*** Eddie Amador

INTERNATIONAL CLUB UNION SESSION 2

(ICU)

DJ Eddie Amador, the creator of "House Music" (the hit song, not the style), here inserts his big 1999 club cut into a full-length, 14-track segue of dreamy, Europop house music that lives up to the hit's reputation. Therein Amador said, in his sweetest, most diva-like voice, that "not everyone understands house music, it's a soul thing, a body thing" -- and so his take on house truly is. Cute flighty-girl singers (Csilla, Justine, Lovena) coo and pout the night away, losing their senses (definitive moment: Csilla's "Queen of Indane") to the tune of Amador's boomy beats, poofy voices, and perfumed orchestrations. The style here is all Miami, lithe textures and giddy highs, as opposed to the dark, big-bottom beats, preening funk, and fearful outcry that dominate New York club music. Not everyone will understand Amador's take on house, but if you think South Beach freestyle and Italian disco, you might just get his point.

-- Michael Freedberg