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ALBUM REVIEWS

Album Reviews | DJ's got a future classic

mhamersly@MiamiHerald.com

• ELECTRONIC/DANCE

DANNY TENAGLIA

Futurism

Silver Label/Tommy Boy

****

Fans of superstar DJ Danny Tenaglia are used to grooving all night and all day to his marathon, 16-hour sets (yes, 16 hours) in the world's biggest nightclubs.

His double-CD set Futurism -- Tenaglia's first compilation mix in six years -- doesn't approach even the three-hour mark. But it's no less compelling than his epic live performances.

From the very first minute, we sense we're in for a deep journey through the best that progressive house music has to offer, with the mesmerizingly intricate tribal drums of Yello's Indigo Bay setting a deliciously dark tone. Tenaglia shows off his mixing expertise as the track swells and morphs into Metaphysical Vibe by R.T.A. -- you realize something different is happening but his blend is so seamless, everything melts into one buttery entity. When African chants jump out of nowhere on Afefe Iku's Bodydrummin', it's hard to believe the track has changed.

Tenaglia throws in a new track of his own, The Space Dance (inspired by his performances at the legendary Ibiza club Space), which closes out CD 1 with minimalist bliss.

CD 2 keeps up the momentum, weaving rhythmic textures seemingly out of thin air on the opening track, Mid Life Crisis by Fred Giannelli; piercing your soul with the clattering beats of Murder Murder by Silent Servant; and making your body move involuntarily with the deep bass and bouncy tech-house of Dave Angel's Mothership Pt. 1.

At once classic and groundbreaking, with Futurism, Tenaglia has given fans a way to enjoy the energy and creativity of his unmatched live sound without having to stay up all night. Welcome back, Danny -- nobody does it better.

Pod Picks: Indigo Bay, The Space Dance, Mothership Pt. 1

-- MICHAEL HAMERSLY

• COUNTRY

JAMEY JOHNSON

That Lonesome Song

Mercury Nashville

*** ½

Fans of country music's rich history will be encouraged by Jamey Johnson's third album, That Lonesome Song.

The disc, a gritty, old-fashioned song cycle tracing a weathered individual's loss and redemption through songs like In Color (a grandfather recalls his life via black and white photographs) and High Cost of Living (a drinker gets clarity) feels like the heir to Waylon Jennings' mid-'70s country classics.

The former Marine, whose resonant voice recalls Jennings', offers faithful covers of Jennings' Dreaming My Dreams With You and The Door Is Always Open. The CD closes with the descriptive Between Jennings and Jones.

That Lonesome Song takes its listeners on a guided journey to meet vivid characters and feel a range of emotions. Johnson's stark, cinematic That Lonesome Song is among the best country has offered in 2008.

Pod Picks:High Cost of Living, Place Out on the Ocean, Women.

-- HOWARD COHEN

hcohen@MiamiHerald.com

KEITH ANDERSON

C'Mon!

Columbia Nashville

*

For fans of the sillier aspects of '80s hair metal, country's Keith Anderson has plenty of reminders of the era on his sophomore (and sophomoric) album, C'Mon!: Shout-outs to sexy women. Overblown hooks. Formulaic and dull radio ballads with cliché lyrics. Anderson, this decade's answer to Billy Ray Cyrus, has 'em all.

The title song's production is big and loud stomping rock like any old Bon Jovi or Motley Crüe hit. That's tolerable. Less forgiving are insipid songs like Adaliene, a regrettable tale of a dumb man who has a tattoo of his naked ex on his arm. He makes it dance for his nephew, who marvels at ''the first naked lady I ever saw,'' and bemoans the fact she left him years ago. She had sense.

Pod Pick:C'Mon!

-- HOWARD COHEN

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