Gabe Rene is the prototypical, prolific SF music head - his tastes run the gamut of modern dance & soul music. Back in the day his productions reflected hip-hop, R&B, and house music influences in unexpected ways, and he found his music tagged as "acid jazz" and "trip hop". His group Soulstice has endured the dance music industry label game for seven years, and is getting set to release their first full length album on OM Records. How will the critics pigeonhole it? More power to any music journalist who can find a name for a style that encompasses Cuban music, drum and bass, Marvin Gaye and much more.

Gabe's Beta Lounge set also spanned genres and tempos, kicking off with breakbeat hip hop flavor, then gliding seamlessly into floor filling Cali-style house. If you need more and want to check out where Gabe is at sonically, there's plenty of new material to choose from: he has solo releases on OM ("Don't You Cry" and the self titled Pimp Rekker project), as well as Aquanote on Naked Music .

"I'm getting re-inspired by new music today, and now I've refined the process to the point where I can make exactly what I'm hearing," says Gabe.

Check out the evolution of a sound...Beta Lounge, June 8