A REVIEW: DJ ABEL'S Alegria: Universo (originally published in Feb/March's JustCircuit.MAG) by JOEY BENETIZ: DJ ABEL’s third installment of the highly popular Alegria series--Alegria: Universo--has redefined the dub, taking it from a remixing tool to becoming totally valid remixes in their own right. His "dirty" dubs are often as popular as and get as much play as the vox mixes themselves! Dubs have certainly been gaining momentum in recent years. Tony Moran often plays his own dubs. I have heard a lot of Thunderdubs as well. Those who appeal to the darker and harder tracks with minimal vocals are allowed to get more into the music and not distracted so much by the lyrics. Since a dub can sometimes come across as too much of a tease, most will agree that when hearing the dub of a song directly preceding the vocal mix, the track works magnificently. Abel’s two-CD compilation is very fluid. The vast majority of the songs are completely original and the audiences will love them, especially if and when they are released as singles. Despite Abel’s use of many different remixes, one will want to have these CDs to get the exclusive mixes from Ralphi, Abel and of course Rosabel. Paris Hilton’s "Turn Me On", the much talked about mix, will certainly service! The “stand out” track for this session is Tamia's "Me”. I will say now for the record that the Thunderpuss mix of "Stranger in My House"(penned by Shep Crawford who also wrote "Me") is this author’s personal all-time favorite song. Tamia really hasn't been able to duplicate the lightening of her two collaborations with Thunderpuss - the other being "Tell Me Who"- until now. In my mind, I am overlooking her past few singles and treating this one as the third part of a trilogy of outstanding anthems. I actually heard the ballad version of "Me" on the radio in a mall and instantly recognized Tamia's voice. Since that time, I have been obsessed with the song and have just been praying for the song to be remixed. I even went too far as to email Tony Moran and Chris Cox to beg them to do a Thunderpuss throw-back mix of it! Imagine my excitement when I got the Alegria email from New York promoter Ric Sena regarding Alegria: Universo and the teaser of "a new Tamia track!" Another early favorite is "Besito Pa Ti" by La Lupe. It is so campy and absolutely over-the-top. To describe it graphically? Charro on crack! Or one would picture a telenovella set to Rosabel's signature cha-cha beat. This is an old song that Rosabel has just mixed and sent out to DJs, so I am sure you'll be hearing it out a lot. Of course Ralphi and Abel brought back their favorite muse, the incomparable Jeanie Tracy, with one of her trademark feel-good songs that will be getting "everybody up" on boxes and speakers in 2008. No Alegria CD would be complete without a Tony Moran mix! ABEL introduces the first CD with "Universo Alegria" from Moran’s “The Event” compilation, recently re-released on Masterbeat.com. Tony also separated The Event's mix of "Show You" from His Destroy U Mix of "House Is Not a Home." Let's hope he later decides to release his outstanding private mix of "Everybody Dance" as well! If one has perhaps not been back to an Alegria event in a while, Alegria: Universo helps tide us all over until the next opportunity that Alegria can wear our bodies out, uh huh. Kudos go to Tommy Boy for an outstanding job with this whole package. In this day and age of downloading, it's good to see someone's still getting it right! I am so happy that this was not a single CD being that Alegria is such a marathon event. Perhaps the next Alegria CD will be a 3-part: Peak, After Sunrise and After Noon! Joey Benetiz is a staff writer for JustCircuit living and dancing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and all over the Circuit. Contact Joey: Joey@JustCircuit.com View JustCircuit.MAG online for free! www.justcircuitmag.com