GAVIN FROOME MOBILE VILLAGER Nordic Trax/CAN/CD-DLP Canada's house and tech house scenes have been somewhat focused around Toronto and area residents. Think of people like Abacus, Dino and Terry, Nick Holder, the Stickmen, and John Acquaviva-if they're not living in or near Toronto, they're based in the province of Ontario. West Coaster and Vancouver resident Gavin Froome is set to change all that with his debut album on Nordic Trax, Mobile Villager. After doing time in the major label world with a rock act called Pull and releasing sleek techno on another British Columbia-based imprint, Lowdown Recordings, as Iridium, Froome has quickly matured into one of his country's best house/tech house hipswingers. If you're a DJ in the know, you're already familiar with some of this material: 5 of the cuts on this album were previously released on his "Data Tracks To Distant Cities" and "Fly Me To Brasil" singles for Nordic Trax. There are seven new tracks, though (wisely made available on CD and vinyl), including a delicious downtempo nodder with guitar provided by Artie Devlin. The remaining fresh four on the floor pieces are potential dancefloor devastaters-from the invigorating organic vibe and cavernous bassline of "Ice Breaker" to the Yost-esque "It Is Time" and the laid-back filterwork on "Malibu" and the current single, "Disco Speciality". It's no wonder that Froome's material has been licensed to appear on a number of DJ mix CDs and been praised by the press and dancers here in North America and in the UK and Europe. Froome has released a solid work in Mobile Villager, one that is likely to be rubbing shoulders with the heavy hitters in the Best Of '99 lists. Andrew Duke Back to album/book reviews index