DJ-Kicks: The Exclusives
!K7

Berlin's !K7 imprint celebrates ten years and twenty-five releases in the DJ-Kicks mix series with a fourteen-track collection of exclusives by Kid Loco, Thievery Corporation, Trüby Trio, Erlend Oye, and others. Doubling the listening pleasure is the sampler's wide range with techno, synthpop, hip-hop, funk, and soul-jazz stops made throughout.

Groove to Kruder & Dorfmeister's neon trip-hopper “Black Baby” and DJ Cam's soulful “Bronx Theme” with its crisp hip-hop beats and turntable breakdowns. Hear Terranova merge Miles's Dark Magus wah-wah with steaming breaks in “Contact” and Vikter Duplaix drape an enticing vocal hook over skipping breaks in the aphrodisiacal “Sensuality,” a Junior Boys-styled slice of sensual make-out music. Carl Craig's galloping techno pushes the collection into more conventional DJ mix orbit while, naturally, the only sane reply to Annie's “Will you marry me?” (“The Wedding”) is “Yes!” On the covers front, Playgroup's synthpop take on Depeche Mode's “Behind The Wheel” fares well enough but Tiga's “Hot In Herre” pales next to Nelly's and is the dud of the bunch. The Exclusives offers almost eighty minutes of eclectic quality cuts.

April 2006