Clubbing with Nancy Jane
By Romina Tobias

Club music, particularly “House” from the DJ subculture, is probably one of the simplest genres of music hitting the party airwaves. It is in many ways just an electronic offshoot of Disco, featuring a steady 4/4 beat with played up percussion beats and accented basslines. It may come across as being ”amateurish” –with its simple (but not mediocre) melodies, plus the skillful layering of effects on exotic synthesizers to make a unique piece of sound… but I’m a full fledged fan nevertheless. House for me is the fusion of ambient sounds, soulful beats, vocals that are reminiscent of smooth jazz (almost ethereal), with an electro bite to it that will make you want to own the dance floor and be transported to some beach house in Ibiza. This kind of music is more than welcome to occupy those precious gigs from my MP3 player.

I was quite keyed up in getting the chance to listen to Nancy Jane’s CD for the first time, especially knowing how world-class our local DJs have become. This is the first locally produced House/Club album that showcases the vocals of Nancy Castiglione, a TV personality now packaged as a singer. I was looking forward to what mixes and collaborations this CD had to offer. Will I be swept off my dancing feet and be whisked away to party heaven? Can Nancy Jane sit right up there with my Kaskade, Milky, and Samantha James collection?

I think the 12-track album overall, is an exuberant disco-pop album on a sub-Moony playground with Bonnie Bailey cut-ups...not so much resembling an edge there. However, this unexpected genre for the TV/Host/Actress plays to her strengths (a very clever choice, actually). Melodies are simple, not requiring a wide vocal range. She can carry a tune, yes, but rather thin and slightly nasal…almost “tweeny” with the likes of Vanessa Hudgens and Hilary Duff, making her attempt for sultry singing feel a little bit contrived. Her voice for me, was a huge barrier to what was potentially some awesome, danceable beats. In particular, I loved the intro and rhythm for Rock It  (music by Ricci Chan and Arranged by Brian Cua), those glitter-pop beats may have channeled a bit of Britney Spears’ “Gimme More”  but funked up to an electro-rock vamp with a bit of techno dressing. On the other hand, Moonlight Mood (Music and Arrangement by Bimbo Yance) and Attraction/Connection (Music and Arrangement by Ricci Chan) have an almost impeccable parade of loungey, trance-like sounds. (Very Café del Mar from the Hed Kandi Mix).        

Ultimately, the album for me was not able to deliver all the essentials for a party club, gather-all-my-friends experience. But there are enough great rhythms and beats in there for high crowd control value. With the right positioning and marketing, this will be a surefire commercial hit to be consumed by TV programs looking for catchy, infectious, LSS- (Last Song Syndrome) –capable songs for their production numbers and background tracks for their segments. The album’s carrier single, Love Song is already doing it.