Ursula 1000

After proliferating like crabgrass for the better part of a decade, that bastard stepchild of the conventional album, the DJ mix compilation, is in serious trouble. Most high-profile mixes in recent years have been either formulaic, anonymous collections of sub-sub-genres of dance music so esoteric (tribal progressive house, anyone?) that every track sounds almost exactly the same, or they've been tacky club hit comps that any idiot with two turntables and a Virgin Megastore gift certificate could recreate at home.

Thank god, then, for DJs like Ursula 1000's Alex Gimeno, a crate-digger extraordinaire who deftly avoids both monotony and familiarity on his second mix CD, Ursadelica. The Ursula 1000 sound is built around tracks that blend elements of big beat and loungetronica; in other words, think Fatboy Slim meets Thievery Corporation. It's a style of music that's less about showy deck skills than it is about smart track selection and sequencing, and on these points Gimeno is at the top of his game here. There's really not a weak track among the 20, which run the gamut from the bossa nova bounce of Dr. Rubberfunk's "Bossa for the Devil" to the funky Latin jazz of Settebello Unlimited's "Charrango" to the retro boogie of Joe Bataan's "Chick a Boom."

Top-notch tunes from The Bees and Don Tiki show up here as well, but Ursadelica is less about familiar names than it is about great grooves for the dirty martini crowd. Throw it on at your next soiree and watch how fast even your most straight-laced friends start shaking their money-makers. - Andy Hermann

DJ Ursula 1000 has quite the ear for tunes, and knows how to mix 'em -- the extragroovy mix album Ursadelica is the proof. The first quarter of Ursadelica could be mistaken for an album of the DJ's own sampadelic and tres chic productions. Not a problem, but not surprising enough for the nonbelievers. Things get tricky right around Kraak en Smaak's "One of These Days," with tracks getting loopier and fading in and out, most likely due to the DJ's twiddling. It's the gateway to what most makes the album worth hearing -- Ursula's love of cheeky, smiley disco. Swirling around the room -- or maybe headphones -- Frank de Jojo's "Come Home Baby" is a tasty disco-house treat while Nasty Tales revives the campy chestnut "Come on a My House" with a light breakbeat. Great stuff, and Ursula points it out with his tension-building mix, but why the drab Mexicali jazz afterward? Tinkling pianos with bongos should be trying the nerves of even the ESL Records faithful by now, and luckily Ursula gets off it pretty quickly. Faux rare groove, electro-influenced lounge, and some truly unclassifiable dance music brings the party to a close. It's been four years since Ursula 1000 released his last mix -- All Systems Are Go-Go -- and he's learned a lot since then. The riskier moments are as innovative-sounding as this DJ has ever been, but giving the listener one or two tracks they'll likely skip nearly blows it. Everything else is glitter and gold, so time your bathroom break right, because Ursadelica is an almost triumph. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide