Blow

Going ahead and naming a dance album after a slang term for cocaine pushes a definite "well, why not?" button, which Dirt Crew doubtless realize. Rather than some sort of neo-disco splash, though, Blow aims more for the low-key, clean, and clinical — it's the latest echo of the kind of straightforward rigor that helped propel microhouse at its birth, but here the emphasis is much more on straight-up house, stripped of lead vocals and pumping the bass up even more while shadowy echoes and brief bursts of chants interweave amid the beats. While not really remarkable, as it is perfectly functional and well constructed, the occasional highlights are good for a playlist or two, like the title track, or the brief, sudden synth bursts or the swirled drone swoops in the breakdown of "Redux." Otherwise, Blow is an elegant time-killer more than anything else.