Damian Lazarus/Various

Damian Lazarus is one of this year’s hottest DJs on the electro-house scene, and this disc shows his skills at meshing together the weird side of house. From the beginning, he sets up a serious groove that continues throughout the whole mix. It’s energetic, fun and showcases many tracks that wouldn’t be compiled on an ordinary mix CD. The tracks vary from minimal tech-house to Tiefschwarz-styled electro bleepers. Some of my favourites are Break 3000’s polyrhythmic "Flash 1,” Phonique’s swirling "99 & A Half,” Freaks’ "Tweakers,” — a burbling Chicago house track — and Trentemoller’s deep "Physical Fraction.” He also includes the very strange Ricardo Villalobos mix of Thomas Dolby’s "One of Our Submarines” and the atonal techno of "The Horn” by Matt Tolfrey and Craig Sylvester. Lazarus winds the disc down with the Stranglers’ "Love 303” and follows it with the great Superpitcher remix of M83’s "Don’t Save Us from the Flames.” Overall, he captures many of the more interesting sounds of 2005.