1"Day After The Day After"//El-P - The brilliant disjoint of El-P's recent productions vindicate him for shutting down vaunted rap outfit Company Flow: his own solo offering, Fantastic Damage, and Cannibal Ox's Cold Vein (both on his own Def Jux label) are revelations. This song's mashed beats lope with the strange melodica of oafish Psyche-ward malcontents who broke into the music room and became spellbound by their own serendipity. For more information, click to: www.definitivejux.net

2 "Schrödinger's Cat"//Omid - Omid's ambitious work with next-gen Los Angeles rappers on his indie Beneath The Surface compilation (under the moniker, OD) served notice on his burgeoning talent. This song is a swirling mass of scattering breaks and ghostly organs, at once momentous and meditative. Being the cerebral sort, Omid named it after an illustration of the Superposition principle in quantum physics. Holla!

3 "Crab Lice"//Anti-Pop Consortium - Any other rap group asked to do a track for a "DJ" album would've offered up the predictable histrionics on hip-hop's elements. Not M. Sayyid, High Priest and Beans. This trio of NYC word wizards cleverly allude to DJ dynamics in the song's title (scratch!), then unleash a rambunctious torrent of inspired glitch-hop (Beans' phallic metaphor is particularly sharp). The song - and their second album, Arrhythmia (Warp Records) - only fortifies their namesake. For more information, click to: www.warprecords.com

4 "Chiqwanga"//Recloose - Kid boy wonder Matt Chicoine converts virgin listeners of his down-tempo dancefloor tumble into new fans all the time. This was the first track submitted for Constant Elevation, just before Recloose finished his debut album, Cardiology (Planet E). The throwback to the early-'80s Herbie Hancock-style of groove, reconfigured with some electro punch, immediately challenged the idea of what hip-hop instrumentals could be - seemingly the modus operandi for all his colorful, soulful work.

5 "Slight Amnesia"//This Kid Named Miles - Perhaps it was foretold (by his parents at least) that Miles Tackett would become a talented musician wielding dance-floor slaying funk with an arsenal of different instruments. The front-man/songwriter in Los Angeles' Breakestra, Miles has remixed Cut Chemist (Jurassic 5) and produced songs for T-Love (Astralwerks) and Zap Mama. He programmed the beats, played the bass and scratched the records on this urgent, old-school jam. For more information, click to: www.stonesthrow.com

6 "Wading Venus"//Omid featuring Nobody - Nobody is the smoked-out jazz Buddha in the corner, disseminating enlightenment with every resonant beat. At least, that was the image conveyed on his debut LP, Soulmates (Ubiquity). He and Omid, making his 2nd appearance here, collaborated for this downtempo "pedestrian anthem," a virtual landscape of warbling voices and shifting sounds that is its own narrative.

7 "Vox Apostolica"//Steinski - In 1983, Steinski and his partner Double D began grafting the whiz-bang, cut-and-paste production techniques of their radio-advertising day jobs on hip-hop breaks, authoring three profound mega-mixes that became collectively known as "The Lessons." Steinski - one of the nicest revolutionaries you'll ever meet - is back in the groove again with this tune. It's a stylistic departure from those formative days: in the new world order, sample clearance can be deadly.

8 "Backyard Banger"//Z-Trip featuring E Moss and The Troublemaker - Seeing Z-Trip live will make you understand why he is the white-boy messiah: his sets are a never-ending procession of classic rock, old-school breaks and hip-hop acapellas, juxtaposed like a demented lab-tech. Z-Trip knows the way to any audience's heart is the familiar crest of an AC/DC riff. This song - done with up-and-coming producers E Moss (Mo Wax) and The Troublemaker - is a quiet storm of b-boy intensity.

9 "Rawcore"//Peanut Butter Wolf & Madlib - Here's hoping each of you gets a chance to meet Peanut Butter Wolf in your lifetime as, per his sobriquet, the Stones Throw label-head and veteran DJ/producer is a character. After months of claiming writer's block, he turned in this gem, a robust and booming scratch-fest rich with cleverly culled vocal fragments. Madlib (aka Quasimoto) transforms the song's second half, following the same stylistic pattern as articulated as a beautiful jazz-beat excursion. He's probably one of hip-hop's most talented producers right now: fools just don't know. For more information, click to: www.stonesthrow.com

10 "Crazy"//Freestyle Fellowship - The Astralwerks A&R guy has been so taken with this song, he's been mimicking its warped, chain-gang chorus for months. That's the effect of the song's voodoo vibe as constructed by the Freestyle Fellowship's Aceyalone, Jupiter and Peace. After two revolutionary albums, To Whom It May Concern (1991) and Inner City Griots (1993), this heralded Los Angeles squad has been a cult favorite for legions around the world. Exhibited here is a glimpse of their layered, complex talents.

11 "Multitude"//Chief Xcel of Blackalicious - Whether he's working with his partner in Blackalicious, Gift of Gab, or with any number of his Quannum labelmates (DJ Shadow, Latyrx), Chief Xcel's darkly funk has always hung heavy, as if each song were saturated with the centuries-long history of black people's struggle in this country. Just check Blackalicious' third album, Blazing Arrows (MCA). This is Chief Xcel's first released instrumental, and it is an inspirational epiphany that closes the album with liberating spirit. For more information, click to: www.quannum.com