The Rising Sun [PA] (CD - 2008)

On The Rising Sun, the title a nod to their native country, Japanese DJ Masanori Morita and keyboard player Noboru Abe, aka Studio Apartment, collect a batch of their recent dancefloor hits, in remixed versions, with a couple of previously unreleased tracks, "Evolution?," featuring Akiko, and "Justifiable," featuring Kenny Bobien. Although they are working in the middle years of the first decade of the 21st century, Studio Apartment sound like they could be turning out their beats and creamy melodies in New York in the early '80s. The music even boasts some of the Latin feel that was creeping into dance music in those days. The beat never flags, and the singers maintain the positive mood in titles like "Rising Sun" and "Beautiful Sunrise," but this certainly isn't the future of dance music. Although current, it sounds like the past. ~ William Ruhlmann minimize