Global Groove: Mask.

Global Groove: Mask DJ Mark Macewan Centaur Entertainment

DJ mixes on CD--those nonstop, Smoothly sequenced collections Of dance anthems designed to simulate a late-night club experience--are no longer just a dime a dozen, they're a dime a gross. Sadly, with their proliferation, quality has taken a nosedive. The attractive packaging seduces (hint: Those shiftless muscle boys on the cover aren't the ones making the music), but the soulless thumping drone inside just assaults.

The latest guilty addition to the ranks of the forgettable and funk-free is DJ David Knapp's The White Party 2000. Boasting big hits from big stars like Amber, Kim English, and Ultra Nate, the disc suffers from diva overkill and unimaginative mixes, the very feature that will undoubtedly make it a disco-consumer magnet. The tracks, taken individually, are just fine. However, welded together, one right after the other in factory-like succession, they have a sameness and cold amphetamine Crunch party. make for an alienating circuit party.

More diverse, coherent, and satisfying is DJ Mark Macewan's Mask, the latest from the Centaur label's Global Groove series. Not counting Saint Etienne and an update of Derrick May's techno classic "Strings of Life," there are no famous names to be found. Still, the set's transition from funky, progressive house to revved-up trance comes off without a hitch, and almost every track shines like a glitter ball.

But maybe "revved-up" isn't your style. Maybe you yearn for the sweet, soulful days of jazzy, 1970s-style R&B and disco. Then you ought to know that for about the last dozen years or so, they've been calling that stuff "deep house," and Lazy Dog is where to get that feeling again. DJs Ben Watt (a.k.a. the guy from Everything But the Girl) and Jay Hannan spin more than two hours of slinky, sophisticated, underground groove for dancers who don't want to lose their minds or their breath. It's a warm, humane, satisfying trip back to the beat you thought you'd lost.