Lift (CD - 2005)

This two-disc mix program is the first in what is planned to be a series of collaborations between DJ Dan and the Thrive label, and that relationship is off to an auspicious start here. He could have coasted, delivering a predictable but crowd-pleasing set of flavor-of-the-month house anthems, but instead he decided to get creative. Disc one, the more up-tempo and high-energy program, starts out with an actual song, a nice collaboration between DJ Dan and Hatiras featuring singer Mandy J; following a more pedestrian contribution from Jacque Bauer, Hatiras and DJ Dan come back again with a nicely turntable-driven offering titled "Baked from Scratch." Then comes the disc's piece de résistance, a brilliant remake of "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life" by Seamus Haji. The rest of the first disc follows roughly the same outline, with occasionally tiresome extended thumpathons (Antoine Claraman's "Decadence") quickly redeemed by inspired departures from the usual (DJ DLG's "Rock Your World"). Disc two takes things down about half a notch, with a slightly lower bpm ratio and the occasional breakbeat thrown in to keep things interesting. That disc's highlight track is easily DJ Dan's brilliant acid-dub remix of New Order's "Krafty," but the funky manipulation of vocal samples on Coburn's "We Interrupt This Program" is a high point as well. Recommended. ~ Rick Anderson minimize