By Dan Martino

Mondays

Club land is a shallow and vacuous universe, filled with trust-funded socialites, insecure hipster sheep, boring moneymakers and the girls who shimmy for attention. As commercialism has seeped into almost all of Manhattan's neighborhoods, the clubs, along with their music, people and artists have suffered. Club owners have made a big stink about Bloomberg's crackdown on nightlife, but most of the owners making the stink are the ones who want you to spend your entire paycheck on a bottle of vodka. They rationalize that bringing some big shot DJ in from Europe is supposed to get you to lose all inhibitions and spend your dough like it's 1999.

If they really want to support New York City, perhaps it's time to start booking some local talent and letting the people who live here afford a night out. The mega-clubs like Avalon and Crobar are usually filled with kids from Long Island, Westchester and New Jersey. The smaller hot spots are filled with Euros who never seem to work and only want to hear house music so they can do their patented "fist pump" dance. What's the "fist pump" dance? This is when the DJ introduces a track that bumps a bit harder than the last one, and a circle of guys in tight jeans, fancy button-downs and bowling-shoe sneakers starts jumping up and down in place while pumping one fist in the air. That's when I run over to their table and fill my flask from their bottle of Grey Goose. Keep pumping, Antonio. Keep pumping.

One of the few interesting nights left in Manhattan takes place on a Monday. I've written about it before, but Francois K's Deep Space is truly (get ready for the cliche!) a journey by a DJ. His night is only nostalgic in the fact that he plays a well-rounded spectrum of music and brings the crowd to peaks and valleys. Two weeks ago, to my surprise and delight, he played Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth's classic "T.R.O.Y," followed by the Roots' new Timbaland-inspired club banger "Ain't Sayin' Nuthin'." He then blended in dubby house tracks, spacey electronic German techno and roots reggae rockers. And then he slipped in Beyonce's "Naughty Girl."

The people who run Deep Space only ask that you come as you are and with an open mind. There's no pretentiousness. That's what music and clubbing is all about, not who you know at the door. Allowing the music to be the center of attention leaves people feeling inspired, sweaty with adrenaline, and not ripped off.

Cielo, 18 Little W. 12th St. (betw. Washington St. & 9th Ave.), 212-645-5700, 9:30, $5-$10.