Bitter:Sweet

"Lounge music" was once a pejorative term: It called to mind blowsy has-beens warbling off-key Peggy Lee covers while slumped against a baby grand at the airport Ramada. That changed last decade, when the increase-the-beats approach to dance music birthed the chill-out room, where revelers could recharge in advance of the next 120-BPM cardiac challenge. Today, the music invented to fill the latter space is an intrinsic part of club culture, and acts such as Bitter:Sweet ensure that it goes down smoothly. Kiran Sha­hani, once in the Supreme Beings of Leisure, handles the backdrops, opting for warm sonic swells that caress the vocals of Shana Halligan, whose cooing typically remains in the middle ranges — the sonic comfort zone. The duo's latest record, The Remix Game, features material first heard on 2006's The Mating Game as reconfigured by a gaggle of high-rent mixologists including Nicola Conte and Thievery Corporation. The results are alluring enough to make dancers remain in the lounge long after their heart rates have returned to normal.