The latest compilation album from a collaboration between Ministry of Sound & Ultra Records is a double CD which represents the sound the American dance music scene mixed by two of New York's finest DJs.

Tracklist:

Disc 1
1. Wayne Wonder - No Letting Go (Alb Rich Club Mix)
2. Room 5 ft Oliver Cheatham - Make Luv
3. Jason Nevins pres. Holly - I'm In Heaven
4. Panjabi MC - Beware of the Boys (Triple X Mix)
5. Dutch ft. Crystal Waters - My Time (Scumfrog Mix)
6. Mantra ft. Lydia Rhodes - Away (Peter Rahofer Mix)
7. Roger Sanchez pres. Transatlantic Soul - Release Yo'Self (Robbie Rivera Mix)
8. Benny Benassi pres. The Biz - Satisfaction (Greece Vocal Mix)
9. DJ Tomcraft - Loneliness (Klub Cut)
10. Jessy - Look at Me Now (Extended Vocal Mix)
11. Syver - Livin' My Life (Ion Mix)
12. 4 Strings - Let It Rain (Original Vocal Mix)

Disc 2
1. The Streets - Weak Become Heroes (Rokysopp's Memory Lane Mix
2. Lee-Cabrera - Shake It (No te Muevas Tanto Mix)
3. Scumfrog - Music Revolution (S-Man's Music Not War Mix)
4. Andrea Doria - Bucci Bag
5. Cedric Gervais - Let's Keep It Real
6. Amuka ft. Sheila Brody - Appreciate Me (NYC Roxy Mix)
7. Orielle - All I Know (House of Wax Mix)
8. Oxygen ft. Andrea Britton - Am I On Your Mind (D. Ramierz Mix)
9. Nalin & Kane - Beachball (Waxman's Mix)
10. Dino Lenny vs The Housemartians - Change The World
11. Matt Schwartz pres. Sholan - Can You Feel What I'm Going Thru (Sono's Pelican Mix)
12. NRC - Here Comes the Rain Again (Radio Edit)

DJ Skribble is well known in the USA for his involvement with MTC, where he is the official MTV Spring Break DJ, and although outside of North America, his name doesn't strike the ears, his introduction blend into No Letting Go immediately rushes us into clubland territory, with some housey, progressive beats and electrolyte disco vocals which gives us one of those tracks which clubbers are bound to have a good time with at any party.

Room 5 & Oliver Cheatham have been two big names across both sides of the Atlantic with this house track straight out of a late 90s esque club house envelope and if that wasn't enough, more disco dancing divas are seen jumping around to the sound of I'm In Heaven to this lighthearted blend of club house and progressive.

I have not mentioned anything about the mixing yet, which to my surprise is on par with some of world's finest. Panjabi MC have been in the spotlight quite a lot recently with their infusion of Asian-Indian elements into an electro style house, with this track reminding me distinctly of Knight Rider. Yes, you know it too, the one with David Hasslehoff back about a decade.

As we breeze into My Time we have more of the same club dance music, but going into Away, you immediately feel a sense of a more darker sound, and with an intensively eerie bassline provided courtesy of Mantra & Lydia Rhodes, with a makeover by Peter Rauhofer, this one comes in distinctly and pronounced as a right turn in the compilation, and although the house elements are still there towards the latter half of the track, you can get a picture that perhaps guys like Paul Oakenfold would open with a track like this; and aside from the vocals, the melody and the accompanying bass are superb to say the least.

House gurus Roger Sanchez and Robbie Rivera team up for the next escapade, which heads back into house-dance territory, but surprisingly has a subtle percolation into something deeper and less housey, before pushing us into Satisfaction, a track which completely reminds me of something that Mario Piu in 1999 would come up with, and although Benny Benassi has been a hot name lately, this doesn't do it for me at all... should have stayed off the album.

Tomcraft's Loneliness, does anyone NOT know this song by now? Needing no introduction, this electro techno track reminiscent of the 80s German techno era, although annoying by itself, comes through as quite a satisfying addition to the selection, totally giving me the wrong sense of direction when Look @ Me Now came through.

Some of you may know the name Jessy from many of the Belgian releases from the vocal trance-dance group, and although it signifies a diversity in the album, this is pure and true Euro-trance for the masses..

As are our following two finale tracks, with perhaps a slight tendency towards the UK club sound with Skribble's 4 Strings offering, but still reminding us that the North American dance scene is in a different phase of development relative to their European peers in terms of dance music, still prefering the clubby, housey vocal sounds with a bit of Euro thrown in for gratification. But that does not stop the first disc to give me a sense of satisfication in some way. Although perhaps not my pick of the tracks, the mixing has been decent and my impression of the American sound remains firmly enforced by this mix.

Disc 2

David Waxman has long been one of the forerunners of the American dance scene, also being the A & R top man at Ultra, his tracklist prior to listening looks promising.

Norwegian pick of the day's Royksopp put in a fine remix of Weak Become Heroes, following off from where DJ Skribble left off, and David keeps the house sound persistent throughout his first several tracks, complete with some latin flavours in Shake It, but definitely club material, likely to fare well on the beaches of Miami or the coastlines of California on a sweaty summer night.

But things keep going into progressive territory from here on in; even Scumfrog's Music Revolution, although house in nature, is more deeper than the others and the dubs seem to have increased substantially.

Before long, Italian progressive house/trance master Andrea Doria gives us his offering of Bucci Bag, one of my favourite progressive anthems of the past half a year, with an addictive groove and funky bassline which has you almost begging for more at the end of the 5 minutes offered by David Waxman.

A bit more borderline stuff comes in with the next two tracks by Cedric Gervais and Amuka respectively, with the latter clearly walking on the wall between progressive and house before setting us into David Waxman's own remix of All I Know.

A somewhat subdued and dubby selection, it slows down the pace and seems to prepare us for something planned, with it's Maria Nayler like vocals, complete with chimes, buildups and more buildups..

Oxygen aka Lustral / Space Brothers have had this track out for quite some time now, but to my knowledge, the D.Ramirez Mix is a relatively new affair, giving a distinct house feel to the already house tinged production and putting us definitively into a grinding mood.

Over recent weeks, Nalin & Kane's Beachball has been in the headlines quite a bit with it's upcoming release and remakes in line.. David Waxman's own remix of the balearic monster from a few years back is nothing short of superb, a mashup of tribal grooves and the chilling vocals which we all know and love put this firmly at the top of my choice for the compilation so far, before setting our feet into Change the World, a seeming cross between Robson & Jerome with some jazz classics, making for a grand final several tracks.

Tribalness continues within Sono's interpretation of Can You Feel What I'm Going Through, before exploding into a remake of EBTG's classic Here Comes the Rain Again. This track by NRC has picked up the interest of a certain DJ Tiesto, who added his remix to the list of tracks released on this slate.

David Waxman's choice of taking the radio edit is nothing short of an excellent ending for the CD.

I was not too sure whether to expect a full on progressive house session, or some more disco based sounds for this compilation based on the American dance industry, but was pleasantly surprised with a mixture of house, progressive and trance across the two discs. The mixing is not bad, but then again, what compilation these days employ the traditional 2 deck mix without addons? Nothing wrong with that obviously, and I would say that my preference for Dave Waxman's second disc comes through, with a collection of fine tuned progressive tracks coupled with a sample of vocal tainted trancers and house tracks to add flavour to the double disc.

Conclusion:
This release will appeal more so to the North American listeners relative to the European because of it's obvious target towards the USA and Canada crowds, but if you're looking for a taste of the N.American scene, this CD is one for you.