Mo' Horizons, a duo made up of German DJ/producers Ralf Droesemeyer and Mark Wetzler, have had numerous club hits over the past few years and have contributed regularly to TV and commercial soundtracks as well. For their newest full-length album, they have pulled a wide assortment of beats, samples, and stylistic flavors into a motley but surprisingly coherent collection of dance music. The most consistent influences are jazz and various kinds of Latin music, but this is not another faceless acid jazz album; And the New Bohemian Freedom, despite its goofy title, is a smart conglomeration of sounds from Brazil, Cuba, India, and the U.S., all of it spiced up with generally subtle electronic elements. Highlights include the
Medeski, Martin & Wood-style organ funk of "Holy Water," the Kalahari-Bushmen-at-Studio-54 cheesiness of "African Sunset," and the delicately rolling Indian funk of "Morning Bay." But the album's finest moment comes on "Drum 'n Booglaoo," in which Cuban rhythms and sweet-voiced female singers meet complex horn charts and a modified drum'n'bass breakbeat. Very, very nice. ~ Rick Anderson