Armand Van Helden is the self-styled bad boy of New York house, a whirlwind of remixes for anyone with cash (large amounts of it only), street tough, hip-hop-style posturing, and hard, raw, no-nonsense house beats. It was those beats that held the secret: a breath of fresh air compared to New York"s pumping electro-disco or the smug vocals and skippy beats of garage. Tracks like "Witch Doktor" (the opener here) threw in raw, drum-machine funk, sirens, and vocal samples, bouncing and stropping around with tons and tons of attitude. He"s found fame with his remix of Tori Amos"s "Professional Widow" and the 2 Futur 4 U album. This is all far less slick: the tracks collected here are pleasingly tribal, primitive, rugged, and crudely addictive, a document of the vinyl birth of a true boogie monster. --Robert Heller