Peanut butter and jelly. Fish and chips. Wine and cheese. Sasha and Digweed. What do they all have in common? They are all fantastic combinations that the masterminds of which should be officially thanked by the United Nations. Now we have a newcomer into the midst of the Greats of Collaboration: SOS. Separately we know them all as Desyn Masiello, Demi, and Omid 16B; DJ's, producers, and artists that have definitely etched a name for themselves in the global dance music community. These guys are each synonymous with quality house music and true dedication to bringing that music to the masses.

Now the party that they are so well known for as SOS, whether it be on the Thames, in Ibiza, or at WMC, comes to a mixed series that itself has become a brand known for being the purveyor of top talent, the Balance Series. The 12 prior CD's have featured mixes from the likes of Jimmy Van M., Luke Fair, Chris Fortier, Anthony Pappa, Paolo Mojo, and Desyn Masiello himself, creating a true credibility that could only be challenged by the Global Underground series. And seeing as how three artists, with three different collections of vinyl at home, and three different takes on the sound itself, have come together to bring us this compilation it seems only fitting that it be done with three full CD's. The first disk is quite expectedly the most chill of the three. Overall it is a mixture of a fairly spacey and ambient combination of progressive and techy house tunes. For the most part it maintains a pretty steady flow of energy, without really having any extreme highs and lows, peaks and valleys. But given that the entirety of this album is over the course of three CD's, SOS was able to accomplish a much wider array of programming than is typically available, allowing more space for these artistic allowances. For the most part, however, I would say that though the first disk is definitely quite intelligent and features some great tracks, it takes back seat for me out of the three. Some definite tracks of note, though, would have to be Lindstrom's remix of Just an Illusion by Imagination (a jazzy electro track that is my favorite by far), DJ Fritizo's Pimms by the Pool, and Bryan Ferry's Don't Stop the Dance. It is also important to note that the latter two were the SOS edits, something that is a reoccurring theme through all three CD's. The first disk is left off nicely with The Cure's Lullaby.

"...the trio kicks off the third CD with some ambient down tempo that becomes exceptionally symphonic and melodic..."

Disk two picks up the thread of the first with SOS's edit of Lullaby, turning it into a nice techy, progressive joint, but already with a noticeable upswing in tempo. Dusty Kid's Luna and DJ Tarkan and V-Sag's remix of Josel's Digiboy keep that pace nicely until we've hit track four, Whatever by Nima Gorji, and by this point I'm remembering what it is about this music that I just love so much. The next series of events are a steady upward climb of great tune after great tune, with notables coming in the form of Whizz Kid's Fly High (SOS on that edit again!) and SOS's mashup of Aeroplane and The Real Life. Sugar's Once in a Lifetime brings a great breaking point with the break-beat funk chopping up the, up until now, steady progressive flow. The guys definitely get into some more tech from there, dipping into the somewhat minimal Six by Ink and Needle, but are back to the progressive tack again with Big Fun by Inner City. The second disk wraps up with a plateau of a track, Logos by Inner City. Instead of doing the obvious of picking up where the prior disk had left off, the trio kicks off the third CD with some ambient down tempo that becomes exceptionally symphonic and melodic in the second track, Salome by Jaash. Pacific Air Race by Aeroplane gets things moving in a spacey house direction followed by SOS's edit of Paul Keeley's A Sort Of Homecoming, keeping that spacey vibe but moving us in a little bit more of a progressive groove.

The boys keep us on this path through the next number of tracks, with melodic overtones and deep grooving bass-lines with some techy touches until we've reached Levan's Miau and then on into Ozze's Bend the Rules, a rougher harder house track with some truly descending funky bass-lines. We get some funky electro over the next few tracks with Loco Dice's City Lights (I'm going to pick this one up myself) and Kingpin Cartel's Moogie Nights. Michael Cassette's Shadows Movement gives an ambient interlude to the mix that's immediately followed up with the funky baby-making bass-lines of Jhonny and Peps remix of Luna by Stereo Brains. Disk Three wraps up with the jazzy soulful house of Think Twice by the Detroit Experience and closes out on the chiller techouse sounds of Omid 16b's Full Of E_mty.

I love how each of these CD's offers a wholly different experiencing in listening. Covering the myriad and many different ranges of ambient, house, techouse, progressive, electro, funk, and breaks these guys truly have given you your money's worth and something for most dance music fans to enjoy. They haven't pigeon holed themselves in any manner and have definitely stayed true to a great appreciation of great music that comes in all shapes and sizes. The Balance Series has definitely just continued to get better and better with each installment and this most recent addition may be one of the best yet.

Track-list:

CD 1

1. Omid 16b - Seagull
2. AN-2 - Wide Open
3. Modern Heads feat Pig & Dan - Gliding (Hypnotherapy)
4. Omid 16b - The Final Choice
5. Christian Smith & John Selway - Slow River
6. LFO - Nurture (Surgeon Remix)
7. Speedy J - De-Orbit
8. Jody Wisternoff - Starstrings (Instrumental)
9. Aeroplane - Caramellas
10. Chymera - Umbrella (Beatless Mix)
11. Imagination - Just An Illusion (Lindstrøm Dub) (SOS Edit)
12. DJ Frtizo - Pimms By The Pool (SOS Remix)
13. Bryan Ferry - Don't Stop The Dance (12" Remix) (SOS Edit)
14. Jan Driver - Kardamoon
15. MC Sultan - Der Bauch
16. Brandy - The Ritual (Chateau Flight Remix)
17. Cocteau Twins - Cherry Coloured Funk (Seefeel Remix)
18. The Cure - Lullaby

CD 2

1. The Cure - Lullabye (SOS Edit)
2. Dusty Kid - Luna
3. Josel - Digiboy (DJ Tarkan & V-Sag Remix)
4. Nima Gorji - Whatever
5. Spirit Catcher - Brain Candy
6. Kollektiv Turmstrasse - Wagnis
7. Marsmobil - Mangia Amore (Makossa & Megablast Remake) (Lucas Abadi Edit)
8. The Blacklight Society - 2028
9. Whizz Kidzz - Fly High (SOS Edit)
10. Aeroplane / Corporation of One - Aeroplane (Dub) / The Real Life (SOS Edit)
11. Sugar Caine Pres Bionik Phunk - Once In A Lifetime (Dub) (SOS Edit)
12. Marc Romboy vs Stephan Bodzin - Atlas
13. Slytek - Spin Out (Neon Skin Mix)
14. Ink & Needle - Six
15. Middleman - Dum Dum
16. Inner City - Big Fun (Edit)
17. Joeski - Caribe Elektrico (Outter Limits Mix)
18. Henrik B - Logos

CD 3

1. Speedy J - Fill 17
2. Joash - Salome
3. Aeroplane - Pacific Air Race (Dub)
4. Paul Keeley - A Sort Of Homecoming (SOS Edit)
5. DJ Pippi & David Penn - Do U Feel It (The Piano Mix) (SOS Edit)
6. AFX - VBSRedlofB
7. Dimitri - Here She Comes (Elektrokid Remix)
8. Kid Massive - Release (Raoul Dub)
9. Levan - Miau
10. Ozze - Bend The Rules
11. Loco Dice - City Lights (Martin Buttrich Remix)
12. Michael Ho - Kiss The Wasp
13. Ytre Rymden Dansskola - Kjappfot
14. Kingpin Cartel - Moogie Nights (SOS Edit)
15. Michael Cassette - Shadow's Movement (SOS Edit)
16. Bastian - Game Over
17. Alessi Brothers - Savin' The Day (SOS Edit)
18. Stereo Brains - Luna (Jhonny and Peps Remix)
19. The Detroit Experiment - Think Twice
20. Omid 16b - Full Of E_mty