*** Larry Levan

LARRY LEVAN'S CLASSIC WEST END RECORDS REMIXES

(West End)

After 15 years, the classic late-'70s/early-'80s dance label West End has reopened its doors. No new acts have been announced, but that's fine because the label has such a rich past to mine. This flagship release is a bit weak: nine tracks in 73 minutes leave no time for Karen Young's "Hot Shot" and Raw Silk's "Do It to the Music" so it's not a solid overview of the label's best material. But Ednah Holt's "Serious, Sirius, Space Party" is the only dud, and even that's fun trash. Taana Gardner's "Heartbeat" and maybe even the Peech Boys' "Don't Make Me Wait" are as talismanic as funkin' "Louie Louie," so resilient that no definitive versions exist. In fact, it was through their amazing amenability that Paradise Garage mechanic Larry Levan helped West End keep disco alive in the years after it supposedly died. Every disorienting dub technique and mix trick here is touched with the exuberantly experimental spirit that afflicts subcultures in flux as zeitgeist threatens to slip into poltergeist. Electronicats might want to listen up.

-- Kevin John