Link to full review |
| Paula - Der Schnelle Tag | 2000 | ♪ | Bleepy electro pop and thumping beats, cooked up and served Berlin-style. | Link to full review |
| Class - Ocean in Desert | 2007 | ♪ | Mesmerizingly strange, dark, and beautiful, as the best Romanian electronic pop often is. | Link to full review |
| Two Voices - Splendid Story (Extended Dude Funky Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | Mid-tempo, slinky nu-Italo disco reworking of Donatella Rettore's old Italian disco tune "Splendido Splendente" with groovy pianos, and sexy female singers. | Link to full review |
| Undercover - Baker Street (Edit) | 1992 | ♪ | A classic 1970's tune from Gerry Rafferty dragged kicking and screaming into 1992. 1992 was a long time ago, so we have two levels of nostalgia. | Link to full review |
| Clock - Holding On (Portamento Stylie Mix) | 1993 | ♪ | Clearly was produced before the Clock project's overseers hit upon the idea of the male rapper/female singer combination so familiar to the Eurodance genre. So, basically a few snippets of sampled female vocals and a whole lotta pop techno (some rather martial sounding keyboards leading the way). Delightfully raw, a hybrid between the old school techno sound and the glossy Eurodance future, the best of both worlds. | Link to full review |
| Groovestylerz - We Are Family (Club Mix) | 2006 | ♪ | Grabs a chunk of the Sister Sledge classic and chops it up a whole lot. Sounds exactly as you'd imagine. | Link to full review |
| TNT - Strada Mea | 2007 | ♪ | Ripping up the Romanian airwaves is this mish-mash of Afro-pop, Romanian-language lyrics, and, heh-heh-heh, a big fat chunk of Dire Straits's "Money for Nothing." | Link to full review |
| Dub Sweden - Ice in My Fire | 2003 | ♪ | The Swedes are the kings of attitude-drenched electro-pop-rock, as this song demonstrates. | Link to full review |
| Daisy Dee - Open Sesame (Club Mix) | 2000 | ♪ | Rapper-for-hire, former Viva! TV hostess, German soap star, and all-around hottie Daisy Dee tackles Leila K's ragga-infused 1992 ur-Eurodance classic. | Link to full review |
| 3rei Sud Est - N-ai crezut in mine | 2007 | ♪ | After 10 years in the biz, Romanian pop group 3rei Sud Est continue to go strong. On this track they have turned over the majority of the vocal duties to a female singer, whose chanted "beat-beat don't stop" is hypnotizing. Groovy. | Link to full review |
| Bandido - I Drove All Night (Medley with Power of Time) (Club Mix) | 1994 - 1995 | ♪ | A big, anthemic, dancefloor monster treatment of a Roy Orbison song originally made famous by Cyndi Lauper. | Link to full review |
| Nordkamp - Hey You (Oh Lo Le Le Loh) | 2007 | ♪ | Title dares Americans to differentiate between a "Lo" and a "Loh". Pure sugar electro pop of the O-Zone/Lucas Prata variety, given an added boost by the female vocals. | Link to full review |
| LCD Soundsystem - Tribulations (Tiga's Out of the Trance Closet Mix) | 2005 | ♪ | Ameritrash of the finest calibre, a reminder that great lyrics can take the trash sound to the highest emotional levels. Angst on the dancefloor! | Link to full review |
| Akcent - Dragoste de inchiriat | 2005 | ♪ | A huge hit for Romanian boyband Akcent, it sounds sorta like a cross between nu-Italo and 1980's synth pop. | Link to full review |
| Leila K - Electric (Short Version) | 1995 | ♪ | Swedish rapper/Eurodance singer Leila K's last gasp before her career disintegrated into junkie hell. The song itself sounds like a near-disaster, reaching its lowest point when Leila issues a cringe-worthy shriek of, "LEILA K IN DA HAAAUUUUUSSSSS!!!" the instant before a fantastic tru-trash chorus swoops in and snatches it from the jaws of death. | Link to full review |
| Ginger Woz Red - Disco Bombing (Extended Radio Play) | 2006 | ♪ | More cooler-than-you minimal electro-ish dance stuff, but with a bit more flavor than some of the two-note variants floating around out there. | Link to full review |
| Whydee - I Do Believe (Main Radio) | 2005 | ♪ | Another insane nu-Italo number, with nutty cut up female vocals serving as the verses before they lead into more conventional choruses | Link to full review |
| Anticappella - 2√231 | 1991 | ♪ | Anticappella's 2√231 is a splendid example of the missing link between old school techno and early Eurodance. | Link to full review |
| Livin' Joy - Dreamer | 1994 - 1995 | ♪ | A slice of classic Italo house with the requisite soulful diva and super cool-o organs. | Link to full review |
| MIKA - Love Today | 2007 | ♪ | Falsetto vocals, jolly pianos, electric guitar power chords, and thumping beats...foppish Europopindiedisco. | Link to full review |
| Stefy - Hey School Boy | 2006 | ♪ | Ameritrash Blondie-ish group offers a catchy power pop tune that is enjoying European succcess. | Link to full review |
| Bob Sinclar feat. Steve Edwards - World Hold On (Extended Club Mix) | 2006 | ♪ | Perhaps the best of Sinclar's signature reggae house tracks, with a whistle reminiscent of Frankie Knuckles' "The Whistle Song." | Link to full review |
| Brooklyn Bounce - Contact (Vengaboys Remix) | 2006 | ♪ | Brooklyn Bounce have always been a frustrating Eurodance act, what with their predilection for tuneless songs. Thankfully, the Vengaboys have swooped in to offer a spectacular, orchestra-laden remix that surpasses the original tune. | Link to full review |
| Scooch - Flying the Flag (for You) (Eurovision 2007 UK Entry) | 2007 | ♪ | Dum-dum Eurovision fail that is nonetheless strangely appealing in its cheekiness. | Link to full review |
| DJ Bobo - Vampires Are Alive (Radio Version) | 2007 | ♪ | Endearingly silly BoBo served up this homage to vampires as a Swiss Eurovision song contest entry (and failed to reach the finals). | Link to full review |
| Nicola - Honey | 2004 | ♪ | Catchy Romanian pop song with boisterous audience-participation handclapping. | Link to full review |
| Akcent - Kylie (Original Radio Edit) | 2006 | ♪ | Akcent enjoyed so much success with the "Dragoste de inchiriat" that they released an English language version, called "Kylie," for Euro-wide release. | Link to full review |
| Paola - Interstellar Love | 2002 | ♪ | Weird, mellow electro pop tune sails close to the rocky shores of Goofydom, but avoids the hazards. Pretty, bleepy, wistful, and very Swedish. | Link to full review |
| Myleene Klass - Toccata | 2004 | ♪ | Multi-talented former Hear'Say singer goes back to her piano-playing roots on this classical lite pop instrumental record. | Link to full review |
| Terra Mystica - Cesta samotnih | 2002 | ♪ | Slovenian prog rock group that enlisted flute-playing/singer/hottie Tinkara Kova to lay down a beautiful vocal for this spooky, breaks-driven tune. | Link to full review |
| Nolwenn Leroy - Nolwenn Ohwo! | 2005 | ♪ | Imagine if a French singer ripped-off Kate Bush and the rip-off was super-duper brilliant. Well, you'd get this. | Link to full review |
| Klee - Erinner dich | 2006 | ♪ | Klee is another sunny, analog synth-driven German pop group whose dreamy debut, "Erinner dich" ought to find fans in any language. | Link to full review |
| Technique - Sun is Shining (Radio Mix) | 1999 | ♪ | A shimmering dance-pop oddity from a duo signed to the then-dying Creation records label. | Link to full review |
| Robbie Williams - Kiss Me With Your Mouth | 2006 | ♪ | Robbie tackles another cover on an album full of them, this time a minor 80s hit by Stephen Duffy. | Link to full review |
| David Vendetta - Love to Love You Baby (Louis Botella Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | David Vendetta is the umpteenth person to tackle the Donna Summer standard "Love to Love You Baby," but he reinvents the tune by introducing a darker, harder edge. Louis Botella cranks up the beats a bit more. | Link to full review |
| Alex Gaudino feat. Crystal Waters - Destination Calabria (Radio Edit) | 2007 | ♪ | Much of the song's popularity is likely derived from the music video, which features a chick in a skimpy green band majorette outfit who flashes her crotch from behind a lot. Let's call her Green Panty Cunt Woman, because that is effectively her function in the video. | Link to full review |
| Kaskade - Sorry (Dirty South Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | Kaskade's "Sorry (Dirty South Mix)" is a glossy electro-house number given a nice injection of pretty. | Link to full review |
| Happy Nation - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Salt 'n Sugar Mix/Radio Mix) | 1996 | ♪ | Song starts off with purported girls from the USA assuring name-checked American rap acts of waning consequence that they are "right behind them," presumably because American rap artists stick together. Then it turns into a sort of Salt-N-Pepa thing, followed by an off-key echo of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." | Link to full review |
| Mary Kiani - Come Into My World | 2006 | ♪ | A big, booming, anthemic Eurodance tune from the Scottish diva. | Link to full review |
| Scatman John - Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) (Extended Mix) | 1995 | ♪ | A Eurodance classic and a sentimental favorite of many, as the artist is now performing at the great Eurodance gig in the sky alongside La Bouche's Melanie Thornton and Captain Jack. | Link to full review |
| Double Vision - Knockin' | 1994 - 1996 | ♪ | Double Vision's "Knockin'" is a rollicking piece of Europop with a particularly fun vocal track. | Link to full review |
| Hydragen - Creature of Habit (Original Mix) | 2006 | ♪ | Has that Goa trance thing going on; a busy tune with multiple melodic elements, including a pretty, analog synth-dominated "chorus" that makes its intrusion at the usual 2 minute+ mark, and a little acid workout a few minutes from the end. | Link to full review |
| Meck - Feels Like Home (Redanka Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | A new generation gets to discover the pleasures of Felix's "Don't You Want Me? (Hooj Mix)", a song which peeled paint off the walls of clubs throughout the UK and Europe back in the fall of 1992. The Redanka mix takes the listener on a mesmerizing journey to That Fucking Awesome Hook; only in its final minutes does Fucking Awesome Hook make its appearance. A sterling example of control and restraint, which ultimately maximizes orgasmic properties of Fucking Awesome Hook. | Link to full review |
| Le Star Bebe - Le Chant des Enfants (Original Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | Chanting children repeat French phrases fed to them by their impatient foreign language instructor. | Link to full review |
| Justice - TTHHEE PPAARRTTYY | 2007 | ♪ | Justice seem to have borrowed Brian Eno's old Roxy Music synthesizer to create this Daft Punkish thing. Vocalist Uffie, who had already released her single "Pop the Glock" in 2006 under her own name, has seen her profile steadily rise since this collaboration. | Link to full review |
| Junior Senior - Hello/Hip Hop a Lula | 2005 - 2007 | ♪ | This is a masterpiece; how could you open an album any better than this? | Link to full review |
| Dragonette - I Get Around | 2006 | ♪ | Like a new wave bitch humping the leg of electro. | Link to full review |
| Freezepop - Less Talk More Rokk (Mark Saunders Remix) | 2007 | ♪ | Ameritrashers, here. This Mark Saunders remix, strikes all the right poses (with tongue out) between electro and stadium rock. | Link to full review |
| Erick E - The Beat is Rockin' (Radio Edit) | 2006 | ♪ | A dark, groovy number with big hooks. | Link to full review |
| Crew 7 - Eye of the Tiger | 2006 | ♪ | Inevitable trashification of Survivor's classic. | Link to full review |
| DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince/Jeroen van Inkel - Boom! Shake the Room | 1993 | ♪ | DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince having a blast on Dutch radio. Will Smith proves once again that he may be the coolest guy on the planet. | Link to full review |
| VIA GRA - Poznakomsya S Moyey Mamoy / (ВИА ГРА - Познакомься с моей мамой) | 2001 | ♪ | Russian girl group song has a wonderful groove to it, and features a...what the hell is that thing? A zither?...some crazy stringed folk instrument that might be a zither. | Link to full review |
| Enur feat. Natasja - Calabria 2006 (Radio Edit) | 2006 | ♪ | Best of all the "Calabria" interpretations, thanks to Natasja's wonderful voice, which goes more places than Crystal Waters's did on Gaudino's take. | Link to full review |
| Dada feat. Sandy Rivera and Trix - Lollipop (Breese and Badhand Remix) | 2007 | ♪ | Yer club hit by numbers tune, with perfect male and female vocal play and epic synth chords that will have you bouncing off the walls. | Link to full review |
| Outhere Brothers - La La La Hey Hey (OHB Airplay Edit) | 1994 | ♪ | Authors of family favorite "Fuk U in the Ass" present a chunky call and response tune; this superior remix adds goosebumpy synths. | Link to full review |
| DJ Hooligan - I Want You (Loop Mix) | 1995 | ♪ | Has a jiggy--as in Renaissance Festival jiggy--keyboard bit that swirls round and round as the emcee repeatedly advises a group of "party people" to "kick some ass." But can't we party without resorting to ass-kicking? | Link to full review |
| Anja Rupel - Vedno ljubila te bom | 1996 | ♪ | Old skool techno sounds and pumping piano chords slug it out with Ms. Rupel's powerful vocals, resulting in a complete victory for the listener. | Link to full review |
| Axwell - I Found U (Remode Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | Packed with pumping pianos and breaks that will be familiar to any fan of XL records circa 1991. | Link to full review |
| Sub Focus - Airplane | 2006 | ♪ | Glorious swaths of melody swirl throughout this mesmerizing drum and bass tune. | Link to full review |
| Chab and Jd Davis - Girlz (Original Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | A dark electro house tune that reveals just how spooky girls are. Sounds sorta like a more soulful version of Corey Hart's 1980s classic "Sunglasses at Night." | Link to full review |
| Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Another Day | 2003 - 2004 | ♪ | One of the sweetest songs about friendship ever warbled. One listen to Ms. Ellis-Bextor's sexy growl and you will understand why she's a Euro icon. | Link to full review |
| Cleopatra Stratan - Numar Pan'La Unu (Counting Down to One) | 2006 | ♪ | The Romanian Cleopatra is just three years old, and her singer/producer dad Pavel thought it would be cute to make a whole album of songs sung by the girl. Cleopatra's singing voice is actually surprisingly decent. | Link to full review |
| Captain Jack - Only You (Radio Twist Mix) | 2000 | ♪ | Trashed-up 50s classic featured, as many of Captain Jack's songs were, on some edition or another of Dance Dance Revolution. | Link to full review |
| Thalia - Amor a la Mexicana (Cuca's Fiesta Edit) | 1998 | ♪ | Eurotrashed remix of the Latin tune (sometimes referred to as the "European Mix." | Link to full review |
| Andreea Banica - Rendez-Vous | 2007 | ♪ | She sings of having a rendez-vous with you in Paris in this Romanian pop smash. | Link to full review |
| Hellogoodbye - Here in Your Arms | 2006 - 2007 | ♪ | An American indie group that draws more inspiration from O-Zone than Pavement--who'd have thunk it? | Link to full review |
| Kate Ryan - All for You (Radio Edit) | 2007 | ♪ | Ms. Ryan cannot be kept down, as this charming, Galleonesque number demonstrates. | Link to full review |
| David Guetta feat. Chris Willis - Love is Gone (Original Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | David gets together once again with longtime vocal collaborator Chris Willis for yet another fine French electro-house production. Breaking-up has never sounded so good. | Link to full review |
| Sunfreakz feat. Andrea Britton - Counting Down the Days (Original Extended Mix) | 2006 - 2007 | ♪ | By the minute and a half mark of this extended mix you'll be smelling the ocean breeze and feeling the wind whipping through your hair. | Link to full review |
| Bob Sinclar presents Fireball - What I Want (Radio Club) | 2007 | ♪ | This screwy number is tearing up dancefloors across Europe. Get it today, play it loud tonight, thank me later. | Link to full review |
| Simplu - Mr. Originality | 2006 - 2007 | ♪ | Simplu have been kicking out great songs for at least half a decade, now. As with Bob Sinclar's recent work, a bit of Afro-pop influence creeps into this number. These guys are really excellent musicians. | Link to full review |
| Samim - Heater (Radio Edit) | 2007 | ♪ | An accordion brings a splash of color to this glitchy techno track. Strangely charming. | Link to full review |
| Suite 117 - Smaller (Highpass Remix) | 2007 | ♪ | Highlight is the weirdly beautiful lyric ("Cover me in the wind/I suffer from blame and pain"). Goosebumps guaranteed. | Link to full review |
| Play - Us Against the World | 2001 | ♪ | Swedish pubescent girl pop group who got some Disney backing in the USA sing a particularly melodic tune with appealing, strong harmonies. "Better than it should have been." | Link to full review |
| Paolo Mojo - Paris (Pema's Strings Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | Pinwheels in your eyes; I think these drugs work. | Link to full review |
| Costa - C.O.S.T.A. | 2001 | ♪ | Appealing, sugary theme song from an absurd Dutch TV series. | Link to full review |
| Carlito - Carlito (Who's That Boy?) | 2006 | ♪ | "So bad it's good" song from a Swede who has made a career out of dabbling in awkward racial stereotyping (see also: Dr. Bombay). | Link to full review |
| Ce'Cile - Rude Bwoy Thug Life (Cure Riddim) | 2002 | ♪ | Reggae chick rat-a-tat-tats atop steel-drum interpretation of the melody from The Cure's "Close to You." | Link to full review |
| Shena - Electrosexual (Sheriff Remix Edit) | 2006 | ♪ | Super spooky/sexy slinky song. Kinda like a 21st century version of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love." | Link to full review |
| Hilary Duff - Stranger (Jody den Broeder Vocal Club Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | "Stranger" had a great melody to start with, and now it has been given the extra oomph required to service Europe's most/least discriminating dancefloors. | Link to full review |
| Iris - The Way I Live My Life | 1999 | ♪ | Ameritrash group enamored with New Orderish hooks serves up this "True Faith"-ish tune. | Link to full review |
| Risque - Do You Believe in Heaven? (Infinite Beat Remix) | 2007 | ♪ | Remixers struck upon the brilliant idea of autotuning the female vocal and adding reinforcing keyboards to compliment it. One of my top songs in 2007. | Link to full review |
| Therese - Time (Seamus Haji and Paul Emmanuel Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | Big room trance-ification of the classic house tune. | Link to full review |
| Audio Club - Sumthin' Serious (Radio Edit) | 2007 | ♪ | Ameritrash tune exudes a charming sort of sweetness while at the same time celebrating slutty dancefloor behavior. | Link to full review |
| Ali En - Taksnega dneva pa se ne... | 1994 | ♪ | Loosey-goosey floppy-armed rap from one of Slovenia's most interesting personalities. | Link to full review |
| Ruslana (Руслана) - Wild Dances | 2004 | ♪ | Massive-sounding dance-pop song coupled with Ukrainian folk instruments; resulted in a Eurovision song contest win for Ukraine. | Link to full review |
| Deck Raiders - Just the Way I'd Like to Go (Radio Edit) | 2007 | ♪ | Springy electro-dance-pop choon with uplifting keyboard bit and a nice Michael Jackson-ish counter-melody. Not much to it, but what's there is pretty perfect. | Link to full review |
| Freemasons - Nothing But a Heartache | 2007 | ♪ | The Freemasons' masterpiece, with pounding pianos, big brass, and a totally bizarre/genius Supremes-like breakdown midway through. They throw in everything but the kitchen sink. No, wait. I hear the sink banging around in there as well. | Link to full review |
| The Source feat. Candi Staton - You Got the Love 2006 (Shapeshifters Radio Edit) | 2006 | ♪ | Classic and oft-sampled/covered 1991 tune gets full-on houseification. The ever-reliable Shapeshifters ("Lola's Theme") know exactly what to do with it. | Link to full review |
| Intermission - Piece of My Heart | 1993 | ♪ | Moody synth line, female vocals, and the requisite cringingly bad rap midway through ("Teardrops are in my eye/You laugh as I start to cry"). The essence of Eurodance. | Link to full review |
| Nadia - Show Me What You Got (Original Mix) | 1998 | ♪ | Canada's Nadia warbled a number of pumping dance tunes, but her finest moment might be the mid-tempo "Show Me What You Got." Verses have a pleasant calypso quality (nice for a twirl on the deck of "The Love Boat") before seguing into goosebump choruses. | Link to full review |
| DJ Professor - Rock Me Steady (Techno Club Mix) | 1991 | ♪ | DJ Professor's "Rock Me Steady" is a fine representative of that hardcore techno vs. Ur-Eurodance sound, with bits that sound inspired by Vangelis's "Pulstar." | Link to full review |
| High Contrast - Days Go By | 2005 - 2006 | ♪ | Our favorite parts of Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen" were those opening guitars and that "Just like the white winged dove" line. So High Contrast took those elements, plus the line "And the days go by," tossed in some drum and bass beats, and thus crafted the superior "Edge of Seventeen" experience. | Link to full review |
| London Elektricity vs. Logistics - Search Engine | 2006 | ♪ | Another drum and bass number that demonstrates how perky and beautiful the music has become during this decade. | Link to full review |
| Dara Rolins - Chut si ta najde | 2006 | ♪ | Catchy electro pop number from Slovakian-born singer; at the time of this writing probably my favorite Slovakian pop song. | Link to full review |
| Frank Popp Ensemble - Fonce Dans le Coeur | 2005 | ♪ | The German group had enjoyed a big retro-kitsch hit back in 2003 with "Hip Teens Don't Wear Blue Jeans"; this exploration of French 60s charm elevates that formula into the realm of sublime art. | Link to full review |
| Fabrika - Ne vinovataya ya (I'm Not Guilty) / Фабрика - Не Виноватая Я | ~2005 | ♪ | Fabrika were an easy-on-the-eyes Russian girl group put together on a music TV show competition (similar to the way Girls Aloud was assembled on UK's "Popstars: The Rivals"). This is my favorite of their singles. | Link to full review |
| Kylie Minogue - In My Arms | 2007 - 2008 | ♪ | The Queen of Trash is back and continues to demonstrate effortless proficiency for churning out perfect, radio-friendly tunes like this one. | Link to full review |
| Bob Sinclar - Together (Radio Edit) | 2007 | ♪ | A typical Bob Sinclar song, with a toe-tapping melody and happy quality. | Link to full review |
| Alex Gaudino feat. Sam Obernik - Que pasa contigo (Extended Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | Alex Gaudino hits far more often than he misses. "Que pasa contigo" brings back the super-awesome Sam Obernik, whose vocals made Tim Deluxe's 2002 hit "It Just Won't Do" all that. Alex throws in some whimsical whistling and layers things for maximum effect. | Link to full review |
| Crush and Alexandra Ungureanu - Hello | 2007 - 2008 | ♪ | "Hello" is a gorgeous pop-trance tune that will have every non-speaker of Romanian registering for a language course. The music video is probably the best video I have ever seen from a Romanian group. | Link to full review |
| Favretto and Naan - Yes U R (Favretto Original) | 2007 | ♪ | A sexy tune with a galloping bassline, chopped-up electric guitars, and a fine female vocal performance. | Link to full review |
| Trashcan Jack vs. Billy Idol (Club Wedding Club Mashup Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | Some dummy/genius has spliced together Billy Idol's "White Wedding" with Bassheads' 1991 hit "Is There Anybody Out There? (Just Get Up and Dance)." All hail the pumping pianos!!! | Link to full review |
| Blackwood - My Love for You (7" Mix) | 1997 | ♪ | Superb transitions from the verses into choruses here—this song really swoops right in and sweeps you up. It's showing its age, but that only adds to its charms. | Link to full review |
| Lost N Found - Be My Baby (Radio Mix) | 2008 | ♪ | You always loved "Be My Baby," didn't you? But didn't you always think it needed to be cranked up to 140 bpm? | Link to full review |
| Ebony - Reflections | 1980 | ♪ | Ebony were basically a Eurodisco version of the Supremes, and this cover of the old Supremes tune works. | Link to full review |
| Grand Plaz - Wow Wow Na Na (B1 Extended Mix) | 1990 | ♪ | Fabulous sort-of-cover of the enduring "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye." | Link to full review |
| Anticappella - Everyday (Extended Mix) | 1991 - 1992 | ♪ | Here is another fine example of the growing tension between the hardcore techno scene and the then-gestating Eurodance one. | Link to full review |
| Noel Sinner - Pull Over (Original Mix) | 2007 - 2008 | ♪ | Cover of the old two-note Speedy J song, with some added oomph. | Link to full review |
| Clea - Keep It Cool | 2006 | ♪ | This underdog girl group never made it, but they produced many good songs. This tune wasn't even a single, just a piece of tossed-off, fluffy genius. | Link to full review |
| Marco Demark - Tiny Dancer (Moto Blanco Radio Mix) | 2007 - 2008 | ♪ | So when do you download the extended version and when do you download the radio mix? I think you download the radio mix when the song in question consists entirely of four lines yanked from an old Elton John tune sung ad nauseum on top of various fluff-house stylings. | Link to full review |
| Sia - The Girl You Lost to Cocaine (Stonebridge Vocal) | 2008 | ♪ | Decent dancefloor take on Sia's song. | Link to full review |
| Kaskade - Be Still (Album Version) | 2006 | ♪ | Remixes of this were floating about in 2007, but only recently did this slow pigeon figure out how good the original version of this tune is. With a heroically unorthodox opening (which would challenge most DJs) and a great melody, this is the one to get. | Link to full review |
| Ruslana - Diki tantsi / Руслана - Дикі Танці | 2003 | ♪ | Before she became a Grand Theft Auto IV radio station DJ, before her stint in Ukrainian parliament, before she became Ukraine's official UNICEF representative, before she chanted pro-Orange Revolution slogans through a megaphone on Kiev's Independence Square, and before she kicked Eurovision ass in 2004 with one of the catchiest tunes ever to win that competition, Ruslana put out a pleasing, pumping dance record filled with Ukrainian ethnic music influences. This is the title track. | Link to full review |
| Lucky Twice - Lucky (Extended Mix) | 2006 - 2007 | ♪ | Anyone missing the spirit of late 90s Eurotrash will love this adorable tru-trash tune. | Link to full review |
| Moby - Disco Lies | 2008 | ♪ | Well! Here is the best Moby song since "Natural Blues!" Enjoy your honorary Eurotrash degree, Moby! | Link to full review |
| Soulshaker and CeCe Peniston - Shame Shame Shame (Bassmonkeys Remix) | 2007 | ♪ | CeCe's "Finally" went off like a nuclear bomb in the international house scene in 1991—but then what happened to our gal? Well, this track is much more than mere cash-in-on-an-old-diva-supplying-vocals-for-my- (*deep breath*) -new-but-inferior-house-tune. CeCe sounds awesome, the song is great, and the Bassmonkeys remix invites the best sorts of comparisons to such acts as Freemasons and Shapeshifters. | Link to full review |
| Filo and Peri - Anthem (John O'Callaghan Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | Frantic trance tune works in a nice half-time chorus with surprisingly effective male vocals (surprising because they stay away from the divo stuff in favor of something a bit more AOR—and they work). Superb key change adjustment—another goosebumps-by-numbers maneuver, but hey, I'm looking at the goosebumps on my arm right now, so well done. | Link to full review |
| Astrada - Crazy for You (Club Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | I had been hunting for another Astrada song for a long time and iTunes only offered this one, but it turned out this one was better, anyway, and so here we are. Another springy, happy, trashy tune. | Link to full review |
| Flight of the Conchords - Foux Du Fafa | 2007 | ♪ | New Zealand's best folk outfit offers a romantic homage to France in a tune featuring lyrics that recall everything you actually remember from your French classes. | Link to full review |
| Shanna - Il est interdit (Club Mix) | 2007 | ♪ | Another slurry two-note song of the Speedy J "Pull Over" variety, but bolstered by French-language exaltations from a dominatrix that recall Sash!'s "Encore en fois" and a slew of other good trash tunes utilizing the same formula. The high-energy video is pretty fun, too. | Link to full review |
| Tosch pres. Sonic Monkey - Happy Song (The Sun) (Tosch's Electro Mix) | 2008 | ♪ | A contender for best song of 2008, this sunsplashed tune contains all the requisite booty-shaking elements, including pumping pianos, a cheery female vocalist, pan flutes, and a burbling 303 towards the end. Plus, this version has a slamming breakbeat. | Link to full review |
| Jimi Blue - Hey Jimi (Mozart and Friends Remix) | 2008 | ♪ | So-so German pop rapper drops lyrical, eh, wisdom on top of a re-tooled "Hey Mickey." This remix beats the original by a mile, thanks to the intrusion of some menacing organs to counterbalance the silliness. | Link to full review |
| Like a Tim - Dolly Dots | 2003 | ♪ | The song titles on Like a Tim's Little Acid Tracks are a winky homage to pop music from the past. The strongest hint of Mr. Tim's true nationality is betrayed by the title of this jaunty little number, which references a popular 80s girl group from (drumroll please) the Netherlands! | Link to full review |
| Cusmos feat. Joyce Muniz - Garoto (Steve Cobby Solid Doc Rerub) | 2008 | ♪ | Slinky house tune with Brazilian chick babbling away to accompanying wooo-wooo-wooos. | Link to full review |
| Elena - Te ador | 2007 - 2008 | ♪ | Super-catchy updating of the 1980s freestyle sound, complete with Latin horns, electro beats, and 80s synth garnishes, offered by the talented Romanian singer. | Link to full review |
| Alex Gaudino - Watch Out (Original Mix) | 2007 - 2008 | ♪ | Another excellent Gaudino tune. | Link to full review |
| Addictive and T2 - Gonna Be Mine (Simmons and Christopher Radio Edit) | 2007 - 2008 | ♪ | A good piano-pumping, Hi-NRG interpretation of this UK garage tune. | Link to full review |
| DDR - On and On (4 Phase Remix) | 2008 | ♪ | A tuff track with crunching guitar sounds and a guy lamenting over and over that everything is falling apart. Dude, get some therapy, OK? | Link to full review |
| Namie Amuro - What a Feeling | 2008 | ♪ | J-trash from Namie Amuro, who has been belting out pop hits in her native Japan for a while. This shimmery, electro-ish reinterpretation of the chorus from "Flashdance" is the best thing I've heard from her. | Link to full review |
| N.O.H.A. - Tu Cafe (Album Version) | 2006 - 2008 | ♪ | Released back a ways, but currently charting in Romania and, judging by YouTube video post dates, making inroads into other countries as well. It's a speedy breaks tune graced with hypnotic Spanish-language vocals which, I will guess, pay homage to coffee. | Link to full review |
| Poni - Pritem O / Pritëm O | Unknown; perhaps 2007 | ♪ | Mysterious and mournful-sounding Albanian pop. | Link to full review |
| Gentiana "Genta" Ismajli - Nuk Dua Tjeter (Bekamix) | Unknown; perhaps 2006 | ♪ | She's super hot and she belly-dances. Another Albanian-language tune (Genta is from Kosovo); this one is a real stormer. | Link to full review |
| Tosch pres. Sonic Monkey - Happy Song (The Sun) (Tosch's Euphorica Mix) | 2008 | ♪ | Features all the good stuff from the electro version except it replaces the breakbeat with a trancier boom-boom kick. Solid! | Link to full review |
| Édouard-Léon Scott - Phonautogram | 1857 | ♪ | This is the very first Eurotrash recording, available at the First Sounds website. This dude recorded pictures of sounds on paper using a device called a phonautogram. He could not play the sounds back. But a century and a half later scientists now can. Très Aphex Twin! | Link to full review |
| Surkin - Next of Kin | 2008 | ♪ | Record noise is joined by a fat analog synth sound. A shimmering slab of keyboards of a distinctly Van Halenish quality fall out of the sky. And so opens "Next of Kin." Very strange. Wondrous catchy. | Link to full review |
| Pool Up - My Jeans | 2006 | ♪ | This cute Italo tune from the dependable Bliss Co. crew finds itself halfway between 50s rock 'n' roll and nu-Italo house. | Link to full review |
| Monrose - Hot Summer | 2007 | ♪ | German girl group Monrose, like so many girl groups in Europe, was assembled on a reality TV show. "Hot Summer" is as infectious a pop tune as you're ever going to find. | Link to full review |
| Switch - A Bit Patchy (Eric Prydz Remix) | 2006 | ♪ | It's another cover, but Mr. Prydz exceeds expectations with his remix. It sounds nothing like the original tune. An ethereal, breathy "woo-oo," which amounts to the merest wiff of the original melody, drifts through the song like a tumbleweed rolling across the dusty plain. | Link to full review |
| DJ Deekline and Ed Solo - Handz Up (Stanton Warriors Mix) | 2008 | ♪ | Superb electro/breaks tune contains a heavy dose of chopped-up vocals and a funky keyboard bit perfect for performing windmills to on the club floor. | Link to full review |
| The Maxx - Baby Wants to Ride (Electro Dirty Extended Radio Mix) | 2006 - 2007 | ♪ | It's dangerous to mess with 80s club classics (the original of this was from Jamie Principle in 1988.) So, how did the Maxx do? Well, the coyness of the original has been replaced by a blunter "I wanna fuck you," but the pornographically suggestive original version still sounds way naughtier than this one. Nonetheless, this reinterpretation has grown on me over the last few months. It adds some surreal lyrics not present in the original version, and it certainly pumps. | Link to full review |
| Éha - Touch Me (Radio Edit) | 2004 | ♪ | Estonian-born Éha looks like a Maxim model; the silly music video to this tune resembles a beachside photoshoot for that publication. But the song rises above that. This is due to the clever use of a seemingly out-of-tune bell sound repeated throughout the chorus that adds a surreal dash to the otherwise poppy proceedings. Get the original radio edit; extended version jettisons some of the song's best ideas. | Link to full review |
| Kalomira - Secret Combination | 2008 | ♪ | Here is the real winner of Eurovision 2008, after you dismiss the bloc-voting which resulted in Russia's and Ukraine's respective first and second place finishes. This Greek entry had broader appeal than either of those tunes; it marries traditional Greek sounds with a pure top-40 pop vibe. | Link to full review |
| Moguai - Sittin' on Chrome (Radio X) | 2008 | ♪ | Moguai is back once again with another tune that will fit comfortably into his canon of hard-hitting tracks (he seems to be assiduously assembling a perfect future greatest hits collection). The extended version is a bit more stripped down than this radio mix, which adds some additional keyboard color. | Link to full review |
| Kate Ryan - Ella, Elle l'a | 2008 | ♪ | A trash titan returns, and she continues to maintain a solid track record started back in 2002. This is thumping dancefloor reinterpretation of a 1980s France Gall song. It deserves as much as success as any of her past singles. | Link to full review |
| Vandalism vs. Chicken Lips - Do It Proper (Do You Really Want It) | 2008 | ♪ | Yet another entry in what has become the most tiresome sub-genre of dance music this past year: hard electro beats combined with chick-with-attitude vocalist. But this one is better than average. It's just a little catchier than such tuneless efforts as last year's inexplicably popular "Yeah Yeah." | Link to full review |
| DJ Jurgen - A Higher Love (Extended Mix) | 2008 | ♪ | It has that familiar David Guetta quality to it, but the catchy hooks are all its own. | Link to full review |
| Rango Tangoz - Disco Mission (Dj Gregory Kolla System radio edit) | 2005 | ♪ | A strong funk bassline combined with a stirring female vocal. It's all pop and all club at once, characteristics that typify the nu-Italo sound. | Link to full review |
| Nucvise - Wild Cherry Tree | 2008 | ♪ | Soaring Eurotrance of the best old-school Gatecrasher variety, which is to say it sounds massive. And the melody, which unfurls gracefully over several measures, is a guaranteed goosebump-giver. From a 21 year-old guy living in Poznan, Poland. Dziekuje, Nucvise! | Link to full review |
| Shut Up & Dance - Come to Turn It Out (CTRL Z Remix) | 2008 | ♪ | Legendary breaks group keeps on ticking. This CTRL Z remix's piece de la résistance is a 303 build in the middle that will have even the most passive personalities crawling up the walls with anticipation. | Link to full review |
| Alabama 3 (A3) - U Don't Danse to Tekno Anymore | 2008 | ♪ | A tear-in-your-beer bluegrass country tune that addresses what many people around the world are discovering: that they don't dance to techno anymore. | Link to full review |
| Édouard-Léon Scott - Clair de la lune | 1860 | ♪ | Another groundbreaking 19th century trash track that would make a fine addition to the Warp! records catalog. I hear dead people! | Link to full review |
| Candie Hank - Le Desastre | 2005 | ♪ | Three words: Techno for Animaniacs. | Link to full review |
| Kylie Minogue - The One | 2007 - 2008 | ♪ | Kylie's handlers snagged the rights to this song (originally by Laid and Emma Holmgren). It was an excellent investment; it's the best of the singles to come off of her latest album, X. Remix by original producers Freemasons is also terrific. Despite much positive buzz online, the single failed to chart as well as past efforts, in part due to some record label weirdness regarding the last minute cancellation of the physical single. | Link to full review |
| The Cube Guys - Don't Cry (Baba O'Reilly) (Radio Edit) | 2008 | ♪ | The Who storm the discotheque with pleasing, if predictable, results. | Link to full review |
| Max Linen - Neon Lights (Original) (Vocal Dub Mix) | 2008 | ♪ | Mr. Linen enlists a couple of singers from a group called Portabello to create this solid electro-rock/house anthem. Sandy Vee's remix, which dispenses with the male vocals and wanders into even darker territory, is getting even more praise, but I prefer the more varied textures offered by the original. | Link to full review |
| Ian Van Dahl - Just a Girl | 2006 | ♪ | Heard it on the radio recently, thought it sounded nice, and then discovered it was on a CD comp I bought back in 2006. Huh! Maybe I should purchase music at the same rate at which I consume it. | Link to full review |
| Blank and Jones feat Vanessa Dau - Consequences (KP Radio Edit) | 2008 | ♪ | Breaks tune wears out its welcome after a bit (it's so expansive and airy that it quickly goes from beautiful to merely pretty). | Link to full review |
| Deep Zone Project & Balthazar - DJ, Take Me Away (Original Extended Mix) | 2008 | ♪ | Bulgarian Eurovision entry with breakbeats, pounding pianos, a half-time reggae breakdown, scratching, the kitchen sink, gunshots… | Link to full review |
| Mighty 44 feat. Anna Nordell - This Love Ain't Goin' On | 2004 | ♪ | Shouting boys and singing girls duke it out in this fantastic electro/rock/rap fusion thang. | Link to full review |
| DJ Kun - Escuela de calor | 2002 | ♪ | Happy-rap from a cheeky Spanish dude. | Link to full review |
| David Tavare - Hot Summer Night (Oh la la la) | 2005 | ♪ | Dave and Co. snag a bit of Eurodumdum wonders 2 Eivissa to serve as the main hook to this poppy summertime choon. | Link to full review |
| Me & My - Fly High | 2001 | ♪ | Pop trance tune from Danish singing duo makes a pleasingly unorthodox decision: it asks the girls to step aside after a couple of minutes in order to let the cool-o synths run wild for over a minute—a pretty big chunk out of a 4.5 minute radio edit. | Link to full review |
| Big Ang feat. Siobhan - It's Over Now (Radio Edit) | 2003 - 2005 | ♪ | A cover of a 1999 R&B tune by Deborah Cox produced by that rarest of creatures: a female dance producer. Features a nice soul vocal from Siobhan that is sure to put that no-good cheatin' man back in his place. | Link to full review |
| Gorchitza - Time Is Right | 2007 | ♪ | A catchy Galleonesque house tune from a Ukrainian duo that is more than deserving of an Ultra records release stateside—particularly because I desperately need to replace my crappy bootleg mp3 with a higher quality extended version. | Link to full review |
| Activ - Under My Skin | 2008 | ♪ | Groovy electro-pop choon from more hook-happy Romanians. What's in the water over there that leads to the creation of so many perfect pop songs? | Link to full review |
| Voltaj - MSD2 | 2006 | ♪ | Voltaj is huge in Romania, but my Western ears hadn't been as delighted by anything as much as their 2001 hit "Iarna." At long last, here is another Voltaj song that I find delectable. | Link to full review |
| Nu Electric - No Matter What (Radio Edit) | 2006 - 2008 | ♪ | Good, atmospheric, divo-driven electro-pop tune. | Link to full review |
| Ian Pooley - Heaven (DJ Tonka Mix) | 2004 | ♪ | The original is a bland jazz-funk-house thing (in other words, too smart for a site as taste-challenged as this one). But Tonka transforms it into a shimmery, trashtastic dream by adding pulsating 80s keyboards and a tasty chord progression. | Link to full review |
| Nightwish - Amaranth | 2007 | ♪ | "Amaranth," the first single featuring new vocalist Annette's vocals, rips the room apart. Video will convince you that nothing is more beautiful than an angel with bleeding eyes. | Link to full review |
| Play - Us Against the World (Bishop Remix) | 2001 | ♪ | The original tune from the Swedish tween sensation was trumpeted a while back, but this dance remix captures everything great about the original, plus it goes boom! boom! boom! The happiest song ever just got even happier! | Link to full review |
| Ishtar - O Julissi | 2008 | ♪ | The Belgian entry for the 2008 Eurovision competition was sung in a made-up language . Bosomy lead singer experienced a minor wardrobe malfunction during rehearsals. Neither language transcendence nor bosoms were able to lift the song into the finals. | Link to full review |
| Benny Benassi - I Am Not Drunk (Radio Edit) | 2008 | ♪ | "I Am Not Drunk" perfectly captures the ironic disconnect between drunkenness and insistent proclamations of sobriety. | Link to full review |
| Camille Jones - Difficult Guys (Radio Edit) | 2008 | ♪ | Camille looked headed for one-hit wonder status, but the Danish singer of "Creeps" has returned with a slinky homage to bad boys. | Link to full review |
| Aziz - Anti Geroj | ~2006 | ♪ | Anti Geroj is a seductive, gypsy-flavored Bulgarian tune featuring a male vocalist singing atop girls chanting "coo-coo-coo-coo" throughout. | Link to full review |
| Biber - Gypsy Part One | ~2006 | ♪ | A funky, female vocal number from Serbia. | Link to full review |
| Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov - Water | 2007 | ♪ | This 2007 Bulgarian Eurovision entry might be the coolest thing submitted to the competition (it came in 5th). Feastures two percussionists hammering away on top of techno beats; ethnic female vocals; and a somewhat strange, though thankfully brief Scatman John homage. Think Dead Can Dance crossed with Safri Duo on steroids and you've pretty much got it. | Link to full review |
| Darude - In the Darkness (Tech Edit) | 2007 - 2008 | ♪ | It seems Darude will always live in the shadow of his old hit "Sandstorm," but in fact he still knows how to cook up a mean tune, as "In the Darkness" demonstrates. | Link to full review |
| Spit - Falling (Daddy's Groove Vocal Mix) | 2007 - 2008 | ♪ | Pulls off the rare feat of going 9+ minutes while remaining consistently engaging. A multi-minute crawl of electro and house sounds builds to a "Gotta Get Thru This" bit. The expressive female vocals that follow are first-rate. There's even a surreal, note-bending electric guitar bridge seven minutes deep. Strangely addictive, with a potentially long future ahead of it. | Link to full review |
| Lia - I Want U | 2008 | ♪ | Electro pop given the Italo spin resulting in something infectious. Like the flu. A really excellent flu! | Link to full review |
| Chisky - Hand in Hand | 2008 | ♪ | 70s Euro disco, 80s Italo, and 90s house are blended into a driving Italian stomper for the ages. | Link to full review |
| EliZe - Hot Stuff | 2008 | ♪ | A cover of Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" was long overdue, so the Dutch rectified the situation with this electro-lite pop take. EliZe's emphatic delivery of the line "Gotsta have some love tonight!" is guaranteed to make you smile. | Link to full review |
| Geo da Silva - Do You Like a Truck (Extended Version) | 2008 | ♪ | One of those deeply dumb DJ songs that has a very bright future ahead of it at wedding receptions, where it will be played somewhere between "Macarena" and "YMCA." DJ repeatedly implores the audience to chant louder—when have you ever heard a DJ ask an audience to quiet down a little? | Link to full review |
| Fly Project - Lumea Mea (DJ Gaby Xtd Mix) | ~2008 | ♪ | As a devoted ethnologist who spent 2.5 weeks in Iasi studying Romanian people in their native habitat, I can assure you that hard-partying Romanians get down to songs like this. And you don't even have to speak Romanian to sing along to its choruses. | Link to full review |
| SW14 - Need You Tonight (Radio Mix) | 2008 | ♪ | You've got your happy diva imploring you to put your hands all over her while synths deliver the big hook. | Link to full review |
| Agnes [Carlsson] - On and On (Anothanding-An Beh-An Version) | 2008 | ♪ | This particular remix of the Swedish Idol winner's "On and On" includes a "What Time is Love/Love is Gonna Save Us"-style grumbling keyboard, circle dance-appropriate cries of "Hey!" and a 70s-tastic disco bridge where Agnes informs us that your love is amazing. | Link to full review |
| Shark & Sylvain feat. Lara Love - Call Me [perhaps better known incorrectly as "Waiting by the Phone"] | 2007 | ♪ | Slovenians are not especially known for their dance music, but Shark and Sylvain, with assistance from Leeloojamais vocalist Lara Love, kick out a perfect dance tune. | Link to full review |
| CastleRock & Dov - Everybody (Original Mix) | 2008 | ♪ | There are a lot of good retro house elements in "Everybody": pianos, a fat bassline melody, gurgling keyboard noises you used to hear all over the place in 1993 (but have forgotten all about in the decade and a half since), and a motivational female vocal. | Link to full review |
| Eric Prydz - Pjanoo (Radio Edit) | 2008 | ♪ | Instrumental track marks a new and artier direction for the Swedish-born DJ. So much fuss about a few piano chords! But there's no denying that this song captured many a clubber's imagination in 2008. It's in the mix where the song's power is best appreciated, when those chords come crawling mysteriously out of the darkness after your head is already swimming f |