Sander Kleinenberg

With his 2003 mix CD Everybody, Dutch DJ Sander Kleinenberg went on a mission to make dance music fun again, and largely succeeded, leaping to the forefront of a growing group of creative DJs (Layo & Bushwacka!, Tiga, Steve Lawler, James Zabiela, the list happily keeps growing) who are willing to sacrifice seamless mixing in favor of a wildly kinetic, genre-hopping style. Amazingly, he's actually topped himself on This is Everbody Too, an even more wildly entertaining joy ride through the latest and best sounds coming out of progressive house, trance, breaks and electro-tech. This is what a night at the club should sound like, but rarely does.

Kleinenberg's mixing is as flawless as ever, but the emphasis here is more simply on solid track selection, an underrated skill in which the mad Dutchman has few rivals. Tossing all that nonsense about pacing out the window (maybe good for a club, but on a CD, who cares?), he fearlessly sprinkles trancey, peak hour tracks throughout both halves on this double CD set, bringing things to an early head with the excellent Greed is Evil Mix of Rowan Blades & Chris Lak's "Filth" and then somehow managing to top that with stellar tracks from Infusion, Psycatron, and Redanka.

Of the set's two original Kleinenberg tracks, "The Fruit" is by far the best, an electro-funk workout that showcases the DJ's wacky sense of humor and ever-growing knack for hooks that virtually guarantee a dance floor frenzy. This is Everybody Too is further proof Sander Kleinenberg is the real cream of the Netherlands' DJ crop, no matter how many more records Tiesto and Armin Van Buuren may sell. - Andy Hermann

This two-disc DJ mix follows on the heels of 2003's similarly configured Renaissance Presents Everybody, and continues to showcase Sander Kleinenberg's admirably eclectic tastes and skills as a compiler. Part of what makes Kleinenberg such an engaging DJ is the breadth of his range -- This Is Everybody Too offers glitchy, low-key techno from the Junior Boys (on the languid and lovely "Birthday"), dubwise electro-pop from Hiratzka & Kazell ("In Your Eyes") and from Hydroponix ("Don't Stop Go [Mirabeau Main Room Mix]"), and deadpan disco hedonism from Eday ("Party to the Music [Rene Amesz Rmx]"). It also offers, inevitably, some interminable tracks of generically thumping house tedium (Infusion's "Do to You in '82," Ericke's "Ya Don't Stop"), but since these are scattered in among other, more rhythmically interesting fare, they don't grate as much as they might otherwise. Unlike most dance compilations, this one also offers some real gems that yield their charms only after close listening -- notice, for example, the way that Skai's "Mir Geht's Gut" delivers maximum impact with a minimum of musical ingredients, and the sonic subtleties that underlie the Hydroponix track. There are other little treasures like those here as well, and they're worth the effort it takes to dig them out. ~ Rick Anderson, Rovi