The snowy landscape photo on the cover is a complete mystery to me. Dalminjo (from Norway) crafts warm grooves that cover the entire territory between smooth house and downtempo. I guess the major "snowy" component is the spacey synths and ambience. But somehow, the spacey elements and the Brazilian-vibed grooves blend beautifully. The album is pretty mellow, but will definitely get you movin'. Interesting stuff, but better yet, it's a lot of fun!

The album is surprisingly consistent so it's hard to pick highlights. I'd probably recommend tracks 1, 5, 7, 8, 10, 14.

- Captain Dee, 8-2004 -

*1. Strong samba feel. Sexy guitar strumming, deep bass, male "ahs" in the distance. Smooth! (5:36)
2. Jazzy female vocals, organic uptempo beat, spacey ambience, rich bass. (4:37)
3. Mellow but groovin'. Spacey flute-ish melody, fun piano, xylophone-ish and organ melodies. Distant "ahs" set the mood. (6:07)
4. Sultry vocals sound like Sarah McLaughlin. Naughty sounding electronics in the back, swelling synthetic ambience, strong midtempo beat. (6:36)
*5. Stylish house with nice deep bassline. Repeated but catchy chords and chimes with more male chants. Atmospheric. (5:30)
6. Dreamy male vocals: "all I want is to be loved by you." Fast jazzy drums, nice house-y claps, washes of electronic melody. Bongos join in later. (4:35)
**7. Shakers, slow island-ish beat, cut up female vox, lovely ambience and stirring synths melody. Definitely not house, but not quite downtempo. Perfect music for a tropical sunset. (4:54)
*8. Mischievous bass, infectious drums all over the place, bluesy chords, groovin' organ makes periodic appearances. Tight groove! (6:48)
9. House beat swells in over shakers and mellow, jazzy chords. Echoing female vocals (a bit cheesy). (5:57)
*10. Fun fiesta percussion under a hard beat, trippy electronics, piano, and atmospheric male vocals. Epic synths and brass kick in towards the end. (5:16)
11. Dramatic synths, cosmic sounds, fast drum beat. (6:42)
12. Echoing female vocals over spacey ambience and a hard, syncopated beat. (5:22)
13. Thumping dance beat, rain/wind samples, trance-y melodies. Borders on progressive trance. (6:05)
*14. Dirty get-down groove w/ swelling keys and later riffs of strings. Everything comes together nicely in the second half. (4:22)