Kristine W - Land Of The Living 2011

Originally released as a single in 1996, this is a favorite among many of her fans. Several new mixes have been released, making over the song yet again. There were already nearly several dozen mixes from the initial releases. The new package includes mixes by Kevin Saunderson, Timothy Allan and Deep Dish. Kevin Saunderson's electro-house mixes are mostly instrumental with just a few vocal samples on the remix. However, Timothy Allan's progressive tribal/electro mixes make use of the vocals on his mixes. Kristine's powerful vocals are beautifully showcased. Finally, there's the Deep Dish mix which is a longer, unreleased version of their already brilliant mix. Clocking in at over 13 minutes, the funky disco/house mix is absolutely stunning. This one is the obvious standout of the package, however, the Timothy Allan vocal mix is a stellar update.

Listen to streams of the mixes here:
Kristine W - Land of the Living (Battle of the Remixers - Round 2) by championrecords

Grade: B+ (for the package overall)/A- (for the Timothy Allan remix)/A+ (for the unreleased Deep Dish mix)

Kristine W - Fade (Part 1)

This is the highly anticipated new single off of her The Power Of Music album. The guitar-driven electro/pop song is already great in its original form, however, it gets taken up several notches for the dancefloor. Johnny Vicious, Alex Acosta, Royaal, Buzz Junkies, and Subgroover, provide the remixes.

Johnny Vicious's main mix is basically a souped up version of the original. His Warehouse mixes lose the guitar, replacing that with an electro synth and bassline. The Eurodance/Hi NRG sound of Alex Acosta's mix also recalls the original. Royaal's mixes are minimal electro with a hint of uplifting synthpop. Buzz Junkies and Subgroover both take things in a similar electro/pop direction. All mixes are pleasant, however, the main Johnny Vicious and Alex Acosta mixes work the best overall. The second package of remixes will be released soon.

Purchase the digital single here (Juno), and here (Amazon)




Grade: A-

Kristine W. - Be Alright

This is the latest single off of her much-awaited new album The Power Of Music. "Be Alright" is not exactly a new song though. An early version was completed in 2006. A remix by Offer Nissim appeared on his Forever Tel Aviv compilation which came out in early 2007. In this song, Kristine sings about how things will turn out fine even if there are obstacles in the way. The vocals sound very fresh and clear.

Featuring George Lynch, the original version is produced by legendary remixer/producer Hex Hector. It is a rock guitar-driven midtempo track. This does have Adult Contemporary format smash written all over it.

The Boris mixes have an electro/circuit/rock feel that works well. Tom Stephan's mixes are circuit/electro-ish. The Perry Twins mix is nice and anthemic. Bass Mekanik's is at a similar tempo as the original. It's Electro/Pop at it's best. Joe Carrano's are good too, but they lack that extra something his work has unless he is programming for someone else. His slower version is more effective. Offer Nissim's mix is the same as the one that appeared on the compilation mentioned earlier in the review. It's a minimal, dub-style mix. It loses most of the vocals, but keeps just enough. The production is really pretty though.

Overall, this package is pretty good.

Grade: A-

Kristine W - Love Is The Look

Shortly after "Never" topped the charts, Kristine W has announced her new single "Love Is The Look." In a unique partnership with Johnson & Johnson, "Love Is The Look" is being used in a campaign for their K-Y Intrigue. As part of that deal, the Ralphi Rosario mixes of the song were made available for free and legal download through Masterbeat. However, this song is going to be released as a proper single in the coming weeks. Ralphi Rosario's mixes are his usual big room fabulousness. They are hard, driving and melodic. The dub is much harder and darker. Kristine's vocals are great on this one. So far, there is an additional remix of this by Love To Infinity. It's a bit ligher. Pretty good too.

Grade: A

Kristine W. - Never

Hot on the heels of her cover of the Diana Ross Disco classic "The Boss", she is back with a new song. This is not a cover. Announced a few weeks back, this one calls to mind some of the work she did during the 90's. It does not sound dated though. It just feels like a 'classic' already. Kristine's vocals are stunning as usual. Remixes by 7th Heaven, Love To Infinity, Ruff & Torte, DJ Escape & Johnny Vicious, Peter Canellis/Kamil, Nick Harvey, Brothers Behind The Light/M2 and The Perry Twins will be on the CD maxi single, which is to be released on November 24. The single can be ordered from her website. A digital release will happen in the next few weeks.

Grade: A

Kristine W. - The Boss

This has been in the works since early 2006. In June of 2006, Junior Vasquez played a few minutes of a version him and Fumi Kondoh had been working on during his XM radio mixshow. From then until recently, there have been very mentions of this project. But just a few weeks ago, it was announced that a full release of this Diana Ross cover would be happening. As of a couple days ago, it was announced that fans can pre-order a special CD single of remixes of this on Kristine W.'s website. The actual release is scheduled for February of this year. There had also been word that the digital release would precede the CD release on January 1 of this year on Masterbeat.com however, that may be delayed for a few more days until the site is launched.

The lineup of mixers on this one is particularly good. Johnny Vicious, Tracy Young, Paul Goodyear, Love To Infinity, Jamie J. Sanchez, Wayne G. and the Perry Twins. There could still be more.

The CD maxi has the following tracklisting.

01. Love To Infinity Radio Edit (3:52)
02. Tracy Young Radio Edit (4:16)
03. Johnny Vicious Radio Edit (4:25)
04. Paul Goodyear Radio Edit (3:19)
05. Jamie J. Sanchez Frisco Radio Mix (3:42)
06. Love in the Club Mix (6:46)
07. Tracy Young Big Club Mix (10:07)
08. Paul Goodyear Circuit Mix (9:34)
09. Paul Goodyear Funky Downunder Mix (7:43)
10. Too Vicious Club Mix (8:22)
11. Jamie J. Sanchez After Midnight Club Mix (9:13)
12. Emoticon Chill Mix (4:16)

Based on the 2006 Junior version, the vocals were quite good. Very faithful to Diana's original, but of course, Kristine nails it. Look out for this one really soon.

Rihanna - 7 out of 7

Rihanna recently mentioned her aspirations to be just as successful and iconic as Madonna is, and she has already shown some similarities. She has managed have 7 consecutive number one hits out of 7 singles that charted. Her 8th, "Breaking Dishes" has just debuted. Could she break Kristine W's record of 9 weeks? Let's wait and see.

DANCING IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT:
Rihanna's latest dance single, "Shup Up and Drive" (SRP/Def Jam), shifts into first place on Hot Dance Club Play, giving the singer from Barbados her seventh chart-topper on this list. Rihanna now has a perfect record of seven out of seven No. 1 hits, stretching from her debut release, "Pon De Replay" in 2005, to her current song.

Rihanna is tied for second place with Janet Jackson and Madonna among artists with the longest strings of No. 1 hits on the Club Play chart. Jackson's streak began with a remix of "When I Think of You" in 1986 and ran through a remix of "Alright" in 1990, covering a period of three years, seven months and two weeks.

Madonna has two separate runs of consecutive seven No. 1 singles on the Club Play chart. From a remix of "Causing a Commotion" in 1987 to "Justify My love" in 1991, Madonna took three years, two months and three weeks to line up her first run of seven No. 1s. Her second string began in 1999 with "Nothing Really Matters" and ended in 2001 with "Impressive Instant," taking two years, eight months and one week.

Rihanna's seven chart-toppers were assembled in record time -- just two years and two months. Her latest single, "Breakin' Dishes," enters the chart at No. 40 this week. Should it become Rihanna's eighth No. 1 in a row, it will catapult her into second place all by herself. She'll need two more No. 1 hits to surpass the record-holder. Kristine W's first nine chart entries all spent time in the penthouse. The run began with "Feel What You Want" in 1994 and ended with "The Wonder of It All" in 2005. Kristine W's seventh No. 1 was "Fly Again" in 2003, which means it took her nine years, four months and one week to collect her first seven chart-toppers.

Here is a summary of Rihanna's seven No. 1 hits:

"Pon De Replay," one week (2005)
"SOS," one week (2006)
"Unfaithful," one week (2006)
"We Ride," one week (2007)
"Umbrella," two weeks (2007)
"Don't Stop the Music," one week (2007)
"Shut Up and Drive," one week (2007)