DFA/Various

The tastemakers are back. One year after releasing a long-awaited compilation of all their singles to date, the team of James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy, aka superstar production team DFA, have decided to hit us again with another batch of their achingly hip and innovative dance music. While Compilation #1 set its sights on the hits ("Losing My Edge,” "House of Jealous Lovers,” "By The Time I Get To Venus”), #2 is more about emptying the rest of the vault — a stash that covers two CDs, that is. Their remix of J.O.Y.’s "Sunplus” turns the spunky Slits funk of the zany original and readies it for a packed dance floor; the reintroduction of Liquid Liquid with "Bellhead” is a welcome one splashing the speakers with, you guessed it, an assortment of bells that refuses to get annoying; and Black Leotard Front win awards for best name and best groove of the bunch, with the effervescent "Casual Friday.” As tasty as the first two discs are, it’s the third, a DFA continuous mix that steals the show. Using the comp tunes and a few extras from elsewhere, Goldsworthy and Tim Sweeney have blended the essential dance mix of ’04 for those who skip to a different beat. Most effective is the inclusion of the Boredom’s Eye remix of Black Dice’s "Endless Happiness,” which steals the essence of the elusive original and transforms it into a throbbing psychedelic shake down before things blow up into a scrumptious LCD Soundsystem medley. Anyone who’s blabbing that disco-punk-funk is on its last legs, take notice of the masters at work here, because DFA haven’t even begun to finish what they started.