DJ Kicks

Good things come to those who wait, and heaven knows that we’ve waited long enough for this. Since its announcement, fans of the Border Community boss and connoisseurs of the long running DJ Kicks series have been kept with baited breath, anticipating the opportunity to revel in the musical fancies of one of dance music’s most eccentric producers.
 
Within the first five minutes the mix has established its footing, offering waves of warm, glowing electronic pulses, dotted with tinges of euphoria that melt into analogue stabs and blips. As Holden gracefully plays with the percussive elements of Caribou’s Lemon Yoghourt, we slide into the beautiful slow-boiling peaks of Soft Attacks by Border Community up-and-comer Luke Abbott.
 
Avoiding complacency, and at the threat of turning the mix into a soft, slumber-inducing soundtrack, a change of mood is introduced with Holden’s exclusive remix of Mogwai’s The Sun Smells Too Loud. Transforming the drone rock track into an unsettling soundscape of weird FX and analogue synths, Holden brings the track to a hypnotic horn finale, setting the tone for the second half of his mix.
 
Like the better DJ Kicks releases, the tracks are stylistically cohesive and well-mixed whilst still allowing the listener a eclectic voyage through the producer’s own musical tastes. The second half brings a more varied offering than the first; zipping from the Ursula Bognor’s Punkte (the techiest track on the album) to Luke Abbott's stunning remix of MIT's, and finally to the cosmic, mystical conclusion of SS Pyramid Snake’s Catacomb City.
 
Long awaited, James Holden’s Triangle Folds (his first new track in four years) is in line with the rest of the compilation. Not a dance floor destroyer, but instead a warm ocean of orchestral-like synth beats set against a backdrop clunky beats, the track underlines everything Holden is looking to communicate.  
 
Holden, reportedly, decided the order of the tracklisting by typing up a spreadsheet of each individual track keys and tempos and then matched them. And it shows. The effort to achieve a consistent sound balances the range of musical directions and styles. The over-all result is a warm bubbling analogue expedition, and the perfect iPod soundtrack for the flight home from a long Ibizan weekend.

Tracklisting:

1. Piano Magic – Wintersport / Cross-Country
2. Grackle – Disco (Musiccargo Remix)
3. Mordant Music – Olde Wobbly
4. Maserati – No More Sages
5. Caribou – Lemon Yoghourt
6. Luke Abbott – Soft Attacks
7. Mogwai – The Sun Smells Too Loud (Holden Remix)
8. Kieran Hebden / Steve Reid – Departure
9. Ursula Bogner – Punkte
10. Eric Copeland – Auto Dimmer
11. Mit – Rauch (Luke Abbott Remix)
12. ARP – Potentialities
13. Lucky Dragons – Open Melody
14. Holden – Triangle Folds (DJ-KiCKS)
15. James Ruskin – Definition Of
16. Legowelt – Flight Of The Jupiter
17. Walls – Gaberdine
18. Lukas Nystrand – Never Fail (Vocal)
19. Didier Pacquette – Arwen, Namarie
20. SS Pyramid Snake – Catacomb City