FRIDAY

Almost two decades of DJing have taught Timo Maas that rigidity is to be avoided, especially in a dance-music world that has gone category-crazy. Best known for his subgenre-hopping remix of “Doom’s Night” by Azzido Da Bass, Maas has never been interested in catering directly to trance snobs, househeads, or big-beat addicts: He prefers to just lay down the funk and let the nerds figure out why their asses are quaking. Maas makes that point best on Loud, his first all-original disc after two middleweight compilations (Music for the Maases and Connected) that served as calling cards for his room-filling skills. With hiphop-informed production buddy Martin Buttrich along for the ride, Maas favors repetition over crescendo but doesn’t leave the grooves featureless. Vocalists such as MC Chickaboo (“Shifter”) and Finlay Quaye (“Caravan”) offer judicious counterpoints, and Maas himself always leaves one sonic layer in control, even while he’s getting giddy with the quadraphonics. The hype on Maas draws a direct line to Fatboy Slim, but that doesn’t have to be the kiss of death. Compare Maas’ slick, guitar-driven “To Get Down” to the Slim remix that’s hidden at the end of Loud: Maas proudly makes the hook somewhat elusive; Fatboy plays with it ’til it’s broken. Deep in his Teutonic soul, Maas is probably still a synthed-out kid questing for the world’s coldest, crispiest groove. But he knows better than to let some primal urge override his common sense. Maas spins at 1 a.m. Friday, May 24, at Nation, 1015 Half St. SE. $15-$20. (202) 554-1500. (Joe Warminsky)