***1/2 Various

GRIND

(Tommy Boy)

It's hard for today's smoky, streetwise hits to fetch the naive glitter of early disco. So what is it that gets the most of the remixes in this nonstop program of girls-night-out dance songs back to the joyous basics? First principle is a close attention to the babydoll beats and pucker poses of the barrio kids' dance called "freestyle." Grind presents it in two formulations, the original barrio version (here, Jocelyn Enriquez's "Little Bit of Ecstasy," Amber's "One More Night," and the Funky Green Dogs' "Fired Up") and freestylish remixes of two alterna-dance girl-rock songs, Garbage's "Stupid Girl" and Sneaker Pimps' "Spin Spin Sugar." But freestyle merely pins the tail of humor on Grind's donkey of sex appeal. The disc's glitter and naïveté arrive by way of Brazilian music. Play Ultra Nate's sleepy-eyed "Free," Nuyorican Soul's revisit of "Runaway" (a classic 1977 disco lullaby), and Felizia's "Samba de Janeiro" and you'll immediately feel the light sweet touch that made early disco shine.

-- Michael Freedberg