***1/2 PRODIGY

PRODIGY PRESENT . . . THE DIRTCHAMBER SESSIONS VOLUME ONE

(XL Recordings)

Back in the '70s, club and party DJs rocked crowds by selecting records that reflected their deep love for music of all stripes rather than a knowledge of chart positions or beats per minute. If you suggested to DJs today that they could purchase their groceries from just a single aisle at Star, they'd laugh at you; yet to judge from their monochromatic sets, that's how many seem to shop.

On The Dirtchamber Sessions, however, the Prodigy's Liam Howlett addresses the task as if he were going for gold on Supermarket Sweep, throwing a phenomenal array of cuts into the hopper with breathtaking dexterity. It's all here -- Rock (Primal Scream, Sex Pistols), early Turntablism (Mark the 45 King, Herbie Hancock's "Rockit"), Rare Grooves (Jimmy Castor Bunch), Rave Anthems (the KLF), oodles of Rap (Ultramagnetic MCs, Public Enemy, L.L. Cool J, Flash and Bambaataa), even au courant Big Beat (Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers) -- and mixed with deft edits that betray Howlett's roots as a competitive hip-hop jock. Worth the greenbacks for his interpolation of Jane's Addiction alone, The Dirtchamber Sessions provides a fantastic peek for Prodigy fans into Howlett's influences; everyone else will merely have to accept it as the best 60-minute party mix you didn't make yourself.

-- Kurt B. Reighley