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By NAOMI ZWOLINSKI
Staff Writer

In my quest to find the perfect dancin', romancin', kick ass rockin', hip hoppin', chilaxin', and partyin' CD, I had to test drive a few at the listening stations first. On top of that, I had to pool a few of my very good friends together to see what they were into in hopes of peaking my interest in something that I maybe hadn't thought of on my own. Here's what I found:

One of my closest friends and I like to hit the clubs and whoop it up with the best of them. One of our choices is Beyoncee's lastest titled ... well ... Beyonce. The tracks you want to listen to would be "Crazy in Love", "Naughty Girl" (cool video), "Baby Boy" (with Sean Paul) and "Me, Myself and I". This is in no way a CD that none of you would have heard of, but if you want something that you can dance to, sing to and relax to all on the same CD, it's the choice for you. You gotta love Beyoncee for her great voice and cool dance moves. Tell me you haven't tried a few of them yourself on the dance floor!! Hey, anyone that can peak the interest of the young heartthrob Price William can't be all that bad huh! Anyway, give it a go, I guarantee you will be pleased.

Dutty Rock by Sean Paul. What a cool mix of hip hop, reggae and dance ... if you're into that sort of thing. Tracks of choice would be "I'm Still In Love With You", "Can You Do The Work" and "Punkie". He even does a few remixes of the more popular songs at the end of the CD like "Pass The Dro" and "Punkie". Now, he's another crowd pleaser at all the clubs. Even if you didn't want to (which I cannot imagine), you would be up on the floor tearing it up to the cool sounds of Sean Paul.

The last of the dance and soul type CD's I want to mention is the new Usher CD simply titled Usher. Does this boy have a washboard or WHAT!!! HELLLOOOOO!!! Aside from the ever popular "Yeah", you might enjoy the more funkier beats of "Bad Girl" and "Caught Up". Either way, I think this may be the new favourite in your collection.

Okay, so off the hip hop track for a bit to something a bit more mature sounding and more contemporary for the softer side in us. How about David Gray. He's got such a soothing eclectic sound that I highly recommend this one for those with a more easy listening palette. "Babylon" and "My Oh My" are such easy listening tracks that you could close your eyes and get lost in this CD. He's British ladies and he's a looker... so pick it up and kick back and relax to this one.

How about Norah Jones CD Come Away With Me. It's beautifully simple and simply beautiful. This one is in my list but also came with high recommendation from Dorje (the musical genius from my last review). He believes (as I do) that this girl proves that you don't need a catchy new dance move, a killer video or even a huge marketing team to be hailed as the new Queen of the industry. But rather just a good song with the right music and a Grammy can show the world it is possible. You will even find a few Canadians helped her out on her collection of fantastically gentle songs.

Another one of Dorje's picks was from BT titled Emotional Technology. It's one of the most cutting edge CD's with beautiful lyrics and has amazing production. Listen to "Animals" and "Knowledge of Self" The CD defies genres and should be added to your new list of CD purchases.

How about the classic rockers among us... have you seen the best of Guns & Roses ... PUH-LEASE!!! How wicked is that CD!! You'll know them all and they're GREAT!!! Too bad Mr. Rose screwed up so bad, because when this band was in their hay day, they were HOT!!! Who among you didn't crank up the volume to a good ole G&R song!! My faves would be "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Welcome to the Jungle"... but I pretty much love them all.

Moving right along to another cult classic is Incubus new CD A Crow Left of the Murder. This CD hails the greats like "Megalomaniac" and "Talk Show on Mute". This is another one of those eclectic type sounds but unlike the cool stylings of David Gray, Incubus never fails us in rock mixed with the surreal. If you haven't already, please check it out.

Finally, you want to pay tribute to our own home grown Canadian bands. One of my personal fav's is Finger Eleven. Scott Anderson, the lead singer, is not only a looker but a great singer. Lyrically, this CD is the shit and musically, it has an interesting mix of harder rock, "Good Times" with the ballad that put them on the map, "One Thing". The other is Tea Party. One of my closest friends who happens to be an amazing singer herself, comes to me with this CD and has let me know that this is unlike the usual sounds from the Tea Party. She loves the fact that they have such depth and aren't afraid to experiment with world music instruments to come up with their unique sounds.

So there's mine and a few friends CD list of new picks. Enjoy!