This is a DJ mix CD by Felix. While his production skills are well-established, most of the track selections on this disc are either too obvious or too unrelentingly tedious; Album cuts by Ladytron and Miss Kitten, along with some fairly soulless house numbers.

However, there are a few standout songs. Tok Tok Vs Softy O provide a syllabic lyrical hook which caught my attention and held it for the brief duration of 'Missy Queen's Gonna Die (Original Mix).' Of course, we added that 12' record LAST YEAR so it's not much of a discovery.

Kiki's 'Gas 126' is worth mentioning, if only because it appears to be a four minute recording whose only sound-source is a thoroughly looped and manipulated sample of Blondie's 'Heart of Glass' (produced by the great Gorgio Moroder).

The most relevant track on this compilation (for our needs anyway) would be something that Felix himself released a few years back under the Aphrohead pseudonymn. 'Thee Underground Made Me Do it' is a minimalist electro groove composed of just a pulsing beat and Da Housecat's cool-as-a-cucumber spoken-word rant against music industry sell-outs and Clubland poseurs.

There's also a couple remixes of recent ZBC favorites, but I don't find they add much to the original songs. Most of Excursions actually grew on me with repeated listenings. I even threw it on during the early hours of a party to give the guests some 'electro-filler.'

This disc isn't a complete waste of plastic, but I'm certain there are plenty of similarly themed collections coming out right now that are more deserving of your dollar.

---Commodore Vic, June 18, 2002