Roger returns to the dance/club scene with an undoubtedly one of the best albums released this year. “First Contact” is musically a long time coming from Sanchez but it delivers all the goods in my eyes and was well worth the wait.
The ‘S-Man’ grew up in the early 90’s as a prolific remixer, world-class dance DJ and pretty much a house-hold name by the end of the decade. While he preferred to concentrate more on mix albums rather than proper productions under his own name, Sanchez’s career continued to rise.
Throughout “First Contact”, Sanchez reminds us that he still is able to deliver tunes from back in the day as he mixes smooth garage sounds into a rougher style influenced by fresh new beats now being heard from UK and Europe. Starting off with “Computer Bank” we are given a taste of electronica music now filtering through the airwaves (adopted many-a-time by Daft Punk – God love them!). This is followed by Roger’s current smash hit on the dance floor charts “Another Chance”. This track is a little slow to start but once those beats start slamming there’s no stopping him. Mr Sanchez draws the expertise of none other than Armand Van Helden and N’Dea Davenport (on vocals) for “You Can’t Change Me”. With an almost disco feel, this is sure to be Roger’s next hit from this album.
With the ever so infectious beat from “The Partee” which is cleverly designed to make you want to move regardless of where you are, Roger shows us exactly how fun club music can be. Now one interesting track I came across was “I Never Knew” featuring Cooly’s Hot Box. This track was originally released in 1999 and in fact I have it on a Pete Tong CD from another compilation “Essential Millennium”. Just quietly, I quite liked Pete’s mix of this song but with no disrespect to the S-Man, it’s still a superb track in any event.
Oh and just for the record, I actually purchased this CD – so go out and do the same!
Tracklist: Roger Sanchez - First Contact
01. Computabank
02. Another Chance
03. Contact
04. You Can’t Change Me featuring Armand Van Helden and N’Dea Davenport
05. Partee
06. Ventura
07. Never Knew featuring Cooly’s Hotbox
08. Nothing 2 Prove
09. Leaving
| 
