"Little" Louie Vega

Yet another excellent mix by Little Louie Vega, Soul Heaven: London & Ibiza is a double-disc set that's somewhat thematic. The first disc is subtitled London and is typical of what Vega would spin there -- a lot of his classic Masters at Work productions, practically all of them vocal tracks, generally in remixed form here and often creatively interwoven, making decade-old tracks like "I Can't Get No Sleep," "Can't Stop," and "I Got Somebody New" sound as fresh as ever. The second disc is subtitled Ibiza and is typical of what Vega would spin there -- again, a lot of his own productions, except these ones are much less vocally based than those featured on the first disc and lean much more toward Latin music than straightforward house, especially in terms of percussion. As such, Soul Heaven presents both sides of Vega's trademark Latin house style, highlighting the broad spectrum his music encompasses, and while this ability to cater to both ends of the Latin house equation is impressive, it's only part of the overall package. As aforementioned, Vega not only chose these tracks, but he also had a hand in producing a great majority of them, and for that matter, he mixes them with masterful vision, often layering one over the other as if they were intended to be mixed as such. In particular, the opening quick-mix relay of "Brand New Day" into "Days Like This" into "I Can't Get No Sleep" into "Diamond Life" into "Can't Stop" is downright amazing, especially since these tracks are all amazing in their own right, let alone when interwoven with such brilliance. And that's just the opening run of the first disc! It's easy to go on and on about Vega, whether in terms of track selection, production, or mixing -- he's a DJ's DJ, for sure. Regardless of how attuned you are to his accomplishments, however, you should find much to admire here on Soul Heaven. Those already in the know will surely marvel at the way Vega masterfully runs through a long list of well-known classics, making them all sound fresh again, while those unfamiliar with this living legend are in for a proper schooling, as this mix makes a thorough introduction to both Vega the DJ and Vega the Master at Work. It's usually hard to go wrong with this guy's mixes, and Soul Heaven is no exception. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide