Once upon a time, Ibiza was a spiritual and magical place. Every sunset, people gathered at Jose Padilla's ornately-decorated little beach-side bar to be hypnotised by his unique sunset DJ mix, staring dreamily out to sea. The first Café Del Mar album encapsulates this mystical experience, beginning light and airy with Jose's own dolphin-esque "Agua", progressing to darker, bassier sounds like Underworld and Ver Vlads to represent the sun falling behind the horizon. Jose creates a spellbinding atmosphere by placing oddities such as Penguin Cafe Orchestra, alongside dance tracks that take inspiration from world music and New Age (ethereal female vocals; bongo-lead percussion; samples of self-hypnosis tapes, flutes; wave-sounds). Higlights include the resonant piano and strings of Sabres Of Paradise's "Smokebelch" beatless mix. The sky fades to black with the gentle ambience of "Sunset At The Café Del Mar". Café Del Mar was "compiled with love" and thus truly stands the test of time. A great beginning to a classic compilation series. -Sarah Champion Once upon a time, Ibiza was a spiritual and magical place. Every sunset, people gathered at Jose Padilla's ornately-decorated little beach-side bar to be hypnotised by his unique sunset DJ mix, staring dreamily out to sea. [+]

The Gotan Project literally took the world by storm in 2003 with the million-selling La Revancha Del Tango. Skillfully mixing the heated passion of tango with the cool insistent beats of dance music, the group kept the best of both genres as it offered up an unheralded fusion. This time around, the production team delves further into the tradition, cutting down on the dub production filigree and overarching electronic programming-now sexy grooves often come on the back of organic beats and an unprocessed sound captured during live studio sessions in Buenos Aires. This new focus is furthered with conventional bandoneon soloing as well as acoustic piano and string section backing. Nonetheless, kids craving to cut a rug will dig "Diferente" and "Notas," while the robust "Amor Porteno" (featuring Calexico) is the group's most muscular tune to date. More skilled than the debut, Lunatico is no sophomore slump, though hardcore house music fans may want to wait for remixes. -Tad Hendrickson The Gotan Project literally took the world by storm in 2003 with its million-selling La Revancha Del Tango. Skillfully mixing the heated passion of tango with the cool insistent beats of dance music, the group kept the best of both genres as it offered up an unheralded fusion. This time around, the production team delves further into the tradition, cutting down on the dub production filigree and overarching electronic programming-now sexy grooves often come on the back of organic beats and an unprocessed sound captured during live studio sessions in Buenos Aires. This new focus is furthered with conventional bandoneon soloing as well as acoustic piano and string section backing. [+]

With material mined from Tangerine Dream albums Tyranny of Beauty, Rockoon, and Turn of the Tides, The Dream Mixes twists Tangerine Dream's prog-era work into appealing shapes of pulsing dance music. TD's warm, crisp electronic synth work fuses easily within a techno framework and comes out sounding better than much of the music on those earlier albums. Special cuts include those that capture TD's edgier work with sound clips, as in "Virtually Fields. " "San Rocco Catwalk" puts the sensuous, fat raindrops of TD synth over hardcore beats that seize the body and send it into an all-night rave while "Change of the Gods" casts a sexy, dreamy spell with layered, percussive synth. This album masterfully wraps the great electronic experiments of Tangerine Dream around a '90s techno edge that'll leave your body yearning for more. -Karen Karleski.