Forever Tel Aviv

If our great world conflicts were solved with dance-offs instead of wars, Tel Aviv's own Offer Nissim would be a five-star general, in Gaza battling for Israeli control. But as it stands, Nissim is the most famous DJ ever to ride the wheels of steel out Israel and into world-wide stardom.

Being the best DJ from Tel Aviv is kind of like being the best actor from Hollywood. DJs flock to the many clubs and discotheques of Israel, trying out their latest mixes. Worldwide superstar DJ Tiesto said in a recent article that his favorite place to play in the world is Israel, that the crowds go "absolutely mad" for the music. And dispite numerous night club bombings and threats toward his life, Tiesto says he will continue to perform in this war-torn part of the world.

So with a scene so huge and the competition so dedicated, how does a native Israeli DJ make a name for himself? Offer Nissim began his career mixing house beats in clubs across his native Israel. Eventually, he got the opportunity to work with transsexual pop sensation Dana International. After International won the Eurovision song contest in 1998, Nissim's remixes of her tracks became club mainstays. Remixing tracks for divas all over the world has become his claim to fame, working with Christina Aguilera, Madonna, Kristen W., and Beyonce.

His newest album, Forever Tel Aviv, sticks by this principal, putting a dark, thumping house grind to many American hits like Beyonce's D?j? vu.

But these are not your ordinary remixes, where a DJ might add a different beat and rap a line or two to stretch out the last few bars. Nissim makes each track his own, adding thick swells of bass and thump, table scratches and effects until the original song simply serves as an occasional vocal swell deep in the background. This style makes the source material nearly unrecognizable. Indeed, Nissim has a new approach to the cover song.

Because this is a dance record, many of the songs top five minutes in length, and each track blends into the next for a non-stop onslaught of heavy house beats.

Some of the tracks descend into slow burn madness where the beat gets lost under a longwinded synth-soup. Nissim's take on Christina Aguilera's Hurt goes back and forth between synth-assisted vocal samples and hard charging house beats. The song loses its focus and does not achieve the single goal of club music: you can't dance to it.

His remix of Robin's The DJ Made Me Do It is so heavy on four-alarm synth effects that the bass beat, which is really happening, gets muted and the fierce pacing of the track is lost.

Still, when Nissim is on, his pulse is so tough, it could raise the dead. His remix of Suzanne Palmer's Free My Love is likely to knock a few club rats off the speakers to the floor. The fist-thump low end is frenetic and frightening. Try to keep your feet still, I dare you.

The hit of sorts, Maya's For Your Love, is catchy and mildly beautiful in places. It starts strong, like many tracks here but retreats to the source material, splicing in the piano riff throughout, and allowing the soothing vocals a presence throughout. These rather calming elements and the milder beat/synth combination make this track very listenable, on and off the dancefloor.

The double album should only be played straight through if you want a massive rager to break out. But several of the tracks here can be played anywhere. And that is the true test of a 5-star beat-jockey general. For fans of diva-heavy house, Nissim is an Offer you should consider.