Various Artists: Balanced Output

New York -based Freeze Records’ Balanced Output (Freeze, 55089, 57:32), is a distinguished nuevo-groove compilation, in the sense that it actually works, even as some of the approaches and earmarks (retro instrumentation, Afro-Latin flavored beats, etc.) have a heard-it-before ring. There are still some tracks that bear re-listening: Milk & Honey-also known as Peter and Vanessa Daou-checks in with “Motion,” a gurgling keyboard-driven track with a barely tactile funkiness. Naked Music N.Y.C., featuring Katrina Vaughan, also weighs in with two interesting tracks, “Up Downtown” and the sassy soulster “Don’t Worry ‘Bout the Future.”

Originally Published April 1, 1998