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The second in the series of sensual and sex songs distributed by the Normal label, HEAVYBreathing Vol. 2 has a slightly more specific focus than the first, if by default a more loaded one -- as the liner notes say, here it's about "various genres of so-called 'Black Music'," and from there all sorts of racial and sexual issues are raised in detail that deserve several books rather than just brief if enthusiastic descriptions. Rationales and unsteady explanations aside, it still makes for a deft and wide-ranging compilation, running the gamut from early R&B to reggaeton and turntablism with any number of detours along the way. As such it's a great sampler of popular music, period -- but with its own erotic focus. Starting with Pete "Guitar" Lewis and Little Esther Phillips' sly and snarling "Ooh Midnight," the disc ends up skipping all over the place, including an amazing one-two punch from early-'70s Jamaica via Big Joe & Fay's "Dub a Dawta" and Charlie Ace & Fay's heard-to-be-believed "Punanny." Long-established legends like Tina Turner (via "Doin' It," recorded during the Ike days) and Grace Jones are mixed up with newer ones -- Lil' Kim's scorching "Custom Made (Give It to You)" is a killer choice, especially when immediately preceded by the hilarious, image-deflating "Pawn Star" by De La Soul. Kool Keith's "Lick My Ass" is a trifle in comparison, but N.E.R.D.'s sweetly desperate "Stay Together" more than makes up for it. A couple of songs have more tenuous reasons for inclusion, perhaps, but if Swamp Dogg's "If It Hadn't Been for Sly" is a tribute to Sly Stone, no question that the audible female moans suggest a tribute to something else. Meantime, a hands-down breakbeat classic surfaces via Chakachas' slow-burn start-stop monster "Jungle Fever," while the album concludes with DJ Qbert's "Aphrodisiskratch." ~ Ned Raggett
