Visions Inc. gained attention right off the bat with Mustang's Transitions. A frantically percussive production from Alex Attias, Transition's searing jets of drawn-out keyboard notes over a fractured jitter of a rhythm and clipped vocal grunts was surely one of the best 2000 releases that came from a scene begrudgingly known as broken beat. One of the primary reasons why several producers within this now-global community disdain the term is because it poorly describes much of what they're releasing. It would be understandable if Attias were among the disdainful, because only a percentage of the releases on his label through 2002 -- most of which are collected here -- feature beats that are truncated, splintered, fractured, or dislocated. Still, "broken beat" as a term is effective in disassociating the producers from tangentially related scenes that aren't/weren't as forward-looking as this one. The term also emphasizes the fact that the beat is just as key as it is in hip-hop, a field where many of these producers gain plenty of inspiration. Throughout its first three years, Visions Inc. has relied on quality over quantity and a wide spectrum of sounds. Attias is directly responsible for this range; nine of The Chromatic Universe's 12 tracks feature his involvement, whether it's through mixing or production. Xela Saitta's Daylight, featuring twisting, feather-light vocals from Vanessa Freeman, has all the mid-morning float and glow of Ramp's song of the same name (Freeman also contributes the relatively somber but gorgeously expansive and epic Sunrays). Idema Co's Cascade finds enough space to flaunt woodwinds, brass, and a quintet of female vocalists -- who deliver a thrilling series of "shu-bi-doo-dups" and "boo-doo-aaaas" when they're not wrapping their voices around the horns -- over a racing, unchanging rhythm. Other tracks from Plutonia, Emelda, Pavel Kostiuk, and Stephane Attias round out the disc, and most of them are tantalizing hybrids of drum'n'bass, hip-hop, and jazz-funk. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi

1		Waltz for Little Eva
2		Daylight
3		Transitions
4		Cascade [Nu Mix]
5		Sarasowju [Nu Mix]
6		Waenda
7		Willo the Wisp
8		Sunrays
9		Liquid Pleasure
10		Vinyl Desert [Rude Dub]
11		Forever
12		Unique

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