My Way, the debut album by Akufen, was one of my favorite releases of 2003. And not simply because of Marc Leclair’s amazing production technique -- his microsampling is an amazingly time-intensive process -- but because he knows how to craft interesting songs using those microsamples. Listen to how the bits and pieces keep building on “Heaven Can Wait.” Akufen can kick out the jams like the best of them (“In Dog We Trust” is testament to this), but is also versatile enough to handle more ambient pieces, like “Even White Horizons.” Tech-house can sometimes be heavy on the bass and light on the emotion, but “Late Night Munchies” shows that you can integrate both. My personal favorite, “Skidoos,” is smooth tech-house all the way through, starting with song flanged out synth chords and building into a heavenly chorus. The Herbert mix of “Deck the House” (an addition to this edition) doesn’t add much, but it doesn’t need to. This album is fine on its own.