Top Club Mixes to Take Home

Each year a glut of dance mixes saturate the music market. Most are boring and predictable, with DJs merely stringing together the latest slew of hit singles. Still, there are always a handful of ace mixes released; sets that zigzag with surprises and brim with life. Being the benevolent beat freaks that we are, we've sifted through this season's harvest and selected the freshest for your aural enjoyment.

Perhaps the most anticipated mix—at least among the indie rock set—comes courtesy of soulful British synth-poppers

Hot Chip. Following the success of 2006's The Warning, the quartet return to curate and mix the latest installment in !K7's acclaimed series. Like their eclectic predecessors (Erlend Oye, Annie, and Thievery Corporation to name a few), Hot Chip don't disappoint, weaving an array of quirky hip-hop, synth rock, dirty disco, and minimal techno. They even throw in a new—and totally worthy—track of their own. The mix loses some of its infectious light-heartedness in the back half, but the lads redeem themselves by closing with the one-two punch of Joe Jackson's "Steppin' Out" and Ray Charles' "Mess Around."

Across the Atlantic, a handful of New York City party promoters have served up two tight mixes as well. Justine D—the glamorous gal behind hipster bash Motherfucker— mixes the latest RVNG series installment, stringing together a slew of records to create a fitting downtown vibe: David Bowie and the Cars make appearances, while disco renegades Chic rub elbows with late cellist Arthur Russell. But it's the inclusion of left-field tracks by Syd Barrett and the Zombies, contemporary cuts from Daniel Wang and Hot Chip, and a smooth DJing style (the transition between Robert Fripp & Brian Eno's dewy "Swastika Girls" and the Orb's classic "Little Fluffy Clouds" is particularly ethereal) that elevates Justine D's timeless mix beyond its NYC borders.

On the other side of town, Brooklyn boys (by way of Philly) JDH and Dave P keep things more focused and current on their recent Go Commando disc. With tracks by Joakim, the Knife, Prins Thomas, Vitalic, the Rapture, and Gui Boratto, their hit-saturated set unfolds like a who's who compilation of '06. But rather than feeling fashionably forced, the FIXED party honchos' deft sequencing and crowd-moving sensibilities make this mix swell with the live energy of their raucous DJ gigs.

In recent years, London record label Fabric has repeatedly raised the bar on DJ compilations. This spring, the electronic behemoth returns with two discs sure to bolster its rock-solid rep. First up is the DJ team behind rap-electro quartet Spank Rock, who tackle the 33rd installment of the more eclectic, less techno-oriented Fabriclive series. From the get-go, the trio purveys the same frantic fun that made their 2006 debut, YoYoYoYoYo, such a success. Getting the party started with Kurtis Blow's classic "Breaks," the hip-hop inflected mix hardly stops for a breather, skipping across Daft Punk's beats and Uffie's sexy rhymes and crashing through the prog rock of Yes' "Owner of a Lonely Heart," before cooling down with a swath of feel-good soul.

Berlin's Bpitch label honcho Ellen Allien's forthcoming Fabric 34 (due June 5) falls on the darker side of the disco ball. Mixing her favorite records of the past year, techno's first fraulein manufactures a murky journey geared toward late-night hypnosis. Speaking of Allien, her label mates Modeselektor man the decks behind the third volume of Bpitch's Boogybytes series. The German duo first perked ears in 2005 with their full-length Hello Mom!, a funky hodgepodge of dancehall, hip-hop, and dirty electro. Modeselektor's debut mix has a sunnier disposition, melding their signature bass-heavy beats and blistering sonics with light melodies and humorous vocal samples for a thoroughly fun and enjoyable listen.

In Teutonic techno's other corner of Cologne, Germany, Trapez head Triple R (aka Riley Reinhold) returns with Selection 5, another roundup of his label's choicest cuts. Trapez specializes in a raw, wild brand of music, and lurking behind this intricate and crackling mix you can almost hear the gears of the minimal techno machine going to work.

Trapez's neighbors Kompakt make sure their compatriots don't upstage them by releasing stalwart Tobias Thomas' Please Please Please, an intimate record that plays more like a mixtape than a banging DJ set. Recorded in Cologne's empty Studio 672, Thomas' mix remains beatless until the fourth track, and then breaks into a seamless flow of jazzy dub, restrained samba, and dry minimal before closing with a few catchy, pop-infused cuts (the final being Stella's groovy cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams").

Ironically enough, the most stunning mix in this roundup comes courtesy of a label heretofore known for its commercial appeal: Global Underground. GU made a name for itself in the late '90s, trekking the globe with a rotating roster of trance-spinning, superstar-DJs and capturing sets from impossibly glamorous locations. In recent years, however, the label has fallen out of touch with a dance music community seeking something beyond trance's artificial euphoria.

Thankfully, Fabriclive alum Adam Freeland amply delivers on his forthcoming Mexico City mix (due June 12), compiling a two-disc collection of classy cuts you'd be happy to meet in the club and take home with you. Disc one doesn't contain too many a-ha! moments, but it chugs along to the rocky beats of Justice, Superdiscount, and Mylo nicely. Freeland's second disc, however, earns top marks. Rising from My My's deep house to run a gauntlet of neu-disco, warped-out minimal, and blissful indie rock, Freeland subtly weaves disparate sounds with aplomb, finally culminating with the Italo-piano flourish of Tom Vek's "Nothing But Green Lights" like a wizard waving his wand for one final trick.

- James Jung
04.30.07