One of the most celebrated & innovative artists in the electronic genre, Norway's Royksopp return with the highly anticipated follow-up to their classic debut.

The Ibiza Annual returns for the first time since 2002, with a stellar line up of tracks reflecting the return of Ibiza from the apparent decline of recent years - featuring 3 discs of the kind of upfront, classic and chilled house music that Ministry of Sound have become recognized for. Martin Solveig's huge 'Everybody', Axwell's heavily bubbling 'Feel The Vibe', the big follow up from Uniting Nation and upfront nuggets from Paul Johnson and the possibly massive LRD are the big hitters on disc one, not to mention one of the most heavily played Ibiza anthems of the moment, Steve Mac's 'Loving You More'. Disc 2 focuses on huge classics from Ibiza's golden era, from Moloko and EBTG to Roger Sanchez and David Morales. Disc 3 pulls together a roll call of the biggest chilled tracks ever in Ibiza, with Leftfield, KOT, Sabres of Paradise, the Beloved and Rob Dougan all featured. Ministry of Sound. 2005.

From the same label that brings us possibly the most reliable CD series of our time, HOTEL COSTES, comes another superbly executed theme, SO HAPPY IN PARIS. Based on a festive, eclectic and timeless musical programming (House, Deep, Afros- Latinos, Classics Disco), So Happy in Paris celebrates dance, sharing and conviviality. Featuring tracks from Kenny Bobie, Mustafa, Blaze feat. Byron Stingily, Kerri Chandler, Dennis Ferrer, Beanfield and many more.

An occasionally darker matter than Andrew Weatherall's likeminded mix of post-punk and early industrial, Nine O'Clock Drop, I Can't Live Without My Radio could be referred to as Nine O'Clock Drop Dead. Granted, DJ Morpheus didn't put this together for Cleopatra, the likes of Medium Medium and Heaven 17 sound excited about being alive, and there's a reasonable amount of variety considering the aesthetic focus. Jeff and Jane Hudson's "Los Alamos" and the Residents' "Kaw-Liga" begin the set with a sinister pulse, while Virgin Prunes' "Pagan Love Song" opens it up with hedonist rampage, which only comes to a grinding halt with the screech of Medium Medium's punk-funk "Hungry, So Angry." Just as importantly, the transitions aren't harsh. (The disc is technically, albeit barely, mixed for added sense of continuity.) If you've been following DJ Morpheus since his series of Freezone mixes, this should be a welcomed change of pace; most of the songs in the mix were released while he was known as one of the members of Israeli post-punks Minimal Compact, and it's apparent that he's thrilled to revisit his past. As he points out in his liner notes, several of the songs are politically charged and translate (depressingly enough) to 2005 -- Heaven 17's "We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thang," Time Zone's "World Destruction," and Love and Rockets' "Ball of Confusion" in particular. ~ Andy Kellman

This series of compilation albums is based on architect Frank Lloyd Wright's "floating foundation" principle used to build the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. How the concept is applied by the artists to the music heard in this volume remains very much a mystery. Vol. 1 featured ethereal experimental electronics, from glitch to minimal, but this time around things are more varied and puzzling. The set opens with a guitar piece by Disjecta (aka Mark Clifford). Sparse but full-bodied, it features long resonating notes in a construction that could be described as architectural but sure takes listeners places the previous disc ignored. David Toop's "Tricyrtis Latifolia" also features guitar, this time embedded in a complex and captivating electro-acoustic piece. ConcrŠte sounds, electronics, conversation, and guitar come together to form not a narrative (the usual "cinema for the ear"), but something closer to the act of remembering. Scanner's "Weightless" and Carl Michael von Hausswolff's "With the Flow Against the Current" both bring listeners back to the first disc in this series: electronic works that seem to float. The latter's piece seems to be based on the humming of electrical current, making it an extension of the 2001 work and CD Str�m. Hard Sleeper's (aka Peter Maybury) "Ends > Circle Walks" walks in circles indeed, adding loop upon loop of glitchy electronics to little avail -- the only weak cut. All five pieces were created in 2001-2002. ~ Fran‡ois Couture