Moguai - I Am X

Club compilations are very much a hit and miss affair, too often dominated by record companies looking for a quick cash-in. This is an honourable exception; each track complemented by those around it in one smooth, seamless flow. There's a beautiful synthesis of pleasure and pain that it takes a great resistance to avoid being sucked into; it weaves you into its own world of sin, sadism and redemption. Familiar sounds and samples reoccur throughout each disc, and they're delightfully untraceable, verging on recognition, but constantly elusive. That's the beauty of I Am X: it makes you see sounds old and new in a different light. Sounds languidly sweep the listener along in their wake, on an at once tentative, and at once definite journey. Like all long, treacherous journeys, it's exhausting, and it makes for a complex and rewarding experience. A welcome addition, then, to CD collections everywhere.[Jonathan Robert Muirhead]