Dance Music In The 21st Century

Like a shape-shifting, giant amoeba (should such a creature exist, outside of movies like The Blob) dance music finds endless ways to adapt itself and is, consequently, indestructible. The myriad possibilities of remix, fusion and digital squelch have propelled the genre into the new millennium, where Tiga grapples with Nelly and Soulwax takes on Robbie.

The thinking band's clubber should gravitate to the highly allusive Klaxons, whose "Magick" (here mixed by Simian Mobile Disco) nods in the direction of cult occultist Aleister Crowley. These lively New Ravers have, in other works, referenced literary giants William Burroughs and Thomas Pynchon. Fans of robotic menace should look no further than Vitalic.

The 21st century has seen organic and synthetic worlds mashed together in a way that suggests the future belongs to the androids. Prepare yourselves: the lines of division between humans and computers are blurring, as the inter-mingling of mellow vocal and pulsating electronic crunch on Hot Chip's "Over and Over" would have us believe.

The urge to dance is one of the most fundamental of human compulsions. As we settle into the 21st century, we can either pull on our retro trousers, cast our handbags into the centre of the room, and form an orderly circle. Or we can set our sights on a brave new world in which old tunes are revived, reimagined, and rewired via the central nervous system of the world's smartest computers. Here we've assembled the boldest and most inventive of contemporary dance wizards who want one thing only: to free your minds with rhythm. Succumb.