Jay Hannan and Bill Pile

Imagine the perfect night out in the city. The skies contain no rain to drench you after you park. It's warm enough that you don't need to worry about that dorky, bulky jacket. You're greeted at your favorite club with a fast-moving line and a reasonable ticket price. A gracious bartender shakes up a few chocolate martinis (but not too many), and you are surrounded by dancing friends and the melodious impassioned sounds of a skilled house DJ -- and not just any old house DJ but Londoner and Cambridge native Jay Hannan. Yeah, it's a special night indeed.

The last time Hannan was here, he was accompanied by Ben Watt, the other half of Lazy Dog (London's five-years-running biweekly Sunday club night) as well as of Everything but the Girl. But we're sure Hannan can hold his own solo. With the club night ending May 16, Hannan's playing out a little stateside and keeping himself busy with a new label, Society Heights, on which he'll soon release his newest mix, Underdog. At present, though, Hannan's most recent work is Lazy Dog Volume 2 (obviously preceded by a Volume 1), which came out on Astralwerks in March 2002. On that release, Watt and Hannan get a disc apiece to offer their respective interpretations of the Lazy Dog vibe, and Hannan's jazzy, Latin-infused mix proves itself more than the sum of its parts. Beyond being a great selection of tracks, it's the kind of deep-house mix that will have you moving no matter where you are -- at work, in the car or at a club. And isn't that the sound that you need for the best night out?