Magik, Vol. 1: First Flight

by Dean Carlson Lush and smart and colorful, with just the right kind of optimistic melancholy, Magik, Vol. 1: First Flight succeeds primarily because DJ Tiësto allows himself to play off his own strengths. The buildups are few but the energy is there. Lock's dangerously sweet "Into the Sun" and the nearly tacky new wave whispers of Silent Breed's very good "Sync In" are fine moments in DJ Tiësto's history. And even taking into account an absent climax, the mixing is fluid but not overlong, with few songs outstaying their welcome or too invisibly melting into the next.