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Funky house don Miguel Migs is back with his new album, the follow up to the brilliant ‘Colorful You’ in 2003. Miguel is renowned the world over for his deep sexy house sounds, in particular his work with Naked Music and the many mix albums he has served up across various other labels. As is his style, this album is very vocal focussed, with most tracks a collaboration with either L.T. (aka Lysa Aya Trenier) or Lisa Shaw, both accomplished female vocalists in their own right. If you love your house sexy, vocal and a little bit deep then ‘Those Things’ is for you.
Migs opens up proceedings with the dreamy vocals of L.T., solid beats and an ever present funky bass line that he is famous for in ‘So Far’, the always talented Migs also provides backing vocals on this one as well as various others. One of my favourites on here is the incredibly funky ‘Make Things Happen’, chugging guitar and a good horns section give a good basis for the deeper vocal talents of Lisa Shaw, nice use of synths on this gives it a fresh edge and makes it stand out from the rest of the album. We move into a RnB/urban house direction with ‘Can’t Get Through’, vocals provided by Tim Fuller. This is a nice little number with light percussion and solid beats holding it together.
The title track from the album, ‘Those Things’, is a little bland, Shaw’s vocals and a guitar sit upon mostly electronic programming, not very exciting stuff unfortunately. The highlight on the album for me is the fresh broken beats of ‘Let Me Be’, featuring vocals from Fred Ross of Sly and The Family Stone. This track also has some incredibly groovy sax work. Real funky stuff from the 70’s marvel. Keeping on a star note Migs collaborates with Reggae legend Junior Reid in ‘Fire’, laid back sun drenched vibes provide a respite from the funky stuff. If you love your wah wah guitar then look no further than ‘Side 2 Side’, broken beats Bugz style and a great vocal track from Lisa Shaw don’t go over the top but are nice all the same.
This is an incredibly sexy, fun and smooth package. Great artwork and quality music from a range of collaborators, however it does get a touch boring after a while. Migs has worked out a very successful formula that has brought him to where he is today, however, with that fame comes an unwillingness to take risks and in my opinion that is what Migs is suffering from here. The music is solid but we have heard it a million and one times before. If you love Migs and his previous work then definitely grab this album, however don’t expect to hear anything groundbreaking.
