If you are like me, you were turned on to Tokyo Dawn Records last year with their release of Opolopo’s Voltage Controlled Feelings. It was a fantastic and fun record full of retro electro-boogie. Where you do you go from there as a listener? Fortunately for us, Tokyo Dawn presented us with The Boogie.

Clocking in at just under seventy-four minutes and eighteen tracks, The Boogie is packed full of music to broaden your horizons. A good portion of the music is previewing releases that will come out later this year, from artists such as Amalia, Blaktroniks, Replife, Soulparlor, and Vindahl. This might seem like a lot to digest, and it is, but it’s worth it. Everything is connected by a sonic sensibility, but each track is unique in its flavor. It really speaks well for Marc Wallowy, who assembled the collection.

We get a wide range of material, recalling the early ‘80s but also mixing in some early ‘90s R&B and some G-Funk as well. Yet it all sounds contemporary at the same time. The album opens with Opolopo & Amalia bringing some high energy and some killer grooves. John Robinson lays down some smooth rhymes over some G-Funk provided by Spinnerty and remixed by B. Bravo that has swagger to spare. Stray turns down the lights with a sexy slow jam. Aybee and Soulparlor bring more of a house influence to the collection. Blaktroniks provides one of the strongest tracks on the record with a song that has a great off-kilter keyboard riff over a shuffle that creates some tension but also pushes forward as he spells out a possible confrontation. I can’t wait for the full-length. B. Bravo also provides one of the strongest instrumental tracks, a slow jam that shows a great sense of melody and well thought out song structure. “Mothership” introduces me to appreciate Portformat by putting Declaime and Georgia Anne Muldrow on a song that is then remixed by Opolopo. If that’s not a formula for a funky good time, then I don’t know what we’re doing here. “I’m a R.O.B.O.T.,” a song by Swede:art and remixed by TOKiMONSTA once again has me anticipating a Blaktroniks album. Addiquit provides a great dance number with what is essentially a disco track that has a great groove. Eagle Nebula brings everything home with a song that reminds me of Georgia Anne Muldrow, a meditation on what brings value to life over warm mid-tempo track.

With all that I covered here, there’s still more I didn’t get to. There’s a lot to digest, and there’s tons to like. If this is what the future holds for Tokyo Dawn in 2011, it’s going to be a good year.